We're having seven neighbors over, so we will be nine for Thanksgiving dinner. The guests are bringing a variety of dishes that are traditional within their own families. Greg has made his usual wonderful brined spice-rubbed turkey, a recipe we stumbled on about 40 years ago and have never wanted to replace. Also, by iron-bound tradition, spinach Madeleine. He's trying a new stuffing this year based on oysters and bread crumbs. We'll cube and roast some sweet potatoes and serve a salad with arugula, beets, goat cheese, and nuts.
Neighbors will bring veg, including what I call Presbyterian green beans, which happen to be among my favorites, as well as a summer squash dish, cheesy peas, and an apple-cranberry salad. They will also bring a loaf of wild sourdough bread and pies: sweet potato and pecan.
My taste in cranberry relish runs to fiery, bitter mixes with whole grapefruits and candied ginger and peppers that I've reluctantly concluded no one enjoys but me, so I dialed it way back this year. One relish will be finely chopped mixture of raw cranberries, a raw orange (peel and all), lots of sugar, and a bit of cinnamon. Another, even more accessible, will be a simple compote of cranberries and sugar cooked down for 30 minutes or so. For myself, I'll also put out a bowl of a hot-sweet Indonesian condiment called Sambal Manis on the table, so I can mix it into either of the two cranberry relishes, because it's killer that way, with the added salt and heat.
Our neighbor's late-season eggplant harvest will furnish caponata, an eggplant soup, and baba ganooj. We're almost certain to have enough to eat.
Happy Thanksgiving to the Hall!
6 comments:
Happy Thanksgiving!
Happy Thanksgiving, Tex. And to everyone at the Hall.
Elise
I'd love to have your cranberry relish recipe; sounds like it might be to my taste.
And Happy Thanksgiving!
Couldn't be easier. One bag of raw cranberries, one whole orange (peel and all, but roughly chop it up, and take the opportunity to remove seeds if there are too many), 1/2 cup sugar, pulse in the food processor for a few seconds. Maybe add 1/4 tsp of cinnamon and, if you'll take my advice, a spoonful of mail-order Sambal Manis or similar condiment. If you turn out to like Sambal Manis, you'll want to start adding it to soups. Or just add salt and fresh hot peppers to taste. Add more sugar if you like it sweeter. If I weren't trying to please a crowd, I'd toss in more things, like dried apples and crystallized ginger, and I might substitute a grapefruit for the orange. Nuts are good, too.
The compote is even easier: one bag of raw cranberries, a cup or so of sugar to taste, enough water (1/2 cup?) to keep them from scorching in the first few minutes, and cook over low to medium heat until the cranberries are soft enough to suit you. When it cools, it will thicken. Again, maybe add some cinnamon (or whatever), salt, and peppers to taste.
I'm a Presbyterian green bean casserole fan, but last night's version included sliced water chestnuts, an innovation I heartily approved of. I'd have gone with more of the Frenchies onions, though. You can't go wrong with Frenchies onions.
We had a surprising volume of leftover turkey, even though as always I panicked over Greg's insistence on a bird of no more than 14 lbs. Considering that we had a dozen or more sides, we made scarcely a dent in any dish. That means Turkey Tetrazzini for yours truly, the highlight of the holiday season for me. And still plenty of turkey for sandwiches and/or soup.
Thanks, Tex! The cranberry relish sounds delicious.
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