maple and rosemary roasted sweet potatoes & squash (and a story about a turkey)

Ah, Thanksgiving.  A time for friends and family to gather around the table in love and friendship, so that we may all sit down, say grace, and stuff our faces full of delicious foods drenched in butter and cream. 

 

Thanksgiving: the greatest holiday of them all.

 

At this point, what I really should tell you about is this delectable little recipe I am sharing with you for your holiday table.  Perfect for Thanksgiving, Christmas, or any time during this chilly winter season.  Acorn squash and sweet potatoes mingle together with maple syrup and a hint of rosemary for a fantastic, comforting side dish.

 

But what I really want to tell you about is how I'm getting a turkey on a plane for Thanksgiving.

 

HUH?!

 

You see, I'm not one for simple, pain-free holidays.  They're just too easy.  I like complex, anxiety-inducing holidays that require multiple phone calls, web searches, a Facebook blast, and pleading for favors from family and friends.  This all started because my bleeding, YUP-i-fied heart has watched far too many documentaries and read far too many books about the horrors of commercial poultry factories.  To ease the burden on my conscience, I thought I would simply buy a local turkey for the Big Day.  Easy-peasy, right?

 

WRONG, PEOPLE.  Soooo wrong.  Buying a local turkey in Alaska is about as easy as ordering ice cream in the middle of the desert.  Local turkey purveyors Triple D Farms, made (in)famous in this fantastic gem of a video by She Who Shall Not Be Named, closed down in 2011.  A fairly extensive search on the web and several phone calls around the Anchorage/Mat-Su Valley area turned up ZERO turkeys for my table. 

 

I told myself, "Heidi, suck it up.  Just be like everyone else and go to the store and buy a damn turkey."  I mean, they're perfectly decent turkeys!  I grew up with them, and loved my turkey dinner at every Thanksgiving table.  So I went to my favorite wholesale store (need a turkey and a generator and your tires rotated?), picked up an "organic" turkey, placed it in my cart and felt a little better.  As I made my way to the front of the store, however, panic overcame me.

 

How exactly were these turkeys raised?  Did they live a good life, running around with their brothers and sisters, left to roam free on grassy fields?  A Google search of the company brand turned up exactly what I suspected: it was wholly-owned by one of the big, bad corporate poultry factories.  My heart began to bleed again.  I turned my cart around, traveled back to the cooler, and placed the frozen bird back into its resting place. 

 

Having already given up on my local turkey, I called a locally-owned market that sells farm-raised turkeys for $85,700.00/pound.  From the way they pitch it, these pasture-raised, spa-treated, college educated birds had a life in California better than most of us ever dreamed of.  I swallowed the price tag and placed my order.

AND THEN IT HAPPENED.

My friend Renee texted me later that same day to tell me a friend of hers raises turkeys in Kenai for his family.  And he had a SPARE he was willing to sell me.  I was elated!  The only hitch?

It's in Kenai.  And I'm in Anchorage.  A 150 mile problem.

A few texts, a Facebook blast, and a couple phone calls later, I learn that my friend Mike is flying home from Kenai TODAY.  I called him and simply asked if he'd do me a favor.

Mike: "Sure.  What's up?"

Me: "Uh.  This might sound a little weird.  Can you bring something home for me on the plane?"

Mike:  "I think so, if it fits in my carry-on.  What is it?"

I paused.

Me: "A frozen, 20-pound turkey."

Mike: "A FROZEN TWENTY POUND TURKEY?!?!?!"

When he said it like that, it really did sound a little crazy.

Luckily, Mike loves me.  And my crazy antics. 

 

So in about two hours, Mike is going to board a plane with a frozen 20-pound, Alaska-raised turkey.  YIPEE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

How in the world am I going to top this next year? :)

 

 

Maple and Rosemary Roasted Sweet Potatoes & Squash

(Serves 4-6)

 

1 acorn squash, halved and seeds scooped, and sliced into 10-12 wedges (leaving the skin on- it’s edible!)

1 sweet potato, sliced crosswise and into 8-10 wedges

2-3 tablespoons olive oil

1 ½ teaspoons kosher salt

Several grinds of fresh pepper

2 tablespoons real maple syrup

1 tablespoon chopped fresh rosemary

2 tablespoons butter

 

(1)    Preheat the oven to 425 degrees.

 

(2)    Place the squash and potatoes on a shallow baking sheet.  Toss with the olive oil, salt, pepper, syrup, and rosemary.  Arrange in a single layer.

 

(3)    Dollop the veggies with the butter (either by breaking it up with your fingers or sliced into small cubes with a knife).

 

(4)    Bake for 30-40 minutes, flipping once halfway through, until golden brown. 

Enjoy!
xo H

 

salty sisters' roasted alaska spot prawns with fennel, olives, and oranges (COOKOFF WINNER!)

There comes a time in every woman's life when her grit, determination, and willpower are put to the test.  A time when resolve and fortitude are challenged in a epic battle of skill, creativity, and knowledge.

 

(Bet you're thinking that I'm talking about the time I took the bar.  Yeah, that totally sucked-- worse than what I'm actually talking about, but no one wants to hear me complain about it for the 800 thousandth time.)

 

I'm talking about the Alaska Sustainable Seafood Cookoff!  Sponsored by the Alaska Food Policy Council, the Cookoff was held on Thursday, October 24th at the newly-opened Downtown Soup Kitchen in Anchorage. 

