Thanksgiving 2016

Breakfast

Bacon Breakfast Cupcake with egg and Hollandaise Sauce

Appetizers

Prosecco

Cranberry Goat Cheese

Dinner

Turbo Broccoli Cheddar Soup

Brined Turkey Breast Grilled with veggies per Lidia

Braised Turkey Legs and Thighs

Sunny’s Simple Stuffing with Oysters

Sweet Potato Pecan Salad

Roasted Brussels Sprouts with Bacon and Chestnuts

Maple Walnut Cranberry Sauce

Dessert

Sara Beth Pumpkin Pie

I used to be able to make all of thanksgiving in one day.  Can’t do that any more.  This year is just Jim and I and when I look at the menu planned, well, let’s just say I probably won’t have to cook again until December.   I made the Cranberry Sauce on Sunday, which is lucky as I couldn’t walk on Monday.  Aleve, ice, and a heating pad relieved it enough that Tuesday I was able to make the breakfast cupcakes, pie and soup.

Maple Walnut Cranberry Sauce  (allrecipes.com)

Ingredients:

1 (12 oz.) package fresh cranberries, rinsed and drained

3/4 C freshly squeezed orange juice

1/2 C dark maple syrup

1/4 C white sugar

1/4 C port wine

1 T freshly grated ginger

1 T freshly grated orange zest

1 (3”) cinnamon stick

1 pinch salt

1 C chopped walnuts

Directions:

1. Place cranberries into a large saucepan and stir in oj, syrup, wine, ginger, zest cinnamon and salt.
2. Bring sauce to a simmer.  Berries will begin to pop.  Cook at a simmer until berries are cooked through and soft, about 10 minutes.  
3. Remove saucepan from heat and let cranberry sauce cool for about 5 minutes.  
4. Shake walnuts in a dry skillet over medium heat, cooking until golden brown and fragrant, about 5 minutes.   Wipe away any small particles of walnut skin from skillet to avoid bitterness.   Stir walnuts into cranberry sauce.  Let cool to room temperature and transfer to a serving bowl; sauce with thicken as it cools.  
5. Cover bowl with plastic wrap, pushing wrap to touch sauce and refrigerate until needed.  
6. Sauce can be made several days ahead of time.  

Tuesday I tackled he soup and baking.  This soup is from The Kitchen on Food Network.  Jeff on the show had one of those turbo blenders.  My blender is the old bar kind so first I used an immersion blender for the rough chopping and then I transferred it to my blender.  

Turbo Broccoli Cheddar Soup

Ingredients:

2 T butter

1 head of broccoli, stems and florets separated and chopped (Publics had crowns only so I bought 2)

1/2 small yellow onion, diced

2 t dry mustard

Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

2 T dry sherry

1 C chicken stock (I used about 2 1/2 C)

2 C spinach

1 C grated sharp Cheddar

1/4 C heavy cream

1 t hot sauce

Croutons, for serving

Directions:

1. melt the butter in a large Dutch oven over medium heat.  Add the broccoli stems, onion, dry mustard and some salt and pepper and saute until onions are translucent, about 5 minutes. 
2. Deglaze with the sherry and then add the broccoli florets.  Add the stock and simmer for 5 minutes. 
3. Carefully ladle everything into a blender along with the fresh spinach, cheddar, cream and hot sauce and process until smooth about 1 minute.  
4. Adjust with salt and pepper if necessary and adjust the thickness with more cream if necessary.  
5. Top with croutons and serve.  

This recipe says it serves 4, but because it is being served with such a large meal, there will be a lot leftover.  

Nest I made the Sara Beth Pumpkin Pie.  I have already blogged this pie.  It is the best one I have ever had so no more searching for a pumpkin pie recipe.  You can find it by putting in 2-21-2015 or Thanks! Pumpkin Pie.  

Finally I made the cupcakes we are having for breakfast.  They were easy.  I cut the recipe in half as I only need 3, 4 at most; one for me and 2 or 3 for Jim.  The recipe makes 24 cupcakes. It is to be served with an egg on top in a pool of hollandaise sauce.  I bought Knorr’s hollandaise sauce.  It is fast and easy.  This is like a version of Eggs Benedict.  

Ingredients:

1 C all-purpose flour

1 C cake flour

1 1/2 t baking soda

3/4 C sour cream1 T vanilla

2 eggs

1 C beer

1 stick of unsalted butter

1 C shredded sharp Cheddar

2 C light brown sugar

1 C chopped cooked bacon (no bacon bits)

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.  Line two 12 count muffin tins with paper cupcake liners. 
2. Combine the two flours and baking soda in a bowl; set aside.
3. Ina separate bowl, mix the sour cream, vanilla and eggs; set aside.
4. Heat the beer and butter in a saucepan over medium-high heat until the butter is just melted.  Stir in the cheese, remove from the heat and whisk in the brown sugar.  Slowly add the beer mixture to the egg mixture, stirring.  
5. Fold/ gently stir in the dry mixture, then fold in the bacon.  
6. Fill the muffin cups 3/4 full with the batter.  
7. Bake until an inserted toothpick comes out clean, 20-25 minutes.  
8. Let the cupcakes cool on a wire rack.  

