Monthly Cooking Thread November 2018 - UPDATE

[Jamestown1630]

Recently, the Lee Valley gardening newsletter featured a great Turkey Pot Pie recipe, to make delicious use of your leftovers:

http://www.leevalley.com/us/newsletters/Gardening/3091/Article2.htm

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Freeper 'Nopardons' shared with me her recipe for Cranberry Sauce; the additions of liqueur and walnuts make an elegant and interesting twist. (I think that NP still says ‘ice box’ when referring to ‘refrigerator’, just as I do :-)

Cranberry Sauce Chez Nopardons

1 package of Ocean Spray cranberries, rinsed and picked-over

1 cup granulated sugar

1 cup water

1 cup ( more or less...by taste ) of chopped ( I don’t chop them, I just break them up by hand ) walnut pieces (leave out if guests have nut allergies)

1 Tb. ( or 2 ) of Chambord or Grand Marnier

Combine the water and sugar in a pot, bring to a a boil

Add the cranberries and turn the flame down to medium.

Add the walnut pieces after the cranberries begin to pop and stir the contents.

Add the Chambord or Grand Marnier after 5 minutes; turn the flame down to low and continue to cook for about 7 minutes.

Pour mixture into a glass ( yes, it has to be glass! ) bowl with a cover, but do NOT place the cover on the bowl until the mixture is cool.

Once the contents are cool, place the cover on the bowl and place it in the icebox.

Need more...just double or triple all of the ingredients.

This “sauce” will last, in an icebox, for at least a week.

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Chef John of Food Wishes recently posted a fast-and-easy version of Nduja – a Calabrian dip/spread using Salami and Pancetta:

https://foodwishes.blogspot.com/2018/11/spicy-salami-spread-nduja-almost.html

JT

[bgill]

Everyone here wants the canned sauce.

[bgill]

In Kingsland, TX, they had a flood that wiped out the major bridge last month. People are still without homes, of course. The food pantry is nearly bare after giving out turkeys and holiday fare. https://cbsaustin.com/news/local/a-month-after-floods-kingsland-still-recovering-food-pantry-trying-to-meet-demand

The CA wildfire victims are probably in the same situation.

[Liz]

Sugar-frosted fruit makes a nice table centerpiece. One year I sugared bunches of grapes for arranging around the turkey.
Only problem it tasted so good, before I got it to the table, the sampling depleted my supply. Have a sign nearby---"hands off the fruit."

Looks magnificent but very easy to do. Just take some egg white and combine w/ a bit water---do not froth.
Brush onto fruit then sprinkle w/ superfine sugar. Let dry.

Looks nice on cookie trays, too.

[bgill]

I used to make a cranberry gelatin salad with pecans. Menfolk like things the way they always were with no surprises. These days its easier to just open a can of sauce and make them happy.

[bgill]

Be safe.

[Liz]

A monochromatic centerpiece theme is very elegant and can be very inexpensive.
Lots of local greenery, a few fresh flowers.........and not the usual pumpkin colors.

[NorthstarMom]

Thanks :). I’m home now and more importantly, my teenage son is as well. He got home from his job at 10pm and immediately began shoveling. Driving up and seeing him shoveling without me nagging him warmed my heart. He’s still at it...corner lot so lots of sidewalks. Thankfully the other kids left plenty of supper for him.

[mrsmith]

A wacky recipe (the only kind I know?) for SWEET APPLE CIDER:

Buy a gallon of quality apple juice
pour out a glass
add 1/4 cup sugar
shake like crazy, shake it good
add 1/4 tsp of wine yeast - Lalvin EC 1118 is best and your local wine-making supplies store will have it
put the top on loose
set it on the floor on a tray out of the way
after the bottle starts foaming (2-3 days) put it in the fridge
leave the top loose!

Makes a nice after Thanksgiving dinner drink. VERY little alcohol (1/10 of a percent?)

Yes, there’s a wine-making supply shop near you. It’s a fun and easy hobby.
I recommend https://www.homebrewtalk.com/edworts-apflewine.html for an easy start in winemaking.

But this recipe is just for fizz, not alcohol LOL!

[mrsmith]

That recipe is for cold climates. (If the fridge is full you can put the bottle outside in the cold to slow the yeast down.)
In warm climates add a ‘breathing’ tape around the loose top.

