adjusting

Deborah
This is the time of year when we begin preparations for the holiday season, even if it is just a mental adjustment. The weather is changing, the light is changing, the time has changed, the colors are changing. That is a lot to adjust to.  It is no wonder many people feel especially stressed right now, as we stare down the home stretch of the biggest family meal of the year.
My approach is to go with the flow as much as possible by following the lead of the evolving colors outside my door.

 Like a small school girl, I can't resist picking up pretty colored leaves that I find carpeting the sidewalks these days.

 

The last of my crop of heirloom tomatoes. I think my total yield was about 10 tomatoes for the whole season. Pitiful, but proud. We just don't get enough sunshine in my backyard to support this crop, but I had fun visiting the plants each day with hope in my heart and will certainly give it another shot next summer.

 Time to bring some plants in from the garden. The coleus is from a cutting off a magnificently growing bush in my backyard that is now curled up and leafless. I managed to get the cuttings in the nick of time. We shall see if it survives the minimal sunlight on my windowsill over the winter.

Can you believe another crazy colored cauliflower? 

 

These butternut squashes came from a farm stand on the corner of Bleecker Street and Sixth Avenue, not exactly a rural area! They each weigh almost five pounds. Heavy lifting on the subway ride home.

To simplify Thanksgiving, go with the produce that looks best and has bright color. A basic roast vegetable dish will bring out maximum flavor. No need for elaborate cheese sauces. Throw a lot of peeled garlic on the roasting pan around the vegetables and drizzle olive oil over everything. A good hot 400 degree oven will get your vegetables golden and fork tender in as little as 30 minutes depending on how small you cut everything.

These roasted vegetables will make a magnificent display on the Thanksgiving table. Pictured here is the orange cauliflower, the butternut squash and a variety of an Asian yam.  Don't be afraid to keep things basic. No one wants a stressed out dinner. Let the ingredients do the work for you by showcasing what they have been working on all summer out there in the field absorbing all that sunshine and nutrients from the soil. The taste and color is a gift from nature! Thanks, nature!

Amanda, what should we be looking for to pair with our dinner this year? Thanksgiving tends to be a heavy meal with a lot of rich sauces so I will be looking for something crisp and light for the white and something smooth and fruity for the red. I can't wait to hear what you suggest!

Have a wonderful Thanksgiving everyone!!!

Amanda

The roasted vegetables look beautiful! And so easy! As for wine, this is one of those dinners where you don't have to look for the "perfect match" as there are so many different elements to the Thanksgiving dinner. Just look for those wines that are the most food friendly.

Every year, I choose a variety of wines to enjoy at the table - wines I know everyone will love. For those of you that will be enjoying Turkey with your feast, Riesling is a great match for white, and Pinot Noir is a great selection for red. (These are great choices for purely vegetarian fare as well...) This year, I am going to incorporate a sparkling Rose into the mix with my Thanksgiving meal. I love to enjoy Champagne or sparkling wine with my dinner, and Thanksgiving is just the opportune time to sip some bubbly with the main course. Many people think of Champagne as something to be poured for a toast, or to accompany hors d'oeurvres. But it is wonderful alongside entrees as well. It contributes a wonderful "vibe" to holiday dinners!

My selection will be as follows: I will bring some Prosecco, which is a big hit with my family, for the afternoon pre-dinner festivities. This includes a large variety of cheeses, dips, spreads, chips, veggies, etc. Prosecco is ideal. We sip it all afternoon. For the sit-down part of our meal, I will be enjoying Domaine Carneros Brut Rose (a delightful sparkler from California), Zind Humbrecht Pinot Blanc (a white from one of Alsace's greatest producers),and Georges Duboeuf Morgon Jean Descombes 2009. I highly recommend a Cru Beaujolais - these are wonderful accompaniments to Thanksgiving fare. Not your typical, run-of-the-mill Beaujolais - these are the "cream of the crop", the highest level of Beaujolais. To set these apart from the more mass-produced Beaujolais Villages and Beaujolais Nouveau, producers do not put the word " Beaujolais" on the label. These are spectacular, very affordable wines. The aforementioned Morgon, for example, retails for about $12.99. And, the 2009 vintage is one of the best ever, so now is the time to indulge in these gems. Look to Georges Duboeuf for consistently good quality wines.

