Thanksgiving Sides: 101. Also, don't trust a celebrity chef.

And then it was the day after the first feast of Thanksgiving 2013. And I rested. EPF is running around being all kinds of productive - apparently the collection of people inspired him to think about what he'd like to be improved around the house. Me? I'm sitting still. 

Round One of Thanksgiving 2013 went quite well last night - good times with some friends and some family (and a special shout of appreciation to James for providing the photography for this entry!). I had some recipe successes, and some recipe failures, and some random snafus along the way. As promised, here's the story, with all recipes listed in a clump at the bottom (with links to original posts where applicable). 

The turkey, of course, was great. It was surprisingly huge (19lbs!) but that's okay - EPF is a big fan of smoked turkey. (Bonus preview: I'm working on some guest blogger events, and he'll be one of them - he makes mean mashed potatoes, without overcomplicating them - and he also can smoke a turkey like a boss.)

My Super Stuffing returned, and this year I actually stuck to the recipe - well, sort of. In the past I've used pre-dried/cubed bread, croutons really - but they're marketed as stuffing starter so OBVIOUSLY it's different. Anyway, this year I got actual sourdough - and you know, the slight extra tang really made a difference, so I vote for that always. Also, the recipe calls for onion, and I did that the first time but per a tiny note I seem to have used shallots last year. I like them better. So that's what I did this year, and I don't know that it makes a massive difference but I still like them better. I had batted around tweaking the recipe - adding some nuts, or some loose sausage, or something - but in the end couldn't bring myself to mess with perfection. When you've nailed something and it's a crucial part of a holiday, it's a pretty bad idea to mess with it - and I did enough of that, as you will read. 

I needed something green on the table, and green bean casserole has been vetoed in this house so I opted for fresh green beans. Those of you that are 55-year olds like me all have the November Good Housekeeping laying around the house somewhere, and in there you saw a story on Ina Garten, and her recipe for Green Bean Gremolata. You maybe thought to yourself "huh, that sounds good - fresh and bright and interesting but uncomplicated. I'll try it." Well, don't. Or if you do at least change a couple things. If I had THOUGHT about it, I would have realized that huge amounts of parsley are gross and so is raw garlic. But I didn't. I'll say this: fresh green beans are still good, and the rest of the topping is good. Just skip the nasty bits.

Also, funny story: these green beans were supposed to be steamed in the steamer pot, but we had an unfortunate incident wherein the steamer pot nearly went up in flames and as of this typing remains on the balcony, de-stinking. So, the beans were microwaved, and they were still nice and crisp and hot. Improv and recovery will get you through the holidays. And the recipe actually called for blanching, which is boiling and then ice-bathing, but that is just too many bowls and complications so that wasn't going to happen anyway. Come on, Ina. 

We skipped yams this year and did roasted acorn squash, which - the way I prepare it - tastes pretty much the same but looks prettier.

 Unless you are a six year old boy, that is. Then, well, it looks like squash and that's yucky. But if you're a one and a half year old boy, then it's so delicious the only reasonable thing to do - after pulling out as much as you can with your little fingers - is pick up the rind and mash it right into your face. So I guess the moral of the story there is know your audience. 

I've got a pretty easy and tasty homemade cranberry sauce - I made it last year and it was good, but a little too tart, so I overruled the recipe's recommendation for entire chunks of rind. Much better result this year. I needed a little less than half an orange's worth of zest for my pumpkin pie (next up) so used the rest of the orange here.

Remember that Good Housekeeping I mentioned? Well, Ina also has a pumpkin pie recipe. I fussed and fiddled with that too -- and the truth is, it's more a pumpkin custard pie. But if you normally find pumpkin pie a little too dense (and, uh, you aren't too worried about your cholesterol), then this might be the pie for you. I also attempted to decorate with leftover crust bits. This is trickier than one might think, as I couldn't put it on till a good ways through the baking due to the pie being liquidy. This led to not-fully cooked crust atop the pie, and it had already been in the oven too long so more baking was out. My next thought was EPF's culinary torch, purchased specifically for creme brulee. That, however, is somewhere in a box in the garage, and may not be seen for quite some time. So I ended up toasting the dough to completion with a barbecue lighter. Let me be clear: I do not recommend this as a strategy. It's just one of those things that sometimes has to happen at the holidays. You know? Oh! And Ina neglects to inform you that you're going to need pie weights, which I don't have, and I didn't have dried beans laying around, so scavenged various things together - rice, lentils, some barley - and put them on parchment. It worked, but caused some anxiety. 