Wednesday I had a lot of cooking to do and it went really bad.  The brine for the turkey breast was ready and jim put the turkey in the sink ready for me to cut up.  I am cooking the dark meat separate from the white.  I bought a whole turkey so I had all the pieces no one eats for broth.  So I cut up the turkey and got out the brining bag.  I tried to move the brine off the stove and couldn’t.  I put the breast in the brining bag and with a measuring cup filled it with brine.  I wanted to get out all the goodies and moved the rest of the brine over to the sink to pour through a sieve.  Meanwhile I could not get the brining bag to close, so I propped it up against the wall.  Half way through straining the remaining brine the brining bag fell over sending brine all over the kitchen.  Yes, I had sticky brine on the counters, under the cutting board, and all over the floor.  Well I mopped it up and continued to do the braised turkey legs, with the brining turkey safely in a big pot.  As I started the stove a large cockroach ran across the the counter and before I could get ii disappeared into a crevice between the stove and the cabinets.  Jim came home with the kitchen in chaos and said what’s going on.  Meanwhile we are fighting with the insurance company over face cream I need to keep the roseate under control.  They keep interrupting me.  Next I had to get the braised turkey going.  This recipe is from Fine Cooking.  I also put the wing section in that looks like a drumstick.  

Braised Turkey Legs with Crisp Pancetta and Parsley

Ingredients:  

2-3 T EVOO

2 skin on bone in turkey thighs 

2 skin on bone in turkey legs

Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

1 large white onion, chopped

4 large garlic cloves,peeled and slivered

3 whole cloves

2 dried bay leaves

1 t dried orango

2 T tomato paste

3 C unsalted turkey or chicken stock (I used mine)

1 1/4 C dry white wine

1/4 t crushed red pepper flakes

Directions:

1. In a large 7-8 qt. Dutch oven or other heavy-duty pot, heat 2 T of the oil over medium high heat.  Season the drumsticks and thighs with salt and pepper.  
2. Working in batches, sear the turkey pars until well browned on both sides, 8-12 minutes per batch.  (I didn’t need to do in batches.)  Transfer to a rimmed baking sheet.  
3. Add the onion, garlic, cloves, bay leaves, and oregano to the pot and cook, stirring occasionally, until the onion begins to brown, about 5 minutes. 
4. Stir in the tomato paste and cook for 1 minute.  
5. Add the stock, wine, and pepper flakes and scrape up any browned bits on the bottom of the pot.  
6. Bring to a boil.  Return the turkey and any juice to the pot, reduce the heat to medium low, partially cover, and simmer gently until the turkey is very tender, 2 1/2 hours.  Remove from the heat and let the turkey cool, covered, in a braising liquid for 1 hour.  
7. Transfer the turkey to a cutting board.  Remove and discard the skin, then take the meat off the bone in large pieces.  
8. Strain the sauce through a miciim-mesh strainer into a saucepan and keep warm or, if making ahead, a heatproof storage container large enough to hold the sauce and the meat.  
9. Return the turkey to toe sauce.  (You can do this up to 2 ays before serving, cover and refrigerate.)
10. To serve, gently reheat the turkey and sauce.  You can cook up pancetta adding a criss finish, but I chose not to.  I did add 1/4 C parsley to the sauce.  With this started I proceeded to clean cabinets, counters and the floor.  Jim found the cockroach and smashed him.  So I had to start the Italian-style Roast Turkey breast.  This is a coating you put on the breast to keep it moist.  Sara Molten used to have a TV show.  Her recipes are always great, so I decided to try it.  This made more than I probably need, so I will freeze it for future chicken or turkey recipes.  

Italian-Style Roast Turkey Breast

Ingredients:

2 medium zucchini

Kosher salt

2 T EVOO

1 medium onion, finely chopped

1 T minced garlic

1 T chopped fresh thyme

3 oz. finely grated parmesan cheese

2 C fresh breadcrumbs

1/2 C whole-mild ricotta cheese

Ground black pepper

5-7 # turkey breast

Directions:

1. Using a food processor, coarsely grate the zucchini.  In a colander, toss the grated zucchini with 1/2 t of salt, then let it drain over the sink of r20 minutes.  A handful at a time, squeeze out the zucchini to remove excess liquid.  St aside.  
2. In a large skillet over medium, heat the oil.  Add the onion and cook, stirring occasionally, until golden brown, 8-10 minutes. Add garlic and thyme and cook, stirring 1 minute.
3. Remove the skillet from the heat and stir in the Parmesan, breadcrumbs and ricotta.  Season with salt and pepper.  
4. Us a paper towel and pat dry the turkey skin, then rub with a bit of oil and season with salt and pepper.  Using your fingers, gently separate the skin from the meat on the breast, being careful to to tear it and leaving it attached at the edges.  
5. Stuff the zucchini mixture evenly under the loosened skin of the turkey then place the turkey on a rack set in a roasting pan.  

From here we will follow Lidia’s recipe for the grilled chicken.  The next thing I tackled was the Sweet Potato Pecan Salad.  Again I cut the recipe in half.  The recipe is from The Kitchen on FoodTV.  It serves 10. 

