Thanksgiving!

WARNING! there are no turkey recipes in this post. 

For a brief period of time, Thanksgiving was my favorite holiday. Why? Because, at its heart, it's all about food. And y'all know I love to eat. And cook. We never really celebrated Thanksgiving in my immigrant Polish childhood home. In fact, I have no memories of it. Zero. Zilch. None. The only turkey we ever ate was in deli meat form and I wasn't fond of it. Smoked turkey was too dry, and unsmoked turkey was too wet. Both, unfortunately, tasted like turkey. My unpopular opinion: you can keep the bird. The sides were and still are more interesting to me. 

I roasted my first turkey in my parents' house as a new wife at the ripe old age of 35. Mr Minx had skipped his own family's celebration to start a new tradition with my clan. Because his family did the whole turkey-and-multiple-carbs thing, his new bride would do the same. I used Alton Brown's recipe, minus the brine, and to be perfectly honest--it was a triumph. I didn't (and still don't) understand why anyone made dry turkey when a moist and juicy one is so easy. 

Sadly, my mother died the following February, so we Minxes, plus my younger brother but minus our dad, started celebrating with my mother-in-law and her regular holiday crew. After my first Thanksgiving there, which included turkey, mashed potatoes, and stuffing, supplemented with canned corn, canned peas, and canned cranberry sauce, frozen rolls, and sweet potato casserole made with frozen glazed yams, I decided to take over help with the cooking. The following year, I brought a corn pudding and homemade cranberry sauce. In subsequent years I started making the sweet potatoes and the gravy, and added brussels sprouts and green bean casserole. If the holiday was about food, then I wanted it to be tasty and abundant. I loved my mother-in-law dearly, but in her later years she cooked primarily for sustenance purposes. I, on the other hand, loved to cook and eat delicious things and truly enjoyed preparing my contributions. 

A few years later, we moved the celebration to my brother-in-law's house as my MIL had various ailments and became too ill to cook. BIL Craig made the stuffing and provided the kitchen, and Mr Minx and I made everything else. I took off from work the day before Thanksgiving in order to get as much cooking done as possible in advance so it only needed rewarming the next day. Lugging bags of cooked food, raw ingredients, and some cooking implements, we started to feel like caterers. After my MIL passed, Thanksgiving finally moved to Minx Manor. Dad's girlfriend had dumped him, so he became part of the crew. And while it was more convenient to cook and serve food at our own house, going from caterer to restaurant owner involves more expense, decision-making, and house-cleaning, and much less enjoyment. One year, after vowing never to wash so many dishes again, we made lasagna and salad. It raised slightly less furor than the year I decided to make roast duck. 

Then Craig got married and Dad died. Buh-bye Thanksgiving feast! Seeya never, turkey! The holiday crowd that once included Mr Minx's 99-year-old grandfather and MIL's work friend Wayne in addition to five other family members was down to Mr Minx, Minxbro, and moi. In 2019, we started a new tradition: the grand Thanksgiving meal was pared down to a giant charcuterie platter that we grazed upon as we watched football and drank copiously all day. That first year, I cooked nothing, though I did make a cheeseball. Our coffee table became a buffet of cheese, crackers, sausage, and stuff like olives and cornichons. We used paper plates which we refilled over and over again. It was great, and we weren't stuck with 3 pounds of leftover turkey in the fridge. We did the same in 2020, and I added broiled bacon-wrapped dates to the party. 

Then my brother announced that it seemed wrong not to have a cooked poultry product on our holiday table.

There was no way I was going to make a turkey for three people, one of whom wasn't even going to eat it. I decided to make chicken wings, which seemed appropriate considering we'd be eating them in front of the annual Lions and Cowboys games. But I couldn't find reasonably priced wings last year. Chicken legs, however, were budget-friendly, with more meat and less waste. I coated them with a seasoning based on the wings served at Earth, Wood, and Fire and baked them. And since I had the oven on, I roasted brussels sprouts and tossed them in a spicy-sweet sauce of gochujang and maple syrup. We still had charcuterie, but much less of it. This year will be a repeat of last year, with the addition of stuffing. I know what you're thinking--in a year or two, I'll be back to making the whole holiday shebang again. No! I promise I won't go back to that. The only reason I'm making stuffing is because Olivia's Croutons sent me a box of products that includes both regular and gluten free stuffing mixes. So I'll make a small pan of each. Stuffing is simple: sauteed mirepoix; broth; herbs; bread. Maybe a little pork. We'll see what I feel like tossing in. Bake until crusty. Hey, the oven's gonna be on anyway....