And finally, the Toll House cookies. These were a success with both of the aforementioned boys, so I imagine will be with your home as well. I changed nothing about the recipe since my last posting. They remain delicious. Thanks, Grandmom. 

And that, my friends, is the story of Thanksgiving round 1. While I had a great time hosting, cooking, etc, I look forward to round 2 - when I will come bearing stuffing, and that is all. 

(Recipes after the jump)

Ready for stuffing again? Yes, you are.

It's been a while since Thanksgiving, and I bet you're wondering "I saw part 1, where the heck is part 2?" Where, indeed. I got a little distracted. The upside: it's been long enough now that you (theoretically) aren't sick of Thanksgiving food anymore...and maybe are even thinking about, say, stuffing for your Christmas dinner. Right? Well, if not - you should, if only to make this delicious concoction. The truth is it wasn't perfect, but even the less than perfect was delicious. Bonus: it's the best kind of holiday food. The leftovers get better with age!




As previously mentioned here, I got a little teeny bit carried away with the Thanksgiving menu planning. Like a new mother who disdains jarred baby food for homemade organic puree, I was all about farm-to-table, scratch-made. For the most part, mysteriously, it worked out. This stuffing was a prime example - while it was a bit more complicated and time-consuming than I expected, it was so good that the effort was quickly forgotten - especially since I would have needed to do something with these ingredients anyway, since Full Circle had delivered many of them (including the delicious and crucial creminis) in my weekly box.

Sourdough Bread Stuffing
Source: Food Network, Good Deal With Dave Lieberman
Prep Time: 10 min // Inactive Prep Time: 15 min // Cook Time: 1 hr 15 min
6-8 servings

Ingredients

1-pound loaf sourdough bread
8 tablespoons butter
10 ounces cremini mushrooms, sliced 1/2-inch thick in both directions [note from your blogger: do not skimp on the type or amount of mushroom. The rich flavor of the creminis makes this stuffing.]
Salt and freshly ground pepper
2 to 4 stalks celery with leaves, halved lengthwise and sliced
1 medium onion, chopped
About 10 sprigs fresh thyme, leaves stripped from the stems
10 to 12 fresh sage leaves, chopped
3 1/2 cups low-sodium chicken broth
3 tablespoons chopped Italian parsley leaves

Directions

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Grease a 2-quart baking dish and set aside.

Cut or tear the bread into 1-inch cubes and spread it evenly on 2 baking sheets. Toast the bread in the oven until completely dry and beginning to crisp and brown, about 20 minutes. Transfer to a large mixing bowl.

[Note from your blogger: As is clearly a trend, I skipped this step and bought cubed bread, dried out, from a bakery at my farmer's market. It was delicious and I'll do it again, but if you do that make sure you add a little extra broth - maybe another half cup - to balance the moisture level. This is also something that ceases to be an issue in the leftovers, as the moisture redistributes itself nicely.]

Melt 2 tablespoons of the butter in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add the mushrooms and a few pinches of salt and saute, stirring occasionally, until golden brown, about 6 to 8 minutes. Add celery, onion, 2 tablespoons butter, and thyme. Once the butter has melted, cook, stirring frequently, until the vegetables have softened, about 5 minutes. Add sage and remaining 4 tablespoons butter. Add chicken broth to skillet and stir to combine. Season with salt and pepper, to taste.

Transfer toasted bread cubes to a large bowl. Pour the chicken broth mixture over the bread cubes and toss to combine until the bread cubes absorb the liquid. Pour the mixture into the greased baking dish, and sprinkle with parsley. Bake in the center of the oven until heated through and the top is golden brown, about 40 minutes. Remove the stuffing from the oven and allow to cool about 15 minutes before serving.



Now speaking of over planning, I'm in the middle of baking approximately 425 cookies right now...but before that, there was a carrot soup.

