Top 5 Reasons Why I Love Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving is hand's down, my favorite holiday of the year. I think I even like it better than my birthday, which is really saying something. So here's why:

1. There is nothing you have to do on Thanksgiving, other than share a meal. There are no religious ceremonies or gift giving. You can say a prayer before eating or watch a parade or play football if you want, but you can also take a nap! It's all good.

2. It's inclusive. Anyone who is in America (or outside of America for that matter) can celebrate this holiday if they want to. It's not about race or religion or nationality, in fact, it's about welcoming and helping those who are newcomers and celebrating the harvest.

3. It's about comfort food. I hear a lot of people complaining about traditional Thanksgiving food, they say turkey is boring, pumpkin pie is heavy and stodgy. To them I say, it's comfort food, not fine dining. Get over it. Besides, this holiday is about sharing a meal with friends and family, what you eat is secondary. Go out for Chinese food if you prefer, that is, if you can find a Chinese restaurant that's open.

4. It's two blessed days off. For most people anyway. That is reason enough to be thankful.

5. Leftovers!

Happy Thanksgiving!

A few favorite past Thanksgiving posts from the archives:

How Thanksgiving became a national holiday

Brussels sprouts with brown butter and hazelnuts recipe

Cranberry coffeecake recipe

Curried Butternut Squash Soup recipe

Pilgrim onion marmalade recipe

Turkey drumsticks braised in cranberry sauce recipe

Siriously Chopped: Thanksgiving Appetizer WINNER!

A big congratulations to my finalists, and a big congratulations to us all, because really, why not?  But without further adieu, I am pleased to announce the winner of the first ever Siriously Chopped...

Kathryn's Corn Cheddar Ravioli in an Apple Cider Sauce! 

Kathryn, you focused on each ingredient and brought out the flavors in a creative and delicious way.  This was sweet, savory, crispy, melt-in-your-mouth - a perfect fall appetizer to impress your guests with!  (Your Williams Sonoma gift should be hitting your inbox shortly...)  

I hope you all have happy and healthy Thanksgivings!  And by "healthy" I mean, "eat until you try jumping out of your own skin" - obviously.  I will try to post a bit this weekend, and if your family is boring you terribly you can always follow my silly, stupid antics on Twitter.    

p.s. I am thankful for you.

p.p.s. Next up... Siriously Chopped: Holiday Dessert : )

p.p.p.s. No one should ever write a "p.p.p.s."

Wednesday bookmarks, November 23

Time for some more bookmarks! I've started thinking about the holidays (who hasn't?) and find myself bookmarking lots of delicious stuff that'll be perfect as gifts, or to serve to friends and family. Four of my bookmarks are to Swedish blogs today - I hope you don't mind too much, you can always ask if you need me to translate something! As always, more of my bookmarks are here.

I've never had American "nilla wafers" and I sort of feel like I've missed out on something. I'm sure they're not all that good though - at least not as good as Weelicious homemade Vanilla Wafers!

Another US classic, but one I actually have tried: cheez-its. Homemade wholewheat ones from Texanerin Baking is definitely something I want to try, too. I bet they'll beat the ones that come out of a box!

I rarely serve proper desserts on christmas - who has room for it anyway? But I admit I really want to try this amazing-looking Salted Caramel Six-Layer Chocolate Cake, originally from Martha Stewart, that The Bitten Word wrote about. Will you come help me eat it?

Another option, lighter but definitely not any less elegant, is a Praline Soufflé from Zen Can Cook.

I do make holiday candy. This year, I'm strongly considering Bacon Caramels, Hazelnut Brittle with Sea Salt, and French Nougat. (All links in swedish.)

A great holiday gift is homemade jam or marmalade. Helena Ljunggren (whose blog is well worth a visit for her gorgeous photography alone!) just posted about a christmas marmalade with figs and citrus - it looks divine.

K.I.S.S. Turkey

After being inspired by watching dozens of celebrity chefs' favorite turkey techniques over the last few days, I decided to show a turkey being prepared using none of them. This goes out to all you terrified first timers whose heads are probably spinning with cryptic visions of brining, rubbing, marinating, injecting, smoking, and frying.

