Cranberry Chutney

This was a success last year - taken from the williams sonoma website - and one of the few things, kellie trusts me, the foreigner, in preparing for thanksgiving.

• 1 bag of cranberries (340 g)
• 1,5 cups of fresh orange juice
• 3/4 cup of cloudy apple juice or cider
• 3/4 cup of white sugar
• 1/4 cup of brown sugar (firm)
• 1 cinnamon stick
• 5 mint leaves

Sort out the soft cranberries and mix all the ingredients in a pot, bring to a boil and let simmer until it thickens. They suggest about an hour. I think it takes longer. Let it cool and transfer into a different bowl and refrigerate. Take out an hour before serving.

n*

Turkey Brine

I ripped this from the big M. Stewart last year, and it was so good I'm using it once again. (Not to mention I have all of the spices left over from last year!)

Makes enough brine for one 18- to 20-pound turkey

• 7 quarts (28 cups) water
• 1 1/2 cups coarse salt
• 6 bay leaves
• 2 tablespoons whole coriander seeds
• 1 tablespoon dried juniper berries
• 2 tablespoons whole black peppercorns
• 1 tablespoon fennel seeds
• 1 teaspoon black or brown mustard seeds
• 1 fresh whole turkey (18 to 20 pounds), patted dry, neck and giblets reserved for stock, liver reserved for stuffing
• 1 bottle dry Riesling
• 2 medium onions, thinly sliced
• 6 garlic cloves, crushed
• 1 bunch fresh thyme

Word to the wise: this is hard to do by yourself. I know because I just did it while home alone. It is not impossible, but more difficult. I used the 2" baking pan that I will be roasting the turkey in tomorrow, but once I had about 4 quarts water plus a bottle of reisling, my "brining" bag started to sag. Ultimately you want something deep that is as tall as the turkey, or some other turkey around to hold the bag while you pour in the liquid ;)

1. 1. Bring 1 quart water, the salt, bay leaves, and spices to a simmer, stirring until salt has dissolved. Let cool for 5 minutes.
2. 2. Line a 5-gallon container with a large brining or oven-roasting bag. (I used two garbage bags) Place turkey in bag. Add salt mixture, remaining 6 quarts (24 cups) water, and the other ingredients. Tie bag; if turkey is not submerged, weight it with a plate. Refrigerate for 24 hours, flipping turkey once. XO -kellie
   

Cashew Crusted Tofu

This is my own take on a vegan "chicken nugget" recipe, and is actually much simpler. I don't have nutritional yeast lying around anymore like the good ol' California days, but I do have a lot of nuts. I used a handful of cashews that I had roasted a few days before. It works great with the ones I roasted a little too long. Place the cashews in a sandwich bag, and crush them with a rolling pin. Add nut pulver, a sprinkle of bread crumbs and S/P to a shallow dish.

Coat tofu on all sides with olive oil, and then coat it evenly with the nut mixture. Bake on 350 for about 25 min., flipping halfway through.

I served this up with some garlic Swiss Chard, and Basmati rice with a drizzle of Hoisin sauce.

Enjoy! -kellie

Perfect Storm

Perfect for this time of year!

Mix in a bowl:
1/2 C. sugar
the seeds scraped from 1 vanilla bean

dip the rim of a glass in water and then dip it in the vanilla sugar.

put some ice in the glass and add:

2 oz. dark rum
1.5 oz. apple cider
1 oz. ginger beer.

delish.

Cranberry Relish

My grandmother makes this every Thanksgiving. This is the perfect thing to bring if you are looking for something cheap, easy, and delicious!

Mix in a Blender:

1 bag raw cranberries
1 large orange whole (remove seeds)
apx. 1 C. Sugar.

It's really good!

tasha

Late Fall Roasted Vegetables

Another great thing to take on Thanksgiving.

Mix in a Pan:

Any vegetable on hand chopped roughly, such as:

Potatoes
Carrots
Green beans
peeled and quartered shallots
whole unpeeled garlic cloves

pour on some olive oil, salt, pepper and any fresh herbs on hand
roast at 400* for about 20 minutes.
tasha.

Ginger Apple Crisp/Galette

The perfect thing to bring on Thanksgiving! (Shout out to KatyJ)
You could easily do this without the galette-- just put the apple mixture topped by the oats mixture in a buttered pan.

First:
Peel, core, and chop 3-4 large to medium apples
Place in a bowl and toss lightly with:
1 T. grated ginger
1 T. chopped crystalized ginger
a large handful of raspberries or cranberries (raw or dried)
a little less than 1/2 C. sugar
a good shake of cinnamon
2 T. Flour

Second:
In another bowl mix with fingers:
1 C. oats
1/2 C. brown sugar
3 T. Flour
1/4 C. butter
a good handful of chopped walnuts or pecans

Now:
Mix with a fork in a bowl:
2.5 C. flour
1t. sugar
1t. salt
1/4 C. water
2/3 C. oil

mix until it comes together as a dough and then roll out a big circle on a piece of foil.

dump the apples in the center and then pull up the edges of the dough around them-- creating a bowl effect. top with oat mixture and slide the whole thing onto a cookie sheet. Bake for about an hour @ 350*