Dinner Tonight: "I hab a code" edition

Over here at the Messy kitchen we're suffering from a bout of winter colds in the middle of the Christmas performance season. Lovely.

In an attempt to seem like I really have things together (It's a lie, I don't), I'm launching a new series of "Dinner Tonight" posts. I'll be linking to simple recipes and posting a few tips and tricks of my own to show what we eat on a regular basis when we're not dolling the food up all pretty for a blog post.

So, without further ado... what we had for dinner!

The soup is Tortellini in Brodo from the Tasty Kitchen archives... a yummy, quick, and filling alternative to a from-scratch chicken-noodle soup. For veggies, we had a simple cabbage salad, as we were out of lettuce.

Approximate Coleslaw

Ingredients:

• 1/4 head of cabbage
• 1 carrot
• 1-2 stalks celery
• 1/4 medium onion
• few sprigs fresh parsley, minced
• small clove garlic, minced
• drizzle olive oil
• splash red wine vinegar
• large-ish spoonful mayonnaise
• black pepper, oregano, and other spices to taste

Instructions:

Thinly slice the cabbage, celery, and onion. Grate the carrot with the large side of a cheese grater. In a medium bowl, combine the cabbage, celery, carrot, onion, garlic, and parsley. Drizzle with olive oil and vinegar and toss to coat. Add a spoonful of mayonnaise and stir until everything is evenly coated. Season with spices as desired.

Nogging!

Well, not really. According to dictionary.com, nogging is "masonry, as bricks, used to fill the spaces between studs or other framing members."
...So not anything like nogging at all. A bit like egg nog though... without the eggs. In my book, that just makes it nog. The dictionary, of course, disagrees with me, and says that nog either contains eggs or is beer. This drink fits neither of those descriptions, but I assure you that it's mighty tasty anyway.


Eggless Nog with White Chocolate
(Printable here)

Ingredients:

• 1 Tablespoon Cream
• 1 Tablespoon Maple Syrup
• 1 teaspoon Cornstarch
• ¼ cups High-quality White Chocolate Chips
• 1 dash Nutmeg
• 1-½ cup Milk

Instructions:

In a large mug, combine cream, maple syrup, and cornstarch, stirring to combine. When the mixture is smooth, add the white chocolate chips. Microwave on high for 15 second increments (stirring between each increment) until the white chocolate chips have softened. Stir until smooth. Add the nutmeg and then stir in milk, a bit at a time, until the mug is as full as you like – mine holds about a cup and a half.

Microwave on high for 2 minutes or until it’s heated to your liking. Garnish with whipped cream and more nutmeg, if desired. Consume immediately!

NOTES: Ingredients are given for one large mug. If you’re just making this for yourself or for you and a friend, the microwave is the way to go. If you’re making a larger batch, you will probably want to do this on the stove. The basic instructions are the same, just combine the ingredients in an appropriately-sized pot instead of the individual mugs and be sure to whisk constantly.

Stuffing

It's almost Thanksgiving, which means it's just about time for wayward college students to travel home and eat dinner with their families again for a few days.
Over the next few days, I'll be posting a series of Thanksgiving recipes. Today, it's stuffing. Or dressing. Whatever you want to call it. This recipe is adapted from my dad's (rather vague) instructions for the stuffing he makes for Thanksgiving and Christmas every year.

This year, I felt like it would be silly to limit thankfulness just to my immediate family. On Sunday night, I decided to invite over a few good friends and test drive some of my standard Thanksgiving staples.

Stuffing incorporates many of the best aspects of the holiday season: It's aromatic and warm, has the perfect balance between chewy and crunchy, and is entirely comforting. And, amazingly, it's relatively light in comparison to the majority of the gluttonous Thanksgiving feast.

And stuffing? I think it's too delicious to confine to just Thanksgiving and Christmas.


Simple Stuffing
(Printable here)

Ingredients:

• 1 loaf Whole Wheat Or French Bread, Cubed And Toasted (About 8 Cup Breadcrumbs)
• ½ whole Onion
• 2 cloves Garlic
• 3 stalks Celery
• 2 whole Carrots
• 8 ounces, weight White Mushrooms
• 1 Tablespoon Olive Oil
• 6 sprigs Fresh Parsley, Minced
• 1 teaspoon Dry Basil
• 2 teaspoons Thyme
• 2 teaspoons Oregano
• 2 teaspoons Sage
• ½ teaspoons Black Pepper To Taste
• ½ Tablespoons Butter
• 1-½ cup Turkey Broth

Instructions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees (F).

Mince the onion, garlic, and celery. Grate the carrots with a cheese grater. Chop the stems off the mushrooms and slice them thinly.

Heat the olive oil in a skillet and saute the vegetables until the onions are transparent and the mushrooms are cooked.

In a large bowl, combine breadcrumbs, vegetables, and spices. Add the butter (the heat of the vegetables will melt it) stir until combined. Continue stirring and add the broth, a bit at a time, until the breadcrumbs are well moistened but not saturated.

Oil or butter a 9×13 inch pan and pour in the stuffing. Cover the pan and cook at 350 degrees (F) for 30 minutes. If you prefer a slightly crunchier stuffing, you can uncover the pan for the last 5 minutes of cooking time

Hello World

Right. More where this came from and actual food blogger-y posts once I round up my partners in cooking.