This also goes out to you grizzled veterans who realize the turkey is  nothing more than an edible centerpiece; merely an excuse to surround ourselves with the most delicious and decadent side dishes and desserts possible.

I’m not saying that all those tips and tricks aren’t worthwhile; they are, and I’ve used many of them at one time or another, but the fact remains that if you simply buy a great bird, rub it with a some butter, season it generously, and slow roast it – you’ll have a perfectly wonderful tasting turkey with magazine cover good looks.

Having said that, I don't really expect most of you to just settle for such a primitive method, but the point here is that you could if you wanted to. If you do decide to first use whatever brines, marinades, and/or spice rubs strike your fancy, this roasting method will still work very nicely. By the way, if you need it, check out this gravy post for what to do with all those pan drippings. Enjoy!

Ingredients:

12-24 pound turkey

seasoning salt: salt, black pepper, and cayenne

3 tbsp butter

4 springs of rosemary

1/2 bunch sage leaves

1 onion

1 carrot

1 celery rib

*Roast at 325 degrees F. for about 15 min/per pound or until an internal temp of 175 degrees F.

Simplicity: The Hallmark of Genius

My mother's name Kathryn Virginia. My grandmother called her Divinia (Virginia jumbled up and pronounced similarly) and nicknamed her Divi. Most Virginia's are nicknamed Ginny or Ginger but my grandmother had her own special naming and language process. My grandmother had her own special way of doing most things. The mother of five, she became weary of hearing "Mom, oh Mom, Mama" from her brood. Once she announced that she was to be addressed as Brenda (not even close to her name: Esther), so for almost a month she would not respond to anything but Brenda.

If you recall, my mom also has her own special, shall we say, language. Recently, water has turned into watzee, Maggie is Magothy, and I’m still Tweeters. I too have fun playing with my words. So I suppose the apple has not fallen far from the tree for the past three generations.

My grandmother passed away when I was about twelve or thirteen years old. I don’t think I knew her all that well but do I have some very specific snapshots of her and her world. First of all, I swear she looked just like Roy Orbison. There was often cream chipped beef on toast happening in the kitchen. And one time, when I was crying about something, she gave me a Monchichi coloring book to try to lift my spirits. I used to love those Monchichis. I remember really loving her bathtub, and I can also recall a hole in the floor upstairs in her house that looked down into the kitchen. I had all of my Christmas mornings at her house in Roanoke until she passed away.

Apparently Grandma made a very involved and very decadent rum cake of which my mom has a very specific, very visceral memory. According to Mom, the cake took days. Part of its process involved wrapping the cake in a rum-soaked towel overnight. Apparently this cake weighed about as much as the family dog. Mom has been trying to unearth that recipe for quite some time now, to no avail.

I’m spending today writing this and trying to track down a recipe that fits the bill for that elusive cake. I'm poring through vintage cookbooks, asking my food cohorts via Twitter, and searching online. I even sent an email to Aunt Babe and Noel. We shall see. If unearthed, this will be the cake served at the December 16^th Dinner at Eight. I’ll keep you posted.

In the meantime I am going to share with you the recipe for the most elegant, yet simple, hors d'oeuvres I can imagine. They are little onion sandwiches and they were served at the most recent Dinner at Eight during cocktail hour. I had been hearing about them for years. Mom used to make them in her café back in Richmond and they were a hit. My dad even called me one time after he stopped by a party for their mutual friend, Breeda, where Mom had served them. He said he ate five of them in as many minutes and then had to promptly leave because of his onion breath. I guess they were so good, he sacrificed the party for the sandwiches. Priorities.

The success of this dish depends on the quality of the bread used and the thinness of the onion-slice filling, which must be nearly transparent. I highly recommend using a mandoline. And, of course, you must use Duke’s mayonnaise.

