I Love Thanksgiving!

It's almost Thanksgiving! Can you believe it? Thanksgiving is one of my favorite holidays--how about you? I think it's because it's all of the good without all of the bad.  Family, food (the food!!) time off work and school, the changing colors…….BUT, no huge focus on buying gifts and spending every last cent you have on unnecessary stuff, stuff, stuff.  (you don't do that? oh.)

 We've been home with our daughter for 3 whole weeks (I'll write more about that later!) so, I'm planning to keep being thankful right on into the Christmas season.  We have been spending lots of time at home, just playing and getting accustomed to being a family of 5 instead of 4.

I'm overflowing with thankfulness this year! How about you? 

What's your favorite Thanksgiving tradition??

I'll start with my husband's.  His is playing volleyball with his family after Thanksgiving lunch.  Your turn.  (or leave us your favorite holiday dish or recipe!)

I make green bean casserole every year.  I LOVE it. 

  

 I add 3 cans of drained green beans, 2 cans cream of mushroom or chicken soup, a splash of milk, salt and pepper,  garlic and onion powder (because I add that to everything) big dash of Worcestershire sauce, french fried onions (<--all of this in a baking dish) stir, stir, stir…..bake at 350 for about 45 minutes, because I like it very done. Sprinkle more onions on top, let them brown and boom!  Done.  And yes, that's the extent of the recipe I follow.   (check the back of the onion box if you need a real recipe!)  Can you tell I'm not a detail person? 

Enjoy the time with your friends and family! Enjoy the fall colors! Enjoy the food! 

Happy Thanksgiving from me to you!

 By the way, if you'd rather not spend your money on crazy stuff, but be a little more intentional, check back here tomorrow!

Chicken Masala Recipe

Hey hey! It's time for your weekly dose of Food That Doesn't Photograph Well, But Tastes Pretty Darn Good, with your hosts, the Cupitts. Sidenote: The man hands are those of my husband.

Today we're giving a nod to our Indian adopters. Shout out! Where are you?! Today we're cooking Chicken Masala, the slacker way. You should totally know how to cook authentically from a native friend if you are able. But on weeknights, you need a quick fix to get the job done. So let's get started. First, cook up some chicken. I used thighs and baked at 400 for 40 minutes, covered, then uncovered and got them a little brown. Then just chop it up. Or if you want you can just grab a rotisserie chicken at the store and tear it up.

Next it gets good! Cover the bottom of your skillet with olive oil and get that heating. Add two heaping spoonfuls of minced garlic, minced ginger and sautee for about a minute. Then add two heaping spoons of garam masala.

Add a can of tomato sauce.

Then you get your Thanksgiving onions. Yes, these.

Crunch up about 2 handfuls in the onions and drop them in the mix. Add the chicken in too, and then remove from heat. Let cool for about 5 minutes.

This is my favorite part. Now that it's a tad cooler you can add a giant dollop of greek yogurt.

Serve over rice with some naan bread for dipping. I get this stuff in the freezer section at my regular grocery store and it's delicious.

That's that. Surprisingly quick and awesome dinner. This is very similar to Ethiopian doro wot, so Ethiopian peeps, it might be a great thing to try. Let me know if you try it!

Browned Down Lime Chicken

Today I'm venturing out. Normally I only cook sweets. I'm actually a really terrible cook because my husband is a really good one. He totally volunteered to be the chef as we embark on this Ethnic cooking series and I was to photograph it and blog it and all. But he got busy and I had to cook it too! And I did it. It was easy and yummy and even got kid-approval. So, let me show you how I made a little something called Browned Down Lime Chicken.

Browning Down is a term used in a Carribean kitchen. It's a simple process that can easily get botched if you aren't paying attention. It's simply caramelizing sugar in oil. The tricky part is not to let it burn! So, first you take your chicken thighs and salt and pepper them.

I apologize for the raw chicken photo. I am no Pioneer Woman and there's just nothing pretty about raw chicken. But anyways. 

Then you take 2 tablespoons of Olive Oil and sprinkle around 2 tablespoons of sugar. Don't stir it. Just put it on a low to medium heat and cover. Peak in a few times until it looks like this. But don't burn it. Pay attention!

Next we put in the chicken thighs. Put them in, pop on the lid and walk away for 10 minutes. It's now starting to smell crazy good. Flip them over and squeeze on the juice of two limes. Cook through (another 10 minutes-ish). Move to another dish and pour all the extra sauce on.

We served  them up with Carribean Mash, which (correct me if I'm wrong), seems to be sweet potato fries. That's what they eat instead of white potato fries. I totally cheated and bought a bag of sweet potato fries. Super successful dinner. Let me know how you like it. 

Shchi: Russian/Ukrainian Fresh Cabbage Soup

Last week at our local produce mart Amish grown cabbages were 39¢ a pound. Since the weather was cold, I immediately thought how good cabbage soup would be! I first had cabbage soup made by some Ukrainian friends in college and loved it! It was so tasty, I have to make it every now and then! Not only is it delicious, it is healthy too! I make a big pot and freeze half of it for later.

Ingredients:
1/2 large head cabbage cut into shreds
3 tablespoons butter
1 large chopped onion
3 large carrots, chopped
1-2 celery ribs, chopped
1 garlic clove, minced
2 bay leaves
8-10 cups water, or chicken or beef broth, or vegetable stock (I use chicken broth)
2-3 potatoes, (I use yellow skinned potatoes and leave the skins on!), cut into 1 inch cubes
1 (14-ounce) can diced tomatoes
Salt and pepper to taste
Fresh dill for garnish, if desired
Sour cream for garnish

Note: As with most traditional dishes, the recipes vary from cook to cook and from region to region. I never measure exactly on the ingredients. I use what vegetables I have on hand. Some cabbage soup recipes that call for radishes and leeks too!