For those of you who read this far and are still looking for Thanksgiving recipes, I'm including some here at the end. Please remember that I'm not like those bloggers who make turkeys in June just to have something to post in advance of the holiday. BO-RING! There are 109 million hits on the google for "roast turkey recipes," so you don't need mine. Sides is where it's at, people, so here's a handful of recipes for good stuff to eat on the side of a nasty ol' turkey. (Yes, I realize most of the recipes are for brussels sprouts. We like brussels sprouts!)

Corn Pudding

This is the corn pudding that I made every Thanksgiving for 15 years. I could have sworn I posted it here at some point in the past, but I couldn't find it. Luckily, I have the original printout safely tucked away someplace I can actually find it.

3 large eggs, beaten

1 cup heavy cream

1/3 cup milk

1 teaspoon salt

1 tablespoon sugar

2 cups frozen corn kernels, defrosted

Preheat oven to 350F.

In a large bowl, mix the eggs, cream, and milk. Stir in the salt, sugar, and corn.

Pour into a greased 8" square baking pan. Bake until a knife inserted in the center comes out clean, about 1 hour.

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Blackened Carrots with Harissa Yogurt I didn't make this for Thanksgiving originally, but I think it would make a great side dish. 

Celery Root Remoulade Try something totally different and make a cold salad. It's like cole slaw, but not at all like cole slaw.

Cheesy Drop Biscuits are much better than heat-and-eat dinner rolls.

Collard Greens are traditional in some homes. I do believe I made them to accompany my first turkey.

Spicy Sweet Potato and Bacon Casserole Make this at your own risk. I posted it on Food52 and someone commented that it was a "hot mess." I thought it was pretty tasty, and far better than the stuff with mini-marshmallows on top.

The Brussels Sprouts Collection

Brussels Sprouts with Pancetta and Apple

Brussels Sprouts with Pomegranate and Walnuts

Kung Pao Brussels Sprouts

Raw Brussels Sprout Salad

Shaved Brussel Sprout, Meyer Lemon, Quinoa Salad

* Any products in this post that are mentioned by name may have been provided to Minxeats by the manufacturer. However, all opinions belong to Minxeats. Amazon links earn me $! Please buy!

Posted on Minxeats.com.

Cranberry-Blood Orange Limoncello Muffins

* The Fabrizia Blood Orange limoncello mentioned in this post has been provided to Minxeats by the manufacturer. However, all opinions belong to Minxeats.  

Fabrizia Spirits sent me three bottles of limoncello last month. The stuff is so good, I've killed half of each bottle. But I'm not only drinking it - I'm cooking with it. This month, I've done a riff on the classic cranberry-orange muffin. Rather than use fresh cranberries, I've used dried ones plumped up in blood orange limoncello. The booze picks up a nice pink color from the cranberries, which in turn makes the glaze (made with the plumping liquid) pink-ish, too. And tasty.

Want the recipe? Here you go!

Cranberry-Blood Orange Limoncello Muffins

For the muffins:
1 cup dried cranberries
1/2 cup Fabrizia Blood Orange limoncello
1/2 cup softened unsalted butter
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/4 cup packed light or dark brown sugar
2 large eggs
1/2 cup sour cream or plain yogurt
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
Zest of one large tangerine (Minneola) or the zest of 2 oranges
1 and 3/4 cups AP flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons milk

For the glaze:
1 cup powdered sugar
3 Tablespoons reserved Fabrizia Blood Orange limoncello
1/4 cup sliced almonds, toasted

Combine dried cranberries and limoncello in a saucepan and bring to a boil. Turn off the heat, cover the pan, and allow the berries to macerate for 30 minutes. After 30 minutes, drain the berries and reserve the liquid.

Preheat oven to 425F.  Line two 6-count or one 12-count muffin pans with cupcake liners.

In a stand mixer, beat the butter on high until smooth. Add the sugars and beat for about 2 minutes. Add the eggs, sour cream, vanilla, and tangerine zest, beating until well combined, scraping the bowl as needed.

