A Fine-Cooking Thanksgiving (New Recipes #43-47)
Fine Cooking had a lot of appealing recipes in their Thanksgiving issue, so I chose several of them. They require registration, so if you don't want to do that, but would really like any particular recipe, let me know and I'll get it to you.
#43 Roasted Turkey Breast Porchetta Style The Meat House couldn't get me the small breast called for in this recipe, so I accepted a 10 lb. one and doubled all the other ingredients. It took three hours to cook, but was very easy to carve (no bones!) and so flavorful even the dark-meat people were raving.
#44 Stuffed Turkey Thighs To satisfy the dark-meat people, I made this recipe, using the sausage stuffing that my MIL made, since making a third stuffing just for this seemed excessive. Unfortunately, The Meat House interpreted "boneless" as "without the central bone" rather than "able to slice and eat," so I had to spend quite some time excavating the six strands of cartilage remaining. Otherwise it was fairly easy and cooked in just about an hour. Unfortunately, that meant that it had to sit and wait for the enormous breast to be done and got a little rubbery. I think the breast meat was so good that no one would complain if I just did that next year.
Bread Stuffing with Fresh Herbs I won't count this as a new recipe, because it's essentially the same as what I make every year, but with so much going on, it made sense to me to print this one out and use it to keep myself from forgetting anything. I should remember next year that with my MIL also making stuffing, half a loaf is probably plenty.
#45 Jewel-Roasted Vegetables This recipe was really delicious and would have been just as pretty as the picture if it hadn't gotten slightly overcooked. I added extra garlic (of course) and added in a chopped red onion, which worked nicely.
Cranberry-Orange Relish with Ginger I'm not counting this recipe as new, either, because it's standard cranberry relish with some crystallized ginger mixed in. I had to triple the ginger before there was any noticeable difference between this and the plain batch, but it did add a nice kick.
#46 Pear-Cranberry Crisp I tried this recipe a couple of weeks ago and this is the third time I've made it. It works well in individual ramekins or in a baking dish, is fine with pecans subbed for the walnuts, and goes very nicely under homemade vanilla ice cream. The prep is very simple--ten minutes, tops--and works nicely baked during dinner for a fresh-out-of-the-oven dessert.
#47 Brown-Butter Pumpkin Layer Cake Successfully making this recipe was my personal triumph of the day. I even made my own pumpkin puree! The salty-sweet nut topping really set off the sweet flavors and creamy textures of the cake and frosting and everyone seemed to enjoy it. On the advice of commenters, I doubled both the frosting and topping recipes and ended up with a pint each of leftovers. I did take their advice to add vanilla to the frosting, but found that the cake was plenty flavorful without adjustment.
I also made mashed potatoes and Mom made gravy, Trish got rolls and made the sausage stuffing, and Anne made her Famous Cloved Yams (which this year was Roasted Pumpkin with Cranberries and Sage Brown Butter). And that was our Thanksgiving feast!
#43 Roasted Turkey Breast Porchetta Style The Meat House couldn't get me the small breast called for in this recipe, so I accepted a 10 lb. one and doubled all the other ingredients. It took three hours to cook, but was very easy to carve (no bones!) and so flavorful even the dark-meat people were raving.
#44 Stuffed Turkey Thighs To satisfy the dark-meat people, I made this recipe, using the sausage stuffing that my MIL made, since making a third stuffing just for this seemed excessive. Unfortunately, The Meat House interpreted "boneless" as "without the central bone" rather than "able to slice and eat," so I had to spend quite some time excavating the six strands of cartilage remaining. Otherwise it was fairly easy and cooked in just about an hour. Unfortunately, that meant that it had to sit and wait for the enormous breast to be done and got a little rubbery. I think the breast meat was so good that no one would complain if I just did that next year.
Bread Stuffing with Fresh Herbs I won't count this as a new recipe, because it's essentially the same as what I make every year, but with so much going on, it made sense to me to print this one out and use it to keep myself from forgetting anything. I should remember next year that with my MIL also making stuffing, half a loaf is probably plenty.
#45 Jewel-Roasted Vegetables This recipe was really delicious and would have been just as pretty as the picture if it hadn't gotten slightly overcooked. I added extra garlic (of course) and added in a chopped red onion, which worked nicely.
Cranberry-Orange Relish with Ginger I'm not counting this recipe as new, either, because it's standard cranberry relish with some crystallized ginger mixed in. I had to triple the ginger before there was any noticeable difference between this and the plain batch, but it did add a nice kick.
#46 Pear-Cranberry Crisp I tried this recipe a couple of weeks ago and this is the third time I've made it. It works well in individual ramekins or in a baking dish, is fine with pecans subbed for the walnuts, and goes very nicely under homemade vanilla ice cream. The prep is very simple--ten minutes, tops--and works nicely baked during dinner for a fresh-out-of-the-oven dessert.
#47 Brown-Butter Pumpkin Layer Cake Successfully making this recipe was my personal triumph of the day. I even made my own pumpkin puree! The salty-sweet nut topping really set off the sweet flavors and creamy textures of the cake and frosting and everyone seemed to enjoy it. On the advice of commenters, I doubled both the frosting and topping recipes and ended up with a pint each of leftovers. I did take their advice to add vanilla to the frosting, but found that the cake was plenty flavorful without adjustment.
I also made mashed potatoes and Mom made gravy, Trish got rolls and made the sausage stuffing, and Anne made her Famous Cloved Yams (which this year was Roasted Pumpkin with Cranberries and Sage Brown Butter). And that was our Thanksgiving feast!