Two weeks ago I hosted a session of Night Schoolat the Sorrento. Here is a really fun piece about what I taught to 24 eager students!

If you missed the show on KOMO, you can listen to it here!

You know it’s holiday time when eggnog starts a’pouring! Velvety smooth and rich with eggs, cream and nutmeg, served cold, “straight up,” over ice, or with a splash of rum or brandy, it puts the holiday cheer into any gathering.  But it’s not just for drinking…

Since the “eggnog” flavor is so popular, I thought it would be fun to create recipes using this old-time favorite. During the season, most dairies now offer “ultra” or “gourmet” eggnog and a non-fat or low-fat version as well as their standard product. I tested these recipes using Darigold Egg Nog – my timeless Fav!

A do-ahead dessert is always welcome during the  hectic holidays and my  Eggnog Panna Cotta with Spiced Cranberry Compote is just the thing—silky smooth and dolloped with a bright and perky, quick-cooking cranberry compote. Soooo easy! And … you can make the panna cotta and compote up to 3 days ahead, then assemble quickly right before serving.

If a warm winter drink is your fancy – try my Eggnog Buttered Brandy … a D’lish take on a traditional favorite! You can make the batter for this winter warmer and store it frozen for up to a month to have on hand for unexpected holiday guests.

Here are some other fun ideas for using eggnog:

-Try eggnog instead of milk or cream in your coffee
-Non-fat eggnog in your oatmeal makes a delicious breakfast
-Order your next latte with steamed eggnog
-Make an Eggnog Splash — Serve eggnog over ice, with spiced rum, Grand Marnier and a splash of soda water
-Make your next rice pudding using eggnog
-Experiment making Homemade Eggnog Ice Cream to top your pumpkin pie

Eggnog Panna Cotta with Spiced Cranberry Compote
This recipe can easily be doubled. All the components of this dessert can be made up to 3 days in advance.

Makes 6 servings or 8 -10 small sampler servings

1/3 cup pecan pieces (optional)

Eggnog Panna Cotta
1 cup high-quality eggnog such as Darigold
1/4 cup sugar
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon rum extract
1 cup (8 oz wt) mascarpone
1 cup sour cream
2 tsp. powdered Knox gelatin
2 Tbsp. water 

Spiced Cranberry Compote
1 1/2 cups frozen or fresh cranberries
1/2 tsp. ground nutmeg
3/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup orange juice
1 1/2 tsp. orange zest 

Place pecans on a baking sheet and toast in a preheated 350-degree oven until just golden, about 5-7 minutes. Let cool.

To make the Panna Cotta: Place the eggnog, sugar, nutmeg, extract, mascarpone and sour cream in a large metal bowl over a pan of simmering water (bain marie). Whisk until smooth and warmed. In a small bowl sprinkle the gelatin over the water and let bloom for a couple of minutes, then heat in microwave or over hot water until melted. Whisk into the warmed eggnog mixture. Divide mixture between 6 small custard cups, martini glasses or if you want to make tiny servings divide into 8 small espresso cups or small ramekins. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate at least 6 hours until set, or overnight.

To make the Spiced Cranberry Compote: In a medium, heavy-bottomed saucepan place the cranberries, nutmeg, sugar, orange juice and zest. Place over medium-high heat and bring to a simmer then reduce heat to medium. Let cook until cranberries are popped and mixture is a nice compote consistency, about 5 – 6 minutes. Let cool completely before serving.

To serve dessert: Scatter the cranberry compote over the tops of the custards. Sprinkle with toasted pecans if desired and serve immediately.

Chef’s Note: All the dessert components can be made up to 3 days before serving. Copyright © 2009 by Kathy Casey Food Studios®

Eggnog Buttered Brandy
Makes 1 drink 

3 tablespoons Eggnog Buttered Brandy Mix (recipe follows)
1 fl. oz. brandy*
4- 5 fl. oz. boiling water
ground nutmeg 

Place Eggnog Buttered Brandy Mix and brandy in coffee glass or mug. Stir in boiling water until batter is dissolved. Sprinkle lightly with nutmeg.

*Chef’s Note: This drink is also delicious made with rum instead of brandy.

