Tag Archives: thanksgiving

taking stock

Posted in poultry, soup by

I’d heard that making your own chicken stock was simple and that it tastes infinitely better than the stuff you buy in the stuff you buy in the grocery store but I just thought, who has the time?  Turns out I do.  On Saturday night (don’t get jealous now!) I stayed in and cleaned my apartment from top to bottom and made chicken stock at the same time.

It’s as simple as chopping up a few vegetables and throwing them into a pot with a few herbs, a whole bunch of chicken, and some water.  (I did some recipe research and it seems like most recommend using chicken bones, backs, or thighs so that you are not wasting meat.)  You bring all of that to a boil and then let it simmer for a couple of hours.

My apartment smelled wonderful as I cleaned and the stock was done before I knew it.  Straining was simple and Martha’s suggestion of putting the strained stock into the fridge overnight so that the fat rises to the top and can then be easily scooped off is a great one.  The next morning I skimmed off the fat and froze the stock in 4-cup batches.  It will be great to have on hand for soups and of course for Thanksgiving.  Sayonara to the over-salted boxed kind from the grocery store!   Our relationship was convenient while it lasted, but I’m afraid I won’t be needing your services any longer…

Chicken Stock (adapted slightly from recipe found at www.marthastewart.com)

Yield: Makes 1 1/2 quarts

  • 4 pounds chicken thighs
  • 1 medium onion peeled and quartered
  • 5 shallots, peeled
  • 1 large carrot cut into thirds
  • 2 celery stalks cut into thirds
  • 2 large or 4 small leeks cut in half lengthwise and well washed
  • 2 bay leaves
  • 12 whole black peppercorns

Place all the ingredients into an 8-quart stock pot and cover with cold water.  Bring to a boil over high heat.

As the stock approaches a boil, remove any impurities that rise to the top by skimming with a ladle. Reduce the heat and simmer the stock for 3 to 4 hours, continuing to skim impurities from time to time while the stock cooks. Taste after 3 hours for the strength of stock you want.

Remove from the heat and let the stock sit for 10 to 15 minutes, then ladle through a fine strainer. Once strained, remove the fat from the stock by skimming with a ladle (see Helpful Hint). Cool by placing the container of strained stock in an ice water bath, then refrigerate. The stock will keep for about 1 week in the refrigerator, or freeze in 1-cup batches.

Cook’s Note: Another way to defat the stock is to place the cooled stock in the refrigerator overnight. The fat will set on the top and can be easily spooned off.

Variation: Use a large (5- to 6-pound) roasting chicken in place of the bones.  Use the meat for chicken salad or croquettes.

sweet & tart

I was inspired by my adoptive state of Wisconsin to experiment with cranberries. Wisconsin is the largest producer of cranberries in the US…did you know that? I didn’t either until I moved here. One of these days I’m going to get myself up north to see the harvesting of the cranberry bogs. I bet it’s neat.

Every year on Thanksgiving I make a cranberry chutney that inevitably gets forgotten about in the fridge until we are nearly finished with our meal. What a shame. I thought it might be nice to make cranberries into more of a featured part of the meal and what could be more featured than dessert? No one forgets about dessert.

A few years back I tore a recipe out of a magazine for a cranberry-apple crisp and decided to test it out here for you. When the apples and cranberries were cooking down on my stove it smelled like the holidays. I wish the internet had smell-o-vision so I could share the scent with you– it was heavenly.

The topping for this crisp couldn’t have been simpler– it consists of oatmeal, flour, butter, brown sugar, and a pinch of salt.

I took this into work for a co-worker’s birthday and it was a big hit. I think it was a nice contrast to all of the overly sweet desserts that others had brought in. There is definitely a tartness to this crisp but it works. It’s even better warm with a little vanilla ice cream which I also tried. This could be the perfect ending to your Thanksgiving meal!

Cranberry-Apple Crisp with Oatmeal Streusel Topping (found at www.epicurious.com)

Yield: Makes 12 servings

  • 1 cup (packed) golden brown sugar
  • 1 cup old-fashioned oats
  • 3/4 cup all-purpose flour
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • 1/2 cup (1 stick) chilled unsalted butter, cut into pieces
  • 2 12-ounce packages cranberries
  • 1 1/4 pounds Golden Delicious or Fuji apples (about 3 medium), peeled, cored, cut into 1/2-inch cubes
  • 1 1/2 cups sugar
  • 2 tablespoons apple juice or cider
  • Vanilla ice cream

Combine brown sugar, oats, flour, and salt in large bowl; toss to blend. Add butter and rub in with fingertips until mixture comes together in moist clumps. Cover; chill while preparing filling. (Topping can be prepared 1 day ahead; keep chilled.)

