Just a one-day post this week, and you know which day! All week we had no-brainer meals like hamburgers and hot dogs while I baked and shopped and cleaned, and then we had a very delicious Thanksgiving. I tried two new recipes this year, and both are keepers. Here’s what we had:
There was so much phyllo dough left over from the youth group shawarma feast, I decided to make two appetizers: cranberry brie tarts, and spanakopita. Both were delicious! They didn’t take much skill to put together, but the tarts were a bit of a hassle. I assembled them ahead of time, and then threw them in the oven when the guests arrived.
Phyllo dough cups with honey, then brie, then sugared cranberries, baked then topped with fresh sage and a little honey-butter-almond syrup. They would make lovely Christmas party treats, and were just melty and tart and exciting.
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I wish I had let them sit in the pan a few more minutes before attempting to pull them out, but they eventually all came out intact.
These are little tarts, made in a mini muffin pan, but I also made some bigger ones in a standard-size muffin tin. I prefer the mini ones, but both were tasty.
Aren’t they pretty? I may spring for some better brie next time, but the creamy, slightly earthy cheese with the sharp snap of the cranberries was very nice indeed. You could also use thyme instead of sage, but I thought the little breath of green on top of the honey was wonderful. Altogether a really great cold-weather appetizer, very festive.
While people were eating the cranberry tarts, I baked the spankopita pockets, which people ate while the turkey was resting. I’ve never even seen spanakopita before, but these little pockets were quite easy to make and tasted wonderful. Fresh spinach sautéed in butter with salt, pepper, and nutmeg, mixed with plenty of feta, then wrapped up in buttery phyllo dough, brushed with more butter, and baked. YUHM. Very filling and cozy.
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I read the directions on how to fold them up and just kept going, “. . . what? . . . . WHAT?” so I finally looked up a video, which helped tremendously. I’ve included a link to the video in the recipe card. I need to do this again to get my folding technique down, and maybe use a bit less filling so it doesn’t burst out, but they sure tasted good.
Then of course the turkey. We think brining delivers very little for the hassle, so Damien seasons the birds with salt, pepper, and garlic powder, stuffs them, and cooks them at 350 on a rack, basting every thirty minutes with melted butter and tequila. We had two large birds and they were swell.
One had stuffing with onions, celery, and mushrooms, and one had stuffing with sausage and oysters. It was freaking delicious. You could skip the turkey and just feast on the stuffing.
Jump to RecipeOn Thanksgiving morning, I make a giblet broth with the hilarious neck and any organs they give us, other than the liver, and some celery and onions and carrots, and set that simmering to use later in the gravy. I fry up the liver with with some onions, then cut that into pieces and fry some more until it’s in little crisp bits. Then, in a heavy pot, I melt plenty of butter, then add flour and salt and pepper, then add the giblet broth a little at a time until it’s the right consistency. Then I stir in the little liver and onion bits, and after the turkey is removed from the pan, I shove in a ton of pan scrapings and some of the fat from the turkey. It was some very fine turkey this year, a rich, dark brown and full of exciting savory bits.
My dad brought mashed potatoes made with cheddar cheese, sour cream, and cream cheese. Fantastic. I need to get that recipe.
My brother’s friend brought some sautéed asparagus, which was very tasty, and we also had roasted Brussels sprouts and butternut squash, broiled with salt, pepper, olive oil, garlic, and balsamic vinegar, and a bit charred. I skipped the honey, because there were so many sweet things in the meal, but here’s a recipe that explains how to process butternut squash for cooking.
Jump to RecipeSee? Vegetables!
Clara made her famous hobbit bread, from An Unexpected Cookbook (Which would make a great Christmas present for Lord of the Rings fans, by the way). It’s a braided loaf (well, three braided loaves) stuffed with mushrooms, onions, herbs, and cheese. I guess the theme here was “every dish could have been a meal in itself.”
A little burnt, as we were cramming pans in on top of other pans. We really need a second oven, or at least a third oven rack.