[Yaelle]

Did I share my favorite decadent cranberry sauce? You can definitely use less sugar as the fruit is kind of sweet enough, but it’s like dessert and still packs that cranberry tart bite.

https://www.allrecipes.com/recipe/13643/cranberry-sauce-extraordinaire/

I will be leaving out almost all the White sugar.

[Yaelle]

What a great idea. Could you share an easy way to make little puff pastry Turkey “pie” turnovers? Like what sauce? We won’t be able to use dairy.

[Liz]

Did you miss this post from last year?
Martha Stewart does these adorable brown paper bag gift holders.
Good for giving Christmas cookies to friends and neighbors.

Insert cookies....foldover top. Punch two holes to close with ribbon.
Dangle a snowflake or glittering Christmas star from the ribbon.

[MomwithHope]

I would not advise trying to do turkey turnovers. You can't fit in much filling for one. I would use regular pie crust so you had a bigger crust to start with that had more strength than puff pastry.
Sounds like you are looking for a calzone type pie. Sounds good. About all I have is what I have done for years. Mix cut up leftover turkey, some sliced mushrooms and onions, whatever veg we had like green beans (but you could use anything), small chunks of leftover stuffing and the same with mashed potatoes. Just whatever looks good. I mix in a bowl first. I add enough gravy to coat and look good, not too much. I bake a smaller pie these days, in a glass square baking dish. I unfold one puff pastry sheet, press into the bottom of the dish. Pierce with toothpick all over and bake for 10 minutes first. Then I take out, add the filling and place the second pastry sheet on top and then bake. I do not pierce the top sheet. Bake til just golden brown on top. Serves 4. If you used pie crust and tried a calzone it could get pretty messy but if you rolled it out thicker it could work. You could also do small pot pies instead of turnovers so puff pastry would work IMO. When you unfold the sheet and cut it into 4 pieces, use small square baking dishes and you would get 2 individual pot pies from one sheet. I may try that next time.
My turkey gravy has no dairy. I cook the neck and innards, take them out and add a quart carton of turkey broth to it, pepper, a few tablespoons of soy sauce and a teaspoon of that turkey bouillon paste in a jar. Cook for a while and then thicken with a corn starch slurry. A couple of weeks ago I did a chicken pot pie with the puff pastry. It was a quickie. Added a bag of thawed and partially cooked soup veggies to the chicken, and used garlic alfredo sauce for a sauce. It was yummy, although a little on the rich side. Hope some of that helps!

[trisham]

I love Thanksgiving! Mr. Trisham went shopping this morning and brought home a turkey, Bell’s stuffing, fresh cranberries, an orange, squash, green beans, eggs, celery and I’m not sure what else. :)

[SkyDancer]

Squash isn't on my top priority of veggies (if that is what it's called). I've had my grandma's squash soup but I ate it out of politeness. :)

[CottonBall]

“but my husband seems to think that freezing beans makes them tough and unpalatable (?)”

I have found just the opposite. Freezing them makes them softer. I usually pick up big batches of dried beans and freeze them for later use. I spread them on a cookie sheet lined with that non-stick plasticky stuff. And then stir them up every now and then. Then they can be scooped out individually for recipes.

I’ve discovered doing it this way I don’t have to have them cooked quite to Perfection. They can be just a little bit undercooked, just so they stay in one piece. And they soften enough during the thawing process that they are as good as canned beans., without having blowouts or tough beans. But they need to be just a tad undercooked, not to the point of splitting but just before that.

[CottonBall]

THAT sounds fantastic! I love barley.

[CottonBall]

Those are beautiful liz. And sound so easy. Thanks for sharing.

[Yaelle]

Thanks for this good advice. I’ve been making cheese and jelly turnovers from a recipe I got a couple years ago right here. So making those out of frozen puff pastry is super easy. Bummer than I can’t mix chopped turkey, a bit of gravy and maybe some cream sauce and do that. These guys would go nuts for it.

I don’t have enough - any, really- mini pie crust plates. I’d have to go get the aluminum kind...

Thanks for letting me know the turnovers would mess up!

[Yaelle]

Got to get my turkey today, to brine and then dry out and then roast early weds. I need most things done early because Weds night we have a big birthday hockey game to go to!

I hate that the “fresh” turkeys are always still too frozen to get the metal out of them. Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrr. So you are forced to carefully leave them out of the fridge for an hour, put it back in, take it back out, til you can get that **** out.