Preheat oven to 375°F. Generously butter 13x9x2-inch glass baking dish. Combine cranberries, apples, sugar, and apple juice in heavy large pot. Bring to boil over medium heat, stirring often. Boil until cranberries are tender and juices thicken slightly, about 5 minutes. Transfer filling to prepared dish. Sprinkle topping over.

Bake crisp until filling bubbles thickly and topping is crisp and deep golden brown, about 40 minutes. Let cool 10 minutes. Serve with ice cream.

Brussels sprouts are your friends

Posted in vegetable, vegetarian by

Why do Brussels sprouts get such a bad rap?  It was always the food used as a threat by mothers in sitcoms when I was growing up so I think as a result I just never even tried one until I was an adult because I just assumed they would be gross.  Boy, was that assumption wrong!  They’re delicious.

I’ve been making them as a side dish at Thanksgiving for the past five or so years and they are almost always a hit.  (I say almost always because small children and my Grandma Molly are not big fans, but that just means more for the rest of us!)  I usually roast them until they get all brown and caramelized but a few years ago I ate them in a gratin at a fancy restaurant in New York and was inspired to seek out a recipe for this cooking method.

The recipe I found also involves cauliflower which is another vegetable that can sometimes get an undeserved bad rap.  Brussels sprouts and cauliflower smothered in cream and Parmesan cheese?  Yes, please!

This gratin also gets a crunchy topping courtesy of bread crumbs and toasted pine nuts.  This dish just might make it to my Thanksgiving table this year!

I will be tagging all Thanksgiving-worthy recipes as such to help you with your menu planning, so check back closer to the date if you are in need of some ideas.

Cauliflower and Brussels Sprouts Gratin (found at www.epicurious.com)

Yield: Makes 10 to 12 servings
  • 1 1/2 pounds brussels sprouts, trimmed, quartered lengthwise through core
  • 1 1 1/2-to 1 3/4-pound head of cauliflower, trimmed, cut into small florets
  • 2 3/4 cups heavy whipping cream
  • 1/2 cup chopped shallots
  • 1 tablespoon chopped fresh sage
  • 11/2 tablespoons olive oil
  • 1/2 cup plain dry breadcrumbs
  • 1/2 cup pine nuts, lightly toasted
  • 2 tablespoons chopped fresh Italian parsley
  • 3 cups grated Parmesan cheese, divided

Fill large bowl with ice and cold water. Cook brussels sprouts in large pot of generously salted boiling water 2 minutes. Add cauliflower to same pot; cook until vegetables are crisp-tender, about 3 minutes longer. Drain. Transfer vegetables to bowl of ice water to cool. Drain well.

Combine cream, shallots, and sage in large saucepan. Bring to boil. Reduce heat; simmer until mixture is reduced to 21/2 cups, about 10 minutes. Season with salt. Remove from heat. Cool slightly.

Heat oil in large nonstick skillet over medium heat. Add breadcrumbs; stir until beginning to brown, about 2 minutes. Transfer to bowl; cool. Stir in pine nuts and parsley. Season with salt and pepper.

Butter 13x9x2-inch glass baking dish; arrange half of vegetables in dish. Sprinkle with salt and pepper, then 1 1/2 cups Parmesan. Arrange remaining vegetables evenly over, then sprinkle with remaining 1 1/2 cups Parmesan. Pour cream mixture evenly over. DO AHEAD: Breadcrumb topping and gratin can be made 1 day ahead. Cover separately and chill. Bring to room temperature before continuing.

Preheat oven to 375°F. Cover gratin with foil. Bake covered 40 minutes. Uncover; sprinkle breadcrumb topping over and bake uncovered 15 minutes longer.

it’s the great pumpkin (bread), charlie brown

Posted in bread by

I’m crazy for pumpkin this time of year.  I’ve already had pumpkin ravioli, pumpkin chocolate chip bars, and pumpkin muffins so far this season so figured it was time to whip up some pumpkin bread, too.

This particular recipe is from good ol’ Betty Crocker’s Cookbook and calls for nuts and raisins but I thought that since chocolate generally makes everything better, why not try adding it here too?

It was an excellent thought to have.  This bread is moist and a little spicy thanks to ground cloves and the chocolate chips made it feel dessert-like but I felt less guilty eating it as dessert because I figure it can’t be too bad for you since pumpkins are technically vegetables, right?  And vegetables are good for you!  For sure.

Last week was freakishly warm for October in the northern Midwest but next week it is looking much cooler which is getting me thinking about my Thanksgiving menu already.  Look for side dish and dessert ideas for Thanksgiving from me in the coming weeks!