Stir together the dry ingredients in a separate bowl. Add to the wet ingredients and beat until just combined. Remove the mixer bowl from the stand and add 2 tablespoons of the reserved limoncello and the milk, stirring by hand with a wooden spoon until the batter is combined. Fold in the cranberries.

Spoon batter into muffin pans. Bake for 5 minutes, then reduce temperature to 350F. Bake for 16-18 minutes more, or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out with a few moist crumbs.

Remove muffins from pan onto a cooling rack.

While muffins are cooling, combine the powdered sugar and 3 tablespoon of the reserved limoncello. (There will probably be a few tablepoons left over. Drink it - cook's treat.) Drizzle the glaze over the muffins, and immediately top with a few of the almonds.

Posted on Minxeats.com.

Thanksgiving in October

When Keystone Meats sent me several cans of their products to play with, the temps were still in the upper 70s and low 80s, yet it was already October. I really wanted to do something with pumpkin, like a nice curried soup, but I was also in the mood for an easy chicken salad. The best solution seemed to do both. And to make the chicken salad a more seasonable companion to the soup, I thought it might be nice to add some Thanksgiving-ish flavors to it. Sage and cranberries made the most sense to me, as stuffing and cranberry sauce are two of my favorite sides and are both essential elements in the traditional post-dinner turkey sandwich.

If you'd rather crack open a can of cranberry sauce and add that to the dressing instead of dried cranberries, be my guest! Some chopped walnuts would be nice in the salad, too.

Thanksgiving Chicken (or Turkey) Salad

1 teaspoon dried sage or 4 fresh sage leaves, finely chopped
1/2 teaspoon poultry seasoning
2-3 sprigs fresh thyme (optional)
2 heaped tablespoons dried cranberries
1 tablespoon chopped scallion
1 tablespoon finely diced celery + 1 tablespoon chopped celery leaves
1 heaping tablespoon mayonnaise
1 14.5-ounce can Keystone All-Natural Chicken or Turkey, drained
Salt and freshly ground pepper
2 slices of your favorite hearty bread, lightly toasted, per sandwich

Combine first seven ingredients in a bowl. Add the chicken and stir to coat. Season with salt and freshly ground pepper to taste. Pile onto bread and serve.

Makes 2-3 sandwiches.

Easy Curried Pumpkin Soup

2 cups chicken stock
1 cup canned pumpkin puree (not pumpkin pie filling!)
1/2 cup coconut milk + 2 tablespoons
2 teaspoons curry powder (I like The Spice House or Penzey's)
Salt and ground white pepper
Maple syrup

Combine stock, pumpkin, 1/2 cup coconut milk, and curry powder in a saucepan and bring to a simmer.  Cook 10 minutes. Taste for seasoning and add salt and pepper. Add a teaspoon or so of maple syrup to balance the curry flavoring, but not enough to make the soup sweet (unless you want sweet soup!)

Pour into bowls and garnish with a bit of the extra coconut milk. I put a pinch of fresh thyme on top, too, because our thyme plant is out of control.

Serves 2-3

* Any products in this post that are mentioned by name may have been provided to Minxeats by the manufacturer. However, all opinions belong to Minxeats. Amazon links earn me $! Please buy!

Posted on Minxeats.com.

Cranberry Quince Sauce

Normally we don't have it together enough to make holiday dishes in advance merely for the purpose of blogging about them. Perhaps if people left comments here, requesting such things (or even if people left comments at all...ahem.), we'd try. Ordinarily, the cranberry sauce doesn't get made until the day before Thanksgiving, but this year, the three of you lucked out.

There are quince at the farmers' markets. We can hear you now, "I thought quinces were birds?" "What the hell is a quince?" Quince is a relative to pears and apples and looks like a cross between the two. Unlike pears and apples, they can't be eaten out of hand--they are far too hard, astringent, and acidic. But they smell wonderful. The two quince we picked up at the UMB farmers' market perfumed the car and made the evening commute far more pleasant than usual.

The last time we did anything with quince, the result was quince butter flavored with star anise and vanilla. Delicious stuff, especially as a side for roast pork. But there was a bag of cranberries in the freezer begging to be combined with quince. After discarding the idea of a chutney, we went with our usual cranberry sauce-making technique: throw stuff in a pot until it tastes good.

