Thanksgiving Recipes

We had a small Thanksgiving this year -- just the four of us plus my in-laws.  So, I felt that it was a good year to try new recipes.  Why not?  If they failed, it was only a small crowd.  Fortunately, they all turned out great!  Some recipes I followed to a tee, and others I changed a little.  Unfortunately, I was so busy that day that I neglected to take pictures of anything but the cranberry sauce (which I actually made the Tuesday before Thanksgiving).   So, here are the recipes for the cranberry sauce, the turkey, and the pies.  We also had a salad, garlic mashed potatoes, stuffing (which my mother-in-law makes), and of course, chestnuts.  

Turkey with Herbes de Provence and Citrus

Courtesy of Giada de Laurentiis, Food Network

(makes 8-10 servings)

1 (14-15lb) turkey, neck and giblets reserved

1 orange, cut into wedges

1 lemon, cut into wedges

6 fresh rosemary sprigs

6 fresh oregano sprigs

7 tablespoons unsalted butter

2 tablespoons herbes de Provence

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 1/2 teaspoons salt

1 1/2 teaspoons fresh ground black pepper

6 cups canned low-salt chicken broth

1/3 cup all-purpose flour

To prepare turkey:

-- Position rack in lowest third of oven and preheat to 400F

-- Rinse the turkey and pat it dry with paper towels. 

-- Place the turkey on a rack set inside a large roasting pan. 

-- Place the orange and lemon wedges, onion, and 2 sprigs of each fresh herb in the main turkey cavity. Tie the legs together to hold the shape of the turkey. 

-- Stir 2 tablespoons of butter, the herbes de Provence, oil, and 1 1/2 teaspoons of each the salt and pepper in a small saucepan over medium heat just until the butter melts. 

-- Rub the butter mixture all over the turkey and between the turkey breast meat and skin. 

-- Place the turkey neck and giblets in roasting pan. (Recipe can be prepared up to this point 1 day ahead. Cover and refrigerate. Let stand at room temperature 30 minutes before roasting.)

-- Cover the tukey breast with foil and roast for 20 minutes. 

-- Pour 3 cups of broth into the pan and stir to scrape up any brown bits on the bottom of pan.  

-- Add the remaining sprigs of fresh herbs to the pan.  Roast turkey for 40 minutes.  
-- Reduce the oven temperature to 350F.  Remove foil from turkey, and pour 1 more cup of broth into the pan.  
-- Continue roasting the turkey until a meat thermometer inserted into the thickest part of the thigh registers 165F to 175F or until the juices run clear when the thickest part of the thigh is pierced with a skewer, basting occasionally with pan juices, about 1 

hour and 30 minutes longer.  
-- Transfer the turkey to a platter and tent with foil.  
-- Let stand 30 minutes while preparing gravy.  

To make the gravy:

-- Strain the turkey pan juices from the roasting pan through a sieve and into a 4-cup glass measuring cup; discard the solids. 

--Spoon off the fat from atop the pan juices. Add enough chicken broth, about 1 to 2 cups, to the pan juices to measure 4 cups total.

-- Melt the remaining butter in a heavy large saucepan over medium-high heat. 

-- Add the flour and whisk for 1 minute. Gradually whisk in the broth. 

-- Simmer until the gravy thickens slightly, whisking often, about 10 minutes. 

-- Season with salt and pepper. Serve the turkey with the gravy.  

You can adjust this recipe for a smaller or larger bird.  Ours was about 11 1/2 pounds, so I didn't need quite the entire lemon and orange to stuff it.   

Blue Cranberry Sauce

Courtesy of allrecipes.com, submitted by: connie

(makes 9 servings)

1 (12 ounce) package fresh cranberries

1 cup water
1/2 cup white sugar

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg

1/8 teaspoon ground allspice

1 pint fresh blueberries

-- Wash and pick over cranberries. Place in a medium saucepan with water, and sugar. Bring to a boil, reduce heat, stir and simmer for 10 minutes or until cranberries burst

-- Slightly mash the cranberries with the back of a wooden spoon to ensure all skins are broken. Add the cinnamon, nutmeg and allspice. Mix well.

