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 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 two items that always need my attention at the very last, frenetic second...the carving of the turkey and the making of the gravy. I'm really good at quickly carving a 25-pound turkey, so I take on that duty. 

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

For the Gravy
1 stick of butter (4 ounces)
1/2 cup finely chopped onion
1/2 cup flour
Salt and pepper
4 cups warm turkey stock
Turkey drippings

Thickening/Thinning Agents

Potato flakes

1 cup turkey stock

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 of warm stock until mixture thickens and is smooth. If it is too thick, add more stock. Cool, cover and chill. Gravy can be held up to 5 days in the refrigerator.
3. When ready to serve, reheat mixture over low heat, stirring. Scrape bottom of turkey pan and add drippings  to gravy. Whisk to mix thoroughly. Taste and adjust seasonings. 
4. OPTIONAL: If you want your gravy thicker, add 1 tablespoon of potato flakes at a time (whisking thoroughly) until you get the consistency you want.  If you want your gravy thinner, add 1 tablespoon of turkey stock at a time (whisking thoroughly) until you get the consistency you want.
5. Serve.

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: 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.

Spaghetti al Tonno

 

As has been my tradition since I started cooking, I try and make sure that Sunday dinners are something special. But after all the work and fanfare, I find that I don't want to make a lot of effort prepping Monday night's dinner. So I usually opt for a "cupboard meal"...something I can quickly put together from items in my pantry...no shopping needed.

Spaghetti al Tonno has become a favorite Monday night pantry meal for Becky and I. When I first started making it, it was a simple 3-ingredient meal...spaghetti, olive oil and canned tuna. As my tastes have evolved over the years, I added some more ingredients to enhance the flavor. But truth be told...you can ignore the other ingredients I've listed and just go back to the original 3 ingredients.

The foundation of this dish is high quality, canned tuna packed in olive oil. Don't even think of using tuna packed in water. Cento is one of my favorite brands and is available at most grocery stores. I buy mine in bulk from Amazon, where a case of 12 runs $44. While it is sold in both 3 and 5 ounce sizes, I recommend the 5 ounce size, as that is the perfect amount for an individual serving. I always have garlic olive oil on hand, but if you don't, just press a small clove of garlic and add it to a tablespoon of olive oil. The recipe below serves 2 people, so you can easily scale it up or down as needed.

INGREDIENTS
8 ounces of spaghetti

2, 5-ounce cans of tuna packed in olive oil

1 tablespoon garlic olive oil

1 tablespoon Italian seasoning

1/2 tablespoon red pepper flakes 

Parmesan cheese

DIRECTIONS

1. In a large pot of boiling, lightly salted water, add the spaghetti and cook to al dente.
2. While the spaghetti is cooking, warm the tuna in a medium pan over medium-low heat.
3. When ready, drain the spaghetti and then toss the noodles with the garlic olive oil. Add Italian seasoning and red pepper flakes, tossing to mix thoroughly.
4. Divide the spaghetti between 2 serving plates and top each with 5-ounces of warm tuna. Serve and pass the parmesan.

Wine pairing: Petite Sirah