Thanksgiving Aftermath, part 1

Happy après-Thanksgiving, everyone! Are you still feeling the food coma? I am…mostly because I can’t stop eating leftovers and am already plowing through holiday eggnog. December: 1, Meg’s willpower: 0. (Somewhat troubling in that it isn't actually December yet.) But since my Thanksgiving cooking efforts were so successful, I’m calling the whole thing a win anyway. 

I actually had two Thanksgivings, one which I did not contribute to and one which I cooked about 60% of, plus an out-of-order leftover experience.  The first Thanksgiving was at my cousins’ home, and my cousin’s mother-in-law was responsible for some seriously delicious butternut squash. I’ll figure out that one and share it here soon, hopefully…

Then came Friday, when EPB and I realized a little too late that doing our Thanksgiving on Saturday meant that we had to improvise the traditional Friday meal of leftover sandwiches.  So, with canned cranberry and StoveTop to the rescue (plus leftover turkey from an office lunch earlier in the week, we created our masterpieces. EPB may win for most interesting – his went as follows: layer of white bread (the more basic the better, and – in his case – untoasted), turkey, cranberry, layer of white bread that had been dredged in leftover gravy, layer of stuffing, remaining slice of white bread. Mine was toasted and lacking the middle slice – I added some mayonnaise and used my gravy dip-style. Overall, quite delicious.

But Saturday…oh Saturday. As mentioned previously, we had procured a turkey – free-range, organic, heritage breed (Spanish Black, if you’re wondering) – not quite the fanciest turkey out there but pretty darn close.  Feather bits plucked, Friday it went into the brine. Saturday, it hit the brand-new smoker. And it was GOOD. So good, we may have converted our guests to this turkey and process for next year! 

The majority of the sides were my project, and while not everything was a success I am fairly sure I have found the world’s best stuffing.  Things that were marginally successful: Lemony Green Beans (sort of tasty but too lemony, and possibly also over-steamed - not worth detailing here), and mashed sweet potatoes. These mashed sweet potatoes will be the death of me. They have been a staple in my family for years – my grandmother used to make them, and she taught my mother, who makes them for holidays now.  They are (allegedly) simple, and delicious. The trick is the addition of apple juice – you’re supposed to add gradually until it looks “thin” or you can smell it, then let it sit on keep warm and the potatoes will absorb the rest.  Three times now I have added slowly, and it has gone from not at all thin, to suddenly quite thin, and then – no matter what I try – it does not re-thicken. SO FRUSTRATING. This year, after a series of delicious baked sweet potato experiences, I apparently thought it would be a good idea to mess with a recipe I had never perfected in the first place by mashing fresh, instead of using canned (the recipe way).  Suffice to say: it didn’t work. Flavor: okay. Texture: thin and chunky at the same time. Distressing. 

But the stuffing…oh, my. The stuffing. Recipe and story coming up shortly...

I'm a lucky blogger

Thanksgiving...a high point of what I think of as "the cooking season". It's gloomy out, and people gather for warmth and unconcerned eating. It's the first and last time people really enjoy holiday food - after this, the Christmas parties come fast and furious, and we're all perpetually...stuffed. But Thanksgiving! Nothing has gone awry yet, no one has been trampled for a big cheap flat screen. There's only food, family, friends, football.

This year, I'm doubly lucky. I'll have a Thanksgiving with my family out here tomorrow - so glad that I HAVE family out here! - and Saturday we'll have our own Thanksgiving at home, because someone has an overwhelming desire to smoke his own turkey. In between, shopping will be limited to the internet and strenuous activities will include...um, nothing. I've got quite a meal planned for Saturday...the turkey arrived this morning from Windy N Ranch in Ellensburg, WA, via Full Circle Farm in Carnation, WA (where I get my bi-weekly organic produce delivery from). Tom Turkey looks pretty promising...there are still some feather bits on him, which is alternately fantastic (so fresh!) and slightly disconcerting. The produce box contents - Yukon Gold potatoes, carrots, celery, leeks - will make up a good part of the menu. There are also pears - you know what will happen to those! The West Seattle Farmer's Market filled in the rest of the ingredients - cranberries, sweet potatoes, bread for the stuffing, all locally grown/produced.

I'm so excited to cook all this - and so grateful to live in a place where all this can be locally provided by non-corporate/industrial farms.

Happy Thanksgiving!