Eggnog Buttered Brandy Mix
Makes about 7 cups (36 servings) 

1/2 pound butter (2 sticks), softened
1 1/2 cups light brown sugar
1 3/4 cups powdered sugar
1 pint very high-quality vanilla ice cream
1 cup high-quality eggnog such as Darigold
1 Tbsp. real vanilla extract
1 Tbsp. ground nutmeg
1/4 tsp. ground cinnamon
1 tsp. rum extract 

Be sure butter is softened. Cream butter and sugars together  with a beater in a mixing bowl until totally smooth. Add remaining ingredients and mix until thoroughly combined. Store refrigerated for up to 1 week or frozen for up to 1 month. Copyright © 2009 by Kathy Casey Food Studios®

If you missed the show, you can listen to it here!

The holidays are upon us and it’s time to start planning those holiday dinners for friends and family. Everyone has their favorites: from old-school marshmallow-topped sweet potatoes, to the classic green bean casserole. But for me it’s all about the turkey! Juicy and golden, it graces most of our holiday dinner tables. But, alas! there can be many turkey tragedies, “turkey sins” I call them. From the overcooked and dried out, to the not-fully-defrosted-and-then-baked-raw travesty! Zowie!

Ample planning and some good rules of thumb can ensure a low-stress turkey roasting day. Below, I’ll walk you through the 10 turkey sins, and provide tips on how to have a d’lish holiday meal.

Turkey Sin #1: Roasting a Half-Frozen Bird
If you’re buying a standard bird at the grocery store, take into consideration most of these babies are frozen or “half” frozen. The rule of thumb is: you should start defrosting your bird in the refrigerator about 5 days in advance—up to 7 if it’s a biggie! If you can order one fresh, then great; get your order in at least 2+ weeks ahead at your favorite market or butcher/poultry shop. Remember to get to “know your turkey” – if your going for local and free range it will cook a bit quicker (and need more seasoning) than a traditional “plumped” turkey.

Turkey Sin #2: Leaving the Bag of Giblets in the Bird
How many of you have seen these left in during baking!? Once your bird is ready for the big day, take it out of the wrapper. Remove the bag of “goodies and giblets” from inside, and also check inside the neck cavity. (NO body wants a turkey “butt” surprise). You can use the neck and giblets to make a little pan of turkey stock for adding to gravy if you like.

Turkey Sin #3: “Steaming”, Rather than Roasting, your Bird
Roasting your turkey in a big old deep roasting pan creates steam from the turkey juices and does not make for a crispy-skinned bird. To avoid this, rinse your turkey inside and out; then pat it dry. Place in a wide shallow pan, up on a roasting rack. Stick some aromatics, such as quartered onions, an orange, and a few big sprigs of fresh herbs, such as thyme, sage and rosemary, in the inside cavity.

Turkey Sin #4: Underseasoning
All the gravy and cranberry sauce in Plymouth Rock can’t hide an underseasoned bird. You can carefully stuff fun things, like fresh sage leaves, sprigs of thyme, fresh basil leaves, and small tufts of rosemary, under the turkey’s skin but watch out for tears in the skin. Herbs will add a nice flavor to the meat. Season your turkey liberally with kosher salt and fresh-ground black pepper – or I love to use my Dish D’Lish French Seasoning Salt! This means really season it well—rub it all over, under the wings, on the back of the bird—massage that baby! For a medium-sized turkey, you want to use at least 1 tablespoon of kosher salt plus about 1 teaspoon of pepper or about 2 Tbsp of my Dish D’Lish French Seasoning Salt.

Turkey Sin #5: An Undercooked or Overcooked Bird
Undercook your bird, and put your guests at risk. Overcook your bird, and you’ll need to offer guests a LOT of wine for washing it down…which could lead to family drama! Cooking your bird just right is tricky. To start with, there are a million different methods. I’m a roasted-turkey gal, but I know there are lots of you turkey-fryers out there. And it does make a good bird (but beware of garage fires!) —but I gotta have my gravy. To keep it simple, get yourself a good instant-read thermometer and be sure to preheat your oven. See my favorite recipe and tips, below, for roasting. To avoid overcooking your bird, plan your day. When are you serving dinner? Work back from there. Unless you are cooking a 40-lb monster turkey or eating dinner at 11 AM, there is no need to get the bird in the oven at 6 AM!! Yes, I have succumbed to eating one of those roasted-for-8-hours birds, and it wasn’t pretty! Turkey sin #5-B note- do not leave the thermometer in the bird when you are roasting it – see sample below….

