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Another week of late afternoon into the night shift. What to make that hubby can reheat? Unstuffed cabbage roll casserole! 

Penzeys Spices has stores located throughout the country, but unfortunately, none here in New York New Jersey metropolitan area. I have ordered from them online and find their products excellent. Besides spices in their catalog, they have stories of home cooks and their recipes. The unstuffed cabbage  is one of those recipes. It's a one pan meal...what's not to love. A little rye bread on the side and you're done. Stuffed cabbage without all the fuss!

Also, Thanksgiving prep continues. I've decided to make Brussels sprouts with pancetta. It's a recipe from Amanda Hesser, whose recipe appeared in the October 26th section of the NY Times section, "A Classic Thanksgiving." I've blanched the Brussels sprouts and will freeze until next week. You can purchase diced pancetta at Wegmans in their deli department. 

I also wanted to make Brussels sprouts so that I can turn the leftovers into Thanksgiving Leftovers Paninis. It's a recipe I found in the Williams-Sonoma catalog one fall. Unfortunately, they don't make the cranberry fig chutney. I suggest trying mixing cranberry sauce with fig jam or perhaps just cranberry sauce alone. 

Brussels Sprouts With Pancetta
Recipe from Suzanne Goin
Adapted by Amanda Hesser
Featured in: Thanksgiving Dinner, With 12 Chefs On The Side


Time: 30 minutes
Yield: 6 to 8 servings
INGREDIENTS
1 ½ cups fresh bread crumbs
2 teaspoons thyme leaves
6 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
4 tablespoons unsalted butter
2 pounds baby brussels sprouts, washed and trimmed (cut larger ones in two)
Salt and pepper
6 ounces pancetta in small dice (1 1/2 cups)
3 tablespoons minced shallots
1 tablespoon minced garlic
½ cup balsamic vinegar
½ cup veal stock or rich chicken broth, more if needed
2 tablespoons chopped parsley

PREPARATION
  1. Heat oven to 350 degrees. In a bowl, mix bread crumbs and thyme with 1/4 cup olive oil, and spread on a cookie sheet. Toast, tossing frequently, until golden brown, 10 to 12 minutes.
  2. Heat butter and remaining olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat until foamy. Add brussels sprouts, sprinkle with salt and pepper, and sauté, tossing frequently, until lightly browned, about 5 minutes. Add diced pancetta, and sauté, tossing frequently, until sprouts are well browned and softened slightly, and pancetta is crisp, about 10 minutes more. Reduce heat, add shallots and garlic, and sauté until fragrant, 2 minutes.
  3. Increase heat to high, add balsamic vinegar and stock, and cook, tossing frequently, until sprouts are glazed and tender, about 10 minutes; add more stock if needed. Taste, adjusting seasoning if necessary, and sprinkle with chopped parsley. Transfer to a warm serving bowl and scatter bread crumbs on top.
Unstuffed Cabbage Rolls
Recipe from Penzeys Spices catalog
Prep: 10 minutes
Cook: 45 minutes
Servings: 6

Ingredients
1 lb. ground beef
1 cup onion chopped
8 cups cabbage cut into 1 inch wide strips (1/2 of a 3 pound head)
½ cup water
1 – 28 oz. can crushed tomatoes
1 tablespoon brown sugar
1 tablespoon white vinegar
½ tsp. salt
1-1/2 tsp. whole caraway seed
1 tsp. granulated garlic

Directions

​In a large skillet, brown the meat and drain off grease.Add the onion and cook about 3 minutes. Add the cabbage and water cook about 5 minutes. Add the tomatoes, brown sugar, vinegar, salt, caraway, and garlic. Bring to a boil reduce heat and simmer until cabbage is tender about 30 minutes. Serve with white rice.
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As I didn't have to work this past Saturday, I was able to prepare my Thanksgiving day dessert. In an earlier post I told you that I would be prepare pumpkin cheesecake crumble squares. I followed the recipe, except this time I added a 1/2 teaspoon of cinnamon to the crumble mix. Why you make ask, on its own the crumble mix is delicious. I  thought that this would be great as a granola mix. I wanted to accentuate the cinnamon flavor. The addition was great, the cinnamon wasn't too overbearing. Now I just need time to make the granola. 
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Working the last shift at work is a challenge. You barely get your day going and bam, you're making supper at 11:30 in the morning! Yesterday I needed an effortless meal following a workout at the gym. Early in the week I purchased a family pack of pork tenderloins at Wegmans for under $3/lb. The family pack is twin pack with two tenderloins in each. Pork tenderloins are very versatile. I dug into my recipe file for Pork Tenderloins and Apples. The recipe is from an article in the New York Times, "A Way to Tastier Pork: Less Time and More Heat," by Barbara Kafka, published on October 29, 1997.

