thanksgiving

I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving weekend. It is the official start of the holiday season, and my favorite time of year. As with the recent years past, I've been passed the torch to all holiday meals. My menu this year included the usuals as requested by my brother, brussels sprouts, cranberry sauce, and risotto. I originally planned a roasted butternut squash risotto, but it was changed back to my popular mushroom risotto of the past few years. I added chipotle sweet potatoes as a side, since my mom bought them earlier in the week. And of course, we had the showstopper turkey with gravy.



I've had great success with Alton Brown's Good Eats Turkey last year, so it was back by popular demand. It completely merits the rave reviews and thus I must thank Audgbodge again for referring me to the recipe. I added a layer of mirepoix with a can of low sodium chicken stock below the turkey when roasting. Although not part of the original recipe, my family always liked the extra vegetables, so I figured why not. Plus, it added moisture while roasting, which was nice.

I watched the Food Network Thanksgiving specials this year and noticed that Alton Brown dry-brined his turkey, which was interesting, but call me old fashioned when I say that I love the way a whole turkey looks on the carving board with everyone hovering over it. So, I stuck to his old recipe but decided to try his new gravy, which just became a new yearly request. The only thing was that I disgarded the giblets after the stock was made. I must say it was the best gravy ever, rich with turkey flavor, slightly spiced with herbs, and utterly delicious.

My brother loved the gravy so much that he refused to give it up when we were packing leftovers. Since he's the only one that likes cranberry sauce, I asked if that meant I didn't need to make it especially for him anymore. He insisted that he still likes the cranberry sauce but also thinks the gravy is really something special.

They loved the mushroom risotto, noting that it was better this year. I undercooked it a bit on purpose, knowing that it will continue cooking in the hot pot waiting to be plated. Our plates were full of food and we had to rest over an hour before we had dessert. I made my own spin on Williams Sonoma's pumpkin mousse, turning it into a trifle, but more on that and other things pumpkin later.

And here is our king of the house, asleep from his Thanksgiving dinner of chicken breast, broccoli, and kibble, equipped with his gobble gobble bandana.

pissaladiere

According to the recipe, this dish for Provencals is equivalent to pizza for New Yorkers. It carries similar toppings of tomatoes, onions, and olives for a simple vegetarian pizza, but the crust is buttery and flaky. Most of the components are definitely a do ahead if you wish to serve this warm for an appetizer and save time for the entree.

I oven dried the tomatoes with some minced garlic, salt, pepper, and olive oil at 400 degrees for about half an hour so that the tomatoes slightly resemble sun dried. The onions should also be caramelized ahead of time, especially since it is a low and slow process. The puff pastry puffs up quite a bit, more so than I expected considering all the fork pricks, but the filling weighs it back down into a thinner crust leaving the sides like a little wall.

This was a savory little bite, with the anchovies coming through with a depth of flavor. The acidity of the tomatoes cuts through some of the sweetness of the onions and the buttery pastry. I would just suggest cutting the olives into quarters rather than halves, because they were a bit large even when compared to the tomatoes.

Pissaladiere

makes one puff pastry tart

3 garlic cloves, minced
2 large onions, sliced and cut into 1/4-inch-thick
1/2 tbsp fresh thyme, plus 4 sprigs for garnish
1/2 bay leaf
6 anchovy fillets, finely chopped
AP flour for dusting
1 sheet puff pastry, store bought and thawed
1 egg, lightly beaten for egg wash
10 cherry tomatoes, oven-dried
16 black olives, pitted and quartered
sea salt
pepper
olive oil

Heat olive oil in large skillet over medium heat. Add garlic and cook, stirring occasionally, until lightly browned. Increase heat to medium-high and add onions, stirring every 5 minutes, until slightly golden, about 20 minutes. Reduce heat to low, add thyme and bay leaf. Cook, covered, stirring occasionally, until very soft and caramelized, 20 minutes. (Add a few tablespoons of water if pan sticks). Remove bay leaf and stir in anchovies. Season to taste.

Preheat oven to 400. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. On a lightly floured surface, roll out sheet of puff pastry to a 10 x 14-inch rectangle. Trim 1/2-inch-wide strips from each side. Brush edges of rectangle sheet with egg wash and place the trimmed strips along the edges to form a small wall. Prick the base of the dough all over with a fork. Brush egg wash all over. Chill dough in the refrigerator for 20 minutes. Bake until golden and fluffy, 10 to 15 minutes.

Scatter onions, tomatoes, olives, and sprigs of thyme on tart. Return to oven to warm. Cut tart into small squares and serve warm.

tuna nicoise baguette

I've been meaning to make a tuna nicoise sandwich ever since I saw it on an episode of America's Test Kitchen with A. The only problem was that it called for a few canned items my pantry always lacked. So when the Hors D'oeuvres book had a recipe, I just had to stop by the market to finally try this spin on a classic French salad.

