Come On In! Big Red Kitchen Tour

Come on in! Sit a spell, I'll make you a cup of coffee or tea while we chew the fat. I have joined my friend Penny of Lake Lure Cottage Kitchen's 2nd Annual Kitchen Reveal. Like Penny, I am a nosey gal and like to peek into the windows of others' homes so I thought maybe y'all would like to see a little more of Big Red Kitchen. Now you will know where I write, cook, and sip my coffee. Welcome!


In the above photo on the left you can see my Wall of Fame, an ever changing wall of photos of friends and family. Designed by me and built by my Father-in-Law, Bob.


Here is the Big Red Kitchen office were I sit and write. It is cozy and not a very far commute. My Cuckoo Clock from Germany keeps me on track.


When most enter BRK, they look straight up at the 14 foot peaked ceiling, skylights, and wall of windows. I designed my drapes and my Mother-in-Law Mary Lou made them for me. On top of my cupboards you can see my Grandmother, Vincenza's Turkey Platter. At the peak of the wall you can spy my PA Dutch Hex sign that reads Wilkom, I attended college in PA.


You are all familiar with this shot as it is my header up there on bigredkitchen.com. These items stay out all the time. I call it a working kitchen, others (Ma) may call it a mess. Let me explain some things...


I cook with plenty of olive oil and red wine and always keep plenty on hand. The yellow French pottery holds my Kosher salt, the tiny white crock holds my Herbes de Provence. The wooden "Masher" was my Grandfather Giuseppe's, I use it to smash fresh garlic. Now on the right of my cooktop...


Here we have the espresso station. That Cobalt Blue- to die for! espresso machine has been going strong for 15 years. I keep the sugar, utensils, and toppings in an acrylic cosmetic holder I found in Target. You can see we really go through the cinnamon, must buy more!


The Big Chill and The Two Hotties, a gal's favorite servants. Who says a girl can't have servants?


The microwave is nicely tucked out of sight giving me more counter space. That's Mr. Doots, my teenager who I cannot keep full! He is eating a cheese steak for breakfast. Sigh.


On the opposite side of the microwave are shelves for a few of my cookbooks and tin collection.


I love to listen to my North Country Wind Bells, the prettiest sound outside Big Red Kitchen.


My table and chairs are hand-me-downs from neighbors. My MIL made the table cloth from a bolt of Waverly that she and I found on deep discount. My FIL covered the chair cushions in the same material. I gave the table that Italian look by topping it with a clear plastic table cover.


Here is my Chocolate Cabinet, filled with all things chocolate and candy making. You can see the boys' Red Ryder BB Gun next to the cabinet. They have a shooting range out back.


One of the greatest places in BRK is the walk-in pantry. This is where I sneak snacks. Shhhhh. Here is the inside...


Ma comes over every few months to straighten the pantry up for me, if not it would be a mess. Gotta love my Ma!


Thanks for visiting Big Red Kitchen. Oh, on your way out, see that pull-up bar above the door in my Dining Room? Yeah, that's how this girl earns her calories for cooking all this good food. Do a few with me, it will make you feel good.


Want your own red kitchen? Above is the sticker on the paint can responsible for Big Red Kitchen.

Thanks Penny! I enjoyed opening Big Red Kitchen for all to see. I can't wait to see all the other kitchens.

Don't forget to come back on December 1st, as I have turned BRK into an Advent Calender, something new everyday for 25 days!

Robin Sue

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Happy Thanksgiving From Big Red Kitchen

Have a beautiful and safe Thanksgiving full of food, merry-making, thankfulness, and laughter. I am thankful for all of you who visit daily to see what I am up to here in Big Red Kitchen. One huge thing happening is that Big Red Kitchen will become an Advent Calender through December, presenting something new everyday for 25 days as we count down to Christmas. I am having so much fun putting together the best of my ideas and recipes. It will be like opening a shiny, new gift everyday!

