Thanksgiving: Taking Sides

From recipematcher.com - the read McCoy

Taking sides.  Nope, not talking about family arguments.  I remember my mom and her brothers arguing politics (2 Dems, 2 Republicans) and my grandma getting more and more nervous and twisting her handkerchief.

The sides I'm taking about are side dishes.  The Boston Globe had a whole food section devoted to them today.  My post yesterday was about a charming little sweet potato side dish that can make a cook's reputation.  Today we're doing, Ta Da!  Green Bean Casserole from Scratch.  And I mean REALLY from scratch, the only processed item being the onion rings, and hell, we just can't do without those, right?
You will use fresh green beans and make your own white sauce and saute your own mushrooms, and everything is 100% delicious. It's even simple if you are a moderately experienced cook.

The recipe is from the November/December 2006 Cook's Illustrated.
Here is the link. Green Bean Casserole from Scratch

It serves 10 to 12 and the leftovers are great.  Sit back and enjoy the compliments.  You deserve them. 

Thanksgiving observations.  It's not stuffing, if it's not inside the bird.  It's dressing.

It's not gravy unless it's thickened with flour, it's sauce.  Let's take our word choices seriously.

Thanksgiving is everyone's favorite holiday because except for the food chores, generally shared, there's not a lot to do.  O.K., vacuum the dining room, etc.  and maybe rent chairs or dishes, but compared to the hoo ha around Christmas, Thanksgiving is a slam dunk.

Last words:  don't ever go to a French restaurant for a traditional American Thanksgiving meal.  They don't understand the genre, so to speak.  I love French foods, but it takes an American cook to do a proper Thanksgiving.

Onward,

Grapeshot

Sweet Potatoes in Orange Shells

Below is a beautiful presentation of sweet potatoes if you need a "competitive" recipe.  Personally, I always thought cooking should be about collaborating, but with the Food Channel's Chopped, Throwdown, Iron Chef,  etc., collaboration takes a backseat to competition.  So step forth.


Make this when navel oranges are on sale.

Sweet Potatoes in Orange Shells (six-eight servings)

3-4 medium oranges
6-8 medium sweet potatoes, cooked and skinned 
1/3 cup butter
1/2 t. salt 
1/4 to 1/2 cup orange juice
Grated rind of 1 orange
1/2 cup brown sugar (light)
1/2 cup broken pecans, toasted
1/4 to 1/3 cup dry sherry
1/2 cup tiny marshmellows (optional) 

Cut oranges into halves and extract juice.  Remove pulp an scallop edges of shells.  Mash potatoes with electric mixer until smooth and fluffy.  Add butter, salt, orange juice, rind, and brown sugar to potatoes and beat until blended.  Add nuts and sherry.  Place orange shells on a heatproof platter and mound with sweet potato mixture.  Dot with marshmellows and bake at 350 degrees for about 20 minutes.     Serve hot.

I found a photo on another blog.  Here is a link recipe photo

Thanksgiving "Sides"

I had issues trying to find a vegetable casserole to bring our host for Thanksgiving. All the recipes seemed to be rife with cream, cheese, and a can of mushroom soup. I love cream and cheese as much as the next person, but with mashed potatoes, gravy AND stuffing, you can go a little overboard. I want to try one of the lower-cal broccoli recipes at home first. Wasn't sure if it was take-worthy. I have a a Brussels sprouts recipe with craisins and mustard, but need to try out that one too. Many people are not fond of Brussels sprouts. My children, for example.

What I decided to cook is a made-from-scratch green bean casserole. Fresh beans, fresh mushooms, a home-made white sauce and then, well-not-quite-from scratch, the Durkee Onions. Very little cream. Hard to beat the onions. Roche Brothers had nice-looking green beans for 99 cents a pound.

For a dessert I'm taking something called a pear/cranberry butter crunch. Sounds like a winner.
At least it's got fruit.

Tonight we're experimenting with two different varieties of squash and a new recipe. Also making chicken that calls for fresh sage. I have a SAGE bush, in spite of the fact that I divided it in the spring.

I have some great holiday recipes and more to try. Used to make orange shells stuffed with sweet potatoes, but that would get a little pricey with oranges a buck apiece. The supermarket no longer carried Mrs. Paul's frozen sweet potatoes. No frozen sweet potatoes, in fact. WTF?