Enjoy your Thanksgiving!

old becomes new

Deborah
The best part about Thanksgiving?  Leftovers! Really good leftovers and LOTS of them! I have two soup recipes to share that are perfect for the day (or two) after Thanksgiving. The first soup I actually call Leftover soup. It is adapted from a recipe I found in Saveur magazine several years ago where you take ALL your leftovers and dump them in a pot with water and simmer for an hour. If you are eating turkey, add leftover turkey too. It may be hard to believe, but this soup really tastes good and I am not kidding when I say ALL the leftovers, including stuffing! I described this soup to my sister this morning and she said, um, yuck. Well, fine, don't try it. It is good and you will never know.

These are some of the things I put in my Leftover soup this year from L to R: butternut squash braised in apple cider, swiss chard gratin, leeks baked in mustard cream.

Adding some fresh ingredients like chopped parsley will help bring the soup to life.

This is what the soup looks like while it is cooking. See, not so strange. Hey, my kids ate it and LOVED it.  THAT is the true test!

The other soup has two inspirations, the first being a cup of leftover pumpkin puree that didn't make it into a pie. The other piece is some fiery chili peppers that my sister (yes the same skeptical one) brought home from her recent trip to Vietnam.

My sister brought me some spices from a market in Vietnam, packed in these sweet little baskets. I can't wait to try them all. The chili peppers are insanely good, really fiery and fresh with an indescribable fragrance.

The ensuing soup is a cream of pumpkin with ginger/garlic/chili paste. It is sweetened with leftover applesauce and in this case heavy cream (leftover from the creamed onions) where I might otherwise use coconut milk. This soup's distinctive flavor is a blend of creamy sweet and spicy and it is delicious. It is perfect in small portions as an appetizer because it is so rich.

Making a paste with a mortar and pestle is really fun. You get to POUND your food. Very satisfying.

So look around your kitchen and don't be afraid to put those Thanksgiving day leftovers to good use. These soups will bring yesterday's mashed potatoes to today's new heights.

Leftover Soup
1 onion chopped
1 Tbs. olive oil
1 cup of stuffing
1 cup of mashed potatoes
1 cup of baked squash
1 cup of gravy (optional for vegetarians)
1 cup of cooked turkey meat (optional for vegetarians)
1 cup of any cooked vegetable
6 cups of water or stock
1/2 cup chopped parsley
salt and pepper to taste


Saute chopped onion in olive oil in a large soup pot. When onion is softened and golden add all the remaining ingredients and simmer for one hour. Taste to adjust seasoning. Serve over cooked macaroni or noodles if you like!

Pumpkin Ginger Soup
1 inch of peeled fresh ginger
3 garlic cloves
2 dried chili peppers
1 Tbs canola oil
1 cup of pumpkin puree
1/2 cup applesauce
4 cups water
1/2 cup heavy cream or coconut milk
With a mortar and pestle pound ginger, chili and garlic into a paste (or use a blender, adding a Tbs of water to make the paste). Heat oil in soup pot and saute ginger paste for five minutes till it starts to turn golden. Add the rest of the ingredients except the cream and simmer for 15 minutes till the flavors are blended. Taste to see if the flavors are balanced. Add salt or a teaspoon of sugar to get the right blend. Put the soup in a food processor or food mill to puree. Put pureed soup back into the pot and add the heavy cream or coconut milk and bring soup up to a simmer. Serve hot!

Amanda
Well, the first one does sound "different", but I could definitely see why it would be delicious. On Thanksgiving, I like to make a "mish-mosh" of all the different flavors on my plate, letting every dish blend into the other. I scoop up a little of everything in each bite. So, why wouldn't this soup taste good? That's exactly what it is. And, it makes my job of wine pairing very easy! I would enjoy the same wines I would have with my Thanksgiving feast! Deb - there was no cranberry sauce in your soup. What are your thoughts on adding it? Just curious! So, getting back to the wines - I would choose a buttery, rich Chardonnay and/or a fruit forward, soft and elegant Pinot Noir.


