Palm Springs: Part 2

One time, not too long after moving to Ottawa, a friend came to visit. We knew we wanted a night out on the town, but didn't really know where to go. Ottawa has more pubs than bars, but we wanted to dance. So, we headed to the market (Byward Market) and went into the first place with good music and no cover charge.

The music was great, everyone was having a good time. But, something was different. There were a lot of women in the bar - about a 9 to 1 ratio. I distinctly remember commenting to my friend that I had never seen so many women with shaved heads before (not that every woman there shaved her head, mind you). After some more dancing, I said to my friend, "you know...I think we're in a lesbian bar".

Walking around Palm Springs was a bit of a similar experience (leave it to me to find similarity in the two). Everywhere we went, there were a lot of grey-haired people. I thought maybe we were hitting the senior hangouts. Turns out, there are just a lot of seniors in Palm Springs*.

But, spending time in an area that primarily attracts seniors is also designed for relaxation. Usually when we travel, R is chomping at the bit to get out and see every inch of the city....by foot. But this trip, our site-seeing had to be worked in to Baba time.

Baba time primarily entails trying to make Baba as comfortable as possible and ensure that her daily intake is more than a piece of toast an egg.
If Baba even so much as mentioned liking a particular type of food, it went on to the next day's menu.

One day I hit the jackpot when Baba said she wanted to make a turkey soup. She even gave me a list of ingredients.

Baba's Turkey Barley Soup

3-4 carrots
3-4 celery stocks
1 cup pearl barley
1 cup of lima beans
1 onion, cut in half
12 button or cremini mushrooms, sliced
turkey breast (or turkey wings)
5-6 cups water
salt and pepper

Soak lima beans over night in room temperature(?) water.

When preparing soup the next day: start with cleaning the turkey breasts.

Put in soup pot/dutch oven with water. Let come to a boal and reduce to slow bowl. Remove scum that forms. Chop carrots and celery, slice mushrooms.

Once turkey is closer to being cooked, add vegetables and beans. Shortly after, add in barley. Note: barley will obsorb a good amount of the water. Throughout, add salt and pepper, to taste.

Once soup is cooked, remove turkey meat from bone. Add meat back to the soup.

*****************************************

Let me tell you about our next outing in Palm Springs...

We visited the Palm Springs Arial Tram:


You make your way up the world's largest rotating tram, going through 4 different climates. The 360 degree view was amazing.

As you get to the top of the mountain, the temperature drops a good 15 degrees Celcius.


With the recent rains in California, the mountain top got a whole pile of snow. This translated into about 3 feet (around 1 meter) of snow.


R and I walked through the snow trying to find a path on our map. Apparently there is a marked path up there. With some sort of building at the end of the path. Everyone was searching for this building.

Every turn you take is another beautiful picture.

Eventually, our shoes were wet enough to make our way back down.

That night, we went to Villagefest. Every Thursday evening, several blocks of Palm Canyon are blocked off for a street festival/market.

There were a lot of stands...A fair amount of repetition in products. Beautiful art that would never fit in a suitcase. Lots of jewellery, food, musicians, a tonne of dogs (not for sale) and some stands that simply entailed communicating with the community (Rabbis, Republicans, Democrats, police, baseball team, etc.).

I was hoping for more jarred or canned goods that could be easily transported. Not a tonne of variety in that department -- but, I was happy to find this stand:


Bistro Blends of Napa Valley carries a range of bistro oils, vingars, samplers, grill sauces and marinades. I bought a small bottle of their Barrel-Aged Heirloom Balsamic Vinegar. I'll have to make something with it soon. In fact, I think a Napa-themed meal is in order.

* No offense intended with the analogy -- just more observatory.

A Big Meal on December 25th

For some Jewish people, celebrating aspects of Christmas is a common occurance. Do a Google search on "Jews celebrating Christmas" and you'll find several debates on whether having a Christmas tree (or Hanukkah Bush) is acceptable. It's hard not to feel like you're missing out on something when everyone around you is preparing for Christmas.



Growing up, we celebrated Christmas because there have always been non-Jewish family members. Actually, we probably celebrated it more than a lot of Catholic families (we had all nine reindeer in our basement next to a manger scene, with so many presents that you couldn't even touch the tree) -- a slight glimpse into the insanity that is my family.

Nowadays, I go on a "we're Jewish and don't celebrate Christmas" soapbox starting about 1 month before Christmas. Inevitably, I still get "Hanukkah presents" on Christmas. It's a losing battle.

Never ones to miss out an opportunity to cook way too much food, here's the feast we had at Giz's place.

Spinach Dip

(the recipe toward the bottom of the post)

Yorkshire Pudding

Turkey


Stuffing


Salad


Potatoes

Challah

Cabbage Rolls

Brussel Sprouts

Giz will tell you about the desserts -- there were just as many selections of desserts as mains and sides combined. It's a good thing there were 7 of us The seven of us combined hardly made a dent in the food.

Garlic Roasted Turkey Breast

I posted recently about my short trip to Niagara Falls and a visit to Anna Olson's Ravine Restaurant. I also mentioned that I picked up a cookbook that Anna generously signed for me. Do check out Anna and Michael Olson Cook at Home So far I'm loving this cookbook. It's a compilation of recipes that you may or may not see in a restaurant setting but focuses more on the food that Anna and Michael would cook at home. What's the difference? So far most of what I've seen is lower fat without losing flavour.

I decided to try their Garlic Roasted Turkey Breast, a recipe I found to be really no fuss, a 10 minute prep and really delicious.


Ingredients

2 cups shallots, peeled
6 cloves garlic
2 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil
3 springs fresh thyme (I used sage)
1 3lb turkey breast
coarse salt and black pepper
1/4 cup balsamic vinegar

Preheat oven to 325 F. Toss shallots and garlic with olive oil and spread over the bottom of a roasting pan or baking dish.