Pumpkin Bread (adapted slightly from “Betty Crocker’s Cookbook”)

  • 1 15-ounce can pureed pumpkin
  • 1 ½ cups sugar
  • 2/3 cup canola oil
  • 2 teaspoons vanilla
  • 4 large eggs
  • 3 cups all-purpose or whole wheat flour
  • 2 teaspoons baking soda
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
  • ½ teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
  • ½ teaspoon ground cloves
  • ½ teaspoon baking powder
  • Mix-ins: Betty Crocker suggests ½ cup coarsely chopped nuts and ½ cup raisins, but I used 1 cup chocolate chips.  Take your pick.

Move oven rack to low position so that tops of pans will be in center of oven.  Heat oven to 350 degrees.  Grease bottoms only of 2 loaf pans, 8 ½ x 4 ½ x 2 ½ inches, or 1 loaf pan, 9 x 5 x 3 inches with shortening.

Mix pumpkin, sugar, oil, vanilla and eggs in large bowl.  Stir in remaining ingredients except nuts and raisins or chocolate chips.  Stir in nuts and raisins or chocolate chips.  Divide batter evenly between pans.

Bake 8-inch loaves 50 to 60 minutes, 9-inch loaf 1 hour 10 minutes to 1 hour 20 minutes, or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.  Cool 10 minutes in pans on wire rack.

Loosen sides of loaves from pans; remove from pans and place top side up on wire rack.  Cool completely, about 2 hours, before slicing.  Wrap tightly and store at room temperature up to 4 days, or refrigerate up to 10 days.

soup season

Posted in soup, vegetable, vegetarian by

Fall is my favorite time of year for a variety of reasons– the brilliant colors of the changing leaves, the cooler temperatures, and of course for the abundance of foods that are prevalent this time of year: squash, pumpkins, apples, parsnips, Brussels sprouts– love them all.  I also love nothing more on a cool fall day than a nice hot bowl of soup.

When I went apple picking two weekends ago I also picked up a beautiful butternut squash at the same farm and this inspired me to whip up my first soup (chili doesn’t count!) of the season.  This recipe starts with roasting cubed squash for a nice caramelized flavor.

Then you chop up some onions, celery and fresh sage.  Sage is a wonderful herb that does a lot of work this time of year as it pairs very nicely with squash and pumpkin as well as poultry.  Bonus: it makes your house smell wonderful!

After these ingredients (along with some vegetable or chicken broth) had simmered for a solid half hour I busted out my immersion blender and made a beautiful smooth soup.

What goes well with soup?  Bread.  What’s one step better than bread?  Homemade croutons.  I chunked up a few slices of sourdough bread and tossed them with olive oil, more chopped fresh sage, minced garlic, finely shredded Parmesan and a little salt and toasted them in the oven until they were nice and crisp.

Nothing says “fall is here” quite like a hot bowl of butternut squash soup with homemade croutons…

Butternut Squash Soup with Sage and Parmesan Croutons (from recipe from Real Simple magazine)

  • 1 3-pound butternut squash—peeled, seeded, and cut into 1-inch cubes (5 to 6 cups)
  • 3 tablespoons olive oil
  • 3 teaspoons kosher salt
  • Pinch of freshly ground black pepper
  • 1 tablespoon butter
  • 1 large yellow onion, diced (about 1 ½ cups)
  • 3 stalks of celery, chopped (about 1 ½ cups)
  • 1 tablespoon chopped fresh sage
  • 6 cups chicken or vegetable broth
  • ½ cup freshly grated Parmesan

Preheat oven to 400° F. In a large bowl, toss the squash with 2 tablespoons of the olive oil, 2 teaspoons of the salt, and the pepper. Place the squash on a rimmed baking sheet and roast in oven for 15 minutes. Turn the cubes over and continue roasting for 15 minutes or until they are caramelized; set aside.

In a Dutch oven or a large stockpot, heat the butter and the remaining oil over medium heat. Add the onion, celery, and sage and sauté, stirring occasionally, until the vegetables are translucent and tender, 10 minutes. Add the squash, broth, and the remaining
salt and bring to a boil. Lower heat and simmer for 30 minutes or until the liquid is flavorful. Remove from heat.

Using a blender or a food processor, blend the soup in batches until smooth. Return to the pot and keep warm. Top with Sage and Parmesan Croutons and the grated Parmesan.

Sage and Parmesan Croutons (also from Real Simple magazine)

  • 3 ounces rustic white bread (about 3 thick slices), torn into 24 1-inch pieces
  • 1 large clove garlic, minced (about 2 teaspoons)
  • 1 tablespoon finely chopped fresh sage (about 6 large leaves)
  • 3 tablespoons olive oil
  • ½ teaspoon salt
  • 2 tablespoons finely grated Parmesan

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.  Toss all the ingredients together in a mixing bowl to coat.  Spread the bread evenly on a baking sheet and toast in oven for 10 to 12 minutes or until crisp and golden brown.