Posted on 11/17/2016 4:35:04 PM PST by Jamestown1630
Especially at this time of year, I’m a fan of ‘finger food’ that can be made ahead, frozen, and ready in just minutes in the event of impromptu visitors. Nothing fits this bill better than the Gougere, a light savory ‘puff’ of cheesy pastry that goes wonderfully with cocktails and freezes very well. There are many variations on the Gougere, but this one is basic and classic:
http://chezbonnefemme.com/recipes/gougeres/
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Last Thanksgiving, I took the advice of Freeper ‘boatbums’, and we dry-brined our turkey for the first time; it really was the best turkey we’ve had, even though we made the mistake of letting it go at 450 degrees for nearly the entire cooking time! So I thought I’d post again the link to the instructions we used. I’ve never eaten turkey breast meat that turned out as moist and succulent as last year’s turkey did, so we’re going to do it again this year:
http://articles.latimes.com/2009/nov/18/food/fo-calcook18"
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Lastly, a recipe I found today and haven’t tried, but which looks like another very interesting ‘finger food’ for parties, and perfect for Thanksgiving: ROSEMARY PECAN GOAT CHEESE TRUFFLES, from thecafesucrefarine.com, a really nice husband-wife cooking blog:
thecafesucrefarine.com/2016/03/rosemary-pecan-goat-cheese-truffles/
I hope that everyone enjoys a very happy and meaningful Thanksgiving. We have a lot to be grateful for this year.
-JT
This week: Appetizers (including make-ahead ones), and Turkey!
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Happy Thanksgiving!
-JT
Trying to add some interesting stuff to the family dinner other than traditional - ideas?
Yes! Hot Curried Fruit! There are many versions, with different kinds of fruit, but here is Paula Deen’s:
http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/paula-deen/hot-curried-fruit-recipe.html
We have been dry brining our bird for at last the last 15 years. Besides the salt hubby takes fresh poultry herbs and chops them up and mixes in with the salt. Probably have the same LA times recipe. We also get a fresh bird from a local turkey farm.
PS- I’ve been hooked on the Almazan cooking videos. I just might try the pumpkin dessert one, just do it in the oven.
We’re probably going to get a ‘turkeycicle’, as usual; but this is really the best method we’ve found for Turkey. (We wet-brined many times, and those turkeys were good; but not like the dry-brined one.)
The Almazan videos are wonderful. I so envy the environment that he appears to live in - and I love Mr. Ramsay ;-)
These are very quick & easy Cheese Crisps...using rice crispy cereal...
Cheese Crisps
Yield: 2 dozen
Ingredients:
7 tbsp butter, at room temperature
8 oz gruyere or cheddar cheese, shredded
3.5 oz all purpose flour (about 2/3 cup)
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
1/4 tsp salt
1 cup crispy rice cereal
Directions:
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
Beat together the butter and cheese until combined. Add the flour, cayenne, and salt and beat until you get a crumbly dough. Add the rice cereal and beat briefly just to combine (don’t overbeat or you might break up the rice crisps).
Use a disher to portion out 1 tbsp amounts of dough, and place onto a sheet pan (it will look like a pile of rubble). Use a fork to hash and compact it down. Bake for about 15 minutes, until lightly browned. Let them cool, and enjoy!
We’ve never tried the wet version. The dry is just so good, meat is so moist and you barely have to chew it, it is so tender. The turkey farm birds are not organic but natural. We’re picking it up Saturday. The Monday of Thanksgiving week they’ll have a long line out the door and they always give a free turkey to the 1000th customer.
That is a European eagle owl. And a young one. What a nice pet! Plus he is beautiful.
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That’s very clever. Do you tamp them down so they come out sort of like crackers, or wafers?
These are also great finger food & easy to modify...
Roll-Ups
Cranberry & Feta, Onion & cheese, Blue cheese and nuts, and cream cheese and lox. All use flour tortillas. Burrito size are quicker and make bigger rolls, but any size will do.
Cranberry & Feta:
8oz cream cheese (room temperature)
4-6oz crumbled feta (room temp)
6oz bag dried cranberries(chopped)
Cream the cheeses in a mixer or food processor and mix in cranberries. spread on tortillas and roll tight. wrap in saran and refrigerate or freeze (will keep for 3 months in freezer.) 15 minutes before serving unwrap and slice.
Blue Cheese & nuts
8oz cream cheese (room temp)
4oz crumbled blue cheese (room temp)
4 oz chopped nuts (walnuts or pecans)
Chopped apple (optional)
Same as above
Cream Cheese & Lox
8oz cream cheese (room temp)
3-4tbs sour cream
3-4oz smoked salmon/lox (chopped)
1-2 TBS of capers (drained & chopped if large)
chopped scallion(optional)
1-2tsp lemon juice
Same as above
Cheese and onion
3 large onions - chopped
1 stick butter
8oz cream cheese - cut in pieces
6-8oz shredded swiss cheese
Put onions and butter in frying pan and saute for about 20 minutes until they are limp, but not burned. Stir in cheeses until melted. Spread on tortillas and roll tightly. Wrap in saran and refrigerate overnight.
To serve: Preheat oven to 375. Grease baking sheet. Cut rolls into 1 inch slices. Place upright on baking sheet and bake for 10 minutes or until lightly browned.
Ham Roll Up
diced ham (use either leftover cooked ham or luncheon slices)
diced onions
cream cheese, room temperature
flour tortillas
Stir first three ingredients together. Spread onto tortillas and roll up. Refrigerate. Slice into pinwheels.
The recipe says tamp them down, so they look more like a cracker. I don’t think I’ve tried leaving them more round, but I would think it would be about the same.
In some European countries you can keep an owl. But not in the US, and that’s probably a good idea. They’re difficult birds to keep properly.
me too bkmk
Those look great, especially the Cranberry and Feta; and nice that you can freeze them.
That dry-brining idea comes from the Zuni Café——so it has to be delicious.
I have several of Zuni’s recipes........each one a gem.
Chateau Montelena's Napa winery
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