I am fortunate in that my daughter, Amanda, is happy to share the Thanksgiving cooking. It lightens the load on both of us and give us both time to enjoy the holiday. Over the years we have evolved a pretty set menu that varies very little - other than minor variations of recipe -which makes it even easier. We do the same menu for Christmas. Here is what we have:
Amanda's Cheese Goo with hot fresh-baked artisan bread to dip in it
sometimes a salad
Turkey with stuffing and cranberry-orange sauce
Roast potatoes
Jim's green bean salad
Giblet cream gravy
Amanda's apple pie and cream
Chardonnay, coffee
The cheese goo is Amanda's secret recipe. A hot fondue-like mix of cheeses which is totally delicious. The bread is made from the 5-minutes a day book.
Miss Piggy had managed to find her way into the hoophouse before leaving for Amanda's and had eaten all the lettuces and other greens in there, so no salad this year. Usually I do a spicy baby greens salad with a sweet dressing, usually involving oranges, dried cranberries and sometimes apples.
This year I used a 24 hour brine for the turkey that was from one of the Nigella Lawson books and sent to me by a friend. Then I smoked the bird overnight on the charcoal smoker, with a packet of mesquite chips. That was meltingly delicious. I had never either brined OR smoked a turkey before, so was a little worried that something would go wrong. All that cortisol for nothing, LOL.
I usually make a stuffing with a mix of cornbread and white bread (I cheat - I use Stove-Top brand) to which I add onion, celery, apples and walnuts. This year I still got the Stove-top but got the bread stuffing with cranberries. I soaked some dried apricots overnight in Grand Marnier, then Thursday morning I fried up the onions, celery as usual, added them to the broth I used instead of water, added the apricots and walnuts and then added the stuffing mix. I really liked this recipe. Nice and sweet with a crunch. When I roast the bird I usually stuff it. However, as smoking takes so long, and is generally at a much lower temperature than an oven, I decided that stuffing the bird might be asking for trouble, so we just had it as a side this time. I do think that the juices from the roasting bird adds even more flavor to the stuffing, though.
Cranberry-orange sauce is really easy - I get a small can of orange juice concentrate, add a bag of fresh cranberries, some orange zest and just a little sugar then boil them up until the cranberries have popped and cooked.
Jim makes delicious green beans - it is not a dish I have ever cared much for till I tasted his. The secret is apparently in the seasoning.
Amanda is allergic to cinnamon so most apple pie recipes are out. She cuts her apples into vanilla sugar instead of cinnamon sugar and the result is wonderfully rich and fragrant.
The girls tell us that they are going to contribute to the Christmas menu with an appetiser of stuffed mushrooms. They are already pretty competent in the kitchen so I have no doubt that this new addition to the menu will become a tradition, too.
Amanda's Cheese Goo with hot fresh-baked artisan bread to dip in it
sometimes a salad
Turkey with stuffing and cranberry-orange sauce
Roast potatoes
Jim's green bean salad
Giblet cream gravy
Amanda's apple pie and cream
Chardonnay, coffee
The cheese goo is Amanda's secret recipe. A hot fondue-like mix of cheeses which is totally delicious. The bread is made from the 5-minutes a day book.
Miss Piggy had managed to find her way into the hoophouse before leaving for Amanda's and had eaten all the lettuces and other greens in there, so no salad this year. Usually I do a spicy baby greens salad with a sweet dressing, usually involving oranges, dried cranberries and sometimes apples.
This year I used a 24 hour brine for the turkey that was from one of the Nigella Lawson books and sent to me by a friend. Then I smoked the bird overnight on the charcoal smoker, with a packet of mesquite chips. That was meltingly delicious. I had never either brined OR smoked a turkey before, so was a little worried that something would go wrong. All that cortisol for nothing, LOL.
I usually make a stuffing with a mix of cornbread and white bread (I cheat - I use Stove-Top brand) to which I add onion, celery, apples and walnuts. This year I still got the Stove-top but got the bread stuffing with cranberries. I soaked some dried apricots overnight in Grand Marnier, then Thursday morning I fried up the onions, celery as usual, added them to the broth I used instead of water, added the apricots and walnuts and then added the stuffing mix. I really liked this recipe. Nice and sweet with a crunch. When I roast the bird I usually stuff it. However, as smoking takes so long, and is generally at a much lower temperature than an oven, I decided that stuffing the bird might be asking for trouble, so we just had it as a side this time. I do think that the juices from the roasting bird adds even more flavor to the stuffing, though.
Cranberry-orange sauce is really easy - I get a small can of orange juice concentrate, add a bag of fresh cranberries, some orange zest and just a little sugar then boil them up until the cranberries have popped and cooked.
Jim makes delicious green beans - it is not a dish I have ever cared much for till I tasted his. The secret is apparently in the seasoning.
Amanda is allergic to cinnamon so most apple pie recipes are out. She cuts her apples into vanilla sugar instead of cinnamon sugar and the result is wonderfully rich and fragrant.
The girls tell us that they are going to contribute to the Christmas menu with an appetiser of stuffed mushrooms. They are already pretty competent in the kitchen so I have no doubt that this new addition to the menu will become a tradition, too.
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