THANKSGIVING 2009
Look at those red, juicy Honeycrisp Apples. Along with the Macoun, they seem to
be the current darlings of the apple cooking set. With good reason. It's chock
full of tart and sweet apple goodness, crisp and firm, not mealy. It's skin is tight
and it cuts well. All of these characteristics make it an excellent choice of cooking.
So, while I was
planning my Thanksgiving menu, I thought I'd feature it (the honeycrisp) in a few of
the dishes.
This Thanksgiving, my sister is cooking the meal, start to finish...so, this cook is
happily going to take Thursday off, and enjoy the hard work of his sibling. However,
I can't let the holiday pass me by without cooking even a abbreviated version of the
American holiday...this past weekend we had good friends over for dinner and Thanks-
giving came a few days early in our home.
Over the next few days, I'm hoping that the horrific stress which befalls most people
who are in charge of their families holiday meal can somewhat be lessened. Take a
deep breath....realize that NOTHING is perfect, not you, not anything...anything and
EVERYTHING can go wrong, and expect to hit lots of speed bumps. If you are trying
with all of your heart to provide and produce a sincere, loving meal for all to enjoy, that
is where your success will lie. Enough lecturing. Use the axiom, LESS IS MORE. Do
you really need to have 4 types of sweet potatoes, to try to satisfy everyone at your
table? Guests and diners have responsibilities too...the meal is not for them as indi-
viduals, it's for a family of many, a shared, loving experience and tradition. So much
wasted food and time is spent on too many items at a dinner like this, and people can
only eat so much. Give yourself a break, plan the menu using hospitality and good
sense. Then, maybe, you can enjoy the day as well. How about more of less items?
Cut down the 20 side dishes to a manageable number.
I went to the store with a few ideas in my head. There would be six of us, 4 adults,
and two children. Be brave and be strong I kept telling myself. The inner Italian-
American is struggling to get the best of me and over cook. Deep breath in front of the
mushrooms and green beans...ok, fresh green beans...check...simple to prepare..the mushrooms I will use in the stuffing and gravy. Fresh sage, thyme...i used the organic
choices since they looked the best...Onions, lots of them...check...Apples, hmmm, a
cornnucopia (had to get that Thanksgiving word in there) of them, all colors, shapes,
types, sizes. Honeycrisps were screaming to me. A bag of pecans for a honeycrisp
and pecan pie...festive? I think so. Are you relaxed while shopping yet?? You will
be. Yukon Golds...nice for mashing....flavorful, and creamy enough that you don't
have to add lots of cream along with the butter to get them luxurious.
I see the bags of Martins' Potato Bread Soft Cube Stuffing. check. Jones Bulk
Sausage, why Jones? Because that's what my mother bought. Any bulk sage
flavored pork sausage will do. Just look on the label, you want it to say, PORK, SEASONINGS, and maybe water. Nothing else. Celery. check. Bacon, regular
bacon, nothing slab-like or streaky here, regular bacon. check. Ok, not done shopping
yet but lets start cooking.. 2 lbs (8 sticks) of unsalted butter...done...99% fat free and
low sodium chicken stock, READ THE LABELS...ok now we can start cooking.
That Jones Sausage brings back a ton of memories...i would, in between the parade
on T.V., go in and out of the kitchen, watching Dad take the sausage out of its' wrap-
per and then Mom would saute' it in the same pan I use today to do it. She would add a
little butter to the pan, then the sausage, all crumbled up. When it was pretty much
sauteed all the way through, it comes out of the pan.. More butter is added, and 2 large
chopped onions and 1 1/2 cups of diced celery are added. A little salt gets sprinkled
over the top. Let this sweat for about 10 minutes, or until the onions and celery are
softened. Add 1 chopped clove of garlic and cook another minute. Add the apple, 2 tbs. chopped sage, 2 tbs. chopped thyme. Then about 1/2 cup of sliced mushrooms. Mean-
while, in another pan, dice 4 slices of bacon. Fry them up till they are somewhat crisp.
Add them to the sausage meat and mix. Add the meat mixture back into the pan and
add a cup of stock, and a cup of apple cider, 1 tsp. of mustard. (really). Let this simmer
for about 5 minutes. Then turn off the heat.
Your stuffing base should look like this now. And the smell should knock your socks
off. In a large bowl, add the contents of one bag of the stuffing. Add two tsps. of
Bell's Turkey Seasoning and toss with the cubes. Then, pour in the sausage and
bacon mixture. With a wooden spoon, blend well. The bread will start to soak up
all of the goodness...if a little dry, add more stock. Now add 1 tbs. of grated Romano
cheese...it's like Worcestershire or anchovy in this recipe...you don't know it's there,
but it lends awesome flavor to it. Add lots of fresh cracked black pepper and taste
the stuffing now. I haven't added any more salt to it, let your taste buds be your guide
here. It should be well seasoned without any more added to it.
two seasonal items which were always used at home growing up...Mom used them,
so I must as well...keeps that thread growing which connects me to my childhood,
hopefully I'm passing that on to my own children. I guess this is why these Holiday
meals hold such a deep place in our hearts... Ok, now you can place that stuffing
in a baking pan that will hold it...you can keep this in the fridge for a day before you
bake it. Simple baking, add some more stock to it, dot the top with butter, and into
a 350 degree oven for about 45 minutes...crusty top, and soft, buttery, smoky in-
terior. When the turkey is done, ladle over some of the pan drippings. Off the charts.
More tomorrow night....Anthony Bourdain is calling me on the TV now...
Posted by peter battaglia at 11/23/2009 9:52 PM 
Categories: MEAT VEGETABLE SIDEDISH DESSERT
Tags: PIE MEAT TURKEY STUFFING GRAVY CRANBERRIES GREEN BEANS YUKON GOLDS
Categories: MEAT VEGETABLE SIDEDISH DESSERT
Tags: PIE MEAT TURKEY STUFFING GRAVY CRANBERRIES GREEN BEANS YUKON GOLDS
Petey you would be proud, came out perfect!
1 dish down
"Thanks"
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