Divinia’s Tea Sandwiches

12 servings

24 slices of a fine-textured white bread
36 small, wafer-thin slices raw sweet onion
1 ½ cup Duke’s mayonnaise
Salt to taste
1 cup minced parsley

Cut the slices of bread into rounds with a small biscuit cutter (or a water glass), about one inch diameter.

Choose small onions and slice them so that each circle will be a little smaller than the bread rounds.

Spread each piece of bread with mayonnaise. On half the pieces arrange the onion slice and season with salt. Cover the onion with the remaining pieces of bread to assemble sandwiches.

Spread the remaining mayonnaise on a wooden board and sprinkle the chopped parsley on another board. Hold each sandwich round lightly between thumb and finger so it will turn like a wheel. Roll the edge in mayonnaise, then in parsley. Set the sandwiches, as they are completed, on waxed paper and chill thoroughly.

Printable recipe

Two years ago: Buttermilk Corn Soup with Curry & Mint

Krispy Kreme Donuts

Happy Thanksgiving! Or Kanksgizzin, as my silly kids like to call it. What are your plans for this wonderful holiday? Going to snuggle in at home, travel to see family, or maybe going out for Thanksgiving? Whatever you do, I hope it's wonderful!

I feel a bit hypocritical posting a recipe for fried donuts, after plastering my Livefit launch all over my blog. However, in my defense, these were made long before we started, and c'mon, its time to indulge a bit right? As I've mentioned a few times, my husband and I have very different tastes. While I'm usually in the mood for something savory and salty (cheeseburgers, pizza, chips, etc), my husband has a MAJOR sweet-tooth. He could eat cookies and cheesecake for every meal, if allowed, and would wake up the next morning feeling great. Needless to say, this program that we've been doing has posed some pretty serious cravings for my "sweets loving" husband, but he's been staying strong, bless him.

These donuts were something he made a few months ago. He loves Krispy Kreme, and since we don't have one readily available to us, he found the recipe and whipped them up himself. Not even being a fan of donuts, I do have to say, these were pretty fantastic. If you're only interested in having one or two, I suggest halving the recipe, because it's really hard to stop!



Krispy Kreme Donuts
Food.com

Ingredients

Donuts
2 cups scalded milk
1/2 cup butter
2/3 cup sugar, divided
1 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons yeast
4 eggs ( beaten)
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
7 cups sifted flour

Glaze
3 cups powdered sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 cup cold water

Directions

1. Mix together ingredients for glaze.
2. Melt butter in hot milk, add 1 tsp sugar and salt. Allow to cool.
3. Beat in yeast, nutmeg, eggs, remaining sugar, and 3 cups flour.
4. Add rest of flour (dough will be sticky).
5. Knead for 5 minutes then allow to rise for 1-1 1/2 hours.
6. Roll out dough, cut into shapes.
7. Do not re-roll dough, then allow to rise for 30-45 minutes.
8. Heat oil to 365° and fry 1 - 2 minutes on each side or until brown. Toss in the doughnut holes first, let those cook, and then proceed to cooking the donuts.

Enjoy!

Happy Thanksgiving everyone! I happen to be very grateful to all of you for your friendship and support. Have a safe and delicious weekend!

Favorite Thanksgiving Sides

From years past...

Roasted Garlic Mashed Potatoes with Crispy Shallots

Cranberry Avocado Salsa

(more of an appetizer, but A-MAZING)

Baby Onions with Balsamic

Shredded Brussel Sprouts with Maple Hickory Nuts

Molasses Horseradish Mashed Potato Spears

Godspeed.

Tomato Blue Cheese Pasta

I love pasta. Should come as no big surprise to my long-time readers, but yeah, there it is. I love pasta. And I'm always fond of new recipes, new variations, new ways to spice up that little bowl of creamy goodness... so this tomato pasta with blue cheese is just the thing. In fact, it's incredible. I really recommend that you give it a try - the flavor combination is great.

I found this over at Amateur Gourmet, and adapted the recipe a bit.