I've made vinaigrettes before for salads, but the achieving the emulsion for this dressing was so surprising. It literally took only a few seconds for the white wine vinegar to thicken with the olive oil and form a light yellow and creamier consistency. Be sure to taste the dressed tuna, since it was the major ingredient seasoned.

I have to admit being a bit greedy with the filling, which looked overflowing even as an open faced sandwich. It became dinner and lunch, but for the first round, my tomatoes were simply sliced fresh. For the second round, I roasted the tomatoes with some garlic, salt, pepper, and olive oil. The roasted tomatoes definitely made a difference in flavor, and worth the hour of roasting. The sandwich was a nice balance of salty bite from the anchovies and tangy burst from the capers. The tomatoes imparted a nice smokiness and the egg yokes added a creaminess. I felt like this was a sandwich from a Parisian cafe.

Tuna Nicoise Baguette slightly adapted

1 large egg
1 tbsp white wine vinegar
2 1/2 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
3 flat anchovy fillets, finely chopped
1 tbsp capers, drained and rinsed
1/2 medium shallot, grated
1 can chunk white tuna, drained and flaked
1 fresh baguette
baby spinach
5 oz plum tomatoes, cut into small wedges and oven dried (see below)
2 oz black olives, chopped
sea salt and pepper

Place egg in small saucepan covered with cold water. Bring to boil on medium heat and turn off heat. Time for 10 minutes and drain and rinse under cold water. Peel and slice.

Add vinegar to stainless-steel bowl. Slowly whisk in olive oil until emulsified. Add anchovies, capers, and shallots. Add tuna and toss. Season with salt and pepper.

Split baguette lengthwise without cutting all the way through and fold open. Arrange the spinach leaves on one side and top with tuna and sprinkle with olives. On the other side, line with tomatoes and egg slices. Close and cut into 2 inch sandwiches.

Note: Roast tomatoes in a 400 degree oven for about an hour or until skin starts to shrivel. The tomatoes are tossed with olive oil, salt, pepper, and 2 minced garlic cloves.

sponge cake with crispy layers

As I promised in the last post, here is the update on using up the phyllo dough. This was inspired by a pretty simple Chinese bakery cake standard. The baked goods I grew up on were more similar to this than the all American fare I experiment these days.

Unfortunately, I wasn't able to find a recipe specifically for this application, so I used a basic vanilla sponge cake recipe and slightly sweetened whipped cream, both from Williams Sonoma. As for the phyllo dough, I went through a trial and error. The cake from Chinese bakeries have a relatively dry crispy layer center, so I baked off the phyllo layers straight from the fridge in a stack. That did not work out, since the edges curled and the results were overly dry and left a dusty flour taste on the palette. In order to get the layers golden brown and flat, I brushed each layer with some melted butter, similar to the approach used in the last post with the exception of sugar.

Flavor speaking, this was quite close to the ones from bakeries. The only downfall was the texture from the sponge cake, which was much less fluffy. The ones from bakeries have cake layers that are much taller. I'm thinking that if the cake was baked in a cake pan, rather than a sheet pan, with more batter, I would get a similar effect. Otherwise, this was a quite a replication success.

apple strudel

I made this a while ago and never got the chance to post it. This along with a Sponge Cake with Crispy Layers, which I will post later, were made in an effort to use up my phyllo dough. The frozen phyllo came in a two pack with enough layers to make plenty of these.

The original recipe called for dried mixed fruits, but I didn't want to buy any and decided that if the filling was just apples, it would taste more like a small crispy apple pie. Be sure to use only apples good for baking, such as tart Granny Smiths or Fujis (which I used). The crispy texture will hold up well while baking.

The results remind me a bit of the individual apple pies from McDonald's, only with a crispier, flakier, less buttery crust. It provides enough cinnamon-y sweet flavor without the guilt of a butter laden pie crust.

Apple Strudel adapted from Williams Sonoma

makes 8 servings

14 sheets phyllo dough, thawed
1/2 cup unsalted butter, melted and cooled
8 tsp granulated sugar
2 large Fuji apples, peeled, cored, and diced
1/2 cup firmly packed brown sugar
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground nutmeg

Preheat oven to 375. Line baking sheet with parchment paper.

Working with one phyllo sheet at a time, place the first sheet on the parchment paper. Brush well with some of the melted butter. Lay a second sheet on top and brush again with butter. Sprinkle with 1 tsp of granulated sugar. Repeat, brushing every sheet with butter and sprinkling every other sheet with 1 tsp of sugar.

Toss together the apples, brown sugar, cinnamon, and nutmeg. Arrange the apple filling along one long side of the phyllo stack, positioning it about 1 inch from the edge. Fold the edge of the stack over the filling, then roll up the phyllo into a log with the seam side down. Brush the log with butter and sprinkle the remaining 1 tsp sugar.

Bake until the phyllo is golden and the apples are tender when pierced with the tip of a knife, 45-55 minutes. Cool on pan on wire rack for 30 minutes.