Monthly Cooking Thread - November 2021

[Jamestown1630]

Norman Rockwell, Freedom From Want (1943)

People seem to want Thanksgiving to always be the same – there’s a lot of advice out there cautioning against trying something new for family or guests on that day. But I’ve often enjoyed very interesting new recipes at Thanksgiving, in the homes of friends and family who have ignored that advice. I recently found a recipe for turkey stuffing that is quite different from the plain type that I’ve always made; but I’m very tempted to try it. (It may be a little ‘busy’ for some who are used to a plainer bread stuffing.)

I watch a lot of YouTube cooking videos, and I think the most engaging host of all is Chef Jean-Pierre Brehier. He is extremely informative while also being fun and funny, and the kind of person you'd love to have a couple of drinks and a good conversation with.

Chef Jean-Pierre suggests using Costco corn muffins for this stuffing recipe, if you don’t want to make your own cornbread.

For those without access to fresh chestnuts to roast, there are lots of pre-roasted, packaged ones available; but the reviews for many of them are not very positive, so choose carefully. Jean-Pierre appears to use the Roland ones vacuum-packed in a jar, and he just squeezes/tears them into the mixture with his fingers. Fresh chestnuts are available from some of the nut companies if you can't source fresh ones nearby, but they seem to be tricky to buy ahead and store (if you have experience with this, let us know how you handle them.)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Gvui3lIfWI

Corn Muffins & Sausage Stuffing – Chef Jean-Pierre Brehier

Serves 10

1/2 Cup Dark Spiced Rum, for soaking the raisins

1 cup Dark Raisins

2 pounds Pork Turkey or Chicken Sausage, casings removed

2 cups Yellow Onions diced small

1 ½ cups Celery Hearts diced small

1 ½ cups Carrots diced small

2 tablespoons fresh Sage chopped

2 tablespoons fresh Rosemary chopped

2 tablespoons fresh Thyme chopped

6 cups Corn Muffins or Cornbread crumbled

1 Granny Smith Apples skinned and diced small

1 cup peaches in a light syrup cut into medium dice

¼ cup fresh Parsley chopped

1 cup Roasted Chestnuts

Salt and Pepper to taste

1 cup Milk or Buttermilk

INSTRUCTIONS

Preheat Oven to 375°

Spray a baking pan or dish (approx. 15"x10"x2") with a non-stick spray or brush with butter.

Soak the raisins at room temperature in your favorite liquor for at least 6 hours, preferably overnight.  If you do not have the time to wait, put them covered in the microwave for 2 minutes to plump them up.

In a large sauté pan over high heat, sauté the sausage and cook until golden brown.  Add the onions and cook until light golden brown.  Add the carrot and celery and cook for 5 minutes.  Add the fresh herbs and cook for an additional 2 minutes or until the vegetable are almost cooked but not mushy.

Transfer to a large bowl with the muffins; add the apples, peaches, chestnuts, salt and pepper, buttermilk, and raisins mix well.

Pack the lasagna pan with the mixure and sprinkle with the chopped parsley.

Put the lasagna pan onto a baking sheet and bake for about 1 hour or until the top is golden brown.

For those without access to chestnuts to roast, there are lots of packaged, pre-roasted ones available; but the reviews for many of them are not very positive. Chef Jean-Pierre appears to use the Roland ones vacuum-packed in a jar, and just squeezes/tears them into the mixture.

Fresh chestnuts are available from some of the nut companies, but they seem to be tricky to buy ahead and store (if you have experience with this, let us know how you handle them.)

The Chef also has a good idea for having garlic ready to go in the freezer for all of your recipes:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SZA2UcvnE6g

*******************************************************

Chef John of ‘Food Wishes’ has posted a recipe for Butterhorn Dinner Rolls which looks pretty easy even for novice bread bakers, and I don’t see why they couldn’t be made the day before and warmed up.

(These are very rich; but for most of us, Thanksgiving isn’t a ‘diet day’):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zJUve3My3lE

-JT

[Liz]

Ina calling us “divisive” b/c we won’t obey liberal dictates.....has soured me on all her recipes.

[Irish Eyes]

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[Liz]

Leaving behind a sweet legacy: Tributes to restaurateur Ado Campeol dubbed ‘the father of Tiramisu’ as he dies aged 93
UK Daily Mail ^ | 10/31/2021 | Jonathan Rose
Posted on 10/31/2021, 3:26:28 PM by DFG

An Italian restaurateur, dubbed the ‘father of tiramisu’, has died aged 93. Ado Campeol, the original owner of Le Beccherie restaurant in Treviso in northeastern Italy, died at his home on Saturday. Although disputed, Mr Campeol and his wife, Alba, are considered to be the inventors of the famous dessert.

The dish, now a staple of Italian cuisine, was never patented by the family, but appeared on the restaurant menu in 1972.

Le Beccherie, one of the oldest restaurants in Treviso, was opened by the Campeol family in 1939.

But it wasn’t until Mrs Campeol was pregnant in 1955 that tiramisu was invented. Campeol’s son Carlo, who now runs the restaurant, said: ‘When Alba was breastfeeding me a few years earlier, she had turned to mascarpone mixed with sugar and biscuits soaked in coffee to keep her energy up, which is traditional in Treviso.’ (Excerpt) Read more at dailymail.co.uk ...

[Irish Eyes]

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[Tommy Revolts]

I'm going to smoke a Turkey this Thanksgiving. Ordered an organic vegetarian fed bird, no antibiotics or growth hormones.
I'm also going to give the Corn Muffins & Sausage Stuffing a go. I'll use chicken sausage for that.

[Jamestown1630]

Good idea.

