Anything_but_liver

The Sahara restaurant has the fantastic fattoush. Pita Cafe, also in Oak Park on Greenfield and the 696 service drive has really good lentil soup, fresh baked pitas and chicken schwarma. The Chaldean market next to the Sahara has homemade laban that's decadent and the little breads they make - 4 for a dollar are addictive.

Maybe I don't get out very much but I found the following recipe suggestions for leftover Turkey Day food pretty funny and original. Recipes courtesy of my husband's employer, Nino Salvaggio. RECIPES: “The Day After” Thanksgiving COSMO Smoothie “Crispy Creamy” Potato Cakes with Corn Turkey French Toast Turkey, Stuffing & Corn Croquettes Turkey, Green Bean & Mushroom Strudel Sweet Potato/Candied Yam Bisque ==================================== “The Day After” Thanksgiving COSMO Smoothie INGREDIENTS: 1 cup Ice 1/2 cup Cranberry Sauce / Any Kind 1 1/2 oz. Vodka 1/2 oz. Grand Marnier or (Triple Sec) 1 Lemon Twist =================== DIRECTIONS: 1. Place all ingredients in a blender and blend on highest speed until smooth. Pour into a chilled glass. Garnish with a lemon twist. 2. Finish cleaning up the house and storing left overs. SERVING INFO: Yields approximately 1- 12 ounce drink ============================= Turkey, Stuffing & Corn Croquettes INGREDIENTS: Don’t let the name “croquettes” scare you, this is not some difficult “French” recipe. In the end, you’re making fancy “Tater-Tots”, nothing more, nothing less. The real appeal of this recipe is that you can make them well in advance, freeze them, and cook them up anytime you have a craving for the flavor of “Thanksgiving” which you’ll discover in each bite of this delicious recipe. 2 cups Sage Bread Stuffing 1 Cup Cooked Turkey, cut in ½ inch pieces 1/2 cup Cooked Corn Kernels 1/4 cup Turkey Gravy 2 Eggs, beaten 3 to 4 cups Bread Crumbs, Fresh or Dry 1 cup Flour 1 Egg 1/2 cup Milk 2 Tbsp. Butter DIRECTIONS: 1. In a mixing bowl, combine bread stuffing, cooked turkey, corn, gravy and eggs. Stir and fold gently so as not to make a gluey paste. 2. Once ingredients are combined. Portion into 3 inch diameter patties approximately 1 inch thick on waxed paper or plastic wrap. 3. Freeze patties over night or for at least 2 to 3 hours to firm. 4. In a bowl, beat milk and egg together to make an egg wash. 5. In 2 other separate bowls, have (1), the flour, which you may season with salt and pepper, and (2) the bread crumbs. You now have 3 separate bowls. One with egg wash, one with flour, and another with bread crumbs. 6. Bread the frozen patties by first coating with flour, then soaking in the milk & egg wash, then dredging (coating) with the bread crumbs. 7. Heat a skillet / fry pan with the butter and sauté the patties until golden brown on both sides. Place the patties on a cookie sheet and place in a pre-heated 400 F oven for 10 to 15 minutes or until heated through. ==================== Turkey, Green Bean & Mushroom Strudel INGREDIENTS: 3 cups Turkey Meat, Cooked, Cut in ½ inch pieces 1 cup Bread Stuffing 2 cups Green Bean & Mushroom Casserole 8 sheets (10" x 15" size) Phyllo Dough 2 sticks Butter, melted DIRECTIONS: 1. In a mixing bowl, combine turkey, bread stuffing and green bean casserole mixture. 2. On a flat, clean surface or cutting board, layer 4 sheets of phyllo dough, brushing each layer with melted butter before placing the next layer on top. 3. After 4 sheets of buttered phyllo layers have been created, portion ½ of the turkey mixture or approximately 3 cups of mixture in a pipe like shape, 8 inches long on top of the 10 inch width end of the phyllo layers, leaving approximately 1 to 1 ½ inches of space at each side of the turkey mix. 4. Roll phyllo forward, creating a log shape, tucking the ends in as you roll the log forward. 5. In the end, the turkey mixture should be fully encased in phyllo and the log shape, closed at each end. 6. Place the strudel “log” on a buttered cookie sheet and place in a pre-heated 400 F oven for approximately 20 to 30 minutes or until medium brown and heated through. Remove from the oven. Allow to rest 10 minutes. SERVING INFO: Yields Approximately 2 - 8 inch Strudels or 6 to 8 Servings GREAT WITH: Slice and serve with Turkey Gravy. ============= Turkey French Toast INGREDIENTS: 2 cups Bread Stuffing 2 cups Cooked Turkey, Cut in ½ inch pieces 1 cup Milk 2 Eggs, Beaten Salt & Pepper To Taste EGG BATTER 4 Eggs, Beaten 1/2 cup Milk 1/4 cup Flour, All Purpose 2 Tbsp. Butter DIRECTIONS: 1. Line a standard, 9” x 4” bread loaf pan with either the paper wrappers from sticks of butter or margarine (Butter side facing outward) or spray pan with non-stick vegetable spray. 2. In a mixing bowl, combine stuffing, turkey, eggs, milk and seasoning and pour mixture into prepared loaf pan. 3. Pre-heat oven to 350 F and place loaf in a casserole dish. Pour water into base of casserole dish to create a ¼ inch depth water bath. Place pan into the oven, uncovered. 4. Bake until custard is firm. (Approximately 45 to 60 minutes). Remove pan from the oven and cool. 5. Carefully turn loaf out of the pan and cut into 1 inch thick slices. 6. Make egg batter by beating together eggs, milk and flour. 7. Pre-heat oven to 400 F. 8. Heat butter in sauté pan or skillet over medium heat. Dip slices of Turkey Loaf in egg batter and place in the skillet. Fry on both sides until medium brown. 9. Place pan fried slices on baking sheet and place in the oven 10 to 15 minutes or until thoroughly heated through. Serve. SERVING INFO: Yields Approximately 8 – 1 Inch Slices or 4 Portions =============== Sweet Potato/Candied Yam Bisque INGREDIENTS: 2 cups Cooked Sweet Potato / Candied Yams 2 cups Chicken Broth or Stock 1 cup Heavy Cream Salt & Pepper To Taste 1 cup Bread Stuffing 24 Sage Leaves, Fresh 1/2 cup Vegetable Oil DIRECTIONS: 1. Starting with cold ingredients, puree in a blender, cooked sweet potato/candied yam, chicken broth/stock and cream. 2. Strain pureed mixture in to a medium sauce pan and bring up to a slow simmer, stirring often. 3. Adjust thickness to your preference with chicken broth and season with salt and pepper to taste. (Keep warm for service). 4. Heat a small sauce pan with the oil until 350 F or just before smoking. Add fresh sage leaves and toss in the hot oil until all the steam has been released and the sage leaves are crispy (About 30 seconds). Remove the crispy leaves with a slotted spoon or wire skimmer and drain on absorbent paper towel. Reserve for later garnishment. 5. Heat bread stuffing in a microwave container and portion a ¼ cup of the hot stuffing in the center of a soup bowl. 6. Portion one cup of the hot soup in the bowl around the perimeter of the centered stuffing portion. 7. Sprinkle the crisp fried sage leaves on top of the soup. Serve. SERVING INFO: Yield 5 cups or 4 portions ============= “Crispy Creamy” Potato Cakes with Corn INGREDIENTS: 4 cups Chilled, Mashed Potatoes 1 cup Cooked, Corn Kernels 3 Egg Yolks Salt & Pepper To Taste 3 cups Idaho Potato, Raw, Peeled, Shredded or fine Julienne 1/4 to 1/2 Cup Vegetable Oil (For pan Frying) DIRECTIONS: 1. In a mixing bowl, combine mashed potatoes, corn, egg yolks and season with salt & pepper. 2. On a clean surface, arrange a 3 inch diameter, ¼ inch thick portion, of shredded or julienne raw potato. 3. Portion approximately ¼ cup of mashed potato on top of the raw potato and fashion into a round disk like shape, approximately one inch thick. 4. Nest another 3 inch diameter of raw potatoes on top of this cake to create a “sandwich” of raw potato, mashed potato and raw potato. 5. Repeat with the remainder of the potato products. 6. Heat a skillet or fry pan over medium heat, with the vegetable oil. 7. Pan fry the potato cakes each side until medium brown and crispy. The mashed potato in the middle should be fully re-heated. 8. Drain each cake on absorbent paper towel, Season with salt and serve warm. SERVING INFO: Yields Approximately 8 servings