Turkey Sin #6: An Improperly Carved Turkey
After all that hard work put into creating a picture-perfect, delicious-tasting bird, do not let the knife get into inexperienced hands! It may be tradition to let the man of the house perform the ceremonious carve, but not if he’s going to hack it to death (Family Note: seen at the in-laws frequently- for God sakes just let me do it)! Give the bird 20 minutes to rest. This will allow you to get the rest of the dinner on the table. To start carving, take off the breast first, and slice thin. Disjoint the legs, thighs, and wings and slice the thighs if desired. My in-laws use an electric knife (it was probably a wedding gift from the 60’s!) and, actually, the thing works pretty darn well. I favor my super-sharp Hinkel chef’s knife. But, hey! use whatever gets you the nicest slices.

Turkey Sin #7: Not Enough Gravy
Gravy and turkey is like milk and cookies: delightfully harmonious. To be sure you make enough, immediately transfer your roasted bird to a platter to rest, and collect all those yummy juices for making pan gravy. Or, what I like to do is make turkey stock a few days ahead using some purchased turkey legs and then make a big batch of gravy in the bird-cooking pan. There’s nothing worse than not enough gravy! I like my do ahead gravy recipe below – and it makes LOTS!

Turkey Sin #8: Letting the Cooked Bird Sit Out…. All Day… and beyond
Once you have the meat off the bird, remember to not let it sit on the counter all evening, increasing the risk of spoilage. I like to take off any extra meat and refrigerate it for soups or sandwiches. Don’t throw away that turkey carcass! Break it up, throw it in a big pot, cover with water and bring to a simmer. Simmer for about 1–2 hours. Strain the stock well, then cool. Now you have yummy turkey broth to make some tasty soup later in the week.

Turkey Sin #9: No Turkey Leftovers for Sandwiches
And this brings us to the sin second only to not making enough gravy: not cooking enough turkey. Turkey sandwiches—I love them piled high with homemade cranberry compote—are absolutely de rigueur for next-day snacking … or midnight refrigerator raids, for those who cannot wait! So if you’re inviting your peeps over for dinner –encourage people to bring some their own Tupperware –  give them some leftovers …. it will make for very happy guests and less to cram in the already packed refrigerator!

Turkey Sin #10: Not Enjoying Yourself
Running around the kitchen like a turkey with its head cut off is no way to enjoy the holiday. Don’t allow the day to consume you. Why not give each person something to bring to the dinner? Maybe even send them a recipe you would like them to make. The holidays are all about gathering over a meal, so get those football-watchers off the couch and into the kitchen. Get your guests involved by setting the table, pouring drinks, warming the rolls, anything to help. You’ll relax more and create lasting memories with your family and friends.

One of my favorite turkey-roasting methods follows, so whether you are a first-time cooker or an old hand at the turkey game, I hope my tips and recipes will allow you to have a super-successful holiday meal!

Kathy’s Herb-Lacquered Roasted Turkey
Chef’s Notes:  Read recipe all the way through a few days before your dinner. A tasty do-ahead turkey gravy that makes LOTS follows.

Allow about 1 1/2 hours’ roasting time for a 12-pound turkey (that is totally defrosted and not stuffed), and add about 5 to 10 minutes for each additional pound. This will be one of the most beautiful turkeys you’ve ever roasted!
If roasting a large turkey 20 – 24 lbs, bake at 350 degrees. A 22-lb turkey should take about 2 1/2 – 3 hours to reach 175–180 degrees internal temperature (insert an instant-read thermometer in the back side of the thigh- not sutffed).