Need a last minute Thanksgiving recipe? Here you go!

Have a blessed week.

Work true, play hard, pray long, sleep slow.

Robin Sue

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Thanksgiving Wassail

This is a must in Big Red Kitchen throughout the Yuletide Season. We start drinking it at Thanksgiving and do not stop until after New Year. The balance of sweet and citrus and spices brings such a warmth and coziness through the Holidays. We served this at a big party we hosted a few weeks ago (OK we started a bit early this year) and it all went once the cool night settled in and we started to cozy around the fire. Something about a hot mug of Wassail on a cold night, outside by a fire, just does it for me. All right already, I'm easy, but don't tell.

Thanksgiving Wassail- my Ma
6 cups apple cider
2-3 cinnamon sticks
1/4 tsp. fresh grated nutmeg
1/4- 1/3 cup honey
3 T. lemon juice
2 1/4 cups pineapple juice
float orange slices studded with cloves in wassail

Add all together and warm on high in a crockpot for 1-2 hours before guests arrive. Adjust all flavors as you see fit. More spice? Add more. More honey? Add more. This is a basic recipe, adjust according to you likes. To make it hard? Place bottles of Port, Brandy, Rum, or Whisky along side for guests to "fix" their own. But we like it without the "buzz." Makes about 8 1/2 cups. Serves 8-10.

More Thanksgiving Recipes
Cream of Peanut Soup
Bûche de Merci
Thanksgiving Mashed Potatoes
Thanksgiving Harvard Beets
Thanksgiving Savory Corn Pudding
Thanksgiving Yummy Yams

Robin Sue

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Thanksgiving Yummy Yams

By far this has to be my favorite yam recipe. Oh sure, I have had many variations of sweet potato/yam casseroles but is was the cheddar cheese that won me on this one. Kind of like apple pie and cheddar cheese but with dinner, not dessert! I got this recipe from a lady who went to my church. One year she had me and a few other people over for Thanksgiving like Buddy Ryan, if you are an Eagle fan you should remember him. This lady's hubby was the offensive coordinator of the Eagles, Ted Plumb, and a super nice Sunday School teacher. I hounded her for the recipe and she kindly gave it over. I hope you give it a try. It is very different from any other variation of sweet potato/yam casserole that you have ever had.

Yummy Yams- Mrs. Plumb
4 yams
2/3 cup sugar
sprinkle of kosher salt
4 T. butter
1/3 cup heavy cream
sprinkle of cinnamon
1 1/2-2 cups sharp or mild shredded cheddar cheese

Grease a 9x13 inch baking dish. Peel and cut yams into finger-sized pieces. This will be hard so you may want to microwave the yams for 2 minutes to soften. Spread yams evenly in dish, sprinkle with sugar, cinnamon, and salt, pour cream over top, and dot with butter. Bake at 350 degrees covered with foil for 60 , minutes or until yams are fork tender. Uncover and top with cheese, bake 5 minutes longer or until cheese is melted. Serves 8-10.

Note- Do not cook this at a higher temp or the sauce will "break." What I mean by this is that the butter and cream will separate. The sauce should turn out thick, sweet, and creamy.

More Thanksgiving Recipes
Cream of Peanut Soup
Bûche de Merci
Thanksgiving Mashed Potatoes
Thanksgiving Harvard Beets
Thanksgiving Savory Corn Pudding

Robin Sue

For More Big Red Kitchen...Subscribe/Newsletter/Fan Club

Thanksgiving Savory Corn Pudding

I grew up eating Corning Pudding on Thanksgiving, well we ate lots of things actually. We always started with the Italian Feast directly followed by the American food, if you are Italian you can identify. The corn pudding I had as a kid was always a favorite but now that I am all grown up, I wanted something with a little more pizazz and found it here in Alton's version of Corn Pudding with a few of my tweaks. Incredible!

