Fun With Thanksgiving Side Dishes

My husband was on a roll this week. Thanksgiving is the one holiday a year that he uses a kitchen for anything other than cooking Ramen noodles. Specifically, he makes his mother's cranberry relish, which is the awesomest four-ingredient dish I know of. But this November he outdid himself. Not only did he cook macaroni on our recent camp-out, he also dreamed up an Asian-inspired peanut stuffing for Thanksgiving dinner. Needless to say the logistics were left to me. But I will allow that the cooking demons must have possessed him this past week. When we showed up on our host's doorstep last night, we carried both The Chickenless Chick's Mother-in-Law's Cranberry Relish and a brand spankin' new 5 Spice Peanut Stuffing (not to mention some farm-fresh broccoli rabe courtesy of Green Flamingo).

The Chickenless Chick's Mother-in-Law's Cranberry Relish

Ingredients

4 c. fresh cranberries

2 c. granulated sugar

1 navel orange (skin and all!), diced large

2 Tbsp. Grand Marnier

Directions

Combine all ingredients in a food processor or paddle blender and process until you achieve a relish-y consistency. Serves 12.

5 Spice Peanut Stuffing

Ingredients

2 Tbsp. vegetable oil

1 1/2 c. shredded Napa cabbage

1 carrot, chopped

3/4 c. chopped scallions

3 slices day-old bread cut into 1/8's

1 c. pre-roasted unsalted peanuts, chopped roughly

1/4 c. dark sesame oil

1/4 c. soy sauce

1 Tbsp. peanut butter

2 tsp. rice vinegar

1 tsp. Chinese 5 spice powder

1 Tbsp. brown sugar

1 c. veggie broth

3/4 c. cooked brown rice

Directions

Heat the oven to 350.

In a wok or other saute pan with high sloping sides, heat the vegetable oil over medium-high. Add the cabbage, carrots, and scallions. Saute 2 minutes. Add a quick dash of the soy sauce and continue sauteing until soft, another 3-4 minutes. Set aside.

Spread the bread squares out in a single layer on a baking sheet and bake at 350 for a very, very short amount of time (start checking after three minutes). They're done when they're crisp but not quite brown. Combine them with the peanuts in a large mixing bowl. Turn the oven up to 375.

Once the vegetables have cooled, combine them with the bread and peanuts.

In a small bowl, whisk the sesame oil, soy sauce, peanut butter, vinegar, spice powder, and brown sugar. Stir this sauce into the bread, peanuts, and veggies. Transfer the mixture to an ovenproof casserole dish. Pour the veggie broth down the sides so that it distributes itself evenly throughout the dish. Bake at 375 for 70 minutes, stirring every 10 minutes after the 40 minute mark. Remove from the oven and combine with the rice. Serves 8.

Spicy Grand Marnier Rabe

Ingredients

8-10 large leaves broccoli rabe, roughly chopped

2 Tbsp. butter

2 Tbsp. olive oil

1 shallot, chopped or sliced thin

Juice and zest of 1/2 a lemon

Juice and zest of 1/2 an orange

1/2 of a fresh chile pepper, de-seeded and chopped

Salt 'n' pepper

1/4 c. dried cranberries

1 Tbsp. Grand Marnier

1/4 c. veggie broth

1 tsp. orange blossom honey

1/4 c. almond slivers

Directions

Blanch the broccoli rabe in salted boiling water.

Heat the butter and olive oil in a saute pan over medium heat. Add the shallot, lemon zest, orange zest, chile pepper, and salt 'n' pepper to taste. Saute about 5 minutes, then add the blanched rabe and cranberries. Saute about 5 minutes. Add salt 'n' pepper to taste. Saute a couple minutes more (until you feel that you could comfortably eat it). Add Grand Marnier and veggie broth. Saute until the liquid has evaporated. Remove from heat. Stir in the honey and almond slivers. Serves 8.

Hope everyone had a happy Thanksgiving!

Beat the eggs. Whip the cream. Show no mercy.

Which of These Cookies Is Not Like the Other?

