Services Rendered

Its not so easy getting things done around the house when Trey is gone.  Especially things like replacing lightbulbs, figuring out what fuses control what, and remembering to take the garbage out before it crawls itself out of the bin.  So one of my friends from work generously offered to come change my lightbulbs for me.  Which required a ladder.  Which required first borrowing one, then trying to fit it in the car.  Then it required that we figure out which breaker went to which light, not labeled well of course, because somehow the lightbulb broke in the fixture and the whole light wouldn't work.  Of course it was also dark by then so a flashlight was needed to complete the bulb replacement.  And through all this I had to take care of Charlotte, feed her, bathe her, and put her to bed.  Needless to say I didn't spend a huge amount of time on dinner.  But.....

Services rendered definitely deserve proper payment.  So I did fried turkey (because the BIO store didn't have the right cuts of chicken) in a maple dijon sauce, sweet potato fries, and Snickers brownies that I had actually made on Sunday.  The whole meal was actually a success.  Except for the fries, which were soggy and oily.  Very disappointing.  But the turkey was perfectly cooked and I was especially proud of the sauce which was sweet and tangy and spicy.

This definitely deserves a recipe.  But I'm a little tired tonight, so I'm going to go to bed and add the recipe later.....

Oh, and remind me to add the fried turkey recipe.  I used crushed pretzels on the outside and the breading turned out really crispy and tasty.

Ok, here's the recipe for the Turkey and the Sauce (no sweet potato fries, they were a disaster.  See, they were so much of a disaster that I'm not even capitalizing them.  Shame through punctuation......)

Fried Turkey:
3 Turkey Breast Tenders, cut into 3in pieces
1C Flour
2t Chili (no, not Cayanne, Chili, its smoked)
2t Smoked Paprika
2t Cumin
2 Eggs
2C Crushed Pretzels
1C Oil, low smoke point such as vegetable oil or other frying oil

Pour oil into wide, heavy bottomed pan.  Mix flour and spices.  Toss turkey in flour mixture.  Dredge turkey in egg.  Toss turkey in crushed pretzels.  Fry turkey pieces in oil, about 6min per side, until golden brown.  Let dry on paper towels.

Maple Dijon Sauce:
1/2C Maple Syrup
3-4T Dijon Mustard
2-3T White Wine Vinegar
2-3T Chili Sauce

Mix thoroughly.  Adjust amounts to fit taste.  Chili Sauce is hot, start low and add more as you like it.

Serve by pouring Maple Dijon sauce over Fried Turkey while apologizing profusely for the other failures while your guest ignores your ramblings and tells you how perfect your fried turkey and sauce is.  How inventive, etc. and what a great cook you are.  Protest for a little bit, then soak in the compliments and drink more wine.

Sandwiches

My dream is a sandwich shop.  I know, that's not really very feminine.  Especially the way I envision it.  But I think it could be really good.  My vision is an upscale sandwich shop that has some high end stuff, but at the same time does big meaty sandwiches for big construction worker types.  Because those are the guys that sandwiches are made for.  While I'm all for the dressings and veggies on a sandwich, I'm well aware that the main part of a sandwich is the meat.  The bread is just to keep your hands from getting too dirty...... or bloody depending on the type of sandwich.  So my first sandwich idea is below:

Bloody Brilliant
Kaiser Roll (toasted)
Horseradish sauce
Medium Rare tenderloin slices
Au jus sauce (slightly thicker than just the watery stuff), on the side
Herb Butter, on the side

I know, Bloody Brilliant is a little much....  But for anyone that like a rare to medium rare steak, good one of course, I think this would appeal.

Of course we would also have The Dino....  A rack of ribs, smoked, with a piece of bread on either side.  i guess that doesn't really qualify as a sandwich, but I thought it would be kind of cute.

Others I'm thinking of:

The Hangover Helper:
Sausage
Fried Egg
Cheese Sauce
Bacon
On a Biscuit
Side of Bloody Mary Mix

Seven Deadly Sins (served on a plate made of Playboy covers)
I'll have just a little bread with my meat
California Hippy
American On a Bun (Turkey, Ham, Apples, Cheddar, Onions, Mayo, etc.  Recipe to come later)

I'll think of others.  Not sure I'll ever make it to that sandwich shop, but I like to think of the possibilities. As Charlotte has been in bed for about an hour, its time for me to go to bed too.  When the baby sleeps I at least try to sleep.  And dream of sandwiches......

The little things

I'm not exactly able to cook as much as I would like.  So nothing good to report.....  But I did get to eat the best potato dish I've ever had.  It was done by Migle, with some sort of specialized Lithuanian potato grater.  It was fluffy, and rich, and utterly amazing.  Of course having butter, onions, and bacon in it, then covering it with sour cream helped :)  I think I ate a couple kilos of it.

I don't have anything good that I've cooked, but I do have a couple failures to report.  One was just plain silly.  In making dinner for me and friend I used 4 pans and burned things in the bottom of 2!  That's right, half of the dishes were major disasters....  And it was just fajitas!  Major disaster.  It turned out ok in the end, but not great.  Velveeta cheese dip is always a winner.  Pour it over anything and it tastes good.  So that salvaged things.  But the chicken was too fruity, I didn't have enough peppers, I burned the bacon the first time around, and somehow managed to burn the cheese dip the first time too.  Well, you can't win em all.

Charlotte is decidedly not a fan of my homemade baby food.  I think I'm not even going to keep trying until she can eat food more like real people food.....

Since writing the above I made crepes for breakfast and she loved them!  I put apricot puree on hers and she ate 2.  I feel much more like a success.

Well, my coffee has gotten cold, we've been through one nap, two breakfasts, and a very difficult nose suctioning.  So now I'm going to try to rewarm coffee and catch up on my cooking magazines for the couple minutes that she is entertained by putting play eggs into the ball machine.