The pumpkin ginger soup sounds outrageous! I definitely will give that a try. To pair a wine with anything, again, you must look to the seasonings, spices, herbs, and sauces. Pair the wine with those elements. The ginger, chile and coconut milk ingredients are reminscent of Thai cuisine. Certain wines have an afinity with Asian flavors. Look to a Gewurtztraminer, with wonderful flavors and aromas of lychee fruit and spice. I think this combination would be absolutely fabulous! Hugel makes outstanding Gewurtztraminer as does Schaetzel. As I often mention, always ask your local wine shop for recommendations.  But my advice would be to look to Alsace, France for a spectacular example of this incredibly aromatic, wonderful varietal.

I'll Drink To That

Amanda
Every holiday and family get-together, I am assigned the task of creating the wine list. It is not a job I take lightly, for I love being afforded this honor! While I would not label my relatives "aficionados", they certainly enjoy wine. They are quite savvy when it comes to the usual varietals like Chardonnay, Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, etc. But I take the holidays as opportunities to introduce them to something they would not have chosen on their own.


But Thanksgiving is different. Most often, I do not choose something aside from the usual varietals. This is simply because I know what works best with the traditional Thanksgiving fare. In response to Deb's last post, I received a question regarding Beajolais Nouveau, so I thought I would address this first. Like Champagne is to New Year's; Beaujolais Nouveau is to Thanksgiving. The annual release of this holiday staple occurs on the third Thursday in November, every year. The vintage typically does not matter - the release of this wine is preceded by enormous marketing campaigns. However, the 2009 vintage is different - it produced better-than-average Beaujolais, and the Beaujolais Nouveau is just a preview of the great quality of this vintage in France. I tasted it last week upon its arrival - and it is indeed very nice. Beaujolais is fresh, and bright, but not always very complex. It is a simple, easy-drinking wine which is always fun to include at Thanksgiving. To read more about this vintage of Beaujolais Nouveau, check out the article in The Wine Spectator.

This year, I will bring my favorite choices of Prosecco or other sparklers for starters; Chardonnay and Pinot Noir for the meal. My usual Prosecco is the La Marca from the Veneto region in Italy. Prosecco is perfect for sipping alongside cheese and crackers, dips and crudite. For Chardonnay, I will be bringing the Morgan Santa Lucia Highland Chard from California. It is delicious, rich and intense with a wonderful, buttery mouthfeel. The subtle oak flavors are not too overpowering for traditional Thanksgiving dishes.


The Stephen Ross Central Coast Pinot Noir will be my choice of red for this year's feast. It combines wonderful red fruit flavors, spice, and earth. The palate is rich and creamy with soft tannins. This delightful Pinot Noir is a huge crowd-pleaser to boot!


For Thanksgiving, I like to keep it simple. Chardonnay and Pinot Noir are my sure-fire "go-to" wines for this festive get-together where wine typically takes a back seat to food. At least at my house. It's usually all about the food.


To everyone and their families, have a wonderful holiday!

getting ready

Deborah
The countdown has begun for what many consider to be the biggest cooking holiday of the year. Everyone is thinking about food right now, from what to cook to what to eat (and what not to eat), how to organize everything and to how to afford it all.  Here are a few finds I would love to share with you to keep your holiday smooth and happy.

Michael Natkin has done it again. I came across his recipe for Pan Roasted Brussels Sprouts with Candied Pepitas and Cider Vinegar and I think it is perfect for the holiday. I featured Michael's recipe for leek fritters a while back. He is a regular contributer to the web site Serious Eats and he has his own blog Herbivoracious. His Brussels sprouts recipe looks easy and delish and I think it is worth a try.