The quince and cranberry combo is wonderfully aromatic on its own, but even more so when a healthy dose of rosemary is added. Be sure to crush the rosemary needles in your hand before adding them to the pot, to ensure all the yummy essential oils can be dispersed through the sauce.

Cranberry Quince Sauce

2 quince
1 1/2 cups brown sugar
1/2 cup fresh orange juice
1/2 cup amaretto or bourbon (optional)
1/2 cup water
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1 teaspoon dried rosemary
1 lb cranberries
Pinch salt
2 tablespoons maple syrup

Peel and dice the quince. Add them to a 2-quart saucepan with the brown sugar, orange juice, amaretto, and water. Bring mixture to a boil, then turn down heat and simmer, uncovered, for twenty minutes, until quince are softened. Add the spices, cranberries, and salt. Cook until cranberries pop and mixture thickens, about 10 minutes. Stir in the maple syrup and remove from heat.

Makes about a quart.

Posted on Minxeats.com.

Pulled Chicken with Cranberry BBQ Sauce

Sometimes I look in the fridge and think, "what am I going to do with all of this random stuff?" While it seemed pretty empty around the holidays, during some point in January, the fridge suffered from a glut of various half-full jars and plastic containers. Add to that a bunch of fresh vegetables because I was starting to feel guilty about eating so poorly in the weeks between Thanksgiving and mid-January. Among other things, we purchased a celery root so I could make one of my new favorite salads, celeri remoulade. I'm not a big fan of celery, but I loooove celeriac. Love it. But woman (and certainly not the man in this house) can't live on celery root alone, so I had to think of something more substantial to eat it with. Luckily, one of the myriad containers held about half of a rotisserie chicken. Another container held about half a cup of cranberry sauce left over from the fruitcake I made for my dad. Yes, I realize that I made that cake a month prior, but the sauce was still fine (acidy things tend to keep well under refrigeration). That became the starting point for a barbecue sauce.

Where am I going with all of this? Why, it's a riff on a classic pulled pork sandwich with cole slaw. Only it's pulled chicken with celeri remoulade. And it was quite delicious, if I do say so myself.

If you don't like celeriac, feel free to substitute your favorite cole slaw.

Pulled Chicken with Cranberry BBQ Sauce

1/2 cup onion, chopped
olive oil
salt
1/2 cup whole berry cranberry sauce
1/4 cup ketchup
4 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
2 tablespoons yellow mustard
1/2 cup, packed, brown sugar
1 teaspoon Sriracha (or more to taste)
1 teaspoon smoked paprika
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon ground coriander
3 cups cooked chicken, roughly chopped
salt and pepper

In a saucepan, cook onion in a dribble of olive oil and a pinch of salt until soft and translucent. Add next 10 ingredients and bring to a boil. Lower heat and cook 5 minutes. Add chicken and stir well to coat with sauce. Cook for 15-20 minutes until warmed through. Serve on potato rolls with celeri remoulade.

Posted on Minxeats.com.

Thanksgiving Leftovers

After parceling out leftovers for the family, Mr Minx and I didn't end up with much meat. With a paltry amount of poultry, I opted to make duck nachos to eat during the Ravens game. They made a perfect game-time supper, particularly when garnished with a simple guacamole and a fresh tomato salsa. Oh, and a salsa I concocted from leftover cranberry sauce.

Yes, it was good!

Cranberry Salsa

1/2 cup whole berry cranberry sauce
lime juice
1 tablespoon chopped cilantro
1 tablespoon chopped scallions
smoked paprika
garlic powder
cayenne
salt

Mix seasonings into cranberry sauce to taste to make a sweet and spicy salsa. Serve with tortilla chips or as a nacho topping.

Cranberry Ginger Tea Bread

I found this recipe on Coconut & Lime and thought it would be a perfect way to use up some home-made cranberry sauce. I also had a bunch of fresh ginger in the freezer and just about 1/3 cup of sour cream left over from Sunday's turkey nachos. I didn't have candied ginger and tossed in some walnuts for crunch.

The low fat content made for a more bread-like quick bread with a crisp crust, what I think of as a "tea bread." It could have used more ginger, and even more cranberries, but the sweetness was just about right (lightly sweet). It will be delectable toasted and buttered.

I will try this again using a bit more oil and get back to you....