Thanksgiving Prep

I am interrupting work on a blog entry on eating in Philadelphia to offer a few favorite Thanksgiving recipes- appetizers, side dishes, and desserts. The Picky Eater's daddy is the king of all things turkey in our household, and we mere peasants would never consider treading on his domain! And, undoubtedly you are wondering, "What in the world does the Picky Eater eat at Thanksgiving?" The answer is not much. In fact, she has often considered herself to be cruelly starved in the hours before the turkey hits the table when everyone else is holding back in anticipation. For the record, the Picky Eater's Thanksgiving menu, such as it is, consists of homemade rolls, mashed potatoes, peas with shallots, and fruit crisp.

As with most families, our Thanksgiving selection has been honed over the years to all time favorites that never disappoint. That said, I usually like to try a new dessert or side dish every year, just to mix things up a bit.

Thanksgiving menus require a certain degree of planning for single oven families. With the big bird taking up residence for 4-5 hours prior to the meal, everything else has to be cooked on the stovetop, baked ahead, or squeezed into that last golden 30 minutes when the finished turkey is "resting" before its final stage appearance. I like to rely on recipes that can be mostly done ahead and finished up at the last minute.
So, for those of you casting about for your Thanksgiving menu, here are a few suggestions:
Appetizer
Smoked Trout Pâté 
3/4 lb. smoked trout fillets (boneless)
1/2 c. very finely diced onion
1/2 c. chopped fresh chives
1 c. mayonnaise (Best Foods)
1/4 t. salt
1/4 t. pepper
lemon juice to taste

Crumble the trout into the bowl of a food processor and pulse to chop. Transfer to a bowl and add the remaining ingredients. Do not process them all together in the food processor – you’ll get green glop. This takes a little handcrafting, but it’s worth it.
Serve with baguettes or rye bread. Serves 4-6. From Joyce Goldstein's Back to Square One.


Side Dishes
Broccoli and Cauliflower with Buttered Crumbs
1 ½ lbs. broccoli
1 head of cauliflower
8 Tb (one stick) butter + 2 TB to butter the baking dish
6 Tb chopped shallots
2 cups fresh bread crumbs

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.
Cut the broccoli and cauliflower into medium size florets with short stems. Steam until just tender, then ice down or immerse in cold water to stop the cooking. Drain in a colander.

Butter a baking dish large enough to accommodate the vegetables. Arrange the florets in the dish, alternating the broccoli and cauliflower to make a colorful arrangement.

Heat the butter in a medium sauté pan over medium heat until foaming. Stir in the shallots and bread crumbs, and sauté until the crumbs are brown.
** Can be made a few hours ahead to this point. Do not refrigerate- just place in a cool spot.

Distribute the crumbs evenly over the vegetables in the baking dish.
Bake in the pre-heated oven 15-20 minutes, until the vegetables are heated through. Serves 8.

Sweet Potato Pone
No one in even my extended families likes sweet potatoes; so I only get to make this when we have guests. It's really yummy, if you like this sort of thing!
2 eggs
1 c. milk
1 lb. sweet potatoes
¼ c. melted butter
½ c. light corn syrup (or maple syrup)
½ c. flour
½ t. cinnamon
½ t. nutmeg
½ t. salt

Preheat the oven to 325˚.
Mix the eggs and milk together and grate the peeled potatoes directly into the mixture; stir to coat. Blend in the melted butter and syrup. Sift the dry ingredients into the sweet potato mixture and stir to combine well.
Pour the mixture into a buttered 1 ½ quart baking dish and bake in a preheated oven for two hours, stirring once during the first hour. Serve either warm or cold.
Serves 6. (From: Marian Morash's The Victory Garden Cookbook.)

Desserts
Apple Crisp Tart
This was a favorite of my father’s. I always made it for Thanksgiving, and often for Christmas too.

