Thanksgiving Feast

roasted turkey breast

I braved the daunting task of cooking for about twenty (20!) of my friends this past weekend, and believe it or not, it went off without a hitch. The holidays are times for your family; and for me, friends are as much family as the people that raised me. So I was pleased to prepare this meal for them and spend time together before we scatter to the four winds to be with our families for the holidays.

the buffet; and yes, i wear an apron.

Here’s the menu:

Roasted Turkey Breast
Traditional Sage and Sausage Dressing
Apple and Leek Dressing (v)
Turkey Gravy with Sherry
Baked Whipped Potatoes (v)
Spinach Gruyere Gratin (v)
Honey Glazed Carrots (v)
Cranberry Conserve (v)
Golden Beets and Pomegranate Salad (v)
Yeast Rolls (v)
Jack Daniels Pecan Pie, Pumpkin Bread, Ginger and Orange cookies (v)

(v) – no carne; vegetarian

You might be wondering how I pulled this off. Well that secret weapon was my mom, who graciously helped with preparation and supplies. Thanks, Mom. She also served as my phone hotline while I was cooking for any emergency questions like, “Can you refrigerate gravy, nuke it, and have it come together again?!” The answer: yes!

Herb Roasted Turkey

I could do without turkey at Thanksgiving. Yean, I’m in that camp. It’s on the buffet, but it’s not the highlight for me. And it’s probably more trouble that it’s worth. That said, I had to forgo the full bird. Instead, I roasted and carved two turkey breasts (bone-in) Friday night, refrigerated the slices, and intended to bring it up to room temperature for dinner on Saturday. (I forgot, and served cool turkey; but everything else was hot, so who knew?) The advantages of turkey breast over the full bird are: reduced thawing and cooking times, more quality meat, less carving, and it will comfortably feed a crowd with some leftovers.

turkey bird

To begin, thaw the bird according to the packaging recommendations for the specific weight of turkey you have. Rinse and pat dry. (Clean your sink thoroughly after this to avoid cross-contamination!) Preheat oven to super hot: 450°F. Because I lacked a roasting rack, I used halved onions and lemons to prop up the bird. Melt a stick of butter and stir in salt, pepper and fresh thyme leaves. Brush the bird with half of this mixture, and then half-way through the cooking time, brush the bird with the remaining.

The key to getting the turkey right is checking the internal temperature, which should reach 165°F in the middle of the breast. I used a snazzy oven probe meat thermometer with alarm. When the turkey reaches the desired, programmed temperature, an alarm goes off, and out comes the turkey. Easy, right? Then just let the bird rest, tented with aluminum foil for about 30 minutes. Then carve. I followed this video to get the best results.

turkey

Turkey Gravy

When the turkey was done and resting aside, I placed the roasting pan on the stove top over medium-high heat, and added a gravy base from Williams-Sonoma with equal parts milk. This allows for full-proof gravy when there are other dishes to get together. Scrape the bottom of the roasting pan to pick up some of the tasty bits. I sprinkled in poultry seasoning (on the aisle with herbs at the grocery store), cooking sherry, salt and pepper. Then taste and season until you’re happy. I let it cool and refrigerated it overnight. When I was ready to serve, I just microwaved it in 1-minute intervals, whisking between until hot. While it’s optional, I highly recommend adding the sherry. It made the gravy more complex and acidic.

clockwise from top: apple & leek dressing, turkey gravy, sage and sausage dressing patties, turkey

Traditional Sage and Sausage Dressing Patties

Recipe to come…this is a family favorite.

apple leek dressing

Apple and Leek Dressing

This is a vegetarian option from Martha Stewart, with the major flavor components being country bread, Macintosh apples, leeks and rosemary. Yum! I’ve got to start using leeks more. They’re a pain to clean  (grains of sand lodge in the layers of the plant), but well worth it. Leeks are a lit like a cross between an onion and celery.

baked whipped potatoes and spinach gratin

Baked Whipped Potatoes

This is my mom’s recipe. What’s great about this is that it’s a casserole. You’re not whipping and seasoning potatoes at the last minute before they go on the serving table. Instead, you make it and bake in advance and just keep warm until served. All of the delightful baked potato toppings are already mixed in, and you end up with this very flavorful, airy potato.