Of course we had mountains of cranberry sauce, and I made a ton of cranberry orange bread
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Jump to Recipewhich I was too stuffed to even look at. This was half of the bread pile:
We had wine and various beers and hard ciders, plus mulled cider, which I cleverly set up in the crock pot in the morning with some cinnamon sticks. Dessert was pumpkin pie, pecan pie, and apple pie, with ice cream and whipped cream (both canned and freshly whipped, both!), and some eclairs courtesy of my mother-in-law. See my pies! See my pies!
I’m finally able to make pretty reliable pie crust.
Jump to RecipeThe secret is to freeze the butter and shred it on a box shredder, and then just lightly mix it into the flour and salt, then sprinkle with ice water until it’s the right consistency. Then you go ahead and manhandle that crust however you like. I heard a great tip on Milk Street Radio: Lots of people think their pie crust needs more flour or more water, but really it’s at the wrong temperature. My pie crust is often too cold, making it crumbly and stiff, and giving it an extra half hour to warm up before I try and roll it out really helps.
The lattice top pie came out nice.
The free-form floral one turned out kind of confusing.
Then I made this:
If I hadn’t been at a low ebb, I would have made little owls to sit in the holes, or little flowers, or even little tentacles. But the best I could come up with was a sort of progressive eclipse theme, which didn’t end up looking like much. Oh well! IT IS PIE.
For the pecan pie, I used real maple syrup and whisky instead of corn syrup, and it made it so much more palatable. I made the pecan pie section of this insane mega pie. Still not my favorite pie, but a far more reasonable pie. [Marvin the Martian voice:] Isn’t it lovely, hmmm?
I also made three pumpkin pies using ready-made graham cracker crust just like Squanto showed us.
I put the pies together earlier in the week and froze them, then thawed them Thanksgiving morning and baked them while we were eating dinner, so they were warm for dessert. I think I’ll be doing it that way every year.
I was planning to make some rolls and some sweet potatoes, but you know what? That would have been too much food. And the last thing we want at Thanksgiving is too much food.
As you can see, I don’t exactly lay an elegant table. We didn’t have enough seating for everyone at the table, and we couldn’t get all the food laid out at once anyway, because the oven is too small. So we just kept hucking more and more platters of food at people as they finished cooking, and they kept loading their plates and then carrying them off to whatever spot they could find. There was a dog and four-year-old scrambling around under the table. People had birds in their pockets. The cat almost had a stroke. I had crock pots plugged in in weird places. Corrie flossed to “Werewolf Bar Mitzvah.” I do believe everyone had a nice day! I hope you did, too.
And here are the recipe cards:
Cranberry brie tarts
This recipe looks complicated, but you can simplify or alter it however you like. Basically you want some kind of pastry, brie, cranberries with sugar, and honey, and an herb on top. A delicious and beautiful little appetizer, great for Thanksgiving or Christmas parties.
Ingredients
- 1/2 roll phyllo dough
- 6-8 oz brie
- small bunch fresh sage or thyme, coarsely chopped
cranberries:
- 2 cups fresh cranberries
- cinnamon
- 1/4 cup brown sugar
- dash salt
- 2 Tbsp melted butter for cranberries
honey mixture:
- 2 Tbsp butter for honey mixture
- 1/3 cup honey
- 1/2 tsp vanilla or almond extract
Instructions
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Preheat the oven to 425
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In a little pot, combine the honey, the butter, and the extract. Heat through and set aside.
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In a bowl, mix the cranberries with melted butter, brown sugar, cinnamon, and a dash of salt. Set aside.
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Cut brie into 24 equal pieces and set aside.
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Prepare a 24-hole mini cupcake pan with butter or spray. You can also use a full-size cupcake pan, but the tarts will be a little unwieldy and won't hold together as well.
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Unroll the phyllo dough and cut it into twelve equal stacks. Cover the dough with a damp cloth while you're working so the dough doesn't get brittle.
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Pull out one stack of phyllo dough squares and use half the squares to line a cupcake tin, fanning them out to make a little cup. Make sure the bottom of the tin has several layers of dough, so it won't fall apart when you take it out of the pan.
