Wednesday, May 6, 2020

Covid Cafe: Freezer Finds, Part 1--Stuffing From Last Thanksgiving

  
Are you lucky enough to have food in the freezer? Rob found a bag of his favorite stuffing and turned it into a meal. Tomorrow, Connie searches for muffin materials and strikes out-of-season gold in her freezer. And on Friday I discover a frozen ball of chicken livers and make Jacques Pepin's decadent, easy pate. 

Got a freezer story? Send it along...

Rob reports in: So I’m cleaning out the freezer in anticipation of a big chicken stock influx and I found some Grand Marnier, Apricot, and Sausage Stuffing in the bottom, leftover from Thanksgiving. The recipe's from the old Silver Palate Good Times cookbook.  Been making it since the late 80s.

How to serve?  Roast a chicken with a honey glaze, cook off some carrots with thyme and lemon, and the supper serves itself!
 


(Woo, I'll bet your kitchen smelled like heaven, or at least Thanksgiving.)

 Silver Palate Grand Marnier Apricot Stuffing
“A Thanksgiving stuffing laced with many of our favorite ingredients.”

1 cup diced dried apricots
1 ½ cups Grand Marnier
Turkey liver and heart
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter
2 cups coarsely chopped celery
1 large yellow onion, chopped
1 pound bulk pork sausage
1 pound herb stuffing mix
1 cup slivered almonds
2 cups chicken stock
½ teaspoon dried thyme
Salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste

1.    Place the apricots and 1 cup of the Grand Marnier in a small saucepan.  Heat to boiling.  Remove from the heat and set aside.  Simmer the turkey liver and heart in water to cover in a small saucepan for 5 minutes; set aside to cool.

2.    Melt ½ cup of the butter in a large skillet over medium heat.  Add the celery and onion and sauté for 10 minutes.  Transfer to a large mixing bowl.

3.    Cook the pork sausage in the same skillet, crumbling with a fork, until it is no longer pink.  Remove from the heat and add to the celery mixture.

4.    Add the stuffing mix, apricots with liquid, and almonds.  Finely dice the turkey livers and heart and add to the stuffing mixture.  Stir to combine.

5.    Heat the remaining ½ cup butter and the stock in a small saucepan just until the butter melts.  Pour over the stuffing mixture and add the remaining ½ cup Grand Marnier.  Stir well to moisten the stuffing.  Season with the thyme and salt and pepper to taste.

In a city of 20 million, our Mexico City correspondent Carolina 
walks alone through a park in her gracious Condesa neighborhood



First meal for us today, featuring color. Terry Wahls, MD, recommends three cups of color daily to support your body, but especially your retina. At 4 o'clock is a crustless quiche made with duck and chicken eggs, chicken, green onion, and cheese. Egg yolks are an excellent source of choline, another eye protector.
 

Poetry

Cherry blossoms


I went down to
mingle my breath
with the breath
of the cherry blossoms.

There were photographers:
Mothers arranging their
children against
gnarled old trees;
a couple, hugging,
asks a passerby
to snap them
like that,
so that their love
will always be caught
between two friendships:
ours & the friendship
of the cherry trees.

Oh Cherry,
why can't my poems
be as beautiful?


A young woman in a fur-trimmed
coat sets a card table
with linens, candles,
a picnic basket & wine.
A father tips
a boy's wheelchair back
so he can gaze
up at a branched
heaven.
                     All around us
the blossoms
flurry down
whispering,

        Be patient
you have an ancient beauty.

                                            Be patient,
                                  you have an ancient beauty.


We're cutting greens each morning for salads


Music
34 minutes of bliss
Getz/Gilberto is an album by American saxophonist Stan Getz and Brazilian guitarist João Gilberto, featuring pianist and composer Antônio Carlos Jobim (Tom Jobim), who also composed many of the tracks. It was released in March 1964 by Verve Records. The album features the vocals of Astrud Gilberto on two tracks, "Garota de Ipanema" ("The Girl from Ipanema") and "Corcovado"

Getz/Gilberto is considered the record that popularized bossa nova worldwide and was one of the best-selling jazz albums of all time. The album was also a commercial success, selling more than 2 million copies in 1964. It was included in Rolling Stone's and Vibe's lists of best albums of all time. 

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