• 8 baking potatoes
• 3/4 cup hot milk
• 8 oz. cream cheese, softened
• 1 cup sour cream
• 2 tablespoons butter, softened
• 2 teaspoons onion salt
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon pepper
• 2 tablespoons butter on top
• paprika

Directions
1. Peal, cube and boil potatoes in salted water until tender. Drain.
2. With an electric beater, combine hot milk, cream cheese, sour cream, butter, onion salt, and salt and pepper. Add potatoes and whip. Check seasoning—it may need more salt and pepper.
3. Pour into a Pyrex dish and sprinkle with paprika. Dot top of casserole with small slices of butter. Bake for 20-30 minutes in a 350°F oven.

Ina Garten’s Spinach Gratin

This cheesy little number was a favorite at the feast. And when you read the rich ingredients you’ll know why. One thing I like about this dish is that there’s a good balance between inexpensive—even some frozen ingredients—and the fresh, more expensive ingredients. And when it all comes together, it tastes truly divine. The cheese is gooey, and a bit crispy on top. And it’s well worth the extra penny for the Parmesan and Gruyere.

• 4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) unsalted butter
• 4 cups chopped yellow onions (2 large)
• 1/4 cup flour
• 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
• 1 cup heavy cream
• 2 cups milk
• 3 pounds frozen chopped spinach, defrosted (5 (10-ounce) packages)
• 1 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
• 1 tablespoon kosher salt
• 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 1/2 cup grated Gruyere cheese

Directions
1. Preheat the oven to 425° F.
2. Melt the butter in a heavy-bottomed saute pan over medium heat. Add the onions and saute until translucent, about 15 minutes. Add the flour and nutmeg and cook, stirring, for 2 more minutes. Add the cream and milk and cook until thickened. Squeeze as much liquid as possible from the spinach and add the spinach to the sauce. Add 1/2 cup of the Parmesan cheese and mix well. Season, to taste, with salt and pepper.
3. Transfer the spinach to a baking dish and sprinkle the remaining 1/2 cup Parmesan and the Gruyere on top. Bake for 20 minutes until hot and bubbly.

my favorite dish

Cranberry Conserve

This dish is absolutely my favorite item on the Thanksgiving plate. It’s sweet and tart, and crunchy and smooth. It beats the heck out of the canned, ringed cranberry gelatin stuff. And it is wonderful side item to not just turkey and dressing, but also chicken tetrazzini and other such bird dishes.

• 1 (12-ounce) bag of fresh cranberries (can use frozen)
  
• 1 3/4 cups sugar
• 1 Granny Smith apple, peeled, cored, and chopped
• 1 orange, zest grated and juiced
• 1 lemon, zest grated and juiced
• 3/4 cup raisins
• 3/4 cup chopped walnuts or pecans
• a splash of port (optional)
  

Directions
Cook the cranberries, sugar, and 1 cup of water in a saucepan over low heat for about 5 minutes, or until the skins pop open. Add the apple, zests, and juices and cook for 15 more minutes. Remove from the heat and add the raisins and nuts. Let cool, and serve chilled.

honey glazed carrots

Honey Glazed Carrots

These carrots serve as a nice contrast to the creamy, heavier recipes of mashed potatoes and spinach gratin. The preparation is simple, but ever so tasty!

• 1 tablespoon olive oil
  
• 3 pounds carrots, halved lengthwise, and chopped into 1/2-inch pieces
  
• 1 cup canned reduced-sodium vegetable broth
  
• 1/2 cup honey
• 2 tablespoons red-wine vinegar
• Coarse salt and ground pepper
• 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
• fresh thyme leaves
  

Directions
1. In a large skillet, heat oil over medium-high. Add carrots; cook, stirring once, until beginning to brown, 2 minutes.
2. Add broth, honey, and vinegar; season with salt and pepper. Bring to a boil; reduce to a simmer, cover, and cook until crisp-tender, 10 minutes. Uncover, and cook over medium-high until carrots are tender and liquid is syrupy, 7 to 9 minutes more (there should be only a small amount of liquid remaining).
3. Remove skillet from heat; add butter, and swirl skillet until melted. Season with salt and pepper.
4. Top with fresh thyme leaves.

