Thanksgiving: Make-Ahead Adult Cranberry Sauce

 

If you're a fan of adult beverages, you will be a fan of this adult cranberry sauce. This recipe packs a bit of a punch, for we are not boiling out the alcohol. We are leaving all of the alcohol in the mix for your eating and imbibing enjoyment. So make sure this gets placed only at the adult table. The kids can get their sauce straight from the can. This can be made and refrigerated up to 5 days in advance.

INGREDIENTS

1, 12-ounce bag fresh cranberries, rinsed and drained

1/2 cup water

1 cup sugar

1/3 cup vodka

3 tablespoons Grand Marnier

DIRECTIONS

1. In a medium saucepan over moderate heat, combine cranberries, water and sugar. Bring to a boil, stirring often to dissolve sugar. Then reduce heat to moderately low and simmer, stirring often, until thickened and reduced to approximately 3 cups (about 15 minutes).
2. Transfer to a medium bowl and cool, stirring often, until tepid (about 30 minutes). Stir in vodka and Grand Marnier. Transfer to a serving bowl, cover and and refrigerate until chilled and set (at least 2 hours). Serve chilled or at room temperature. 

Thanksgiving: Make-Ahead Garlic Mashed Potatoes

The frenetic pace and challenge of getting turkey and side dishes to be served together at precisely 6:00pm on Thanksgiving day is exhausting. So over the years, I've been working on "make-ahead" recipes that makes serving the meal a whole lot easier. Make-ahead gravy. Make-ahead stuffing.

Back in 2018, I added make-ahead, garlic mashed potatoes. And I'm here to tell you they were the best mashed potatoes ever. First off, I avoided all of the chemistry class theatrics required of boiling potatoes from scratch with cold water. And that method requires great precision in order to serve piping hot potatoes with piping hot turkey at the same time.

And this method is foolproof. You cannot screw it up. Anyone who can read can make perfect mashed potatoes. While the recipe calls for peeled potatoes, I really like the skins, so I don't peel mine. As a bonus, the skin is the tastiest and most nutrient-rich part of the potato. This recipe makes 20 servings. My experience is that the majority of folks come back for seconds....and a few for thirds.

Ingredients
5 pounds of russet or Yukon Gold potatoes, each potato peeled (optional) and quartered
8 cloves garlic, peeled
1-1/2 cups whole milk

8 tablespoons butter
2 cups of half & half
Kosher salt and fresh ground pepper to taste
Chopped chives, for garnish


Directions

1. Peel (or not) and quarter potatoes and place in slow cooker with garlic and 1-1/2 cups of milk. Set slow cooker to high and cover. Cook for 5 hours.
2. After 5 hours, turn slow cooker to warm. Using a potato masher, mash the potatoes right in the slow cooker.
3. Melt butter in a medium saucepan. When melted, add half & half to the pan and heat to warm (do not boil). When warm, add mixture to slow cooker. Using masher, blend potatoes with butter/half & half mixture.
4. Add salt and pepper to taste....a half of a teaspoon at a time for the uninitiated.
5. Cover potatoes in slow cooker (still set to warm) and serve whenever you want.

Thanksgiving: Make-Ahead Turkey Gravy

 

Being obsessive-compulsive is actually an admirable quality if you are a cook. I find that it comes in especially handy at Thanksgiving, where micro-managing the production of an enormous feast is no small feat.

In order to handle the complexity of the Thanksgiving meal preparation, I create a very comprehensive list of every task that must be accomplished and at precisely what time to perform that task. It starts at 12:35pm with the roasting of the turkey. Then the schedule is set to make sure that everything gets done so that we can eat precisely and exactly at 6:00pm. Not 6:01pm, but 6:00pm in strict accordance to the atomic clock in my kitchen.

But regardless of the schedule, there are three items that always need my attention at the very last, frenetic second: the carving of the turkey; the mashing of the potatoes; and the making of the gravy. I cannot do all three at once by myself.

I'm really good at quickly carving a 25-pound turkey, so I take on that duty. The potatoes need to be mashed at the last second so that they are good and warm. I always manage to dole that assignment out.

Which leaves us with the gravy. I'm really anal about making turkey gravy from scratch. Use butter and flour to make a roux, then add turkey drippings and turkey stock. The problem here is that the drippings come at the end....after you've removed the turkey for carving.

