Common Cuisine |

Last weekend’s Thanksgiving feast almost blew our collective minds with how tasty everything was. Actually, as we tried to express how good everything was, we kept trying to find just the right superlatives. We agreed that we should establish a sort of best-of book, since so many of the recipes were the best we had ever had. We jokingly titled this hypothetical publication, Obscenely Good Recipes, due to the responses elicited by the taste testers.

Allow me to elaborate our menu:

• Turkey with Sausage Stuffing
• Mashed Potatoes
• Sweet Potatoes
• Rosemary Roasted Winter Vegetables
• Green Peas and Baby Onions
• Jellied Cranberry Sauce, still shaped like the can
• Pecan Crunch Pie
• Cherry Pie
• Pumpkin Crisp

We had the best ever Pecan Crunch Pie to start off the weekend. It actually got sampled Wednesday night, because we figured it might get overshadowed on Thursday. And that was an excellent decision, although our taste test ended up being half the pie!

The turkey was incredibly moist, even though it had been cooked without a tent. We suspect this was due to the sage butter infusion: Dawn softened some butter, stirred in chopped fresh sage, molded it into a log, and froze it in a sandwich bag for 10 minutes. Then she sliced the butter into dimes and slid the pieces between the skin and the meat. The center cavity of the turkey also was stuffed with some savory items, including a whole onion. Add to this a studious attention to basting the bird, and it came out with so much flavor it made us weak in the knees.

When it came my turn to sample the sausage stuffing, my only response was to pick up the dish and run from the room, shouting €œI’ll see you tomorrow!€ Then I relented and returned it, seeing that there was more than enough to share and I wanted to pair it with the turkey. But it was that good.

Whit made her sweet potatoes with walnut crunch topping for the third year in a row. Same recipe every time, but we all agreed that these turned out the best ever. Perhaps the third time is just automatically charmed.

I tried a new recipe for roasted vegetables. Due to a kitchen time-share scheduling conflict, I ended up actually fire-roasting them outside on the grill. I used carrots, parsnips, turnips, baby tomatoes, whole garlic cloves and fennel. It was both a pungent and flavorful treat! However, my personal opinion of the result was that they should be part of a simpler meal, so they can shine instead of competing with the traditional Thanksgiving spread. Next time I might also use fewer different vegetables, so the ones that are there can speak for themselves. But I can promise you, there will be a next time. Roasted veggies are going to become part of my regular lineup.

Other indulgent dishes were spread out over the weekend. On Friday, we had Next Day Turkey Soup with Dumplings for lunch, followed by Dawn’s famous Artichoke Dip, served with Wheat Thins and crudites, during the game. I love the word crudite (CROO-dih-tee), because it makes cut up veggies sound so exotic!

While we decorated the tree Saturday evening, we snacked on peppermint bark (new family favorite), spiced pecans, and sugar plums. All are simple to make and store well. I also think they are a complimentary trio. Unfortunately the item which goes the fastest, the pecans, are also the most expensive. Maybe a cup of peanuts or mixed nuts served alongside the pecans would make them last longer?

And for Sunday brunch, Dawn made stuffed french toast. Again, this is a simple dish. It is assembled the night before, to allow the eggs to soak into the bread. It can be served with syrup, but it is certainly sweet enough to stand alone. I think the perfect companion for this breakfast would be a bowl full of clementines and a pot of coffee.

Hard to believe, but I think that covers all the exceptional recipes we trotted out over the weekend. Maybe you found something there to inspire you for a future event, even if it is as ordinary as a Saturday morning.

Wow, I’ve finally joined the ranks of those who don’t burn their rice. It’s only been about 10 years, but now I have one, and since I saved it from being my daughter’s drum last week, it is still part of my kitchen. What a novel concept to measure in the proper ingredients, plug the machine in and walk away. I can’t wait to get started with sushi now that I have a way to make predictable rice!

So the model I got only makes 3 cups, which is how much I usually make for our small family. It’s nothing fancy, but I think that for the small price I paid for it, it’s good enough for what I need. If we turn out to use it more than it can handle, then I will consider it worth my while to get a bigger and better one!