incredible salad

Golden Beets and Pomegranate Salad

I love love beets, and especially love them on a a bed of lettuce with a delicious cheese. Raleigh Times Bar serves a tasty pub salad with pears and roasted beets with Gorgonzola, so that was my inspiration in hunting down a Thanksgiving-appropriate recipe. I noticed that not many Thanksgiving guests were thrilled with the beets. It’s a vegetable that’s not too common, apart from mentions on The Office by Dwight Schrute (Bears, Beets, Battlestar Gallactica). To me beets taste like a combination of carrot and potato, and when oven roasted, they’re far superior to their canned counterparts. As for the pomegranate, I picked one up at the grocery store, out of sheer curiosity never having used one before. I had to look up how to open the darn thing.

This salad dressing is…ahmazing. It’s rather sweet and concentrated, so I added olive oil and a touch more red wine vinegar to cut the sugar and cover more greens.

• 4 golden beets
  
• 2 shallots, thinly sliced
  
• 1/2 cup red wine vinegar, divided
• 1/4 cup olive oil
  
• 1/4 cup chicken broth (or vegetable broth for vegetarian option)
• 3 Tbsp Triple Sec or other orange-flavored liqueur *I had some leftover from margaritas
  
• 1 Tbsp sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon grated lemon peel
• Seeds of 1 pomegranate
  
• Salt
• 2 heads Boston lettuce, 1 head green lettuce, 1 head red lettuce
  
• 1/4 cup crumbled feta cheese

golden beets, pre-roasting

Directions
1. Wash the beets, trim the greens from the top. Toss in olive oil, salt and pepper. Wrap in a packet of aluminum foil and place on oven rack. Roast at 375°F for an hour. Test the tenderness of the beet with a sharp knife. Continue roasting if not tender. Then allow to cool. Then peel and cube.
2. In a medium skillet over high heat, bring beets, shallot, vinegar, broth, liqueur, sugar, and orange peel to a boil, stirring often, until liquid is reduced to 2 Tbsp, about 5 minutes. Let cool to room temperature.
3. Stir pomegranate seeds into the beet mixture and salt to taste. Serve on top of salad greens. Sprinkle with feta cheese. Toss with remaining red wine vinegar and olive oil.

How to get to those pom seeds…

chop off the top or the crown of the pomagranate.

score the pom in segments around the fruit from base to the chopped-off end

submerge the pomagranate, and pry apart the segments. separate seeds from the pith. seeds will sink. sift off the pith and skin from the top of the water.

Yeast Rolls

I will never make bread from scratch, when I can I buy these. They’re so good.

Dessert

For dessert, we feasted on a a variety of items—pumpkin bread, ginger and orange cookies, and J’s Jack Daniels Pecan Pie! Wowsah. This is a show-stopping pie. So pretty.

julia's pie pie pie

That wraps up our Thanksgiving Feast. Thanks to everyone that came from all over, and for those that couldn’t make it, I missed you! (Katie Co—I poured out a little champagne for you.) Much love and safe travels this holiday. Love, Miss Em

PS—Thanks to Ashton for taking most of these pictures.

Vegan….say whhhaaattt?!

tofu?

In her most recent post, LG alluded to something I’ve been ruminating about for a while. And that is veganism.

“Hold the phone, Miss Em!,” you say.

Don’t get overworked. I love meat, dairy and eggs way to much to give them up. Life is about living and enjoying, so I don’t plan on depriving myself of the food that makes me happy. But I did want to give myself a cooking and dietary challenge for a limited time. My goals: try new cooking techniques and ingredients, challenge myself when dining out to choose the healthier option, improve meal planning and lessen food that goes to waste. As for some potential benefits: a taste for a variety of new recipes, restored energy (maybe?) and a lasting consciousness about eating choices.

My first observation: this kind of dietary restriction requires a lot of planning. I spend more time in the evenings packing my lunch. And breakfast. And snack. While I usually do these things, I often grab what’s convenient or what’s fastest. Or I’ll plan on eating out since that’s even easier. Consciously planning ahead for the next 10 days will be the only way I reach my goal. I’m 4 days in.

So at the end of this 14-day experiment, yeah, I’m gonna have a steak. On my birthday. How’s that for meal planning?