But alas, Mark Bittman (former food writer for the New York Times) solved my problem by creating this make-ahead gravy recipe. It can be made up to five days in advance, then re-heated just in time for Thanksgiving dinner. And the gravy still gets the flavor boost from the pan drippings...you just add them in at the last second to your already "at serving temperature" gravy.

A small note here about the stock. Most grocery stores have an abundance of turkey stock on their shelves at this time of year. But if you couldn't find any or simply forgot to pick some up, chicken stock is a really good second choice.


Ingredients 
1 stick of butter (I prefer Kerrygold)
1/2 cup chopped onion
1/2 cup flour
Salt and pepper
4 to 5 cups warm turkey stock
Turkey drippings


Directions

1. Melt butter in a medium saucepan over medium heat, then add onions. Cook, stirring occasionally, until onions are translucent, about 5 minutes. Sprinkle the flour on the onions, stirring constantly, and cook until flour is golden to brown. Adjust heat so mixture does not burn.
2. Gradually whisk in 4 cups stock until mixture thickens and is smooth. If it is too thick, add more stock. Cool, cover and chill.
3. When ready to serve, reheat mixture over low heat, stirring. Scrape bottom of turkey pan and add drippings or to gravy. Taste and adjust seasoning, then serve.

Grogs and Grandma Goldie, 1955

Thanksgiving: Hot Italian Sausage Stuffing

  

If you are smoking your turkey on a pellet grill, you'll want to bake your stuffing in the oven. If you are deep frying your turkey, you'll want to bake your stuffing in the oven. If you are roasting a whole turkey for Thanksgiving, you'll want to bake your stuffing separately in the oven. You don't ever want to bake your stuffing in the turkey's body cavity. Let me explain why.

If your turkey is cooked to perfection, the stuffing in the cavity is going to be undercooked. That sort of error leads to salmonella, in which case your guests will suffer horrific gastrointestinal pain followed by death. If your stuffing in the cavity is cooked to 165º perfection, the meat on your turkey will be overcooked and your guests will chew on it as if it were part of the sidewall of a worn Pirelli Formula One tire.

So do the right thing. Bake your stuffing by itself in the oven. It will taste fantastic with no chance of flatlining your guests. This recipe is incredibly easy. It uses simple, store-bought ingredients and comes together very quickly. 

INGREDIENTS

2 tablespoons olive oil

2 pounds hot Italian sausage

2 yellow onions, chopped

6 stalks celery, chopped

16 ounces mushrooms, chopped

10 tablespoons butter

4 cups chicken broth

2, 12-ounce bags Pepperidge Farm Sage & Onion Cubed Stuffing

Directions

1. In a large skillet over medium high heat, heat olive oil until it is shimmering. Then add sausage, onions, celery and mushrooms. Cook until there is no pink in the sausage and all of the vegetables have softened (about 8 minutes).
2. In a large saucepan, heat butter and chicken broth over medium heat until all of the butter has melted into the broth.
3. Preheat oven to 350º.
4. In a large casserole, add the two bags of cubed stuffing. Add sausage, onions, celery and mushrooms then stir thoroughly to mix. Then add broth/butter mixture and stir again to thoroughly mix.
5. Cover casserole and bake for 60 minutes. Serve.

Wild Rice with Mushrooms, Onions and Celery

 

Wild rice is poorly named as it is not rice, but, in fact, an aquatic grass. Wild rice is chock full of minerals and proteins, which actually makes it a superfood. Yes, 40% of each serving are carbs, but all 40% are actually dietary fiber, so this makes the dish, with or without the veggies, 100% Paleo.

However, all wild rice is not equal. There is true "wild" rice and then there is "cultivated" wild rice....and they taste completely different. True, long-grain "wild" rice grows only in the Great Lakes region. The plants grow wild in protected wetlands which are harvested by native Americans in late fall. This wild rice has a deep, robust, nutty flavor. Cultivated wild rice has smaller grains, are much more mild in taste and are grown year-round.

To make this dish exceptional, I use a secret seasoning sold only at Lund's and Byerly's in the Twin Cities (and online by them). Their Wild Rice Seasoning is a true gift from the gods and adds the most incredible flavor to any wild rice dish. I would never consider making a wild rice dish without having this seasoning in my pantry. This recipe, which makes 4 servings, originally appeared in The New York Times as just a wild rice and mushroom side dish. I embellished it by adding onion, celery and, of course, L&B Wild Rice Seasoning.

