jive turkey

kickass carcass soup
i scored a turkey carcass to make kickass turkey soup with homemade noodles. i'm a bit apprehensive about the actual carcass itself, but the boy promised to handle it for me (i.e. in and out of the soup pot)-- he's getting soup out of the deal so i look at it as win-win-- plus he's not nearly so squimish and girly about bones, etc. i'm excited about making noodles but a little freaked about my ABSOLUTE LACK of counter space suitable for rolling out what i can only assume will be ACRES of thin flour-y dough (? is it called dough?). i've clearly watched too many situation comedies with hilarious kitchen-related mishaps. damn you i love lucy.

on a related note- i had two thanksgivings this year-- i was a guest at thanksgiving #1 (wherein i scored the aforementioned carcass) and hosted (hostessed?) #2.
#1- crazy mix of vegetarians, meat-eaters, and raw foodies. the spread was insane. full turkey and all the rest- sprouted salads up the wazoo, and about a million assorted pies etc. the turkey was un-freaking-believable. huge and juicy as a grapefruit (give me a break. i'm eating a grapefruit right now) and cooked by a vegetarian who later was all up in that turkey up to her elbows pulling it apart for me. what a great lady.

#2- 17 people crammed elbow to elbow in my apartment and a slim keg of delicious amber beer chillin' on the porch. dinner was mostly potluck. we had a turducken (i love louisiana. seriously.), 3 different kinds of dressing (two of which were made by yours truly-- i made one batch a'la dad -- basic cornbread dressing with LOTS of sage and black pepper. i ran out of sage making the first pan and subbed with zatar for the second as i have that by the bucket. both were good i thought), carrots (glazed?), green bean casserole, french bread, cranberry relish, bouef with beer, an assload of desserts (including a righteous tiramisu) and of course beerbeerbeer (and later cocktails till 4am, but whatever). it was awesome to have some many people there each with their own special dishes (ps- i dirtied EVERY dish i own plus all of my neighbors dishes).

aside from that- i made a great dal last week (i'm finally putting a noticable dent in the 8 POUNDS of yellow lentils i bought (huh?). they were like $2 at the patel bros grocery. anyway-
DAL
*1/2 small onion- diced fine
*1 TBish veg oil
*1TBish diced red chili
[alright- here i have to admit that in place of the oil/diced chili ingredients i used a big spoonful of diced cherry peppers packed in olive oil. i think cherry peppers pack a pretty good heat]
*4 med carrots- cut chunky (the recipe called for grated sweet potato, but i didn't have any. i'm all hot to make it with sweet potato though. i thought the sweet of the carrots would be a good sub)
*1 c lentils- rinsed
* 1 can diced tomatoes (with liquid)
*2t each- cumin and ground coriander
*1t tumeric
*2 cloves garlic- smashed
*it also called for fresh ginger, but i didn't have any on hand

saute the onion, carrots/sweet potato, garlic (and ginger if you got it), and chili together until onions are translucent. add lentils and spices-- stir to coat. add tomatoes and 4 c of water. simmer (no lid) for 25ish minutes (keep an eye on the level of the water and add more if needed). i gave it a whir with ye olde immersion blender and ate it the freak up with a dollop of yogurt and some flat bread. mmm. lentils.

i'm also loving these new sweet potato pancakes-- grated sweet potato w cayenne, toasted cumin seeds, cilantro, s&p, and a bit of cinnamon all bound up with egg and fried up in a cast iron skillet. served with labneh (which i recently discovered. y u m) . i could eat these forever.

so tomorrow i'm making the kickass carcass soup. just your garden variety carrots/celery/potatoes. i'm so pumped about the noodles though. wish me luck and pray for the counter-top fairy to magically expand my kitchen by tomorrow.