Thanksgiving!!

It’s Thanksgiving!! While my extended family tries to do Thanksgiving, more-so since they’ve started having their own kids, Thanksgiving is a huge mish mosh of hot pot and a turkey that may or may not be burned to a crisp. If we want mashed potatoes, we better bring our own, and cornbread is a thing of mystery.

This is why I opted for Thanksgiving at Caleb’s parents house. Things are weird with the pandemic but the one thing it’s helped me with is easing me into holiday’s with his family. It’s much easier to prep myself for a Thanksgiving with just his mom, dad, sister, and maybe a grandma versus three thanksgivings back to back with aunts, uncles, and cousins galore. Getting thrown into a whole new family and being the only non-relative who also happens to be not white in a room full of only white people can be very nerve racking (as if I didn’t spend my whole life at friends houses and events where this was the case.)

Still, this is a little different and a small Thanksgiving was exactly what I needed. Caleb’s mom still managed to make a customary Thanksgiving for us with his sister coming in CLUTCH with the sweet potatoes. Apparently, his mom usually only has to bring a side and maybe some store-bought pie to his uncle’s house so this was a big step up for her having to make a full meal but it turned out great.

I love thanksgiving. It has everything I want, Potatoes, veggies, and stuffing are all amazing. I love carbs and starch. They turkey came out great and while there was a small mishap of turning on the oven then not actually putting it in the oven and not noticing it for a little too long, if this was the yearly Thanksgiving disaster, it was very mild and almost unnoticeable. (Cue my cousin’s Turkey last year that was burned to a charred black crisp on the outside).

While I have no idea what to expect next year during a normal Thanksgiving with his family, this was a really good one.

DRYDEN - Village Taqueria and Grill

We’ve been searching for some solid Mexican inspired food and our friends keep recommending this place to us every time we see them and talk about food. Honestly, Moe’s doesn’t quite cut it and I’m excited for some good recommendations that aren’t all the way in Ithaca or Syracuse.

LOCATION: 2 E. MAIN ST. DRYDEN, NY

Not a terribly far drive and we pass this restaurant every time we drive to Ithaca so it felt like it was about time to give it a shot. We weren’t actually planning a trip to Ithaca so this was our destination but due to everything going on, we opted for take out so I gave them a call.

I was pretty excited looking at their menu and checking their facebook page. I noticed that they sometimes have tamales, which I LOVE, but couldn’t find it on their main menu so I didn’t order it this time but there was much regret about this situation. Caleb ended up going to pick up our food and he even mentioned he say tamales on the counter for sale and almost got me some. Missed out twice in one day.. next time!!

I usually get 3 tacos for myself and knew from looking at then menu I wanted to try their Baja California (fish) Taco which has freshly battered fish, cabbage, citrus chili aioli, and pico de gallo. I planned on getting a street taco and asked the girl on the phone what she recommended but she ended up telling me to get the Baja California Taco with shrimp so I did that instead. I’ll get meat tacos next time.

I also knew right away that I wanted to try the Crispy Potato Taco with smashed potatoes, cabbage, crema, and pico de gallo (not pictured). I am nothing if not a potato lover so I have to give it a try.

The tacos’ weren’t bad at all. I was more fond of the fish taco and it wasn’t fishy and the proportions were great. The slaw was fresh and everything was balanced well. The potato taco was a little bit of a let down and was a little too soggy and not as satisfying. The shrimp wasn’t really memorable either.

We also decided to order 5 Chicken Taquitos to share which came with sour cream and salsa. These taquitos were huge. Honestly, I’ve only ever had taquitos out of a box from the frozen section of the grocery store so thats a different thing to compare it to. The chicken was seasoned well inside and had a slight kick which was really nice but it’s made with a flour tortilla and I’m a bigger fan of corn tortillas across the board. Because they were filled so much the ratio of meat to tortilla was a little unbalanced for me but more meat for your money is not a bad thing and they were tasty in the end.

Overall, I’m excited to order from them again. The portions were good for the price and the food was great. When the bar is to be better than Moe’s, it’s not that hard to impress me but that’s the deal out here in Cortland and I’m not afraid to admit it. I think the real test will be the tamales. Hopefully, next time!