Tomato Blue Cheese Pasta
Serves 3

70 g bacon, diced
1/2 yellow onion, finely chopped
pinch of red chili flakes
1 tbsp tomato purée
400 g can of cherry tomatoes (or crushed tomatoes)
salt, pepper
200 g pasta
250 g gorgonzola, or some other sort of yummy blue cheese

Fry the bacon in a large pan until it's starting to color. Add the onions and fry for a few more minutes. Add the chili and tomato purée and stir well. Add the tomatoes, and crush any whole cherry tomatoes as much as you can. Season with a little salt and pepper (but remember that the cheese will add a lot of salt) and let the sauce simmer for about 30 minutes on low heat.

Boil the pasta in plenty of salted water, until al dente. Drain and add the pasta to the tomato sauce. Crumble in the blue cheese and stir until it's completely melted.

Recipe in Swedish:
Pasta med tomat och ädelost

Low Fat Pumpkin Bread w/Chocolate Chips

YUMMMMM !!!!

this might be my favorite pumpkin bread so far.

moist, dense, full of flavor AND it's low calorie-low fat...

until you invite PEANUT BUTTER TO THE PARTY

then it's outta this world delicious !!!

one nice thick slice is very satisfying for a quick breakfast, light afternoon snack or a safe answer to the midnight munchies.  a healthy treat for any time of the day.

on it's own the nutrition count is quite low compared to full fat, full sugar loafs.

1 loaf cut into 10 slices is  138 cal, 5.2 fat, 21 carbs and 3.5 protein per slice and 1/10th is a very thick slice.

try adding different things...i've made this 3 times already...the last one i made was with crystallized ginger instead of chocolate chips.  i LOVE ginger and peanut butter together...the chocolate was fabulous, but the ginger might be my

favorite.

you would never know this is a "healthy" Pumpkin Bread, but it is...so go ahead and try it with some peanut butter...trust me...you can still feel slim and healthy about it.  with all the goodies coming our way this season, it's nice to have a little less guilt about something so delicious.

LOW FAT PUMPKIN BREAD w/CHOCOLATE CHIPS

adapted from Gina @ Skinnytaste.com 

(many thanks to Gina and please visit her site for original recipe and comments)

11/2 cups pumpkin puree

3/4 cups AP flour

1/2 cup white whole wheat flour

1/4 cup granulated sugar

1/2 cup splenda

1 tsp baking soda

2 tsp pumpkin pie spice mix

1/2 tsp nutmeg...if using fresh ground, i suggest a little less

1/4 tsp cinnamon

1/4 tsp salt

2 Tbsp vegetable oil

2 large egg whites

1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract

baking spray

1/2 oz. pepitas

60 grams (approx. 1/4 cup) mini chocolate chips

preheat oven to 350 F.  spray a 9 x 5 inch loaf pan with baking spray

NOTE...i baked mine in a convection oven at 330 F degrees for 47 minutes

in a medium bowl, combine flours, sugar, splenda, baking soda, pumpkin spice, nutmeg, cinnamon, and salt with a whisk and set aside.

in a large bowl mix the oil, egg whites, pumpkin puree and vanilla, beat at medium speed until thick and well combined.

add, on low speed, dry mixture to wet mixture in 3 batches, scraping sides in between just until combined.  stir in chocolate chips...DO NOT OVER MIX

pour into loaf pan, sprinkle with pepitas and bake for 50-55 minutes, or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean 

Siriously Chopped: Thanksgiving Appetizer FINALISTS!

That was so hard.  Ugh.  YOU ARE SUCH CLEVER RECIPE CREATORS!  I think you should all start food blogs and I will read them.  So (as my son says 47 times a day), for the top 3, I wanted to include a variety of appetizers that fit my criteria: creativity, plating and overall appeal.  I have linked each finalist to their recipe.  Drum roll...    