Tart dough
2 c. flour
pinch salt
3 Tb sugar
10 Tb butter, chilled
2 Tb shortening, chilled
1/2 c. ice water

Put flour, salt, sugar into the food processor. Cut the butter and shortening into 1/2” bits and drop in. Process for 3 seconds. Stop. Add the ice water and turn on the machine. Process 2-3 seconds, until the dough has just started to mass around the blades.

Form the dough into a flat cake, wrap in plastic and refrigerate 1 hour. Roll the dough into a 12” circle and fit into a 10” pie or tart pan.

Pre-bake the shell: Preheat oven to 400°.  Bake tart shell lined with foil and filled with pie weights (or rice) for 15 minutes. Remove, turn oven down to 350°, and bake until crust is golden, 10-15 minutes more. Let cool.

Apple Filling & Topping
5 Golden Delicious apples, peeled, cored & chopped
1 c. chopped blanched almonds
3/4 c. flour
3/4 c. sugar
1/2 c. butter, chilled and cut into bits
1/4 t. cinnamon

Preheat oven to 375°.
Combine the almonds, flour, sugar, butter and cinnamon in a bowl. Blend together until the mixture resembles meal. Mound the apples in the shell. Sprinkle the nut mixture over them.

Bake the tart 40 minutes, until the topping is browned and the apples are tender.

Serve with sweetened whipped cream or vanilla ice cream.
Serves 8-10.  (Gourmet Magazine, November 1974.)

Fruit Crisp
The Picky Eater's favorite Thanksgiving dessert. Just as nice with fall fruits - apples, pears, dried cranberries or cherries - as with summer ones.
Topping
1 c. flour
1/2 c. brown sugar
1/2 c. granulated sugar
1/4 t. salt
1/2 t. cinnamon
1/4 t. ginger
8 Tb cold unsalted butter
Fruit filling
5-6 c. fruit: nectarines, blueberries, pears, apples, etc.
1/4-1/2 c. sugar, depending on sweetness of fruit
2 Tb flour

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.
Topping: Mix flour, sugars, salt and spices together in a medium mixing bowl. Cut in the butter until the mixture resembles coarse meal.
Fruit Filling: Cut fruit into 1/2" slices. Toss with sugar and flour. Pour the fruit into a 9-10" baking dish. Sprinkle the topping evenly on top.

Bake 25-30 minutes, until the top is browned and the juices are bubbling up around the edge. Cool for 15 minutes before serving.
Serve with whipped cream or vanilla ice cream.
Serves 6.  (From Bradley Ogden’s Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner)

If you have some cooked pumpkin leftover from your pies, and aren't totally sick of eating, you can proudly serve this scrumptious streusel filled coffeecake to family and guests over the long weekend.

Pumpkin Streusel Coffeecake
Streusel
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 tsp. ground cinnamon
1/2 cup chopped pecans
1/4 tsp. allspice
2 tsp. butter
In a small bowl combine all ingredients with a fork until crumbly. Set aside.

Cake batter
3 cups flour
2 tsp. baking soda
1 tbsp. ground cinnamon
1 tsp. salt
1 cup butter, softened
2 cups sugar
4 eggs
2 tsp. vanilla extract

1 cup canned pumpkin

1 cup sour cream

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
Grease and flour a 12 cup bundt pan.
In a medium bowl, combine flour, baking soda, cinnamon and salt.
In a large bowl, beat butter and sugar together. Add eggs and beat well. Add pumpkin, sour cream and vanilla. Beat well. Gradually add the flour mixture.
Spread half the batter in pan. Sprinkle streusel evenly over batter. Top with the remaining batter. With a sharp knife "cut" a squiggly line down through and all around the batter to glue down the srteusel.

Bake 55 to 60 minutes or until toothpick inserted in cake comes out clean. Remove from oven and cool in pan on wire rack for 30 minutes. Invert on wire rack, remove cake, allow to cool completely. Sprinkle with powdered sugar.