My first four days have been successful in following vegan guidelines. So far I’ve cooked a couple of vegetable soups, grilled tofu. And I made a salad with an Asian twist.

Here’s the Asian (Minus Chicken) Salad from Ellie Krieger. I adapted it.

crunchy!

I love this salad—reminds me of a salad at Harper’s that comes with Ahi Tuna. The combination of vegetables creates lots of interesting texture and crunch, and then the dressing adds tinges of sweet, salty and sour. I had picked out the Napa cabbage, having seen someone cook with it on PBS’s EveryDay Food. I thought I’d make a slaw or add it to soup, but instead I found this super salad recipe.

1/2 head Napa cabbage, thinly shredded (about 6 cups)
1/4 head red cabbage, shredded (about 2 cups)—omitted
1 large carrot, shredded (about 2 cups)
3 scallions, trimmed and thinly sliced, greens included (about 1/2 cup)
1 (8-ounce) can sliced water chestnuts—omitted
1 (11-ounce) can Mandarin oranges in water, drained—just used navel oranges, peeled and sectioned
1/4 cup sliced almonds, toasted—I chopped up some dry-roasted almonds

This makes about 4 servings. Rather than eat an only-cabbage salad, I topped a bed of romaine with this salad, just to add a different texture. Then I dressed my portion with Soy Vay Toasted Sesame Dressing, my new favorite bottled salad dressing. Soy Vay was earth-shatteringly good the first time I tasted it. There’s a mega sesame flavor going on, like toasted sesame oil, plus the dressing is pleasantly laden with toasted sesame seeds. A note on the name: the Soy Vay line was born from a business partnership of a Chinese gal (native of Hong Kong) and a Jewish guy. Voilà—Soy Vay.

soy vay!

Next up: I grilled some marinated tofu, inspired by this Grilled Veggie and Tofu Stack recipe from epicurious.

Here’s what you need for my version:

12-oz. container of extra-firm tofu, cut into 8 cubes, drained
1/2 c. Piquillo Pepper Bruschetta sauce (Here’s where you may have to substitute. You could go straight for a jarred pasta sauce, pesto or salsa. But I like this bruschetta sauce because it’s spicy and has a concentrated flavor, which makes a nice marinade base. This saved me some time in the kitchen, too.)
a few glugs of balsamic vinegar
optional, but awesome: roasted peppers jarred in balsamic vinegar (I think you could possibly find this among the olives/capers and other jarred antipasto kinds of non-perishables at a grocery store.)
2 cloves garlic, minced
salt and pepper to taste

1 zucchini, sliced
olive oil

Start by mixing up the marinade—bruschetta sauce through salt and pepper. Once the tofu has drained, place them in the marinade dish, and spoon the marinade all over the tofu cubes. Then work on grilling up the zucchini. Just give the slices a quick toss in olive oil, salt and pepper, and put it on the grill. I used an indoor grill pan.

pre-grilling

Once the zucchini is done, put it aside and replace it with the tofu on the grill. Turn the tofu once you start to see nice grill marks—probably every couple of minutes. This adds nice texture and flavor. I love the idea of treating tofu like meat. Obviously it’s a kind of meat substitute, but by actually marinating and grilling the tofu, the plain spongy base takes on much more flavor.

Serve it up with some of the marinade that was left in the dish as a sauce. Top with slices of roasted red peppers marinate marinated in balsamic vinegar.

The results? I flat out loved the zucchini. A little bit of char on there made it extra tasty. And for the tofu—texture is still an issue for me here. It’s scrambled-eggish. Which is fine, but it reminds me of how hard it is to turn my back on my meat-eating ways! The marinade/relish/sauce is what makes this dish. Because the flavors—garlic, spicy pepper, balsamic are intense, you don’t need a lot. The sweetness of the balsamic-marinated pepper really knocks this dish out of the park. The tofu also made for a great lunch leftover or a quick snack.

oooh aahhh

I’ve also made a couple of veggie soups. Soup is a great option because it’s filling and easy adapt to any sort of dietary need, like or dislike. The first was a basic navy bean and veggie soup. I checked out Ina Garten’s Italian Wedding Soup to get an general understanding of ratios in a vegetable stock soup. But I kind of went off on my own: sweat some onions, carrots and celery in olive oil in the bottom of a stock pot. Season with salt and pepper. Add about 2 boxes of vegetable stock and a can of navy beans. Season again. Add some fresh thyme sprigs. You can retrieve these from the broth at the end. Let it come to a boil, then redue to a simmer for a bit. Done. Sorry no pic.