Ah. Family dysfunction. For as much love as she lavished on Miles did you notice that Miles' mother did not even place the cheap bouquet of flowers in a vase? As the boys were leaving, the camera pans to her passed out on the couch and the flowers still wrapped, left lonely on top of the side-board, in that weird celophane one gets flowers purchased in grocery stores. Sort of says a lot about how much she appreciated the gift. And how surprised was she to see him on her birthday? Sort of says a lot about their ongoing relationship. Miles had one thought in mind when he suggested visiting his mom - to steal from her and to get the heck out of there. And in order to steal from her he had to wait for just the right moment and that meant that he had to lie to Jack as well. That whole section of the film was ugly in terms of Miles' character development and I'm not sure what message it was meant to convey. All-in-all, I really enjoyed the movie. On the bright side, I know a lot of wine geeks without VinoTemps, so don't hold that against anyone .

One of my favorite cookbooks, published in '86, is called Fancy Pantry by Helen Witty. It is full of "put-by elegant edibles" including many mustards, ketchups - mushroom and otherwise, mushroom essence, vinegars, nectars, fromage blanc, tapanades, potted hams, etc. etc. The book has been long out of print but it's available used at Amazon for $6. It really is a nice book.

My husband and I shop at Costco every week. Sometimes twice a week. We like Half and Half in our coffee and Costco sells half gallons for the same price as a quart elsewhere so that's really the main reason why we shop there every week. Well, we also like trolling for samples and most don't suck. Anyway, last night I grilled up one of those Costco pre-cooked ducks. They are quite good and a handy piece of meat to have in your frig when you don't feel like doing a lot of cooking. The carcass makes a decent stock too. With the exception of the cinnamon stick, all the ingredients in this dish were purchased at Costco. The food: Grilled Duck Fragrant jasmine rice Grilled asparagus Pan roasted pine nuts Sauteed porcini and portobello mushrooms Roasted red peppers I sauteed an onion in EVOO and added one cup of rice aand a handfull of white raisins. I cooked that for a 2 minutes then added 1 1/2 C stock and a 1/4 C OJ, an inch cinnamon stick, the zest of a lemon and the peel of a tangerine. This simmered for 15 while I grilled up (reheated) the duck and aspargus. Earlier in the day I hydrated the porcini, sliced the portobellos and sauteed both finishing it off with a red wine reduction. I also pan roasted the pine nuts and red peppers and set all three aside to be plated when the time came. The dish was paired with a 1999 Elk Cove Vineyards Roosevelt Pinot Noir. Tonight, we're grilling a Costco flank steak, zucchini and marinated whole portobellos. I'll serve with some caramelized onions and a fresh tomato salad.

Ok. I'm in. The Detroit contingent