Makes 8 to 16 servings, with leftovers

1 12- to 16-pound turkey
4 or more large, fresh rosemary sprigs
1 large onion, skin on, quartered
1 head of garlic, broken apart
8 large sage leaves
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 tablespoon kosher salt + 1/2 – 1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
OR 2 + tablespoons Dish D’Lish French Seasoning Salt

Place an oven rack low in the oven, removing extra racks if necessary. Preheat oven to 375°F.
Remove the giblets and neck from turkey cavities, checking that both cavities are empty. Rinse turkey with cold water, inside and out, and pat dry. Keep the legs tied together with the metal clip, or tie with butcher’s twine.
Place half of the rosemary sprigs and all the onion and garlic in the bird’s body cavity.

(If you decide to stuff your turkey with traditional stuffing there are some things you must know: When stuffing a turkey, do so just before roasting; do not stuff it the night before. Loosely stuff the turkey so that the stuffing will completely cook through. Do not pack the stuffing. You can stuff both ends of a turkey, the large inside cavity and the smaller nook under the skin flap at the neck – cooking time may need to be increased.)

Pull the leaves off the remaining rosemary sprigs. Carefully loosen the turkey skin over the breast and legs (by running your hands under it), being careful not to tear it. Keeping them as flat as possible, tuck the sage leaves and the rosemary leaves you pulled off under the breast, thigh, and leg skin, arranging the herbs decoratively. Carefully pull the breast skin tightly down over breast bone, then, using metal closure skewers, thread them through both sides of the skin flaps to bridge the turkey body-cavity opening. Thread skewers alternately from left to right then right to left. With a 12-inch piece of butcher’s twine or white cotton string, work back and forth around the skewers to lace up the cavity, shoelace-style.
Spray a roasting rack with nonstick vegetable spray and place the turkey on the rack in an open, shallow roasting pan. Rub the turkey all over with the olive oil, then generously sprinkle the turkey with the salt and pepper or French Seasoning Salt, seasoning it well all over.
Place the turkey on the low oven rack and roast until the inner, thickest part of the thigh registers 175°F. (Insert metal stem, instant-read thermometer in the back side of thigh by the turkey body.)
If you are cooking a larger turkey, you may need to tent the breast loosely with a piece of buttered foil to avoid over-browning of the breast. About 30 to 45 minutes before the end of cooking, remove tent to allow browning.
When the turkey is done, remove from the oven. Before carving the turkey, let it stand for 15 minutes to allow the juices to settle. As the turkey stands, the turkey thigh temperature will reach 180°F. (If stuffing be sure stuffing comes to 165°F) Use the pan drippings to make your gravy – see recipe below.
© Copyright 2009 by Kathy Casey Food Studios® blogging at Dishing with Kathy Casey – Twitter 

Old-Fashioned Turkey Mushroom Gravy- THAT MAKES A LOT!
Makes 10 cups, or about 20 generous 1/2-cup servings
You can make this a few days ahead and then re-heat in your turkey roasting pan for extra turkey flavor goodness! Read through the entire recipe before starting.

12 tablespoons (1 1/2 sticks) butter
1 teaspoon minced fresh rosemary – or 1/2 teaspoon dried rosemary, crushed
8 ounces (4 cups) thinly sliced mushrooms, or chopped wild mushrooms
1 cup flour
10 cups Rich Turkey Stock (recipe follows)
2 teaspoons salt
1/2 teaspoon white pepper

Melt the butter in a large, heavy saucepan. Add the rosemary and mushrooms and sauté over medium-high heat for about 2 minutes. Add the flour and stir vigorously until combined and smooth. Cook for about 1 minute. Add the stock all at once and whisk vigorously so as to eliminate any lumps. Reduce the heat and simmer for about 10 minutes, until the gravy is nicely thickened. Season with salt and white pepper.

You can make the gravy a couple of days ahead to save yourself some precious holiday time!

Then right before serving- and while your turkey is set aside to rest – ready your turkey roasting pan full of turkey goodness: remove excess fat from your turkey roasting pan. Place the pan over a burner – add a big splash of white wine, champagne, potato cooking water, chicken broth or water. Using a metal spatula – scrape up all the goodies in the bottem of the pan… this is the turkey goodness. Then add your prepared Turkey Mushroom gravy – whisk well and heat till hot. Serve up and enjoy – you’ll have lots of gravy for all!

