Brianna's First Thanksgiving

It's my daughter's first Thanksgiving so we decided to have a little celebration. We usually just have a nice meal for dinner every year. But this time we're having family and friends over for dinner.

Our Menu

Crispy Honey Lamb by hubby
Skirt Steak with Takoyaki Sauce by me
Carbonara by me
Embutido (it's like meatloaf) by mom
Five Layer Bars by me
Chocolate Cream Puff by me
Chocolate Crinkles by me

Can you tell I like desserts!

Here are the recipes! They're all yummy.

Crispy Rack of Lamb with Honey and Mascarpone cooked by Hubby

3 (1 to 1 1/2 pounds each) racks of lamb, trimmed, with 1/4-inch of fat left on meat

1/4 cup olive oil
salt and freshly ground black pepper
2 tablespoons herbs de Provence

Sauce:
1/2 cup creme fraiche
3 tablespoons honey
3/4 tablespoon ground cumin
2 tablespoons chopped fresh mint leaves
1/2 cup mascarpone cheese, at room temperature

salt and freshly ground black pepper

For the lamb:

Place an oven rack in the center of the oven. Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F. Place a grill pan over medium-high heat or preheat a gas or charcoal grill.

Drizzle the olive oil on both sides of the lamb. Season with salt, pepper and herbs de Provence. Grill the lamb for 5 minutes on each side until brown. Place the lamb in a shallow roasting pan or baking sheet and roast for 25 minutes for medium-rare. Allow the lamb to rest for 10 minutes before slicing.

For the sauce:

In a small bowl, combine the creme fraiche, honey, cumin, and mint. Add the mascarpone cheese and stir until just combined. Season with salt and pepper, to taste.

Cut the lamb between the bones into individual chops and serve with the sauce.

The lamb can also be browned for 4 to 5 minutes each side in a large skillet over high heat.

Recipe source: Foodnetwork.com


Skirt Steak with Takoyaki Sauce cooked by me

This is a super simple recipe I made up

Skirt Steak
Mama Sita Barbeque Marinade
Butter for frying
Takoyaki Sauce or Teriyaki Sauce

Marinade skirt steak for at least an hour. I usually marinade the steak the night before.

Heat pan and add butter. Fry until brown. Put takoyaki sauce on top.


Carbonara baked by me

Sorry but recipe is still a secret =D


Five Layer Bars by me

1/2 cup chopped pecans

1 cup butterscotch morsels
1 cup shredded coconut
1 cup semisweet chocolate morsels
1 1/2 cups graham cracker crumbs
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, melted
1 (14-ounce) can sweetened condensed milk

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Combine graham cracker crumbs and melted butter. Press into bottom of a 9 by 13-inch baking dish. Sprinkle remaining ingredients of mix over crumb mixture. Pour sweetened condensed milk over the layers. Bake for 30 minutes. Allow to cool and cut into bars.

Recipe source: Foodnetwork.com


Chocolate Cream Puff baked by me

1/2 cup (70 grams) all purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon granulated white sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup (4 tablespoons) (57 grams) unsalted butter
1/2 cup (120 ml) water
2 large eggs, lightly beaten
1 large egg
pinch of salt

For Filling

1 Jell-O Vanilla box
Chocolate chips
Butter

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (205 degrees C) and place rack in center of oven. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

In a bowl sift together the flour, sugar and salt. Set aside.

Place the butter and water in a heavy saucepan over medium heat and bring to a boil. Remove from heat and, with a wooden spoon or spatula, quickly add the flour mixture. Return to heat and stir constantly until the dough comes away from the sides of the pan and forms a thick smooth ball (about a minute or two). Transfer the dough to your electric mixer, or with a hand mixer, and beat on low speed a minute or two to release the steam from the dough. Once the dough is lukewarm start adding the lightly beaten eggs and continue to mix until you have a smooth thick paste. Spoon or pipe 12 mounds of dough onto the baking sheet, spacing them a couple of inches apart. Beat together the egg and salt for the glaze. With a pastry brush, gently brush the glaze on the tops of the dough.

Bake for 15 minutes and then reduce the oven temperature to 350 degrees F (177 degrees C). Bake for a further 30 to 40 minutes or until the shells are a nice amber color and when split, are dry inside. Turn the oven off and, with the oven door slightly ajar, let the shells dry out for a further 10 - 15 minutes. Remove from oven and let cool on a wire rack.

For filling, follow instructions on the box.


To Assemble: Split the pastry shells in half and fill (or pipe) with whipped cream. Place the top half of the pastry shell on the whipped cream and dust with powdered (confectioners or icing) sugar.

For topping: Melt chocolate chips and butter. Dip puffs and let cool.
Makes 12 cream puffs.

Recipe source: joyofbaking.com



Chocolate Crinkles baked by me

4 tablespoons (56 grams) unsalted butter

8 ounces (225 grams) semisweet or bittersweet chocolate, coarsely chopped
1/2 cup (100 grams) granulated white sugar
2 large eggs
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups (210 grams) all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking powder

Topping:
1 cup (110 grams) confectioners (powdered or icing) sugar, sifted

In a stainless steel bowl, over a saucepan of simmering water, melt the chocolate and butter. Remove from heat and set aside.


In the bowl of your electric mixer (or with a hand mixer), beat the eggs and sugar until thick, pale, and fluffy. (When you slowly raise the beaters the batter will fall back into the bowl in slow ribbons.) At this point beat in the vanilla extract and then stir in the melted chocolate mixture.

In a separate bowl whisk together the flour, salt, and baking powder. Add dry ingredients to the chocolate mixture, stirring just until incorporated. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate until firm enough to shape into balls (3-4 hours, or even overnight)..

Preheat oven to 325 degrees F (170 degrees C) and place rack in center of oven. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper, and set aside.

Place the confectioners sugar in a shallow bowl. With lightly greased hands, roll a small amount of chilled dough to form a 1 inch (2.54 cm) ball. Place the ball of dough into the confectioners sugar and roll the ball in the sugar until it is completely coated and no chocolate shows through. Gently lift the sugar-covered ball, tapping off excess sugar, and place on the prepared baking sheet. Continue forming cookies, spacing about 2 inches (5 cm) apart on the baking sheets. (If you find the dough getting too soft for rolling into balls, return to the refrigerator and let chill until firm.)

Bake cookies for 8 to 10 minutes or just until the edges are slightly firm but the centers are still soft. (For moist chewy cookies do not over bake. Over baking these cookies will cause them to be dry.) Remove from oven and place on a wire rack to cool.

These cookies are best eaten the day they are baked.

Makes about 3 dozen cookies.

Recipe Source: joyofbaking.com