 

The Challenge:  Four duos battle it out in one hour to produce the best seafood dish for 5 local foodie judges.  Think Iron Chef meets Chopped.  (And if you don't understand these two AWESOME reality show references, then, well...nevermind.)

 

The Catch:  The contestants don't know what they're actually cooking until the competition begins!

We must have been crazy.  And we are, a little.

Thanks to Jennifer McGovern for her excellent photography!
 

 

So I did what I always do when I'm asked to compete in an Iron Chef-like local seafood cookoff at a soup kitchen...I teamed up with my friend Kate Consenstein.  We called ourselves the "Salty Sisters."  And we ROCKED this competition.  LIKE.  IT.  WAS.  OUR.  JOB.

 

While we were allowed to bring our own tools and three "secret" ingredients along with us to the event, we didn't know what we were actually cooking until Rob Kineen of Fresh49 yelled "GO!" revealing we had one hour to cook...Alaska spot prawns.

 

Excellent.

Before the competition, Kate and I were at loggerheads over our strategy.  Should we panko crust our seafood?  Pan-sear it?  Kate insisted that if we get salmon, we leave the skin on.  I insisted that if we get salmon, we take the skin off. 

We were off to a shaky start.

And both of us, with our strong opinions and even stronger personalities, worried if our friendship would survive the challenge.

People, it didn't just survive.  It THRIVED.  Turns out, we make a perfect competitive match. 

Kate and I were both a bundle of nerves before the competition began.  My hands were sweaty.  Kate's stomach was turning.  This was supposed to be FUN?!  Why do we torture ourselves with this kind of FUN?!  But as soon as the clock started running, the nerves simply disappeared and we became seafood-cooking machines.  I took care of the produce while Kate took care of the protein.  The oranges were perfectly segmented.  The fennel was neatly shaved on my mandolin (best birthday present my brother's ever gotten me!)  The shrimp was peeled with precision, with the tails left perfectly intact.  And more importantly, they were cooked to PERFECTION.  Just barely opaque all the way through.

As the clock began winding down, pans were clanging, food was flying, and people were running into each other in the kitchen.  We were all down to the wire.

After tasting my roasted fennel, I worried I over-seasoned it.  It had a sharp, salty bite to it.  But there was no time to fix it, and Kate and I ultimately decided it should make it on the plate.  It was a good decision.  Turns out, the contrast of flavors and textures between the roasted and raw fennel, coupled with the sweetness of the oranges and briny olives, was an incredible combination.  The fresh Alaska spot prawns, after mingling with the chopped bacon in the oven, were salty-sweet and utterly succulent.  Yet Kate and I both agree that the perfect finishing touch came from the buttery toasted citrus breadcrumbs, which added that crunchy texture that we all crave.

And wouldn't ya know it...we won. :)

As Kate said, Viva Sustainable Seafood!

Roasted Alaska Spot Prawns with Fennel, Orange, and Castelvetrano Olives

and Toasted Citrus Breadcrumbs

(Courtesy of the Salty Sisters: Heidi & Kate!)

30 Alaska spot prawns, peeled with tails intact

1 shallot, thinly sliced

4 slices of bacon, finely diced

3 fennel bulbs, cored and halved lengthwise

3 oranges, peeled and segmented (also known as “supreming”), plus their juice

20 Castelvetrano (or other green) olives, pitted and halved

1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice

1-2 teaspoons extra virgin olive oil

Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper, to taste

1 cup panko breadcrumbs

2 tablespoons butter

zest of one orange

fennel fronds, for garnish

Serves 4 

(1) Preheat the oven to 425 degrees. 

(2) On the medium thickness setting of your mandolin (or with a sharp knife), slice one fennel bulb crosswise about 1/4 inch thick.  Toss the fennel on a baking sheet with 1-2 teaspoons of olive oil and season with salt and pepper.  Arrange in one layer and bake for 20-30 minutes until soft and golden. 

(3) Place orange segments and their juice into a bowl along with the olives.  On the thinnest setting of your mandolin slicer (or by using a very sharp knife) thinly slice two fennel bulbs crosswise, being careful to reserve the fronds as garnish.  Add sliced fennel to the bowl, along with the lemon juice and 1-2 teaspoons of olive oil.  Season with salt and freshly ground pepper to taste and toss well. 

(4) Cook diced bacon on medium-high heat in a large cast iron skillet. When bacon is partially cooked and some bacon fat has rendered, add 1 tablespoon of butter and add shallots. Once shallots have cooked to translucency, remove from heat. Layer shrimp over shallots and bacon and season with salt and pepper.  Bake at 425 until the shrimp just barely become opaque, about 5-7 minutes. 

(5) Mix the bread crumbs with 1 teaspoon of orange zest, a pinch of salt, and a few grinds of pepper.  In a large skillet on medium-high heat, melt 1 tablespoon of butter and add the bread crumbs to the skillet.  Toss the crumbs around in the skillet until the breadcrumbs appear toasted, about 5-7 minutes.

6) To serve, place the roasted fennel on the bottom of the plate.  Top with the shrimp and shallot/bacon mixture.  Place the salad of orange, fennel, and olives on top of the shrimp along with a drizzle of the juices.  Sprinkle with the seasoned breadcrumbs, additional orange zest, and fennel fronds. 

Enjoy!

xo H & K