Rich Turkey Stock
Makes about 10 cups

2 large turkey legs or thighs, about 2 pounds total
1 yellow onion, unpeeled, coarsely chopped
1 large or 2 medium carrots, cut into large chunks
Up to 2 cups mushroom stems, optional
4 stalks celery, cut into chunks
1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
1 bay leaf
1/2 cup white wine
12 cups water

Preheat an oven to 400°F.
Roast the turkey pieces in a baking pan for 45 minutes to 1 hour, until the skin is golden brown. Place them in an 8-quart pot and add the vegetables and seasonings. Deglaze the roasting pan with the wine, scraping the pan well to loosen browned bits, and add to the pot. Add the water.
Place the pot over medium-high heat and bring to a rapid simmer. Reduce the heat to low and lightly simmer for 45 minutes to 1 hour. Strain the stock and skim off any fat. Discard the vegetables. (Most of the flavor will have cooked out of the turkey; however, the meat can be removed from the bones and saved for another use.)
© Copyright 2009 by Kathy Casey Food Studios® blogging at Dishing with Kathy Casey – Twitter

“Mise en place” literally translates, from the French, as “Put in place”.  In the chef business, however, mise en place means gathering, slicing, dicing, preparing, etc., all ingredients required for meal service.  I hold that it also entails assembling the collective knowledge, experience and abilities of all hands involved in a given task.
Both cases are true for “Fall-ing In Love”, the cocktail created by Kathy Casey’s Liquid Kitchen, served at our paella bbq wedding reception.  It required equipment, ingredients (purchased and created), knowledge, sensibility and, believe it or not, three years of preparation!
Impetus (other than our impending nuptials) for the cocktail came in the form of a derelict cider mill and press, found at a barn sale near the gates of Mt Rainer during an ice-run for our annual epicurean camping trip known as Big Kids Kamp.
I knew I had the right woman when my newly-minted fiancée simply smiled and said, “Well, there’s a story in that, I have no doubt!” as she helped unload (now half thawed) bags of ice.
With the help of a local machine shop (who, by the quality and detail above and beyond expectation or price, had obvious fun in restoring the old dinosaur) we had the 300lb, double-barreled antique ready for use mere hours prior to our engagement party (good thing too, as it was after all, a Cider Pressing Party!).
Tom Sawyer had nothing on Caryn and I as 50-odd of our friends washed, ground and pressed over 700lbs of Granny Smith, Fuji and Cox Pippin apples into cold, sweet cider.
While a portion of the golden juice was consumed with our bbq ribs, mac & cheese and cornbread, the vast majority was inoculated with champagne yeast and left to its own for about three weeks.
Through the efforts of a dear friend and Swiss biochemist (who has since fled the country) and the services of a nominally legal distiller, the cider “reduced volume and increased potency”.
Our long engagement (Caryn in graduate school and all) allowed for over two years of age and complexity, enhanced by chunks of toasted French oak.
As a wedding gift, Kathy appraised the nearly-illicit elixir and created a pre-dinner adult beverage with the same deft hand she’s used to create world classed cuisine.
Blending simple, yet exquisite, ingredients into unique culinary experience is work-a-day stuff for chefs.  Doing the same with hooch might be a stretch for some culinarians; but not for our Platinum Princess of Potation!
Accentuating autumnal notes in our “Calvados” while sanding off its (many) rough edges with complimentary flavonoids and phenolics, in the form of exquisitely chosen distillates of fruits and herbs, Kathy orchestrated an effervescent dance for the trigeminal senses (effervescent due, not only to the occasion but also a brilliantly placed splash of champagne atop the cocktail).
“It takes a village”, they say.  In the case of our Wedding Cocktail, neigh a village was employed in its first phases.  Only one villager, however, could change the profane to the profound and the work (and the waiting) of so many into expectations far exceeded.
Thank you Kathy Casey, from all who fell in love with the Falling In Love cocktail!!!

Ahh… just back from exotic, UAE where my associate Keith Waldbauer and I conducted  training for the Fairmont Art of Mixology Culture at the new and faboo Fairmont Abu Dhabi. Yes, it’s Vegas on steroids and the playground for the rich.

Me on the rhinestone couch in the lobby of the
Fairmont Abu Dhabi  – Bling bling!

