Monthly Cooking Thread - November 2022

[Jamestown1630]

I think I’ve posted the Russ Parsons/Judy Bird dry brining technique for turkey every year since I found it. It makes the best turkey we’ve had, and is a lot easier than the wet brine. A recent change I’ve noticed is that they now advise that you can even begin this while your turkey is still frozen and thawing:

https://food52.com/recipes/15069-russ-parsons-dry-brined-turkey-a-k-a-the-judy-bird

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My favorite recipe for cranberry sauce comes from Tasha Tudor. It’s very simple but makes quite a lot if there aren’t many in your crew who like it. I usually halve the recipe and do it in a smaller mold:

Tasha Tudor’s Cranberry Sauce (from ‘The Tasha Tudor Cookbook’)

2 lbs. fresh cranberries, washed and picked overnight

2 cups cold water (more or less)

2 lbs. Sugar

Place cranberries in a large saucepan with enough cold water to cover when they are pressed down. Add the sugar. Bring to a simmer, and skim off the foam occasionally. Cook the cranberries until their juice jells when it is dropped on a cold plate. Pour into a mold and chill overnight.

To remove the sauce from the mold, gently run a paring knife around the edge, dip the mold in hot water for a moment, and invert it onto a platter to serve.

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I’ve often made this sweet potato ‘souffle’, but when I took it to a large potluck I learned that some people really dislike raisins. I personally think the raisins make this recipe, but you can certainly leave them out, and you can leave off the marshmallow topping, too.

I usually don’t bother making this as a genuine souffle, but mix everything together in a ‘sturdy’ souffle.

Sweet Potato Souffle

Prepare 2 cups of mashed sweet potatoes: Boil potatoes in their skins until done; remove skins and mash.

Preheat oven to 350.

Scald: 1 C. milk

Add: ½ C. sugar, 1 tsp. salt, 3 T. butter, 1 tsp. nutmeg, and the potatoes. Beat until fluffy.

Separate 2 eggs. Beat yolks and add to the potato mixture. Add: ½ C. raisins, and stir in well.

Beat the 2 egg whites until stiff, and fold into 1st. mixture. Pour into greased baking dish.

Bake at 350 for 50 to 60 minutes, or until knife comes out clean. When done, top with marshmallows and brown briefly under broiler.

(Usually I make the potatoes the night before.)

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I like the now traditional string bean casserole, but lots of people don’t. I found a more elegant recipe at the Kevin Lee Jacobs website that some might prefer; this one uses a Swiss cheese (Mornay) sauce:

https://www.agardenforthehouse.com/green-bean-gratin/

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My Grandmother made a great navy bean soup – I think she used a ham bone, and the dregs from a baked ham. My husband also makes a good one using ham hocks. I was craving something like this, and decided to try the famous Senate Bean Soup, which has been served continuously in the U.S. Senate cafeteria for over a century.

There are a couple of stories and recipes attached to this tradition, and you can read about them here:

https://www.senate.gov/about/traditions-symbols/senate-bean-soup.htm

I chose the recipe without mashed potatoes, which is the one that is served now and has been for many years. I soaked my beans overnight, and used chicken broth instead of water; and I did add, at the end, some instant mashed potato flakes mixed into the broth, to thicken. (I think I learned that trick from Jacques Pepin, and I appreciated it because I don’t like chunks of potato, which are often added in recipes for soups and chowders.)

This is a very ‘plain’ recipe, and you can play with it any way that you like. It would benefit from some bay and other herbs; and the recipe is easily halved:

The Famous Senate Restaurant Bean Soup Recipe

2 pounds [0.91 kg] dried navy beans

four US quarts hot water

1 and ½ pounds smoked ham hocks

1 onion, chopped

2 tablespoons butter

salt and pepper to taste

Wash the navy beans and run hot water through them until they are slightly whitened. Place beans into pot with hot water. Add ham hocks and simmer approximately three hours in a covered pot, stirring occasionally. Remove ham hocks and set aside to cool. 

Dice meat and return to soup. Lightly brown the onion in butter. Add to soup. Before serving, bring to a boil and season with salt and pepper. Serves 8.

-JT

[V K Lee]

Merry Christmas!

[pugmama]

I love this magazine out out by the Ontario liquor board. The recipes are awesome and the photos are stunning.
A digital version is on line, but my friend in Ontario sends me the seasonal magazine. Their 2022 holiday edition just out and looks great.
I mace this gumbo last week and we liked it very much.
I used butternut squash as it is my favorite thing to cook.

https://www.lcbo.com/en/recipe/seafood-squash-gumbo/F202205028

[Jamestown1630]

They always look so joyful.

They do a great rendition of Toto’s ‘Africa’:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-c9-poC5HGw

[Jamestown1630]

I like Marcus, too.

[numberonepal]

Would you kindly add me to your cooking thread pretty please?