Ingredients:

4 stalks celery, cut into 1” pieces

2 large sweet potatoes, peeled and cut into 1” pieces

1 red onion, cut into 1” pieces

1/4 C EVOO, more for finishing

1 t ras el hanout

1 t finely minced fresh rosemary

Kosher salt and freshly cracked black pepper

 1 C green grapes, cut in half

1 C toasted pecan

1/2 C pomegranate seeds

1/2 C thinly sliced scallions

1/4 C golden raisins

Sherry vinegar, as needed

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 4-00 degrees.  Place a baking sheet in the oven to heat.

     2. Toss celery, sweet potatoes and red onions with the EVOO, as el hanout and rosemary in              a mixing bowl.  Season with salt and pepper. 

         Transfer the mixture to the heated baking sheet and roast until the potatoes are tender and            caramelized, about 30 minutes.  Let the sweet potato mixture cool to room temperature                  before proceeding (Or if making ahead, refrigerate, but remove 30 minutes before                          proceeding.

     3. Toss the sweet potato mixture in a large bowl with remaining ingredients. 

     4. Toss the salad with sherry vinegar and EVOO to taste.  Add salt and pepper as needed.

Jim suggested we order Chinese for dinner tonight.  What a great suggestion.  Completely exhausted.  We actually ended up ordering Shrimp Tempura and soup from our local Asian restaurant.  He served at my suggestion a Rose from France called Grand Ferrage.  I bought it at Costco.   Tomorrow is the big day.  Two more dishes from scratch and finishing some.  Jim will grille the turkey breast after I put the dressing on it.  I also made the croutons for the soup tonight.  He suggested we do something fun this weekend.  The art museum is not open, so we will see.  

Well the last day of cooking has dawned.  Started with the bacon muffins, topped with a fried egg and hollandaise sauce.  Delicious!  Next I finished the the sweet potato salad.  Moving right along I cut up all the veggies and herbs for the roasting of the turkey breast.  Turkey breast is being made the same as last  year only I made the stuffing on Wednesday and used about half.  Going to freeze the second half.  It can be used on chicken also.  

Next I tackled the Stuffing.  This is from The Kitchen on FoodTV.  It is called Sunny’s Simple Stuffing with Oysters.  I cut the recipe in half.

Ingredients:

1 (12oz.) bag stuffing mix (I used William’s Sonoma focaccia stuffing)

1/4 C loosely packed chopped fresh parsley

4 T unsalted butter

1 C chopped celery

1 C chopped onions

1 T chopped fresh thyme

5-6 fresh sage leaves, chopped

4 cloves garlic, grated on a rasp

Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

2 1/2 C turkey or chicken stock

1 C oysters

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
2. In a large bowl, mix the stuffing mix with the parsley and set aside.
3. In a large pan on medium heat add the butter, celery, onion, thyme , sage  and garlic.  Season with a pic of salt and a nice grind of pepper.  
4. Cook until the onion and celery are tender but the garlic is not browned.  Remove to the bowl of of bread cubes.  
5. Pour the stock over the bread and veggie mixture and stir to combine.  Use more stock to make it a very wet dressing.  Add the oysters and their liquid.  
6. Pour the mixture into a 13” X 9” baking dish.  Press down to  make it compact, and then cover tightly with aluminum foil.  
7. Bake for 45 minutes, then raise the oven temperature to 400 degrees F and bake, uncovered, until golden brown on top, about 15 minutes more.  

The last dish on the agenda was William-Sonoma Roasted Brussels Sprouts with Bacon and Chestnuts.  They said serves 6.  I cut it back to 1# of Brussels sprouts.  Jim felt that 10 would be too many.  

Ingredients:

6 oz. bacon, diced

5 shallots, minced

4# Brussels sprouts

1 C roughly chopped roasted and peeled chestnuts (I buy at Williams-Sonoma.)

2 T chopped fresh thyme

Salt and pepper

Directions:

1. Preheat an oven to 415 degrees F.
2. In a large roasting pan or ovenproof sauté pan over medium heat, cook the bacon until crisp, 5-8 minutes.  
3. Add the shallots and cook until soft, about 2 minutes.  
4. Increase the heat to medium-high, and the brussels sprouts, chestnuts, thyme, salt, and pepper and stir well.
5. Transfer the pan to the oven and roast for 15 minutes, then stir the ingredients.  Continue roasting until the sprouts are tender, about 10 minutes more.  
6. Transfer to a serving dish and serve immediately.  

So another year, and yet another recipe for turkey.  The braised dark meat was a bust.  It turned out like dry white meat.  The turkey breast was wonderful and I usually prefer the dark meat.  The stuffing was wonderful and the soup was delicious.  I think we polished off 2 T of cranberry sauce.  That would be a record high for us.  Not sure why I continue to make it.  I over cooked the Brussels sprouts.  The gravy was wonderful like last year.   The sweet potato salad was very good and refreshing on the plate.  I know the pie is great as I make it every year.  

Jim served Chloe prosecco with appetizers and the soup.  We had an Eagles Trace Pinot Noir from Napa. 2005 with dinner.  Both were wonderful.