Creamy Gnocchi and Mushrooms

Tonight (possible for the first time) I’m not writing up a main dish, but a side dish. Creamy Gnocchi and Mushrooms. It actually could serve as a main dish if you didn’t want a protein, but this was served with an air fried roasted chicken with asparagus.. But for this posting, we’ll focus on this absolutely delightful side to have on a cold, rainy Sunday evening. When planning this meal, I could see we had a rainy day ahead, so I went on Amazon and ordered my basil gnocchi. It’s amazing that we can actually do this, but I live in Colonial Beach, and I can’t just assume that I have anything other than regular potato gnocchi. Two days later it showed up. I found the basis of this recipe online, and tweaked it a bit. But I’m very...

Don’s Take on Five Fishes Feast

Sunday night’s dinner, by all accounts, was one of the best creations we have ever made. We enjoyed it with good friends. A traditional Mediterranean meal for Christmas Eve is The Feast of Seven Fishes, a multi-course meal of complete wonderfulness. But this Christmas Eve, I plan to do my traditional Standing Rib Roast. So for this dish, I went Seven (five for this one) fishes to make it a holiday meal. I did my take on the main course of a Seven Fishes, the bouillabaisse to include everything. So, you can call it what you want, but this is largely a saffron based seafood stew. And it is fantastic. Deep in flavor. There are 3 parts: The Sauce Rouille: A very simple, but perfect sauce.The Bouillabaisse: The main itemThe Bread: Find and toast a hearty...

Post Thanksgiving Smoked Turkey Enchiladas

Without a doubt, my favorite turkey leftover is… Post Thanksgiving Smoked Turkey Enchiladas. The recipe for my Orion Cooker Smoked Turkey from this year can be found here: https://goodpointofview.com/2023/11/24/orion-cooker-smoked-turkey/ The dining room table at the Storybook house was going to be full, so we made a double batch, which make 24 enchiladas, which needed 2 9×12 baking dishes and 2 9×9 baking dishes. Huge thanks to my sous chef Saara who handled the chopping and construction. The leftover turkey is minced and joins: 2 cups sour cream2 can of diced green chili peppers. The store didn’t have any, so I used a bottle of salsa verde).2 bags of Mexican 4 cheese (Craft makes a good one) 8 oz isOK, but 16 oz is better.2 cans of black...

Orion Cooker Smoked Turkey

Another perfect turkey in a long series of my Orion Cooker Smoked Thanksgiving Turkeys! I patted the bird dry first Then brushed her with olive oil and applied a rub made of garlic powder, onion powder, kosher salt, black pepper, Tony’s Cajun seasoning and cayenne. This went into the cooker with about 2 cups of apple wood chips lining the outside of the drip tray, and no additional liquid added. The 15 lb Butterball Premium turkey cooked in a convection-style with indirect heat for 2 hours (it was still partially frozen, so I gave it an additional 15 minutes. The result was a perfectly moist, slightly smoked bird. The giblets were boiled ans thin sliced and added to a gravy made of chicken bone stock, McCormick’s Turkey Gravy packet, 3 rough diced...

Salmon Piccata

Salmon Piccata! Tonight I give you a wonderful, very quick, easy meal of Salmon Piccata. Ingredients Two salmon fillets1/2 cup dry white wine1/2 cup chicken or seafood broth3-4 cloves minced garlic1 diced shallot3-4 tbsps butter1/4 cup capers1/4 cup diced parsleySeasoning for the salmon (I used garlic and onion powder, black pepper and a hint of cayenne)1 Lemon for zest and juice Directions Season both sides of the salmon Heat the pan over medium heat with butter and avocado oil, and add salmon to the pan. Cook for 3-4 minutes per side until golden brown. Set aside and cover. Sauce Use leftover butter/oil to cook shallot and garlic add a tablespoon of lemon juice and a quarter cup of cappers and red pepper flakes (optional) to season the sauce. Reduce your sauce...