Thanksgiving is fast approaching but you’re not a big fan of turkey so you need an alternative to the traditional cholesterol laden feast. Forget the turkey, the gravy, lumpy mashed potatoes and green bean casserole with cream of mushroom soup. Instead enjoy pan-seared duck breasts with a Cajun mustard sauce. Serve with apple-cornbread “stuffing,” and sautéed green beans and peppers.
Thanksgiving for Two Part 1: Turkey with Chipotle Gravy
Downsize the Thanksgiving feast. You don’t need a 24-pound bird for two people. A stuffed turkey breast works just fine. Especially when served with sautéed sugar snap peas, roasted potatoes, chipotle gravy and cranberry-horseradish relish. This is the first in my recipe trilogy for a great scaled-down turkey day. Check back on Burn! Blog for the next two installments.
Spicy Fish & Chips
For this spin on traditional fish and chips I added a bit of cayenne and chipotle to give the fish and chips a layer of sweet heat. The fried fish would also make great fish tacos.
Burning Sensation: Crab Cakes With An Attitude
Crab cakes – a variation on New England’s fish cakes made with cod or pollock – are popular along the coast of the Mid-Atlantic States, the Gulf Coast, the Pacific Northwest and Northern California, where the crabbing industry flourishes. Along the East Coast, blue crab is traditional while on the left coast Dungeness crab is commonly used. (A lot of crab is now imported from the Far East and Venezuela. Try to find local crab whenever possible. True Maryland crab will be labeled with MD and three digits to identify the harvester.)
Cool Coasters From PopsQtool
I’ve written about the multi-function six-in-one grilling tool from PopsQtool. For $50 you get everything you need…a spatula, fork, knife, grate cleaner, tong and bottle opener. I have one and use it all the time. But what’s really neat is the company also makes laser cut coasters that can be adorned with your BBQ team logo or whatever you’d like on them (aside from sports team logos).
Shucking Shellfish
There’s an upcoming post about grilling seafood… lobsters, oysters, scallops and clams. But before they can be grilled, the shellfish needs to be opened. Here’s the way I shuck clams, oysters and scallops.
Tappecue Chamber Probe
Tappecue, a Wi-Fi based temperature monitoring system that includes four different temperature probes for tracking different meats on the smoker, has added a chamber probe to its arsenal of cooking accessories.
