Spent Wednesday night after work in the kitchen cooking up two different versions of cranberry relish. The first was a simple recipe, cook down a 12 oz bag of fresh cranberries w/ 3/4 cup sugar, then add 4 tablespoons dijon mustard, 2 tblsps whole grain dijon. At first this seemed like a great idea, and it did give the cranberries a certain bite that will no doubt taste great on leftover turkey sandwiches. However, were I to remake this, I’d cut down the dijon quotient by half, as it really dominated the flavor on day 2. The second was another simple but pleasing recipe, cranberries, chopped celery and toasted almond slivers. The almond flavor really came through on this one, though it perhaps would have been better in larger proportions. Both these recipes came from Conde Naste publications, the now defunct Gourmet (sadly, their last issue) and Bon Appetit. From the same magazines I culled my two stuffing recipes, one a traditional made with sourdough, apple pieces, onions, celery, pork sausage (I substituted chicken), golden raisins and sage infused butter (I’m guessing when it comes to fresh sage, you shouldn’t use the stems-They were difficult to cut through, I can imagine they would not be pleasing to the tooth, so I took a few extra moments to shuck the leaves off). The other recipe was a bit simpler, calling for onion, and rye bread as well as caraway seeds cooked in butter, this one was an interesting twist on an otherwise boring recipe. Both cooked in chicken broth (the former suggesting some eggs blended into the broth which I think actually helped keep the moisture content up) and the first was definitely better received than the second. I guess some folks don’t like their traditional meals being tampered with on their traditional holidays (shrug). I got both loaves from Panera right across from the Red Line in NoHo. I was tempted to drive to Valley Village and visit one of the Kosher bakeries, but this was on my walk home, so I did the green thing and saved gas. The cranberries were purchased at Ralph’s, 2 bags for 4 bucks, not bad for being “Fresh from the Bog!” I was thinking about heading back there this weekend to see if the sales are ridiculous, and maybe buying a few more to freeze for later use.
Thanksgiving itself was a pleasant meal, aside from the occasional screeching from a few of the lady hens sitting at my table. C & J and their roomates put on a great spread, tons of gravy, 2 turkeys, one brined, apparently, which lead to some very succulent meat (thanks Trader Joes!) more stuffing than we knew what to do with, (Meg and Jay brought their own which was stovetop but w/ apples and raisins added, and the hosts had cooked up an enormous amount) brown & serve roles, fruit salad(a kind of whipped cream, marshmallow version which looked awful but tasted terribly wonderful), mashed potatoes (of course) which showed up almost an hour late (the pains of having a potluck Thanksgiving), corn and green bean casserole. We all took turns speaking our reasons for being Thankful this year, and then we gorged ourselves silly. Then there was dessert! By this point I was so full I couldn’t see straight, but I know D brought some tasty pumpkin tarts (w/ whipped cream and chocolate on top) and there was a homemade pecan pie which I’m sure I enjoyed, because I kept taking bites of it, despite the fact that I was ready to burst. Overall, not a bad holiday.
Tags: cranberry relish, stuffing, Thanksgiving