I’ll let you know in the long run how it turns out, but in the meantime, consider me a happy cook with an inexpensive, simple new appliance that will remove one more step from my crazy life. I can dig it.

Okay, here is the recipe as it was given to me. If you decide to play with it, let me know what proportions you come up with, and I will do the same.

Submitted by Candice Kugler

• Fresh cranberries
• Frozen lemonade
• Sugar

Cook, mash and strain the cranberries. Add lemonade and sugar and stir, then freeze all. After it has frozen take it back out and use a mixer to chip and whip it up. Dish it up in dessert cups. It is a great blend of sweet and tart.

When you can’t build a campfire, perhaps this is enough to satisfy the craving for this childhood treat.

• 1 pkg brownie mix plus ingredients listed on box.
• 12 oz semisweet chocolate chips
• 6 graham crackers, broken into small pieces
• 1 ½ C mini marshmallows

Preheat oven to 350. Prepare brownie mix as directed for 13″ x 9″ pan. Bake for 15 minutes.

In medium bowl, gently mix chocolate chips, graham cracker bits, and marshmallows. Evenly spread over top of hot brownies. Bake 15 minutes more.

Cool completely (if possible) before cutting into bars. Makes about 2 dozen servings of childhood happiness.

When you have company over and they’re ready but dinner’s not, you’ll be glad you thought to have one of these ready. Personally, I think some starters also make a great simple dinner for two.

Some of the easiest starters include:

• Corn Chips and Salsa
• Veggies or Potato Chips and Dip
• Cheese Ball and Crackers
• Shrimp Cocktail (easy AND fancy!)

For more great starter ideas, visit our Appetizers section.

Did you know? Cranberries, blueberries and Concord grapes are the only three fruits native to North America! Cranberries got their name from their appearance. In the spring the vines flower, and the pink petals bear a resemblance to the head and bill of a crane. Originally called “crane berries”, the name was eventually shortened to cranberry.

A ½ cup serving of fresh, raw cranberries has about 23 calories and 2 grams of fiber. It contains a good amount of Vitamin A and potassium. And who eats cranberries raw? But once they are dried, they lose almost all their vitamins A and C content. That probably happens when they are cooked and jellied, too, unfortunately. This does reinforce my intention to serve fresh cranberry salsa this year for Thanksgiving, though.

Cranberries are a seasonal fruit, so if you think you might want to use fresh cranberries in any recipes this winter, buy them now and throw them in the freezer because in a couple of weeks they will be gone for another year. You can use cranberries frozen this way just like you would fresh ones.

For some ideas on what to do with cranberries, check out some of our cranberry recipes.

Here is a delicious alternative to the traditional Pumpkin Pie, if you can give it up. Cheesecake is one of those desserts where you have to follow the directions to make sure you’re not compromising the quality of the final product. You also want to make sure you get a springform pan. You could probably bake it in a square baking dish, but it will be difficult to get out.

Filling:

• 3 pkg (8 oz each) cream cheese, softened
• 1 cup sugar, divided
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 3 eggs
• 1 cup canned pumpkin
• 1 tsp ground cinnamon
• ¼ tsp ground nutmet
• dash ground cloves

Crust:

• 2 cups finely crushed ginger snaps
• ½ cup finely chopped pecans
• 6 Tbsp butter or margarine, melted

Crust: Mix ginger snap crumbs, pecans, and butter; press onto bottom and 2 inches up side of 9-in springform pan.

Filling: Beat cream cheese, ¾ cup of the sugar and vanilla with electric mixer until well blended. Add eggs, 1 at a time, mixing on low speed after each addition just until blended. Reserve 1 ½ cups of the plain batter. Stir remaining ¼ cup sugar, pumpkin, and spices into remaining batter. Spoon ½ of the pumpkin batter over crust; top with spoonfuls of ½ of the reserved plain batter. Repeat layers. Cut through batters with knife several times for marble effect.

Bake at 325 for 55 minutes or until center is almost set if using a silver springform pan. (Or, bake at 300 for 55 minutes if using a dark nonstick springform pan.) Loosen cake from side of pan; cool before removing side of pan. Refrigerate 3 hours or overnight. Makes 12 servings.