Dancing Spoon

Turkey and Squash Soup

Irishman The Healthy

by Chef Gavan Murphy
So we all know what time of year it is — turkey time! Being from Ireland we never celebrated Thanksgiving but in terms of the food and especially the turkey, it’s very similar to our Christmas. 

Winter in Ireland is a far cry from here in California but I always remember my mother making soup with the leftovers from our turkey dinner and boy did it hit the spot. It’s definitely a great way to use up leftovers and it’ll feed any stragglers who might just pop by.

For this soup, we first roast a butternut squash. Then we'll add it to our vegetables, herbs, broth, and turkey strips. Not only is this a hearty nutritious autumn soup, it’s low in calories and low in cholesterol.

The Healthy Irishman

Irishman The Healthy

Chef Gavan Murphy aka The Healthy Irishman
The who, you ask? Is there such a thing as a healthy Irishman? I know, I know, I’ve heard it all before but believe it or not, I do exist! I’m an Irishman who has a passion for health, especially healthy cooking that is not only nutritious but full of flavor and easy to do. (Yes, I also enjoy my pints but you’ll find the key word here is balance.) It’s not abnormal to find me at my local farmers’ markets eyeing up what’s fresh (bet you thought I was going to say pub didn’t you?) because at heart, I’m an organic enthusiast.

I’ve been asked to share my recipes and thoughts with the Dancing Spoon community and I couldn’t be more excited about doing so! The choice of buying organic is up to you so I won’t label my recipes with the “O” word. I’m just hoping to get you to explore new recipes and help me bring Healthy back!

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Fueling your body with healthy food.
Fueling your mind with the wealth of health. thehealthyirishman.com
Copyright © 2008 The Healthy Irishman. All rights reserved.

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Cheese: Fleur de Teche

by Dana A. Romero 

Love cheese? Need a cheese guide? Dana A. Romero runs the Cheese Group at  Dancing Spoon. This is where you can learn and discuss everything having to do with cheese. Every week we will highlight one cheese.

Fleur de Teche
This week’s cheese of the week holds a special place in my heart for a couple of reasons:
1. It was the first cheese I ever sold as a Cheese monger.
2. It is made in my home state of Louisiana.
3. I have had the great fortune of meeting the actual cheese makers personally and spending quality time with them.
4. This cheese is named after a Bayou that runs thru my home town of New Iberia, La.

As far as the cheese of the week story: The Chitimacha Indians legend tells the story of how the Teche Bayou was created when an enormous poisonous snake was killed in a violent battle with their heroic tribe. In the throes of death, the 124-mile-long snake writhed and tossed its rapidly cooling body across the land and so created the twisting bayou.

To celebrate the legend, a smoke-grey layer of vegetable ash slithers its way through the dense, velvety layers of triple cream cow's milk and creates a soft pewter haze when the cheese is spread across crusty baguette or stuffed into split Black Mission figs.

This Cheese received a 2nd Place in the 2004 and 3rd in 2005 American Cheese Society Soft Ripened Cheese category and was also declared the best cheese in the South by a 2005 Southern Foodways Alliance jury.

Read more...

Every week here at the Cheese group on dancingspoon.com we will highlight one cheese. The goal is to have you find this cheese in your area and then buy, taste and comment on it. Provide information like what type of wine you think goes well with the selection, what cheese you prefer instead of this selection, how much per lb. you paid for the cheese and any other information you would like to provide for the group.

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For huge selection of Cookbooks, visit the Book Store at Dancing Spoon. Click here.

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Thanksgiving Tips: Game Plan

by J. Michael Wheeler

There’s no question about it, for me, Thanksgiving is absolutely the best holiday: it’s all about getting together with friends and family and eating a great meal. No Christmas present stresses or New Year’s Eve anxiety. Cook a lot of good food and share it with friends and family. One of my favorite Thanksgivings was when I was in college in San Diego and I organized an “Orphan’s Thanksgiving” for my fellow college friends who wouldn’t be traveling home for the holiday. It was a bit less than traditional, but the spirit certainly was there.

Of course, for the host, Thanksgiving might not be all that stress-free. Still-frozen turkeys, wallpaper-paste gravies, and well, we’ve all got our stories (we’d love to yours). So in the interest of everyone enjoying our favorite holiday, we’re sharing with you some tips for a great Thanksgiving. We’ll start out with an overall game plan that we call, cleverly, T-Day Game Plan.

Wine Tips: Temperature & Glassware

by Andrew Lazorchak

We all know that wines come in many: sizes, colors, aromas, textures, styles, and so on. And it is understood that great wine does not need to have a great price tag, but it usually helps. Smaller wineries tend to craft a more precise, delicate, and quality wine, but there are some major producers that have a good price and make for a good drink. So finding the wine you like for your palate and wallet is really trial and error.

But is there something more important than buying the right bottle of wine? Is how you serve and experience your wine paramount to the juice that is in the bottle? I am not going to say that enjoying wine with music actually makes the wine taste better, but whatever your attitude or company is at that time, sure will help!

Here, in this first of two articles, you will find some really fun links to wine accessories that bring wine enjoyment to a new level, and some accessories that are for the passionate fool, or even the eccentric “has it all” host. But more importantly, you will also find the classic tips that most people just overlook when serving wine, tips that could mean a huge difference in how you experience the wine in the bottle and in your glass.