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When you have arranged all the pastry cups, drizzle them with half the honey-butter mixture.
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Lay a piece of brie in the bottom of each cup, then put a scoop of sugared cranberries on top of that. Drizzle with the rest of the honey-butter mixture.
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Bake for 15 minutes or so until the pastry is just golden brown.
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Top each cup with a bit of chopped herbs.
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Let the tarts sit in the pan for five minutes before serving. Serve hot.
Spanakopita triangles
Ingredients
- 1 lbs spinach
- 1 stick butter, plus 1 Tbsp for sautéing spinach
- 1-1/2 to 2 cups crumbled feta
- salt and pepper to taste
- 1/2 tsp nutmeg
- 1 roll phyllo dough, thawed
Instructions
To make the filling:
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In a big pan, melt the 1 Tbsp butter and sauté the spinach until it's soft. It will be a giant heap of greens at first, but it cooks way down and will fit in the pan when you're done!
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Let the spinach cool and then squeeze out as much water as you can.
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In a bowl, mix together the cooked spinach with the salt, pepper and nutmeg, and stir in the feta until it's combined. Set aside.
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Preheat the oven to 375
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Melt the stick of butter and set it aside. You'll need it handy for assembling the triangles.
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Unroll the phyllo dough and cover it with a slightly damp cloth to keep it from getting brittle. Take what you need and keep the rest of the stack covered.
To assemble the triangles:
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Carefully lay a phyllo dough square on your workspace, long side horizontal. Brush it with melted butter. Lay another sheet on top of it and brush that with butter.
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With a sharp knife or pizza cutter, cut the dough into three strips.
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Put a scoop of spinach mixture at the bottom of each strip. Then fold that section of dough up diagonally, enclosing the spinach, so it forms a triangle. Continue folding up to make triangles, like you'd fold a flag, until you reach the top of the dough. If you're having trouble figuring out how to fold it, here is a helpful video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gVwA3i_tmKc&t=2s
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If there's a bit of leftover dough on the triangle, fold it under. Lay the finished triangle on a baking sheet, seam side down. Brush with butter again.
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Continue until the phyllo dough is gone. I made 18 pockets, two sheets thick, with one roll of phyllo dough, but you can change the proportions and make lots of smaller triangles if you like.
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Bake about 25 minutes until golden brown. Let them sit in the pan for a moment before removing. Serve hot or cold.
Sausage oyster stuffing for turkey
Ridiculously savory and delicious. Stuff as much as you can in the turkey and bake the rest in a separate pan, covered with tinfoil to keep it from drying out.
Ingredients
- 16 oz stuffing mix (we used pre-seasoned, for simplicity)
- 1 lb loose sweet Italian sausage
- 2 8-oz cans of oysters
- 4 stalks celery, chopped
- 1 medium onion, chopped
- 8 oz mushrooms, sliced
- 1-1/2 cup broth
- 4 Tbsp butter
- salt ad pepper to taste
Instructions
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Sauté the onions, mushrooms, and celery in the butter.
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In a separate pan, fry up the sausage, crumbling it as you cook, until it's browned. Combine the sausage, including the fat, with the vegetables, and add in the oysters with their broth.
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Put the dry stuffing in a bowl. Add the broth and stir gently until it's all moistened. Add the vegetable-oyster- sausage mixture. Salt and pepper to taste.
Cranberry muffins or bread
A pretty, sweet loaf or 12 muffins.
Ingredients
- 2 cups flour
- 1 cup sugar
- 1-1/2 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp baking soda
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 stick butter, chilled and grated into shreds
- zest of one orange
- juice of two oranges
- 1 egg
- 1 cup cranberries, chopped
- 1/2 cup walnuts, chopped
Instructions
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Preheat oven to 350. Prepare muffin tins; butter and flour loaf pan.
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In a large bowl, mix together dry ingredients and lightly incorporate the shredded butter.
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In another bowl, mix together the egg, orange juice, and orange zest.