[Jamestown1630]

Well, if I knew everything about everyone who creates all the content and resources I use, I’d probably not buy or use much of anything. And I’m not real big on boycotting people and things. I prefer ‘pro-cotting’, like we did with the Goya CEO.

At any rate, I bought Garten’s books long before any of this; and haven’t had much interest in recent years - when we got rid of Cable and got Roku, there was so much new stuff on YouTube that I got interested in other cooks and chefs.

[Jamestown1630]

I don’t think turkeys are ‘vegetarian’ in Nature. They eat things like small lizards, slugs, worms, insects...

[Sacajaweau]

Aldi has Butterball Turkeys for $.87/lb. Can’t beat that.

[Jamestown1630]

That’s a good price. I don’t think I’ve seen them anywhere for less than $1 in years.

The grocery chain we usually use is giving them away free, if you spend a certain amount of money over a couple of months. That wasn’t hard to fulfill.

[Capt. Tom]

I am now for the fist time in my life doing my own cooking at home.

I am in no way a good cook, so I use 2 methods for my evening meals. I either fry it or I boil it. An advantage I have is I am not a finicky eater and can eat just about anything.

I hate doing dishes so I will sometimes eat out of the pot if I have boiled the meal.(like spaghetti with added sauce)
Or when I boil carrots, potatoes, turnips, mushrooms, onions, shallots, together for about 35 minutes.
I will leave the leftovers in the pot ,put the pot in the refrigerator and reheat and eat the leftovers on another night.

Frying will make another dish necessary.
I will take a steak and marinate it in a plastic bag, using an Italian salad dressing. Then put seasoned bread crumbs on it and fry it for 3 min one side and 4 min the other side and remove the steak, and then throw in some canned baked beans to heat them up. Pretty basic , no grilling or oven in involved.

I am only looking for very simple suggestions and don't want to get involved with thing like get a ribeye steak, sear it on the grill both sides then put it in a 350 deg oven etc. Too complicated.

I am using peanut oil, virgin olive oil, and butter in the fry pan. In the boiling pot I will add in some meat flavoring cubes.

Any simple suggestions that involve a fry pan and a boiling pot will be appreciated. -Tom

[lizma2]

https://www.thedailymeal.com/recipes/white-castle-stuffing-recipe

Years ago my mom got tired of cooking turkey so she started serving KFC!

[SamAdams76]

Get a dutch oven and a cast iron skillet. Those two items alone will greatly expand your cooking repertoire.

Frying is not good and not necessary.

[MomwithHope]

Those inexpensive turkeys are perfect to grind up to make turkey breakfast sausage. I throw a few slices of raw bacon in the grinder too plus spices, portion to 2 patties and freeze. Delicious and very economical breakfast meat. If I can find any this year I will buy 2 just for that.

[Jamestown1630]

You reminded me of a parody of the Rockwell painting; I always get a kick out of this:

https://www.pinterest.com/pin/449585975270634809/

[Jamestown1630]

Breakfast is a good one-pan meal; I think I could eat breakfast for any meal.

[Jamestown1630]

By the way - your shark page is very interesting - and that was a lot of work!

[Liz]

Best made day or two ahead to let flavors meld.

Pumpkin Spice Tiramisu / Ree’s recipe

Filling: 5 large egg yolks, 1/4 cup sugar, 1/2 cup bourbon option, 1/2 pound mascarpone, 15-ounce can pumpkin puree, cup whipping cream, 1/2 cup loosely packed brown sugar, 3 teaspoons vanilla, teaspoon ground cinnamon

Espresso Syrup——2 teaspoons instant espresso, 1/2 cup brown sugar, teaspoon ground cinnamon, 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg.

To assemble: 94 store-bought ladyfingers, 3-ounce square semisweet chocolate, for grating, 36 crushed gingersnap cookies (1 1/2 cups total)

Directions For filling: Bring some water to a boil in a saucepan, then reduce the heat to a simmer. Find a heatproof mixing bowl that will fit over the top of the pan, but not sink it all the way in. (Do-it-yourself double boiler!)

Put the egg yolks in the mixing bowl. Add the granulated sugar and whisk until the yolks start to turn pale. Place the mixing bowl on top of the saucepan with the simmering water. Slowly add the bourbon and whisk to combine. Cook over the simmering water, using a rubber spatula to scrape the bowl, until thick, about 5 minutes. Remove from the heat, then cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate until cool, 20 to 25 minutes.

Place the mascarpone cheese and pumpkin puree in a bowl and stir until smooth. Combine the whipping cream, brown sugar, vanilla and cinnamon in a separate mixing bowl and whip until not quite stiff. Add the mascarpone and pumpkin mixture to the whipped cream mixture, followed by the chilled egg mixture. Fold gently until mixed well. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 1 hour.

For the espresso syrup: Bring 1 1/2 cups water to a boil in a small saucepan. Remove the pan from the heat and slowly add the instant espresso, then stir until dissolved. Add the brown sugar, cinnamon and nutmeg and stir until the sugar has dissolved completely, 1 to 2 minutes. Set aside.

To assemble: Arrange the ladyfingers in a single layer in a 9-by-13-inch pan, breaking as necessary to fit. Spoon 2 teaspoons of the espresso syrup over each ladyfinger. Plop a third of the chilled mascarpone/pumpkin mixture on top and spread it into a thin layer. Grate over a thin layer of chocolate and sprinkle over 1/2 cup of the crushed gingersnaps

Repeat the process 2 more times, finishing with the crushed gingersnaps. Cover and refrigerate for 3 hours or up to overnight before serving. This will allow for more moisture to soften the cookies and for the whole mixture to meld together.

[Capt. Tom]

By the way - your shark page is very interesting - and that was a lot of work!

Thank you for the complement.

I will send you a Freepmail. -Tom

[be-baw]

Get an air fryer.