I think with slow-roasted anything, the several hours need to be baked in and while distracted doing other things, rather than waiting for them to pass
My friends make the duck (with Asian leanings and mixed sides) for Thanksgiving most years since I first shared the recipe with them — it goes in the oven and does its thing while the day proceeds and the usual grazing, drinking, playing games, etc is underway. (Now if I could skip my usual thanksgiving just for the duck, I might, but then I’d have the duck but miss the fam…)
You did reply, on the 2023 Thanksgiving thread where I had shared the recipe
(I’m glad I saved a few Chowhound favorites as a “this looks good, maybe someday” note to self — wish I had saved more, as in those days I didn’t have much time to cook at home, and now that treasure trove is mostly lost.)
Well, yeah, I hadn’t factored in all the fun when I planned the meal. So the duck didn’t go in the oven until late afternoon. Not my finest moment cooking, but a fun afternoon.
For our gingerbread cookies, which we made last weekend, we use this royal icing recipe. We are not doing anything fancy with the decorating - with a trio of 4-6 year olds, we go for colorful and creative with loads of sprinkles. I double this recipe for a single batch of gingerbread cookies. It comes together in a snap. The directions suggest two of each color, one thinner for flooding and one thicker for piping. We don’t get that fancy and just use icing bags to swirl and whirl. Beware that the icing does dry out quite fast so the bags help with that. It tastes marshmallowy from the egg whites and sets nicely - not rock hard. And not too sweet either. Also pictured are sugar cookies (my sister’s recipe) with a different type of icing. Last year we started using gel food coloring which makes for really vibrant and fun colors.
Delicious. I ground chicken thighs for the meatballs and made them smaller, used bird’s eye chiles and served it over leftover cilantro rice with red shishito chiles for color.
Dinner tonight was “meh” and against my better judgement:
Mistake #1: Marinated and broiled salmon ala Mark Bittman. In my book, when it comes to salmon, simpler is better. Here I found the marinade didn’t add anything, and the process of broiling - while the center came out moist - left the edges and belly-flap over-cooked. I’ll stick with searing in a hpan, and finish off by roasting in a hot oven.
Mistake #2: I tried re-cooking last night’s leftover potatoes in the convection oven on the air-fryer setting. These came out edible, but nothing I would crave.
You don’t know until you try. We ate it, but no repeats.
BRODO DI POLLO CON PASTINA (chicken soup with pastina)
I debated whether or not to review this, because I only used the recipe as a jumping-off point… 2 quarts chicken broth, two boneless skinless breasts poached/removed/chopped. Carrots, celery, and tomato paste per recipe - no alliums as I don’t really like them in chicken noodle soup. 1/2 C stelline because I’d found gluten free (Jovial brand). The end result was resoundingly meh. I added a ton of grated parm and black pepper to be able to taste something. Not a keeper, unless maybe I had the flu.
so sorry. did you leave out the garlic as well as the onion? Parsley? olive oil? Without all these I would say it would be bland as… plain poached chicken breast and pasta. You can always strain out flavoring ingredients like onions that you do not choose to eat. Better luck next time!
A loose interpretation of this was dinner last night - and it was delicious! I used white wine instead of red, 1 can of diced tomatoes and some tomato paste instead of the 3 cans of diced called for, added a handful of sliced shallots along with the garlic, and omitted the basil. I put the whole thing in the fridge overnight and then shredded the meat and removed large globs of fat before reheating to serve. It tasted a little flat, so I added some additional red pepper flakes (bloomed in butter), wine and a handful of chopped green olives while reheating. Tossed with fidanzati capresi pasta and lots of parm - with these tweaks, it was a winner. Next time I might add a little anchovy paste and/or capers in addition to or instead of the green olives.
ROAST CHICKEN AND VEGETABLES WITH TAHINI
Another easy weeknight sheet pan meal, in the vein of the paprika chicken and potatoes. I went for sweet potatoes and cut them pretty small after reading some of the reviews. That worked well in terms of cooking time. I broiled this toward the end. I found the tahini on its own didn’t jazz up the end product as much as I’d hoped, so I would probably make more of a sauce with it (a la the next recipe I’ll post after this). Easy, comforting winter flavors, and a crowd pleaser in my house.