It was 3 weeks of hard, but fun, work. We set up and opened multiple bars – from Marco Pierre White’s new Steak House Restaruant to Frankie’s Italian Restaurant… to the beautiful Pool Bar and the Lucious Chocolate Gallery. (And I want to add that the staff and managers were AMAZING!)

Miss Kirsten and I after testing a LOT of chocolate cocktails that we shook up for the new Chocolate Gallery!

Needless to say we were up to our eyeballs in cocktails! Since, beer, wine and spirits are served only at hotels; you can imagine non-alcoholic drinks are also super popular. 

The non-alcoholic drinks WERE amazing. The most popular, was the super simple, “why didn’t I think of that,” Minted Lemonade. This is not just mint in lemonade, this is lemonade, ice and fresh mint blended smooth and brilliant green. It’s the perfect refresher for the hot HOT heat.  It’s tart, sweet, tangy, and refreshing! I’ve given a basic recipe below.  Just be sure to use a decent lemonade with a good punch – none of this “watery lemonade,” …the kind masquerading as lemonade in the refrigerator section with a whole whopping 7% lemon juice!  It’s important to use a good lemony lemonade.

Blend in a small slice of ginger for an even more intense refreshing kick.

What else did we eat and drink while in Abu Dhabi and Dubai? Only the best Indian food either of us has ever had in the Elements Restaurant at the Fairmont Abu Dhabi! Dal, also spelled dahl, dhal, or daal, tikkas  and curries of a zillion variations. No matter how you spell it, they were all amazing.  We also enjoyed delicious Lebanese food at Café Blanc a cool café at the Dubai mall. We sat outside one lovely warm evening and sampled so many great dishes I thought I would burst.

Favs: Fattoush salad with tomatoes, cucumbers, crisp flat bread with sumac and coriander, chicken livers in pomegranate molasses, and another amazing non alcoholic drink – served in layers of blended avocado, red dates, blended rose ….. 3 layers of sipping goodness – zowie!

Click here for a fun video I took and edited with my new Flip Video Camera, showing how they made the above three-layer drink!

And yes – I know you all want to know if I drank Camel Milk?
Of course and I made a cocktail out of it too!  

Minted Lemonade
Makes 1 serving

3 large sprigs fresh mint
1 cup big flavored lemonade
1/2 – 3/4 cup ice
Garnish: fresh mint sprig

Tear mint and add to blender. Measure in lemonade and ice and blend on high till smooth. Pour into a tall glass and garnish with mint. Enjoy! © 2009 Kathy Casey Food Studio

Nice to have recipes in the Seattle Times today! Check out my recipes for Bacon Gougeres, Orange Fennel Shrimp and Apricot, Pistachio & Goat Cheese Stuffed Mini Cukes. 

From Sip. at the wine bar & restaurant
November 18, 12:00 to 1 p.m 

How can you pass up on for an offer of free food at a wonderful location? I know that I can’t! Sip. at the wine bar & restaurant will be giving their new downtown Seattle neighbors a taste of their lunch menu with free signature sliders and fries. These Hawaiian sweet roll sliders are made of mini sirloin burgers topped with pepper mayonnaise and jack cheese served three to an order. Sounds amazing, right!  This slider combo is already a hit at their Issaquah and Gig Harbor locations.

The grand opening of this wonderful place is in two weeks (Friday, November 20)! Sip. is offering free sliders as a part of a weeklong series of events celebrating the opening of the newest location downtown Seattle at 5^th and Madison.

WHO:             Sip. at the wine bar & restaurant

WHERE:        Sip. Seattle
909 5^th Ave.
Seattle, WA 98101                  

WHEN:          Wednesday, November 18, noon to 1 p.m.

WHAT:          Free Sweet Roll Sliders
Three mini sirloin burgers topped with pepper mayonnaise and jack cheese served on Hawaiian sweet rolls. Includes fries

Check out this great offer from Saltworks in celebration of my Salt topic of the week:

This is Saxon from SaltWorks. We are very excited to be mentioned by Kathy Casey, and would like to extend a special promotion to her audience. Mention “Kathy Casey” when you call in your order, and receive FREE SHIPPING for standard orders during the month of November! Call us at 1-800-353-7258 to receive this promotion. Thank you!