-- Remove from heat and mix in the blueberries (don't be afraid to break a few, but don't over mash either). The sauce will thicken as it cools.

-- Transfer to a bowl, cool slightly and place plastic wrap directly on top of sauce to cover. 

-- Refrigerate until chilled.

As I mentioned, I made this two days earlier and it held up just fine.  In fact, I suspect that the flavors melded together better over the course of those couple of days.  This dish is really verstile:  it can be eaten chilled or at room temperature or warmed.   Everyone really liked it -- even those folks who generally skip the cranberry sauce (like me).  

Pumpkin Pie

(makes 8 servings)

1 fresh pumpkin 

1 unbaked 9-inch pie crust

2 eggs

1 cup light brown sugar

1 tablespoon all-purpose flour

1/2 teaspoon salt

2 1/2 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice

1 teaspoon vanilla 

1 can (12 fluid ounce) evaporated milk 

-- Cut pumpkin in half and remove seeds. 

-- Place cut side down on a cookie sheet lined with lightly oiled aluminum foil.  

-- Bake at 325F for 30 to 40 minutes, or until the flesh is tender when poked with a fork. 

-- Cool until just warm. 

-- Scrape the pumpkin flesh from the peel. 

-- Either mash, or puree in small batches in a blender. 

-- Increase oven temperature to 450F.

-- In a large bowl, slightly beat eggs. 

-- Add brown sugar, flour, salt, 2 cups of the pumpkin puree, pumpkin pie spice, vanilla and evaporated milk. Stir well after each addition. 

-- Pour mixture into the unbaked pie shell. Be sure to place a strip of aluminum foil around the edge of the crust to prevent overbrowning. 

-- Bake 10 minutes at 450F, then reduce the oven temperature to 350F.

-- Bake an additional 40 to 50 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean. Remove the strip of foil about 20 minutes before the pie is done so that the edge of the crust will be a light golden brown. 

-- Cool pie, and refrigerate overnight for best flavor.

My husband who is a huge pumpkin pie fan told me this was the best one he had ever tasted.  Now that's a compliment!  When indicated, most pumpkin pie recipes state that a sugar pumpkin should be used.  It's a sweet pumpkin that can easily be found and is traditionally used for pies.  However, I happened to have a Long Island cheese pumpkin on hand from my CSA delivery.  I had to do a little research, but it turns out that these pumpkins are great for pies.  They're naturally very sweet.  I wasn't disappointed.  And lastly, you can use either a homemade pie crust or a store-bought frozen crust.  I wouldn't get the unrefrigerated kind that are sitting on the aisle with the cake mixes.  

Sweet Potato Pie

(makes 8 servings)

1 (1 pound) sweet potato
1/2 cup butter, softened
1/2 cup white sugar
1/2 cup light brown sugar
1/2 cup milk
2 eggs
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 tablespoon dark rum
1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
1 (9 inch) unbaked pie crust

-- Boil sweet potato whole in skin for 40 to 50 minutes, or until done. Run cold water over the sweet potato, and remove the skin.
-- Break apart sweet potato in a bowl. Add butter, and mix well with mixer. 
-- Stir in sugar, milk, eggs, nutmeg, cinnamon, vanilla, flour, and rum. 
-- Beat on medium speed until mixture is smooth. Pour filling into an unbaked pie crust.
-- Bake at 350F for 55 to 60 minutes, or until knife inserted in center comes out clean. 
-- Pie will puff up like a souffle, and then will sink down as it cools.
-- Cool pie, and refrigerate overnight for best flavor.