INGREDIENTS

1 cup long-grain naturally harvested wild rice (from MN or WI recommended)

6 tablespoons butter (or more to taste)

5-ounces cremini or button mushrooms, sliced

1 small onion, chopped

3 ribs celery, sliced

1/2 teaspoon L&B Wild Rice Seasoning, or more to taste

DIRECTIONS

1. Bring 5 cups of water to boil. Sir in rice and bring to a boil again. Then reduce heat so liquid is just simmering. Cover and cook for 60 minutes. Drain all liquid from rice and set aside.
2. Melt 3 tablespoons butter in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add mushrooms, onion and celery and cook, stirring occasionally, until they have released their liquid and are softened, about 6 minutes.
3. Reduce heat to medium and add remaining 3 tablespoons of butter to the skillet. When melted, add wild rice and keep stirring until heated through, about 5 minutes. Season with 1/2 teaspoon of L&B Wild Rice Seasoning, or more to taste. Serve.

Spicy Crab Bisque

Friendships that span decades are special and should be cherished. I have quite a few such friendships. One of them traces it's roots back to Wooddale Elementary School (Edina) in the early 1960's.  As prepubescents, Jeff Pinkham and I bonded over a mutual love of music and playing the guitar. Now, as septuagenarians, our common bond is cooking.

We text often, sharing food questions, ideas and recipes. We are both obsessed with The New York Times for their food writing and spectacular recipes. We often modify those recipes to meet the flavors and tastes preferred by the two of us and our wives. A few weeks ago Jeff found a crab bisque recipe by Tanya Holland in Food and Wine magazine. He tried it....shared it with me....and I am here to tell you it is an all-time f*cking  great recipe. An absolute keeper. We will both be making this part of our regular dinner rotation.

Tanya's recipe was created to serve twelve people in small cups to be enjoyed between the appetizer and  main courses. Jeff did a brilliant job of modifying the recipe to work as an entree soup for two. He and his wife Kathy like strong flavor profiles, so he left the spice level at what was called for twelve soup  servings, but halved everything else to make two entree servings.

A couple of notes. For heat, the recipe called for Tabasco. If you are a heat fan, use that or Sriracha. I like mine not quite as spicy, so I used Cholula. Any of those three will taste great while still preserving the smokiness gifted from the paprika, cayenne pepper, cloves, mace and nutmeg. For the crab, I had some smaller Alaskan King crab legs leftover in my freezer...so I used that to save a trip to Costco. For Jeff's soup. he used Costco's Fresh Lump Crab....sold in a 1-pound container back in the refrigerated section (near the meat department).

INGREDIENTS

2 tablespoons unsalted butter

1 small white onion (or 1/2 medium onion), finely chopped 

3 celery ribs, finely chopped

3 scallions, finely sliced

2 bay leaves

2-1/2 tablespoons all-purpose flour 

2-1/2 cups chicken broth

1 head of garlic, roasted, peeled and cloves mashed*

1-1/2 cups whole milk

1 tablespoon dry sherry or vermouth

1/2 tablespoon ketchup

1 teaspoon tomato paste

1/4 teaspoon sweet smoked paprika

1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper

1 pinch ground cloves

1 pinch ground mace

1 pinch grated nutmeg

1/2 cup heavy cream

1 tablespoon of Tabasco, Sriracha or Cholula

1 pound lump crab meat

Kosher salt and fresh cracked black pepper

Oyster crackers for serving

*(Cut garlic head in half along the equator. Drizzle exposed cloves with olive oil. Wrap with foil and cook in a 400º oven for 40 minutes. Take out of oven and remove foil and let cool for 5 minutes. Squeeze cloves onto a plate and mash with a fork.)

DIRECTIONS

1. In a large soup pot, melt the butter. Add the onion, celery, scallions and bay leaves and cook over moderate heat until softened, 5 minutes. Stir in the flour and cook, stirring, for 2 minutes. Gradually whisk in the chicken broth and bring to a boil. Simmer, stirring occasionally, until the broth is thickened and the vegetables are very tender, 15 minutes.

2. Add the roasted garlic and milk; bring to a simmer. Stir in the sherry, ketchup, tomato paste, paprika, cayenne, cloves, mace, nutmeg, cream and Tabasco and bring to a simmer. Then add the crab; simmer until hot. Discard the bay leaves. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Serve the bisque with oyster crackers.

Wine pairing: A big, oaky Chardonnay

Kathy and Jeff Pinkham