Preparing all the vegetables takes a little time, but the soup is oh so worth it!

Step 1:
Saute onions, carrots, celery, and garlic in butter until onions are translucent. Mean while, in large pot, bring broth to boil.

Step 2: 
Add sauteed vegetables, potatoes, tomatoes, cabbage, baby leaves, salt and pepper to broth. Simmer for about an hour until potatoes and cabbage are done. Remove bay leaves.

Serve with sour cream and dill for garnish! I like to eat toasted bread with my soup! Hope you enjoy!

New Fall Pumpkin Recipe: Tikvenik

Hi! May name is Katie R.! My husband and I are adopting from Bulgaria. I have a Bulgarian cook book I have been trying out! Since it is fall and I was in the mood for pumpkin, I recently tried my hand at Tikvenik, a Bulgarian pumpkin desert. The recipe calls for making phyllo dough by hand and getting a pie pumpkin and preparing it from scratch. Are you kidding me?! I am sure it would be delicious that way, and maybe someday I will try it! But, I went to the store and bought ready made phyllo and a can of pure pumpkin! This recipe was so delicious, I thought I would share it with you! Below is my time-saver version! But if you have time and are in the mood, feel free to make your own dough and go for it with the pumpkin!

Ingredients:

• 1 Can of Pure Pumpkin
• 1 Cup Brown Sugar 
• 1 Tbsp. Cinnamon
• 1 1/2 Cup Walnuts, Coarsely Chopped
• 1/2 lb Phyllo Dough (the box I bought had 2 half pound packages inside. Save 1 package for next time!)
• 1 Stick Butter, Melted
• Sifted Powdered Sugar for Garnish

Serves: 12

Step 1
Spread the walnuts out on a cookie sheet and toast them in the oven on 350 for 12- 15 minutes. Turning every 5 minutes. Don't skip this step! Toasting them brings out their flavor! Cool the walnuts. Set out your frozen phyllo to thaw while the nuts toast and cool.

Step 2
Blend the pumpkin, cinnamon, and brown sugar together. Stir in toasted, cooled walnuts.

Step 3
Unfold the Phyllo. Take 2 sheets and spread with melted butter. At the end closest to you, spread 1/2 cup of the pumpkin mix.

Fold the side edges over to seal and roll the up the pumpkin.

Don't worry if you get dough cracks a little. Just keep rolling!

Coil the roll in a spiral pattern on a greased cookie sheet to begin a spiral. Repeat Step 3, adding each roll to the spiral  until all your pumpkin mixture and phyllo are used up!

Step 4
Brush the whole Tikvenik with the remaining melted butter. Bake in preheated oven at 425 until slightly brown. Reduce heat to 350 and continue to bake about 40 more minutes until the Tikvenik is golden brown (and a delicious aroma fills your home!)

Step 5
Cool to room temperature. Sprinkle with powdered sugar right before serving. Enjoy!

PS. We ate the leftovers cold, straight from the refrigerator for breakfast. It was delicious that way too!

Dumplings!

I'm trying ya'll. My boy loves his Chinese food, but I'm a little too steeped in American ways and not nearly patient enough. These Chinese cooks spend forever on their food! But every so often I can give it a whirl.

This took an entire two days to make. Two days! But it was worth it when I saw the look on my boy's face as these were steaming away. 

Dumpling Dough

Two cups of flour to 1 1/2 cups of water

(I added a bit more flour as it seemed tacky to me)

So mix it with your hands. Yep your hands.

Let it sit for two hours.

Knead it.

Let it sit for two hours...again.

Knead it...again.

Let it sit overnight.

Dude, I warned you...two whole days.

The next day you roll it out at thin as possible and cut it into round circles about six inches in diameter.

Dumpling Filling

You can add and choose your own fillings but this is what I used.

I cooked the pork a day in advance.

I put the pork into the steamer with green onions on the side for flavor. 

(Forgive me, I was out of leeks)

I then chopped very finely an onion and more green onions.

*You must drain as much water from the onions or vegetables as possible*

Wrap them in cheesecloth and twist until water drips out of the cloth

Mix ginger, soy sauce and sesame oil in with the veggies.

Shred the pork very finely or grind it in a processor.

Now, take those blessed little circles of dough that you currently want to scream at and place a scoop of the meat mixture slightly off center, wet the edges of the circle.
Pinch from both the left side and right side into the middle.
Fold the left and right side to form an "envelope" shape with the dough.

Don't worry, you are almost finished now.

If you would like to steam them then place a paper towel in the bottom of the steamer.

Wait for it to fill with steam and add your precious little dumplings in until they are nearly transparent.

5-10 minutes and DONE.

Phew. You did it.

Now...find a maid to clean up the mess cause, Sister, "Ain't nobody got time for that."

Doro Wot, Cupitt Style

Today we're sharing the best doro wot of all time. This is as tasty as what you find in Ethiopia. But before we begin, let me point out a few things.

1. Doro Wot smells divine. But it doesn't really photograph well. Sorry. Eat it anyway.
2. Those are not my man hands. Those are Brandon's. I don't really cook food very well.

OK, so now that we've got that out of the way, let's get on with it.

We buy ours at an Ethiopian market, but you can get the injera and the berbere here if you shop online. Injera ships out on Tuesdays, so plan accordingly.

let all that just chill for a while and then...

i like mine a little chunky, but you can use sauce if if you like it smooth

add a bit of water too if it's looking too thick for your taste

Now present it to your family. Here's what ours did. Abby looked hungry and sad.

Jude ate a ton of injera. 

Will thought he could handle the heat. But ended up guzzling a gallon of milk. 

And we ate 'til we could hardly walk, like we always do when we make this. The end.