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Add egg mixture to flour mixture and stir just until dry ingredients are incorporated. Lightly mix in the cranberries and walnuts. Pour batter into tins or loaf pan.
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Bake muffins for about half an hour, loaf for an hour or more.
Banana muffins (or bread)
Makes two loaves or 24 muffins. Quick, easy, and pleasant.
Ingredients
- 6-7 medium ripe bananas
- 4 eggs
- 4 cups flour
- 1.5 cups sugar
- 2 tsp salt
- 2 tsp baking soda
- 1.5 cups chopped nuts (optional)
- 2 tsp cinnamon (optional)
Instructions
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Preheat oven to 350. Butter loaf pans or muffin tins, or use cupcake papers.
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Mash the bananas in a bowl. Beat the eggs and blend the into the bananas.
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In another bowl, mix together all the dry ingredients. Add the dry mixture to the banana mixture and stir just until blended. Stir in nuts if desired.
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Pour batter into pans or tins. Bake about 28 minutes for muffins, about 1 hour for loaves.
Roasted butternut squash with honey and chili
Ingredients
- 1 butternut squash
- olive oil
- honey
- salt and pepper
- chili powder
Instructions
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Preheat the broiler to high
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To peel the squash: Cut the ends off the squash and poke it several times with a fork. Microwave it for 3-4 minutes. When it's cool enough to handle, cut it into manageable pieces and peel with a vegetable peeler or sharp paring knife. Scoop out the pulp and seeds.
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Cut the squash into cubes.
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In a bowl, toss the squash with honey and olive oil. You can use whatever proportions you like, depending on how sweet you want it.
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Spread the squash in a shallow pan and sprinkle with salt, pepper, and chili powder.
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Broil for 15 minutes until the squash is slightly charred.
Basic pie crust
Ingredients
- 2-1/2 cups flour
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1-1/2 sticks butter, FROZEN
- 1/4 cup water, with an ice cube
Instructions
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Freeze the butter for at least 20 minutes, then shred it on a box grater. Set aside.
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Put the water in a cup and throw an ice cube in it. Set aside.
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In a bowl, combine the flour and salt. Then add the shredded butter and combine with a butter knife or your fingers until there are no piles of loose, dry flour. Try not to work it too hard. It's fine if there are still visible nuggets of butter.
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Sprinkle the dough ball with a little iced water at a time until the dough starts to become pliable but not sticky. Use the water to incorporate any remaining dry flour.
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If you're ready to roll out the dough, flour a surface, place the dough in the middle, flour a rolling pin, and roll it out from the center.
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If you're going to use it later, wrap it tightly in plastic wrap. You can keep it in the fridge for several days or in the freezer for several months, if you wrap it with enough layers. Let it return to room temperature before attempting to roll it out!
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If the crust is too crumbly, you can add extra water, but make sure it's at room temp. Sometimes perfect dough is crumbly just because it's too cold, so give it time to warm up.
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You can easily patch cracked dough by rolling out a patch and attaching it to the cracked part with a little water. Pinch it together.
Sausage oyster stuffing for turkey
Ridiculously savory and delicious. Stuff as much as you can in the turkey and bake the rest in a separate pan, covered with tinfoil to keep it from drying out.
Ingredients
- 16 oz stuffing mix (we used pre-seasoned, for simplicity)
- 1 lb loose sweet Italian sausage
- 2 8-oz cans of oysters
- 4 stalks celery, chopped
- 1 medium onion, chopped
- 8 oz mushrooms, sliced
- 1-1/2 cup broth
- 4 Tbsp butter
- salt ad pepper to taste
Instructions
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Sauté the onions, mushrooms, and celery in the butter.
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In a separate pan, fry up the sausage, crumbling it as you cook, until it's browned. Combine the sausage, including the fat, with the vegetables, and add in the oysters with their broth.
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Put the dry stuffing in a bowl. Add the broth and stir gently until it's all moistened. Add the vegetable-oyster- sausage mixture. Salt and pepper to taste.