Savory Corn Pudding- Adapted from Alton Brown
1/2 Vidalia onion, diced
3 T. unsalted butter
1 t. fresh thyme, minced
1 t. fresh rosemary, minced
1- 15 ounce can creamed corn
1 cup heavy cream
2 eggs
1 t. baking powder
1/2 cup self-rising yellow corn meal mix or Jiffy corn muffin mix
1 cup shredded Colby jack cheese
1 t. Kosher salt
ground black pepper to taste
2 cups cubed fresh bread

Preheat oven to 350°. In a medium skillet over medium-high heat, saute onions and herbs in butter until the onions are translucent. In a large bowl mix onion mixture with all the other ingredients and stir well. Pour into a greased casserole dish or into greased muffin foils, or ramekins. Bake the casserole for about 45 minutes or until golden and set. Serves 6-8.

Preparation Tip: I like to make this dish at least 2 days before Thanksgiving and only par-bake it, so only bake it to the point it is set. Then on Thanksgiving day about an hour before dinner, I reheat this dish without worrying over drying it out. Reheat covered with foil at 350 degrees for about 30-35 minutes or until warmed through. Remove foil and let brown for about 10 minutes.

More Thanksgiving Recipes
Cream of Peanut Soup
Bûche de Merci
Thanksgiving Mashed Potatoes
Thanksgiving Harvard Beets

Robin Sue

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Thanksgiving Harvard Beets

This dish is probably my favorite Thanksgiving side dish after stuffing. Fresh roasted beets are delicious but adding a sweet and sour sauce that has made Harvard Beets so famous really takes beets over the top. The color alone is a beautiful addition to my Thanksgiving table. You can see from the photo that I used golden beets which taste like red beets but are also just as pretty. Give Harvard Beets a try this Thanksgiving.


Harvard Beets
1 cup sugar
1 cup white vinegar, I used white balsamic
3 T. ketchup
3 T. unsalted butter
1/2 t. Kosher salt
2 T. whole cloves
1 1/2 cups beet juice- this is the juice in the pan from roasting them
3 T. cornstarch
9 roasted beets cut into wedges
1 t. vanilla extract

In a large pot over med-high heat, add sugar, vinegar, ketchup, butter and salt. Place cloves in a coffee filter and tie shut and toss in the pot too. I used a tea ball to hold my cloves. Bring the sugar mixture to a simmer and lower heat to medium and cover and simmer for 10 minutes. Meanwhile mix beet juice with cornstarch until smooth. After the 10 minutes add the beet juice mixture to the pot and stir for about 3 minutes until the mixture is thickened and glossy. Add the beets and heat through. Remove from heat and add vanilla. Serve hot. Serves 8.

To learn how to roast beets go here.
You can also substitute canned beets, using the beet liquid "juice" from the can.

Preparation Tip:This dish can be made a few days ahead of time and simply reheated in the microwave so be sure to store in a microwave safe dish.

More Thanksgiving Recipes
Cream of Peanut Soup
Bûche de Merci
Thanksgiving Mashed Potatoes

Robin Sue

For More Big Red Kitchen...Subscribe/Newsletter/Fan Club

Thanksgiving Mashed Potatoes

These are not regular mashed potatoes, they are extra special and only come out a few times a year around Big Red Kitchen. This dish is all dressed up with Boursin. That should say it all.

Boursin Mashed Potatoes
2 lb. bag organic little red potatoes, scrubbed
one package Boursin Garlic and Fine Herbs Cheese
1 T. dried shallots or dried chives
1 t. Kosher salt
fresh ground black pepper, as much as you like
1/2 cup sour cream

In a large pot of salted water, boil potatoes until fork tender, about 20 minutes. Drain potatoes and add to the bowl of your stand mixer or in a bowl to use with your hand mixer. Add the rest of the ingredients and mix on medium speed until the potatoes are creamy and smooth. Place in a pretty serving bowl and top with a tablespoon of butter. Serves 1. No, it serves about 5-6. You may want to double this it is that good.

