Meal No. 3989: Braised Chicken & Brussels Sprouts

The Thanksgiving night meal last week was not standard holiday fare, since our gathering was scheduled for the following day. Still, it seemed appropriate to have something that nonetheless felt festive, so I reached back for a much-loved house specialty: braised chicken with Brussels sprouts and shallots. It punches well above its class, given that you don't have to be some sophisticated kitchen god to pull it off, and yet it always comes across as a very fine meal to serve. A wild rice mix completed our plates and the consensus of the gathered guys was that it was all pretty decent.

Now listen: this Thanksgiving Day was a dramatic departure from the decent weather we'd been having, because the winds really whipped up overnight and we were dealt a day that stayed in the upper 40s. The only good thing about it was all that overnight bluster really saved me the trouble of having to rake and blow the driveway...it was pert near clear as a whistle!

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"Braised Chicken and Brussels Sprouts," in Everyday Food, Issue 97, November 2012, p. 22. (A set of these magazines was the kind gift of friend and colleague Donna!) Although the recipe no longer appears online, click that link to go to a YouTube video for it.

Meal No. 3988: Pork with Ginger-Soy-Shiitake Mushroom Sauce

Everything felt right again when Amy and Beau were both at the table on Thanksgiving Eve last week. The occasion called for a special dinner to celebrate this holiday week reunion of old friends. Although I'd normally center the main dish on pork tenderloin, all I had on hand was vacuum-sealed Creole pork chops in the freezer...but that's what a sous vide immersion circulator is for! And boy howdy, was the pork just pure velvet by the time it was ready to be sliced and served! I could not believe how tender and tasty it was. Of course, if you're gonna do it right, then we had to have the house-favored ginger-soy-shiitake cream sauce to go with it. And that meant whipping up mashed turnips, parsnips, and potatoes (thanks for the homegrown root vegetables, Kelly!) and using up the remainder of the roasted cumin-coriander cauliflower. I had to get out and walk about three miles after all that, on our final day of temps in the 70s before an arctic blast rolled in overnight.

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Based on "Pan-Seared Tuna with Ginger-Shiitake Cream Sauce," from The Bon Appétit Cookbook by Barbara Fairchild, 2006, p. 398-399.

Reassurance about approach from "Mashed Turnips and Potatoes," from Brittany Fiero of Her Mise En Place.

Meal No. 3987: Fluffy Buttermilk Pancakes

I had a great day in Sampson County offering a session as part of their Assistant Principals Institute, back on the Tuesday of Thanksgiving week. They were energized and engaged, responsive and receptive, and I was thankful for that time with them. Ah, but it's almost three hours from here to there, so by the time I got home, I used the narrow dinner prep window as a perfectly good reason to make perfectly good buttermilk pancakes for dinner. I try not to overuse this convenient option when something quick is called for and then I'm always glad when that's what gets served up on the supper plates.

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"Best Tips for Making Pancakes: Fluffy Buttermilk Pancakes," by Joanne Ozug on the Pioneer Woman website. [Published 10 May 2017]

Meal No. 3986: Oven-Roasted Chicken Shawarma

On one of his recent visits, my dear UNC chum Kelly brought along a printout of a New York Times Cooking recipe, and I put it to use last Monday evening: oven-roasted chicken shawarma. It was delicious and worthy of bringing back again, for sure. Some cumin-coriander roasted cauliflower plus a simple salad with homemade Thousand Island dressing rounded out the plate that evening.

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"Oven-Roasted Chicken Shawarma," by Sam Sifton of New York Times Cooking. [Updated 23 January 2024]

Fantastic Fudge for the Filmmakers

With the latest amazing crew of young filmmakers here the weekend before Thanksgiving, I wanted to offer something up for the craft table. So I made chocolate fudge, both with walnuts and without. It helped avoid conflict with those who have nut allergies or gluten intolerance, plus it's really just an awesome recipe.

As would be unsurprising given how terrific all of these folks from UNCSA are, the students were sweetly appreciative. I hope they know what a joy it is to see them deploy their art and craft.