Well, this is New England where everyone likes center entrance colonials, flour tortillas and squash. Whatchagonna do? On Saturday, I'll pick up some squash at the prepped food counter. They do a good job on it. Butter, anyone?

I found a recipe for stuffed escarole. Sound rather intriguing. We finished up the goulash soup last night. After sitting for two days, it was perfecto-garcia. My "secret" is 1 teaspoon of sweet paprika, one of hot and one of smoked. We're a paprika friendly household. And always a teaspoon of caraway seed.

The people at the banquet last Saturday who thought the carrot soup too spicey would have howled in pain when they tasted my goulash soup. Again, spicey seems to be a condition a lot of New Englanders can't tolerate. The home of the bean and the cod, both somewhat bland. Clam chowder anyone? I love a meal where you keep the Kleenex on the table and a pitcher of water at hand. Ole!

Regional differences still abound. Someone referred to the airy spaces of a local hotel as a "fishbowl." Aha! Thought I. Another New Englander who likes small windows, chopped up dark rooms and Cape Cod style houses. We are the only house in our neighborhood who popped out the faux window dividers. Now instead of 6 panes, we have one. I love modern architecture. Living in the wrong area. Even living in the wrong century.

Enough New England bashing. After all, I have the slough, the Scottish Highland Cattle, a lot of neighborhood "burying grounds," and Old Ironsides. Whale watches. Newport. There's a lot to like. Happy Thanksgiving.

Dark Chocolate Oatmeal Cookies

Holy freakin' crap. I made some dynamite cookies today. For the recipe, follow this little old link: http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Dark-Chocolate-Oatmeal-Cookies-109497

I think my oven is reluctant to heat, because I had to bake them at least 5 minutes longer than indicated, but they were oh-so-good, and of course we can't leave them alone. They went together really fast. I was in a hurry to bake them and get out of the house, and the mixing and sifting were no big deal.

I also liked that they aren't too sweet. They tasted ultra-sweet when I was scarfing them off the hot cookie sheet, but by this evening they're just right. And were are talking serious chocolatey-ness. And common ingredients. Only 1/4 cup chocolate chips, so this recipe didn't break the bank, either, an important consideration in these times of job loss and the stock market not just in the toilet, but the toilet has flushed and your investments are deep in the sewer. Eeeeww!

I've revised my last scene yet again, in In Flight, my WIP novel, and it's just about there. Even though I have two flashbacks, I've discovered they're best approached with dialog and not straight narrative. And ye gods, I think the main character is going to acquire a cat as she had threatened to in the first scene. The cat just appeared and it looks like the one I saw that needed a good home when I was campaigning for Obama. Crazy, huh? Now if the REAL kitty has found a good home.

Thisbe has been diagnosed with diabetes again. Hopefully this is temporary as it was last time. I discovered the entire unopened box of needles can't be used because the vet changed medicines and these syringes are the "right" size. Ye gods, I'm thinking of going into a bad neighborhood and flogging the needles to well, to someone. I don't think I can advertise them on Craig's list. This is so annoying.

And of course it's no fun for me or the cat to have to go thru these shots once a day. Cat freaks. I freak. Have to calm myself with . . . Dark Chocolate Oatmeal Cookies. Yes. Once a day.

I'm taking a Brussels Sprouts/Cauliflower casserole to our hostess for Thanksgiving and also a pumpkin cheesecake. And wine. Always wine. The problem is, I didn't really read the recipe for the vegetable dish, and it has like pints of heavy cream and a sh__load of cheese, artery clogging and filling, but yowza! I can almost guarantee the guests will digest every milligram of vitamin A. Good calcium, a bit of protein, some beta carotene. Bring it on!

Of course I am breaking the BIG RULE that says you never cook anything for the first time for company, although since I'm TAKING it, they aren't really company. Hoping for leftovers.
We had an omelet tonight, using the last of the grated mixed Italian cheese and the bits of red pepper. It was good. I gathered the last of the parsley from the garden this morning and picked some sage.

Winter is here. It's colder than a well digger's ass.

Onward

Grapeshot