Armadillo Cheesey Garlic Bread

It’s Halloween (almost) and we’re going to an (outdoor) chili cook-off! I’m not a chili maker so I’ve decided to contribute with an armadillo cheesy garlic bread from Chrissy Teigan. I’ve saved this recipe for years and it’s about time I gave it a try. I cheated it a little and started off with a loaf of Tuscan garlic bread from Wegmans which is my favorite type of bread so I’m not complaining.

Upon looking at this recipe (which Chrissy posted to her social media from her own cookbook) I realized just how cheesy this thing is. it’s a super easy dish to make though so I was feeling pretty good. As you can see you mix all the cheeses together with butter and mayo and stuff it into the bread. The tricky part was cutting the bread deep enough for the filling but not to cut all the way. Turns out I could’ve cut deeper but it’s not a big deal and I still managed to smother the whole loaf with all the cheese and filling.

Let me just say, this little ball of dough and cheese smelled AMAZING. It was so easy to make and was super rewarding. The toughest part was making sure everything was melted but not burned. I think cutting deeper the next time will be beneficial but it came out great.

Caleb did think it was too cheesy and I can’t argue with that. This is a super rich dish and needs to be eaten on the side with something that is acidic that will cut the fat without also being too filling.

Unfortunately, because we had to have the chili cook-off outside and it’s Halloween in central New York the bread and cheese got too cold and solidified itself. This is something that definitely has to be eaten fresh and warm out of the oven while the cheese is still soft and warm. We tried to wrap it up and throw it on the fire but that just resulted in charring the bottom before the cheese re-melted and most of it had to be thrown away but it was delicious while it lasted in my warm kitchen. I would totally make this again, though maybe for an indoor event next time, whenever that can be.

Ombré Potato and Root Vegetable Gratin

Of course I love a potato gratin and since it’s fall it’s the perfect time to try this ombré potato and root vegetable root gratin because all the root vegetables are in their prime! This original recipe is from Food and Wine which can get a little fancy at times but this was actually quite simple.

This recipe calls for Yukon gold potatoes, sweet potatoes, beets, and parsnips but unfortunately I got a little too excited and forgot to buy the parsnips. Not a huge deal; of the four parsnips are my least favorite but it would’ve added another nice stark white top layer to the dish so I’ll have to remember for next time.

As per a regular gratin, I thinly sliced all the veggies, then mixed them individually in a cream, garlic, and shallot, and cheese mixture. I stacked the veggies in a baking dish one type at a time starting with the beets and working up to sweet potatoes, then regular potatoes. I baked it according to the recipe and let it cool before we ate it.

I wish I had a better photo but this was sooooo pretty. The colors came out so good and stacked really really nicely on top of each other. It tasted creamy and cheesy but still sweet and starchy from all the root veggies. I feel that parsnips would’ve brightened up the flavor just a little and Caleb agreed it would’ve been nice to have them but we were pretty satisfied with this outcome on its own.

Super nice dish, would make it again for a special meal or if I had extra time to prep everything one day. It does take a little but it can be made ahead of time then baked the next day so that could be worth remembering as well.

Mashed Potato Croquettes

I’ve decided to work on my pouch of recipes to try and had some leftover mashed potatoes so I made these mashed potato croquettes from Bon Appetite. Simply put, this is mashed potatoes balled, breaded, and fried. Simple concept but I wasn’t sure how it would work. Bon appetite tends not to let me down when I try a recipe.

As I mentioned, I had leftover mashed potatoes I wanted to use up and the recipe just says to mix the mash with 2 egg yolks, some parm, chives, and flour. I balled them and chilled them for 2 hours, breaded them, and pan-fried them for 3-4mins.

They turned out pretty well though of course, they aren’t super ball-y and got flat frying in a pan but this doesn’t really affect the flavor so it’s all good.

While the recipe worked out well, in the end it wasn’t really worth the work of pan frying. I like mashed potatoes as they are and this added too much breading and a grainy texture. Fun experiment but I think in the end, I’ll stick to just plain old (chunky) smashed potatoes.