Vegan Mondays Continued: Chocolate Pots-de-"Creme"

These were very, very tasty little pots-de-creme made with a few simple ingredients.  No butter or cream to be found here!

Ingredients:

1 14-oz. can full-fat coconut milk
5 oz. bittersweet chocolate (I used Baker's), roughly chopped
1 t. grated orange zest
2-3 T. sugar
1/2 t. vanilla extract

Instructions:

Heat a double-boiler over high heat.  Add coconut milk and chocolate and stir until the chocolate is melted.

Add the rest of the ingredients and stir until smooth.

Pour into 2-3 mini-cocottes or small bowls, and refrigerate for 2-3 hours, until set.

My only complaint was that the texture was a tad bit grainy--I might try whisking it next time while it's heating.

Citrus-Roasted Turkey

I went all Thanksgiving last night, since we had a turkey in the freezer and I spent a few days letting it thaw.  I kind of threw together this recipe using ingredients I had around, and I thought it came out great!  It would also translate well to roasted chicken.

Also, sorry, I have no pictures.  Next time!

Ingredients:

10-pound turkey, thawed or fresh, patted dry
1 lemon, zested, one half juiced, the other half reserved
1 orange, zested, one half juiced, the other half reserved
3 cloves of garlic, peeled
10 whole cloves
2 T. butter, melted
1 t. salt
1 t. thyme
1 T. rosemary
1 T. maple syrup
1/2 cup apple cider

Instructions:

Preheat your oven to 325 F.  Place turkey in a roasting pan.

In a small bowl, mix together orange and lemon zests, butter, salt, thyme, rosemary, and maple syrup.  Rub all over the turkey, making sure to spread it evenly.

Place remaining halves of orange and lemon into the cavity of the turkey, along with the garlic cloves.  Truss (if you do that thing, I never do).

Place cloves underneath the skin of the turkey breasts.

Pour juices and apple cider around the turkey in the pan.  This will be your basting liquid as it cooks.

Cook for 3 hours (or more or less, depending on the size of your turkey), basting every 30 minutes.  If it begins to brown too much, tent it with aluminum foil and continue roasting.  Remove from the oven 30 minutes before carving, and allow to rest, tented.

Gravy:

1/4 cup GF flour/starch
Drippings from the pan (mine totaled about 1/2 cup in the end)
1/2 cup-1 cup chicken broth (depending on how thick you want your gravy)
Salt & pepper to taste
Extra rosemary & thyme, if desired

Take 1/4 cup of the drippings and heat them in a small saucepan over medium heat.  Once hot, add the flour and create your roux.  Once the roux foams, whisk in the rest of the drippings and the broth.  Whisk until the mixture thickens, taste, and correct seasoning.

Carve the turkey and serve together!

Mulled Apple Cider (Booze Optional)

Something simple and warming for these cool/cold fall nights!

Ingredients:

6 cups unpasteurized apple cider (or, you know, whatever you can find)
10-15 whole cloves
4 3" cinnamon stick (my store has 3 or 6", so I thought I'd specify)
1 teaspoon whole allspice
1 1" knob of ginger, peeled and sliced
1 orange, halved, and zest sliced off in thick chunks
3/4 cup of rum (or, you know, to your taste/boozy preference) (optional)

Instructions:

Combine everything together in a saucepan.  Bring to a simmer over medium-low heat and simmer, covered, for 20 minutes.

Strain into a pitcher/bowl.

Serve hot!

Margarita Pork Chops with Crispy Quinoa Salad

Ingredients:

3 pork chops, flattened to about 1 inch thick

1/4 cup tequila
1/4 cup lime juice (about 2 limes' worth)
Juice of 1 orange
1/2 t. salt
1/2 t. pepper
1 T. your favorite spice rub (mine was leftover from this recipe)
2 chipotles in adobo (adjust to your tastes), minced
1 T. honey

Instructions:

Mix together marinade spices in a large bowl or ziploc bag.  Add pork chops, coat, and allow to sit for 8 hours or more, shaking up the marinade/chops a couple of times to evenly distribute again.

Heat a grill over high heat.  Add pork chops and sear (for those perfect grill marks!) for 6 minutes.  Turn down the heat to medium and continue cooking for another 6-15 minutes (depending on how thick your chops are, mine took FOREVER) until almost done throughout.

Allow to rest for 10 minutes, tented with foil.

Serve hot with your choice of sauce (I used salsa verde and Sriracha!) and enjoy!

The recipe for the quinoa salad can be found here.  I follow it exactly, no changes except perhaps adding a few more veggies!  Very versatile and refreshing.

Bomb Collins

Sometimes you have a really bad day.

Or, for me, a really bad morning.  Not enough sleep (for a few days), hormonal, bitchy.  Just one of those no-good, no-fun, not-feeling-life-at-all, please-just-let-me-stay-in-bed-all-day mornings.  You blow up at everyone and everything, you cry, you're not feeling like *yourself*, and (in true angst-fashion) no one *gets you*.

Therefore, dammit, in my world, you need and deserve a drink.

But not just any drink!

A nice drink.  A fancy drink.  A drink recipe you saved last week because it just looked THAT GOOD.

So, this afternoon, I splurged and went and got everything for it (Angostura Bitters, what is THIS?) while Charles was out and have been preparing the simply syrup and everything for it.  

It's an appropriate farewell to the summer peaches that I hardly got to savor, as well (insert massive sad face here-- D: ).  (HOW IS IT ALMOST FALL ALREADY?!?!?!)

Now, the blog I found this on is gorgeous and I followed the recipe to a T, so I feel like I'm plagiarizing if I retype it here.  So, here you go, the Bomb Collins!

The flavors of the drink.

By the way, you can proceed to eat the peach out of the bottom of your glass when you're done...so that makes it healthy, right? ;)

Beautiful peaches.

Steeping the simple syrup.

The Bomb Collins.