Katie at Party in my Pantry offers up a great cranberry sauce (she is calling her recipe chutney) that is also simple and delicious. Cranberry sauce is really so easy to make. I urge you, if you have any doubts, to try making it yourself rather than from a can. You will NEVER go back, I promise you.

I am stocking up on all sorts of ingredients right now:

Patel Brothers supermarket in Jackson Heights, Queens sells nuts by the pound at VERY reasonable prices. Can you see the price tag on these pecans? $5.99 per pound!! My local supermarket is selling them for $9. I will be making pecan pies with them. I made the dough today, rolled it out and put it in a pie tin and stuck it in the freezer till I am ready to bake.

Butternut squash will store in a cool dry place for weeks. I am going to braise them with apple cider . Don't get discouraged with the peeling. Cut the squash into smaller chunks before you peel,  they will be easier to handle that way.

Speaking of peeling. My family insists on mass quantities of mashed potatoes for Thanksgiving. Normally I would leave the skin on the potato for a rough mash with herbs, but that would be rejected by the familial purists on this occasion. SO, I peel and quarter the potatoes the day before and store them covered in water in the fridge overnight. Drain and refresh with clean water on the day of and cook as you would. I put my cooked potatoes through a hand cranked food mill for a really nice texture.

Small pearl onions baked in cream look especially pretty in three colors. Don't be afraid to mix things up a bit. I got these as a trio at B.J.s. I use the same mustard cream sauce for them as I use on my baked leeks.

Don't forget to combine varieties of apples when making a pie or apple sauce for a more complex apple flavor. These are macs and granny smith, a classic combo.

For a really pretty garnish I love to use pomegranate seeds. These were 2 for $5, not exactly a bargain, but a nice treat. Put the seeds in salads, or over rice pilaf, squash gratin, mixed with green vegetables or even piled up on the turkey platter. They are as colorful as gems and give a wonderful tart burst of juice.

These pistachio nuts were a reasonable buy at both B.J.s and my local supermarket at $10 for a two pound bag. I use them in my green bean dish as follows:

Green Beans with Pistachio Nuts
Blanch one pound of trimmed green beans in boiling salted water for 5 minutes or until the beans are tender. Drain beans and wrap in a damp paper towel and store in a plastic bag in the fridge overnight.

Before serving remove beans from fridge and allow to come to room temp (or use beans right after blanching), heat olive oil in a pan and saute a finely minced shallot. Cook about 10 minutes till shallot is soft and golden and a little crispy, then add 1/2 cup chopped pistachio nuts and the beans to the pan and toss to coat until beans are warmed through and the nuts are lightly toasted.
serves 6-8 as a side dish

Happy happy happy Thanksgiving !!!

apples and eaters

Deborah
One of the many treats of the season is apple cider. I buy it from the farmer's markets and drink it on the spot. If I neglect to drink it I find it begins to get fizzy within days, which is quite wonderful because it means there are no preservatives and it is ALL NATURAL! Love that sour sweet taste. Don't really love the fizzies. So I buy small containers and use it up quick.

Deborah Madison, the goddess of all things natural in cooking has a fantastic recipe for winter squash braised in apple cider. It was an instant winner in my kitchen when I first tried it a few years ago. This is a recipe which I think would freeze well and it is a very very very wonderful addition to the Thanksgiving table.

A skill I picked up in kindergarten; I love to collect Fall leaves and make arrangements.

One of my friends has very rightly scolded me about my last post where I discounted children from the head count of sophisticated eaters at my holiday table. If you can get your kids to eat everything presented to them, well more power to you. I for one, encourage everyone to try. Healthy eating habits are so important to develop. In that spirit I am going to add one extra leek to the baking dish this year and cut it into eleven pieces and place a piece on each child's plate. Hopefully at least one of them will look up at me and smile.