The other soup I made was Martha Stewart’s Hearty Spinach and Chickpea Soup with a few of my own tweaks. Here’s what you’ll need for my version.

1 cups uncooked white rice

1 tablespoon olive oil
1 medium onion, finely chopped
2 garlic cloves, minced
3 green onions, sliced
8 oz. baby bella mushrooms, sliced
4 oz. can of water chestnuts, drained
4 cups vegetable broth, I used a carton
1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes
1 (15-ounce) can chickpeas, drained and rinsed
10 oz baby spinach leaves (these are those family-sized bags)
Coarse salt and freshly ground pepper
optional: juice of a lemon or lime

Get started on the rice first, preparing it as directed. Meanwhile in a stock pot, over medium heat cook the onion in the olive oil for about 5 minutes. Then add the mushrooms and garlic for another 5 minutes.

shroomin'

Add the vegetable broth, water chestnuts, chickpeas and red pepper flakes. Let that come to a boil, then reduce to simmer. Once the rice is done, add that in and bring to a boil again.

some add-ins

Allow to simmer for a few minutes, then add the spinch for the last minute of cooking. Serve with sliced green onions on top for an added crunch, and a squeeze of lemon or lime if handy.

hearty spinach and chickpea soup

What a delicious soup. And hearty is the appropriate word. The flavors are there, plus these are filling ingredients: spinach, chickpeas, rice. I would gladly eat both of these soups on a non-vegan day.

So to reflect on the vegan experiment so far, I’d say it’s been challenging but not impossible. I’m a big veggie eater as it is, though I’ve found myself eating a lot more fruit, oatmeal, Italian ice, veggies and hummus, plain almonds. All of the meals have been filling and satisfying without that feeling of over-fullness. And I’ve definitely planned my meals to a T. I’m not exhausted by it just yet.

It’s snowing in Southeast Texas…

I know. Truly bizarre. In my short 6 months in Houston, I have already seen a major hurricane blow through the city, and now I’m watching SNOW fall outside my window. Granted, it’s not sticking… but I never thought I’d see snow in a place where people decorate palm trees with Christmas lights (but that is a whole other blog entry… once I start my “Fugstalkers” blog) .

Naturally, this snow makes me want to eat 100% winter comfort food. Here are the cravings that were running through my head this afternoon: soup, grilled cheese, hot chocolate, warm cookies, etc. I decided on a recipe from the Eating Well for Two cookbook. The original recipe was for Curried Squash soup with chicken and spinach. I altered somewhat. First of all, I couldn’t find frozen pureed squash (and I’m not surprised: I didn’t know it existed until I read this recipe). I subbed canned pumpkin instead. Secondly, I decided to leave out the chicken. The man at the meat counter was taking too long (patience is not one of my virtues). I used chicken broth instead of the water the recipe called for, and I used full fat coconut milk instead of light. The recipe with my changes:

Curried Pumpkin Soup with Spinach

1 15-oz. can of pure pumpkin

1/2 c. coconut milk (I probably used a little more than 1/2 c.)

3/4 c. chicken broth

1 6-oz. bag baby spinach

Juice of one (smallish) lime

2 tsp. brown sugar

1 tsp. Thai red curry paste

1/4 tsp. salt

I let everything but the spinach simmer in a saucepan for about 10-15 minutes, and then added the spinach and simmered a couple of minutes more until it was wilted. It looks like wayyyyyyyy too much spinach for the amount of soup, but it will even out once it has cooked down. A note: when they say “Eating Well for Two,” they mean for TWO (or one appetite the size of LG’s). I will double or triple this the next time I make it. 

The verdict? So good! The curry paste added just the right amount of heat. This was seriously the easiest meal I’ve ever made. I think I have made it known before that I hate chopping things, and this recipe lacked that activity. I will definitely be making this many more times.