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Today I go into work midday through early evening. What to cook that can be prepared ahead and easily heated up by my husband? Joy Philbin's pasta with chicken and broccoli. This recipe appeared in Good Housekeeping Magazine back in 1993. Since it was originally published in 1993, I noticed that the recipe has been updated a bit. I haven't made it in awhile, so I thought it would be good for today's do ahead supper. It's one pan for the chicken and broccoli and a pot for the pasta.
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Thanksgiving is two weeks away and I've begun planning my dinner. My daughter will spend the holiday with her husband's family as will my son who will spend the holiday with his future in-laws. With just my husband and I home alone, I'll still make a Thanksgiving dinner for the two of us.

As I don't know my work schedule yet for Thanksgiving week, I already started my holiday food shopping. On the menu is Butternut Squash-Apple Soup, Great Grandma Freid's turkey dressing, hotel style turkey breast, sweet potatoes (I'm not sure on the preparation for those yet) and perhaps some Brussel sprouts. For dessert, pumpkin cheesecake crumble squares.
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Today my husband and I were invited to a turkey fry at my daughter's brother-in-law and sister-in-law's house Thanks to social media, I know that this is the tenth year of their turkey fry. Co-workers, family, friends, friends of friends, extended family members and surprise guest show up each year.

Last evening our host began brining four turkeys that he keeps chilled in four coolers. He told me that his brine mixture consists of water, sugar, some salt, low sodium soy sauce and a bay leaf.

He also injects his turkeys with his own hot sauce creation. The hot sauce ingredients include teriyaki sauce, lime juice, hot sauce and ground black pepper. I didn't see a measuring cup or measuring spoons, so it's safe to say that after all these years he has the proportions down pat. Also, he's discovered the spots on the turkey where the injection works bests. He fries the turkey
​3-1/2 minutes per pound. Today, he was frying four 20 pound birds. I must say the meat was moist and tasty. I had one piece where the hot sauce was concentrated in one spot of the meat.


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I'm off from work today, so I decided to whip up a batch of pumpkin cranberry bread. I found this recipe in issue of Gourmet Magazine in November 1996. It's a quick making recipe, but instead of baking it in a loaf pan, I decided to make a dozen muffins instead. I baked the muffins for approximately 30-35 minutes at 350°. This recipe will make a great addition to your holiday table. Can you make them ahead and freeze for the holiday. 
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As my husband and I don't eat much red meat, I like to find recipes that emulate beef. One of those items is a boneless turkey tenderloin, which for some reason reminds me of London broil. I found this recipe on a package Shady Brook Farms Breast Tenderloins. However, I purchase boneless turkey breasts at Wegmans for $5.49/lb. 
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there were pressure cookers. My mother made her gravy (what non-Italians call tomato sauce) in a pressure cooker. She also made beef stew using a can of Veg-All. About five years ago, I purchased a Fagor pressure cooker from Williams-Sonoma. I searched their website for a recipe for beef stew. What I found was a recipe for 20-Minute Beef Stew. ​It made for a great supper the other night as I could make it ahead and my husband only had to reheat it.
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What a beautiful Wednesday! I went to the gym this morning to stretch out my back. Luckily I'm not working today and can take advantage of some "me time."  

Every once in a while, I like to have pancakes. It's not something I normally make when I get up, which can be between 5 and 5:30 a.m. So today, after the gym, I thought I would make some pumpkin walnut flapjacks. I came across this recipe on the website Epicurious.com, which stores recipes from Gourmet Magazine, Buon Appétit and other sources. This recipe appeared in the October 2003 issue of Buon Appétit magazine. It most likely came from their column where readers request recipes from restaurants, bakeries etc. This recipe is from Mirror Lake Inn in Lake Placid, NY.


​meet donna

A former teacher, shop-a-holic, empty-nester redefining quick, family approved dinners.

​If you have questions or comments, click on the envelope icon above to contact me directly. 

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