Note- If you have fresh herbs then use those. If you use the shallots fresh then you will have to saute them a bit to soften.

Preparation Tip: You may make this a few days ahead of Thanksgiving being sure you add a bit of milk so that you do not dry it out in the reheating process. I cover mine with foil and place it in a 350 degree oven about an hour before serving. Do not over-crowd your oven on Thanksgiving Day with too many things to be reheated, it will take forever, trust me. You may also microwave this dish to reheat if you are short on time. You will have to stir it occasionally to get even heating. A great way to keep things all hot and ready to go, is to reheat your dishes a few hours before dinner and place them in a large cooler wrapped in towels. We do this all the time.

More Thanksgiving Recipes
Cream of Peanut Soup
Bûche de Merci

BRK Newsletter is due out this Friday, if you would like to receive, please subscribe if you have not done so in the past.

Robin Sue

For More Big Red Kitchen...Subscribe/Newsletter/Fan Club

Thanksgiving Bûche de Merci

Why not a Thankful Log for Thanksgiving? I came up with this idea last year as I was making my pumpkin rolls. I knew the children would out-number the adults, so I wanted a dessert that would make them feel special and would still be enjoyed by mature palates. I cut a one inch slice off the end of the pumpkin roll, placed it on top as you would a Bûche de Noël or Yule Log and decorated the roll with mushrooms. The mushrooms were made simply by pushing the end of a toothpick through a mini marshmallow then through the bottom of a Hershey Kiss. Sprinkled with powdered sugar. Cute. And Done.

Pumpkin Cake Roll
3 eggs
1 C. sugar

Beat for 5 minutes then add:
2/3 C. pumpkin
1 t. baking soda
1 t. cinnamon
3/4 C. flour

Grease and flour a standard jelly roll pan. Mix batter together, pour in pan. Bake 15 minutes a 375°. Take out of oven and remove from pan. Put on towel that has been sprinkled with powdered sugar. Roll up in towel. Beat until creamy:
8 oz. Cream cheese
4 T. butter
1 C. powdered sugar
1/2 t. vanilla

When cake is cooled, unroll and spread with filling. Re-roll. Refrigerate or may be frozen. When ready to serve sprinkle with powdered sugar. Makes one roll that serves about 10.

More Thanksgiving Day Recipes:
Cream of Peanut Soup

Robin Sue

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Thanksgiving Cream of Peanut Soup

Have you ever thought about serving soup to start off your Thanksgiving Feast? You are probably thinking, "I have enough food and you want me to serve soup too?" Last Thanksgiving we treated our guests to a Virginia specialty: Cream of Peanut Soup. Now wait, don't start gagging, this savory soup possesses a great depth of flavor and is a nice compliment to the Thanksgiving Feast. It is not that hard to make and just a little per guest really gets them in the mood for the rest of the meal. I think they will be impressed.

Cream of Peanut Soup- adapted from the William and Mary Cookbook
1 medium sweet onion, chopped
2 ribs celery, chopped
1/4 cup butter
3 T. flour
2 quarts good quality chicken broth, I use Trader Joe's
2 cups smooth peanut butter, I use natural
1 3/4 cups light cream
peanuts, chopped for garnish

Saute onion and celery in butter until soft, but not brown. Stir in four until well blended. Add chicken broth, stirring constantly, and bring to a boil. Remove from heat and rub through a sieve or process it with an immersion blender. Add peanut butter and cream, stirring to blend thoroughly. Return to low heat, but do not boil, and serve, garnished with peanuts. I used Old Bay seasoned peanuts for a kick! Makes about 3 quarts.

For more Soup recipes, click here.


After the best cannoli, comes the winner of the Half Moon Cookie. You guessed it... Maria's Pastry!

More Thanksgiving Recipes to come next week.
Have a great weekend.