Butternut squash growing from a hanging vine at Liberty Sunset Garden Center in Red Hook, Brooklyn

Butternut Squash Braised in Apple Cider
-adapted from the recipe in Deborah Madison's book Local Flavors
1 Tbs. Butter
1 Tbs. olive oil
1 butternut squash, peeled and cut into 1" cubes
1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon
1 tsp. dried sage
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. freshly ground pepper
2 cups apple cider

melt butter and oil in a saute pan, add squash and cook, stirring to coat all the squash with the butter and oil for about 5 minutes, till the squash begins to soften. Add the rest of the ingredients and bring to a boil. Lower heat to a simmer, cover and cook for 20 minutes until the squash is tender. Uncover and allow the  cider to reduce a bit so you are left with a glaze.

serve immediately or allow to come to room temp and freeze.

serves 8 very mature children

Amanda
Well, you can always try my m.o. Put the leeks on everyone's plate, and all of the picky eaters who try it get a star. It works in my house. I bribe my children to try new food. I, personally, never had an issue trying new foods. In the 70's, before sushi was "fashionable", I was eating it at age 11 at Hatsuhana in NYC - the first popular restaurant at which to enjoy sushi.  It was pretty much the only "in" place to go at the time. My parents never forced it on me. They just introduced me to "interesting" and "different" cuisine at an early age. I can remember ordering mussels as a main course at age 8 or 9 at an Italian restaurant. Preparing myself a plate of chopped raw onion, roasted red peppers, and anchovies at the same age (as I saw my father do). I can only hope for such adventurous palates for my children. To date, they are extremely picky about what makes it onto their plate.


So, I came up with a plan. I stuck a chart to each child's bedroom door entitled "new foods I've tried". Everytime they try something new, I write down what it was, and they get a sticker. We set a goal each time of 10 new stickers. When they reach this point, they receive a pre-decided upon treat of their choice. It works like a charm. I always tell them the same thing - "I don't care if you never eat this again in your entire life - so long as you've tried it".  That's all I can ask for.


Holidays always provide great opportunities to get children to try something new. Take Yom Kippur. I got both my children to try smoked salmon for the first time this year.  One loved it, the other not so much. This Thanksgiving, I will be sure to have my children try leeks and squash! By the way - this year they fell in love with apple cider!

Jumping ahead

Deborah

For anyone interested in getting a jump on holiday cooking I am devoting this entire week of posts to do-ahead Thanksgiving dishes that can be frozen. Thanksgiving seems to be one of the most laborious cooking holidays and I set aside at least two solid days of cooking for my own family's meal during that last week in November.
Many don't have the time nor the inclination for this kind of labor. In fact a reader requested that I come up with these freeze ahead recipes that can be tackled now and crossed off the to-do list for the big day.

I like to freeze things judiciously and find I rarely make meals in advance to be frozen because:
A- Then I have to remember to take them out of the freezer in time to get them hot for the meal and
B- I love cooking so much that it doesn't ever feel especially laborious to me to actually be doing it.

So the time crunch factor is what I am really responding to here. The recipes I am offering this week are not specifically designed to be frozen ahead, but if they strike your fancy, they can successfully be frozen ahead. I also encourage any one who can manage it to cook the day before Thanksgiving, allowing certain dishes to sit over night, where flavors can develop rather than making things weeks ahead and freezing. I'm just saying.

Hiking this weekend in Ellenville, trying not to think about Thanksgiving AT ALL!

I would like to come back to leeks because they are one of the real treats of Fall. This recipe, if I remember correctly, originated out of Gourmet magazine years ago and was adopted by my family as a "must have" every year. I usually figure on one large leek for two persons and I don't count the kids as people because I have yet to see any of them try one (I have four nieces, three nephews, two stepdaughters and two of my own children at the table every year, so I am an authority on generational divide when it comes to hot onions). Adults like this dish, but not the picky picky eaters. I LOVE IT. Good enough.

It is easy to prepare once you have cleaned the leeks and I am beginning to see the charm of being able to pull this out of the freezer Thanksgiving morning and shoving it in the oven without another thought. Other than trying to find oven space. Does it not seem that EVERY dish for Thanksgiving has to go in the oven and how the heck do you get everything in there and hot at the same time? Someone else will have to figure that out.

Amanda, what are we drinking?