Catherine's Cornballs with Apple Cream Topping

I received a lot of fried or pan-fried corn cakes of various sorts and honestly, they all looked fabulous (Aunt Pam, Gretchen, Sara - I die).  But something about this one hooked me.  I can almost taste the crispiness just looking at this photo, and an apple cream cheese topping?  Yes.  (Catherine's blog)  

Larry's Corn, Maple & Walnut Spiced Bread Bites

I did a double take after looking at this recipe.  I read "bread bite" and assumed this was a crostini of sorts but no, it's a bunch of wonderful fall flavors mixed together and baked in a mini muffin tin.  Creative!  The sliver of spicy jalapeno on top combined with the sweet, cider, maple syrup dipping sauce seems like such a great contrast of flavor - I'm dying to try.

p.s. If you don't have a ceramic Japanese spoon I'm sure it will still be good.  (Oh Larry...)  

Kathryn's Corn Cheddar Ravioli in an Apple Cider Sauce

This one fell into my top 3 almost instantly.  The name of the dish and the picture was almost all it took.    I was very excited to see the crispy sage/bread crumb topping, and of course ground sage throughout.  Cooked apples and onions, swimming in the buttery cider sauce, spooned over cheesy, corn ravioli - I would order that in a restaurant.    

So there you have it.  I will be making all three of these tonight and tomorrow (sucks to be me), myself and my two co-judges (Jack and Carson) will test taste until we explode, and I will announce the winner on Wednesday!  

A thousand thanks to those who participated - I am saving all of your recipes and will be making them, no matter what.  I love you romantically.  

Make-Ahead Mascarpone Mashed Potatoes – Holiday Trick and Treat

I thought I was posting a video to show off the advantages of doing mashed potatoes ahead of time, but then I realized all that was nothing more than a diversion to distract you from the fact that I’m really trying to trick you into using an alternative to the standard holiday potato side dish.

These mascarpone mashed potatoes are certainly close enough to the classic recipe to keep any purists in the family happy, but the addition of the mild, creamy Italian cheese, a touch of egg yolk, and copious amounts of butter, elevate this to “special occasion” status.

Besides being a delicious change of pace, the advantages of the casserole delivery system are obvious. You don’t have to time your potato mashing so precisely, and this keeps warm in the casserole dish a long time, so it’s really nice for larger groups.

As always, feel free to alter this to your tastes. I do add a substantial amount of butter, but a few times a year I feel like I’ve earned that right, and do so unapologetically. I hope you do the same. Enjoy!

Ingredients:

4 1/4 pounds russet potatoes

salt and pepper to taste

cayenne to taste

1 cup butter (2 sticks)

1/2 cup mascarpone cheese

3/4 cup milk

1 egg yolk

Chilli India

Billy and I got very excited recently about the "Supper Market" opening in the basement of the new Westville Central development.  We began daydreaming of the clang of wok sang on huge, blackened wok, great licks of flame being thrown in the air lighting up the faces of the hawkers, the scent of wok hei rising up the escalators.  After a minute I raised my eyebrow though.  "Um...  I reckon they mean supermarket."

Well, at least I have Chilli India.  Tables crammed into the tiny passageway leading into Melbourne Central, buzzing late at night, it's as close to an authentic hawker centre I'm gonna get anytime soon!

The only eat-in area at Chilli India is sort of outside, yet under the covered walkway.  It's packed with students, smoochy couples and big families tucking into silver-trayed thalis.  As we sat, there was a non-stop, steady stream of hungry people queuing to order at the register.  You can still have friendly, efficient table service and they will bring you booze from the main Chillipadi next door.

Right next to the register is a huge flat-plate BBQ where this rockstar chef whips up dosa and freshly-made roti before your beady eyes.  MMMMMMM!

The drawcard here is not only the freshly-made Malaysian-Indian street food but the biryani.  Commenter Make Best West had informed me that the biryani at Dosa Hut is far from the real deal and indeed "the worst biryani I ever had.  I can say that because I hail from the land of biryani (Hyderabad) and this place is making a mockery of such a beautiful cuisine. Authentic biryani is light in spices and has a nice balance of important ingredients such as yoghurt, mint, lime and golden-coloured fried onions - none of them could be found in this version.  This lame version was floating with chillies, cloves, star anise, cardamom, cinnamon and less-meat-more-bone cheap meat."