Robin Sue

For More Big Red Kitchen...Subscribe/Newsletter/Fan Club

And the Winner is... North End's Best Cannoli: Maria's Pastry

The argument has been waged for years now: who has the best cannoli in Boston's North End? Ask a tourist, ask a local and you may come up with varying answers, it can be confusing. Of course the resounding vote always seems to be for Mike's, at least it was always that way for me, especially after my last cannoli throwdown last spring with Mike's taking the prize. But after a few tweets and comments coming it with more opinions and votes as well as a few more names added to the list of "must tries," I decided to do it all over again. This time the cannoli challenge had four players, Mike's, Modern's, Maria's, and Bova's.


I parked myself at a cafe table outside the gelato shop on Hanover St. and lined up my beautiful contestants. You can see Mike's gal is a biggin'. Here are my results...

RICOTTA CREAM
Sweetness- 1-5, 5 being the sweetest
Bova's- 4
Maria's- 4
Modern's- 5
Mike's- 5

Density of Cream- 1-5, 5 most dense
Bova's- 3
Maria's- 3
Modern's- 4
Mike's- 5

Ricotta Flavor- 1-5, 5 best
Bova's- 3
Maria's- 5
Modern's- 3
Mike's- 4

Vanilla Flavor- 1-5, 5 strongest
Bova's- 3
Maria's- 4
Modern's- 5
Mike's- 3

Smoothness of Cream- 1-5, 5 smoothest
Bova's- 1
Maria's- 3
Modern's- 3
Mike's- 5

Overall Cream Winner- Maria's! Maria proved to put out a light and creamy ricotta cream with a rich milk flavor, perfectly sweetened with just enough essence of vanilla. While comparing the four together, Maria's filling really stood out as the freshest, best tasting, and most homemade flavor. The texture had enough ricotta curd to prove ricotta existed in the cream without gagging one as did the large curds of Bova's cream which lead me to think, "did they use cottage cheese?" 2nd- Mike's, 3rd- Modern's, 4th- Bova's, don't bother.

SHELL
Freshness- 1-5, 5 most fresh
Bova's- 4
Maria's- 5
Modern's- 5
Mike's- 4

Crispiness- 1-5, 5 most crispy
Bova's- 4
Maria's- 5
Modern's- 4
Mike's- 3 Pre-filled too early!

Flavor- 1-5, 5 best
Bova's- 1
Maria's- 5
Modern's- 1
Mike's- 3

Overall Shell Winner- Maria's! Her shell was not only crispy, it was flaky and delicate. I detected no grease flavor. She fills her cannoli as you order them so that the cannoli shells are at their freshest, unlike Mike's this time who produced a soggy shell. One will note a tiny hint of anise in Maria's cannoli shells, but when asked if she puts anise in her shells, Maria said, "No!" We both concluded that since the aroma of anise is so strong in her shop from all of the Italian cookies that her shells naturally absorb the delicate essence. Just like putting peppermint cookies in your tin with other Christmas cookies, making them all taste minty after a short time.


OVERALL CANNOLI WINNER- Maria's! I am so pleased someone pointed me in the direction of Maria's Pastry. What you get? A low key, off the beaten path, no frills pastry shop with the most authentic Italian cookies and pastries.

And you get Maria, a down to earth, hard working woman who not only pipes out cookies faster than a machine but blesses her patrons with great conversation and service.


The next day, Himself wanted to go to Maria's to have an espresso and a few of her cookies and pastry. He was very pleased and has now asked me to make my pizzelle cookies just like Maria, two placed together and dipped halfway in chocolate. The cat? That's Cookie, the shop protector, most shops in the North End keep kitties because you know what kitties keep away.


In the North End looking for the best cannoli? Maria's will not disappoint, with her authentic Italian treats and little old men sipping espresso, chatting the morning away. If you want to be in the hub-bub of the North End with tourists, tons of pastry and cookie choices, and long lines, try Mike's, it is a very lively and fun place.

Robin Sue

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