Leeks Baked in Mustard Cream
for 8 non-picky eating adults

4 large leeks
1 1/4 cups of heavy cream
2 Tbs butter
1 Tbs Dijon mustard
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp freshly ground pepper
1/2 cup of bread crumbs

heat oven to 400F
Trim the green tops from the leeks and the root end till you have just the white and palest green stalks. Score a shallow cut lengthwise a few layers deep into the leek and then cut them into 2"crosswise chunks. Put the trimmed leeks in to a large bowl of water and swish them around to loosen any sand and dirt caught in the layers. Let them soak in the water 10 minutes or so until the sand and dirt sinks to the bottom of the bowl. Remove leeks from the water and drain. Butter a baking dish with 1 Tbs. of the butter. Place drained leeks in the buttered baking dish in a single layer. Mix the cream, mustard, s & p in a cup and pour over the leeks to cover. Top with the breadcrumbs and dot with remaining 1 Tbs. butter.
Bake for 1 hour until the leeks are tender when you pierce them with a sharp knife.
Serve immediately
OR allow to come to room temperature, cover with foil and either
refrigerate overnight  to serve the next day OR freeze.
Reheat in hot oven till warmed through (timing will depend on how many other dishes are crammed in there trying to get hot. Half hour maybe?)

Amanda
Thanksgiving is different when it comes to food and wine pairing. If you think about it, very few families are going to choose a different wine to go with each course. Yes, there might be wine-loving families who will do this. But the reality is, while you may have a few connoisseurs at your table, chances are the wine is not going to be the focal point of this favorite traditional feast. Take my family, for instance. They enjoy wine, but they are by no means "picky" and critical when it comes to my choices. (I am the wine provider at our family gatherings). No one is going to judge that a particular wine was great with the turkey but wreaked havoc on the stuffing. Or "how could she think that wine would work well with sweet potato topped with marshmallow"? To me, both avid food and wine lover, the gathering is more about the idea of enjoying a traditional meal with my family and close friends. In this case, wine takes a back seat. Don't get me wrong - I bring good wine. But I am less concerned with how it will "complement" the food. It's nice to take the time to perfectly pair recipes with wines, but only when you have a room full of people that are "into" this sort of thing. At Thanksgiving, most likely you will not need to ponder how the seasoning of the side dishes works with the wine. The majority of individuals are there for the food and the company, not a food and wine pairing. So, the pressure's off.


In the shop, we typically recommend wines that provide all-around enjoyment. Riesling is a "common" Thanksgiving wine. It's a very food-friendly, versatile white that can accompany a variety of dishes, which is really what you look for on Thanksgiving. It's a great wine to bring if you are the guest and are not sure how the Turkey will be prepared (if you eat Turkey of course). It could have a barbeque flare, as my brother's does, roasted on the grill and seasoned with coffee grinds and other interesting flavors, or it could be roasted with the traditional touches. Any way it is prepared, Riesling is a safe bet. Another sure hit is a white Burgundy. Stay away from over-oaked Chards from California which will be overpowering.


For red, there is the perennial favorite, Beaujolais. It doesn't have to be Beaujolais Nouveau which comes out every November just in time for Thanksgiving. If you are looking to impress, seek out a wonderful Cru Beaujolais. Still 100% Gamay, these wines are of higher quality and are still affordable, usually under $20. The Cru Beaujolais have more complexity and depth than a Beaujolais Nouveau or Beaujolais Villages. "Cru" means the wines are more site specific, which gives the wine higher status and assures the quality is superior. Pinot Noir is another Thanksgiving favorite. Soft, elegant, with a wonderful velvety mouthfeel, Burgundy is always a big hit. If you prefer something fruitier, and "bigger", and therefore probably more crowd-pleasing, look to California for this varietal.


My family enjoys wine, but they don't care if it's Sauvignon Blanc or Chardonnay, Cabernet Sauvignon or Merlot. So I don't put a great deal of thought into it. I buy something fun and different, that will please a variety of palates and I think they will enjoy. That's as far as I take it. And every year, we have a blast!