Arrange thyme over shallots and place turkey breast on top. Rub turkey with butter and season with salt and pepper.

Roast turkey until juices run clear and an internal temperature of at least 175F is reached
Remove turkey from pan and keep warm. Skim excess fat off shallots and place pan over medium heat.

Add balsamic vinegar and cook, stirring shallots, until vinegar is absorbed. Serve turkey slice with sauce spooned on top.

Stuffed Turkey Scallopini

Today was one of those "do I order a pizza or do I actually cook something" kinda days. I've been hobbling around on a pair of crutches for the past week and haven't really felt like doing much in the kitchen. Oh, it's nothing particularly serious - I got out of the car, tore a ligament and am learning to hop on one foot pretty well. It's probably more annoying than anything but not one to be kept down I decided I would give an old recipe a whirl.

This recipe is extremely versatile and can be put together pretty quickly and never disappoints.

Ingredients:

3 turkey pieces (scallopini if you can get them)
1 heaping tbsp minced garlic
1 heaping tbsp dijon mustard
fresh thyme
kosher salt and pepper to taste
1/2 cup seasoned breadcrumbs
1/4 cup parmesan cheese
2 tbsp olive oil
6 asparagus spears cut to fit
6 thin slices cheese (I used mozarella but swiss would be even better)

Process:



1. If you're using turkey breast pieces as I did, you'll have to butterfly them to flatten them out.



2. Mix together garlic, dijon mustard, fresh thyme and olive oil to make a paste



3. Smear (specific culinary term) one side of turkey breast, add a little kosher salt and pepper



4. Place cheese and asparagus spears in centre and roll up scallopini



5. Smear outside with garlic, mustard, olive oil paste and add more pepper
6. Roll in bread crumb and parmesan cheese combination



7. Put a splash of olive oil in oven pan
8. Add stuffed scallopini and bake uncovered at 375 for approx 30 minutes or until golden brown. If browning too quickly, reduce heat to 350.



9. Serve with heavenly salad - so good

I am a Daffodil What Flower Are You?

Turkey Roulade

I've gotta admit, I've been avoiding this post for a while. It has been overwhelming me. But the results are just too good to not share.

I'm not sure who to give credit to (or blame), but we came up with a turkey roulade for a family dinner of 10. The idea was let's do something we haven't done before. Our adventure began at the city's largest indoor fresh market. Note to self - do not under any circumstances, go to a fresh market on a Saturday afternoon the day before a major religious holiday.

This recipe comes from Wish Magazine online . It has a great variety of fun and interesting recipes for entertaining.

First, the stuffing:

Shitake Mushroom & Swiss Chard Stuffing
(we doubled this recipe)

2 1/2 cups sliced shitake mushrooms
2 tbsp olive oil
2 tbsp finely chopped shallots
1 tbsp finely chopped garlic
1/4 cup sherry
2 tsp salt
1 tsp pepper
1/2 cup saueed Swiss chard, chopped
3/4 cup 35% cream
1/4 cup chopped fresh chives
1 lemon, zested

Zest the lemon, chop the shallots garlic and chives:



In a saute pan, cook mushrooms in olive oil for 2-3 minutes over medium-high heat. Add shallots, garlic, 1 tsp salt and 1/2 tsp pepper and cook for another 2 minutes. Deglaze with sherry and remove from pan and let cool.



Then chop and saute the Swiss chard:





If you have turkey tenderloins that you've cut away from the breasts of the turkey, place them into food processor and pulse with cream and remaining salt and pepper. Blend Swiss chard, mushrooms, garlic mixture, lemon zest in food processor. Pulse until well combined. Remove from food processor and mix in chopped chives.



Next comes the turkey...

The recipe calls for 2 turkey breasts, boneless, skin on (1 1/2 lbs each). But since we doubled the stuffing and didn't want anyone to go hungry, we just went with whatever the butcher said would serve 10 people. After getting home and taking a closer look at turkey once we got home, the doubts started. Will this really serve 10?



Maybe we should make another full turkey (yes, we had a backup bird defrosted). I decided I would just cut up the turkey and we would make a second roulade. Only problem is, I've never cut up a turkey. In fact, the idea of carving up an uncooked turkey has always grossed me out.

Never fear. I'm sure youtube will show me how to cut up a turkey. I could only find this video:



So...the battle began. Psychgrad vs. The Butterball

In one corner...weighing 15 pounds in multi-coloured packaging.....BUTTERBALL TURKEY! In the other corner...weighing...more than 15 pounds. Dressed in black with a vest from MEC....Psychgrad!



First came the wings. Easy enough.



Removing the breasts was easy, although I didn't succeed in removing the breasts as a whole. I did get momentarily grossed out by what felt pretty similar to snot between the skin and the breast. As well as looking at the inside of the carcass.





Lastly, I removed the dark meat (thighs and legs). Success - Psychgrad 1, Butterball 0.

Next came the actual stuffing. First, a layer of crushed garlic.



Then the stuffing



Roll the turkey up and tie it with butcher's twine. Season with salt, pepper and your herbs of taste (we used thyme and rosemary). Drizzle breasts with a little olive oil. Although the recipe calls for using an oven proof saute pan, we opted to use an open roaster since we had a larger amount.

Preheat oven to 375 F. Roast until golden doneness or until internal temperature reads 165. Having a meat thermometer is a total life saver and a lifesaver especially when one isn't sure. Allow breasts to rest tented for 10 minutes before slicing.



The turkey came out great. Nice and juicy.





Among other dishes, we served potatoes.



Of note, we made way too much turkey.