Talk About Cheesy

I stumbled on an intriguing recipe recently, always a happy occurrence.  Entitled Baked Fontina, it appeared to be a close cousin to Fondue, an easy-enough dish we routinely enjoy putting together and savouring.  This was easier, and involved cheese we had not previously used; cut cheese in chunks, drizzle with OO, season with thyme, rosemary, garlic, pepper, and salt, and broil for 6 to 8 minutes.

And it turned out to be just about that easy, to boot.

Delectable stuff, not quite as drippy/runny and easy to retrieve with your bread-bit as proper fondue is.  But the payback is that this includes crusty browned cheese bits!  Remember them?

Recommended.  This is from Ina Garten's Barefoot Contessa - How Easy Is That?

Turkey Essence

As is our routine, we did the figurative over-the-river-and-through-the-woods thing for Thanksgiving, meeting up with my in-laws as well as my mother and sister at in-law grandma's house for the big meal.  Okay, no sleigh-rides involved - though snow, ice, and slush were present.  This was after having joined most of the same group in a dank AM walk followed by coffee-with-additives and coffeecake (indoors for the first time).

We enjoyed a pretty classic set of Turkey Day dishes, with enough left over for Friday.  On that occasion, I was drafted to take care of the carcass.  I have some experience at this, as an enthusiast for minimizing waste.  Besides salvaging odd bits of flesh, there is the chance to make stock.  I believe I served grandma's turkey carcass well - I was certainly greasy almost to the elbows by the end.  I heard second-hand that she was happily making turkey soup over the weekend.  Would that I could sample it!

In the meantime, we roasted a small turkey breast ourselves.  That fed us two dinners and at least one lunch, coupled with roasted veggies.  But this post is here because of the wonderful scent of simmering turkey remains out there in the kitchen.  Stock!

I hope you had a good Thanksgiving.