Special Hyderabadi dum biryani (chicken)

I am always up for being corrected and when the suggestion is this good, I am profoundly grateful.  This was a very special biryani.  The rice grains are totally separate, non-greasy and underneath are pieces of supremely tender marinated chicken.  I still detected hints of spice but it did indeed have a lemony fragrance.  It came with pots of sweet raita and an almost peanutty sauce.  As we sat, waiters brought out brass pot after brass pot of this obvious crowd favourite.  The chicken could get a bit bony but the flavours were all there.

Chilli chicken

I love Indian-Chinese food - it is a total mindf**k.  Confronted with battered meat or vegies in sauce that looks like bland suburban Chinese food, your head says no, but your heart asks, "Why does it taste so bloody good then?"  Indian-Chinese takes the battered nuggets and thick sauce of "bad Chinese" and switches it up with heaps of chilli, tang and spice in true Indian style.  This was delicious, really spicy and zingy with green onion and ginger.

Vegetable avial with plain roti and roti Chenai

Avial is a very southern-style curry with fresh vegetables, coconut and yoghurt.  This was delicious with fresh, tender broccoli, beans and carrot.  The sauce was thick and creamy but not naively, suburbanly so and highlighted with curry leaves and mustard seeds.  The breads were fantastic - the Chenai was flakier, more pastry like while the plain was like a well-fried chapati.  I find it very hard to eat roti now unless it has been made fresh in house.

I know the Chillipadi brand often divides opinion quite sharply but I thought this meal was fab.  Everything was fresh, cheap and tasty, it had a real buzz and we had great, friendly service.  I might be cynical about the soon-to-open "Supper Market" but Chilli India is a great street-style option in the meantime.

Chilli India

Menzies Alley, Melbourne Central
Phone:  9669 3866

Hours:  Mon-Tues 11am-3.30pm, Wed-Sat 11am-3.30pm, 6pm-10.30pm

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Jury in session...

Guys, I don't know how I am going to do this.  You sent me amazing recipes for Siriously Chopped, and I don't know how I'm going to pick my top three, let alone a winner.  Who's idea was this??  MINE?!  Wow, I have horrible ideas.  Everyone should win.  Alas, those aren't the rules.  So please stay tuned, as I will post the Top 3 later on today...   

(Photo by Reader Gretchen Klotz - how dare you take cooler pictures than me??)

Apple Cake

Per and Titus baked a cake yesterday - isn't it lovely? It's a classic Swedish sockerkaka (much like a pound cake), with apples and cinnamon. He added a little lemon zest as well, and topped the whole thing with pearl sugar. It was delicious, and they seemed to have a lot of fun making it. I'm glad that Titus learns that mom is not the only one to cook and bake in this family.

Peanut Butter Oatmeal Chocolate Chunk Cookies

How about some awesome cookies? I'm a real sucker for anything with peanut butter, and when you add chocolate.. and oatmeal.. and actual peanuts? Well, these are some really good cookies, that's for sure.

As most cookies, they freeze well, but even better is freezing the scoops of dough, so you can bake a few cookies just when you want to eat them. Frozen cookies are fine, but freshly baked ones are always better. This was definitely a major discovery for me. As was cookie scoops, for that matter - such excellent tools!

Peanut Butter Oatmeal Chocolate Chunk Cookies
Makes about 35 cookies

125 g butter
100 g peanut butter
100 g brown sugar
100 g sugar
1 egg
1 tsp baking powder
125 g flour
80 g oatmeal
1 tsp vanilla sugar
125 g milk chocolate, coarsely chopped
100 g salted peanuts, coarsely chopped

Whisk butter, peanut butter and both types of sugar until pale and fluffy. Add the egg, and whisk for a few more minutes. Add all other ingredients, and mix until you have a cohesive dough.

Shape walnut-sized balls and place on a baking sheet.

Bake at 175°C for 10 minutes.

Recipe in Swedish:
Jordnötskakor med mjölkchoklad