I've never made sweet potato pie before -- I've never even eaten it.  But I've always wanted to try it.  So this year, I knew that I wanted to have both mashed potatoes and sweet potatoes in our Thanksgiving meal, but I couldn't really justify two kinds of potatoes for just seven of us at dinner.  I decided to incorporate the sweet potatoes as dessert instead.  So, I found a few different sweet potato pie recipes and created my own.  It turned out really yummy.  It's sweet, so it's not for folks who like subtle flavors; you can probably cut the sugar to 3/4 cup in total, especially if you're adding the alcohol.  I used dark rum, but you can also use bourbon instead.

Those are my Thanksgiving recipes.  While I probably won't use the turkey and cranberry recipe again until next year, I am definitely going to make the pies again.  I actually have enough pumpkin puree left over in the freezer for another pie.  I am hosting Christmas Eve at my house, so maybe it will make an appearance then!

 

Pork Burritos (and hidden chard)

I've been busy this fall -- cooking a lot, but too busy to write about it.  One thing I've been doing a lot of lately is trying to make a meal out of the items I already have in the house, rather than running to the grocery store to buy more ingredients.   Not only is it better for our wallets (in this ridiculous economic environment), but it's kind of fun to MacGyver a meal together.  

All day today I've been trying to figure out what to make.  I had an entire package of diced pancetta left over from a recipe last week.  I also had some red chard from my CSA delivery.  I knew that I couldn't get my family to eat chard on its own (it's green, and therefore suspect), so I knew it had to be hidden in something else.  Pancetta and greens are a great side dish, but not something from which you can make an entire meal.  Then it hit me:  burritos!  What better way to hide things from your kids than to wrap them in a tortilla and cover them with cheese and sour cream!  So, I decided to make pork burritos -- all I needed to buy was the ground pork. 

Actually, I should note here that I don't really buy ground pork.  My father-in-law was a butcher who ran several Petrini's markets (if you are from Northern California, you probably know Petrini's -- my mother-in-law is a Petrini).  He told me that he is generally suspect of pre-packaged ground meat in the supermarket; he claims that grinding up pork is a way for markets to easily get rid of pork that is either low quality or nearing the end of its shelf life.  So instead, my mother-in-law recommended that I buy boneless ribs and grind them myself in the food processor.  This actually works great and is really easy!  

All I had to do was saute the pancetta, chard, and pork together, put them in a soft, warm tortilla, add some cheese, sour cream, and roll the entire thing up.  Yum!   Obviously this is a versatile recipe and you can make plenty of substitutions.  You can use almost any hearty green like regular chard or mustard greens.  And instead of pancetta, you can use Canadian bacon or just regular bacon, if you like.  But don't be tempted to skip the bacon just because the recipe already calls for pork.  The pancetta not only provides some flavorful fat in which to saute the greens, but it also adds some nice texture to the pork.  And really, doesn't everything taste better with bacon?

Pork Burritos

6-8 servings

1 1/2 pounds boneless pork ribs

4 oz diced pancetta

1/2 cup of chopped red chard, ribs removed (or similar hearty green)

2 tablespoons of green salsa, plus more to taste

tortillas

shredded Jack cheese

sour cream

-- Heat broiler

-- Chop pork into 1-2 inch cubes.  Grind in food processor

-- Remove pork from food processor and add chard.  Chop until diced

-- Heat a saute pan over medium high heat, and add pancetta.  Cook until it starts to crisp, about 5 minutes

-- Add chard to pan and mix in with pancetta.  Cook until the two are well incorporated, about 2 minutes

-- Add pork to mixture, and cook until meat is cooked through

-- Add green salsa to mixture

-- Place tortilla for each person on top rack of oven.  Let sit under broiler until soft, about 10 seconds.  Don't let them sit too long, or the tortilla will get crispy and become unwrappable.

-- Put tortilla on plate, 1-2 tablespoons of pork mixture (depending on the size of your tortilla), add cheese, sour cream, and more salsa, if desired.

-- Fold and roll tortilla

Note that you probably won't need to add any salt to this recipe.  The pancetta is generally pretty salty.  Taste the meat after you add the green salsa to the pan.  Add salt to taste, if necessary.