That's right, it's the second one from the left in the top row. If you've ever made cookies at five in the morning so your husband could take some for lunch (while the coffee was still brewing and about fifteen minutes off from being in your belly), you may just understand how such screw-ups can happen.

Here's what the instruction read: "Bake until just set and beginning to crack... rotating the baking sheet halfway through baking."

Here's what my groggy brain read: "Bake until just set and beginning to crack... rotating halfway through baking."

I was like, "What? Okay, well, you're the boss, cookbook." But then I did one and thought to myself, "Uh... that doesn't look right." So I went back and read it again. Sure enough, no cookie-flipping involved... What the hell, groggy brain? Next time coffee will be my top priority.

If you read my posts often, you know that I invent my own recipes almost every day. But I also use cookbooks from time to time. I am still learning the chemistry of what makes a cookie dough different from a cake batter different from a quick bread different from... well, inadvertent quick bread pudding.

This morning's recipe for Upside-Down-No-Wait-Right-Side-Up Peanut Butter Cookies is adapted from the one for Peanut Blossom Cookies on page 180 of America's Best Lost Recipes: 121 Kitchen-Tested Heirloom Recipes Too Good to Forget.

The collection, from the editors of Cook's Country Magazine, focuses on vintage recipes that have been passed down through generations of cooks and bakers. I geek out over vintage stuff (clothes, boats, luggage, furniture... you name it), so I was thrilled when a casual acquaintance showed me the book, and even more thrilled when she said I could keep it. Thanks again, Helena, wherever you are!

Peanut Blossom Cookies are supposed to have Hershey's kisses on them as in the picture below, but I just used what I had... after all, five in the morning is no ideal time to shop unless you're willing to break a window and leave the grocer an IOU. Other changes include a slight peanut butter reduction and substitution of light brown sugar for dark brown sugar, neither of which I would recommend if you have the original ingredients on hand. I was also so pressed for time that I didn't process the peanuts with the flour the way it said to do. No opinion on that one... I like the whole peanuts, but then again I've never had it the other way, so who knows? And of course, being the salt fiend that I am when it comes to cookies, I swapped half the unsalted butter for salted. This I will always, always recommend for any baked good under the sun.

Upside-Down-No-Wait-Right-Side-Up-Peanut-Butter-Cookies

Ingredients

2 3/4 c. flour

1/2 tsp. salt

1/2 tsp. baking soda

1/2 tsp. baking powder

2 sticks butter (1 salted and 1 unsalted), softened

3/4 c. well-packed brown sugar

3/4 c. granulated sugar

2/3 c. peanut butter

2 large eggs

2 tsp. vanilla extract

1 c. roasted salted peanuts

Directions

Drink your coffee!!!!!

Preheat the oven to 350. Stir the flour, salt, baking soda, and baking powder together in a large mixing bowl. Add all remaining ingredients except the peanuts and beat with an electric mixer. Stir in the peanuts.

Roll the dough into 1-inch balls and place these 2 inches apart on a baking sheet (the book says to use parchment paper, but they don't stick, so it's a waste of parchment paper in my opinion). Bake 11-13 minutes. Makes 4 dozen small cookies.

The super-sweetest thing about America's Best Lost Recipes is not the recipes themselves, but the stories they use to introduce them. For instance, I didn't realize that the wave of popularity enjoyed by peanut butter cookies with kisses on top resulted from an entry in a recipe contest that ended up losing. The winner was some walnut cookie no one's ever heard of. Do you ever wonder what we'll find important years from now? Which of our recipes will still be around, and which ones will die out?

To fit the theme of the book, I've artificially antiquated all the pics in this post through the magic of iPhoto. Here's an interesting one:

I have no idea who Amanda is. Remember I said that a casual acquaintance gave me this book? Well, when I got it home and opened it, out slipped this card. I assume she'd used it as a bookmark. As previously mentioned, her name is Helena (not Amanda) so I concluded the card had been written from her rather than to her. I meant to give it back, but forgot a couple times, since we didn't each other that often. Now, as far as I know, she lives in Texas. And Amanda never got her card.

The envelope is still sealed. I've never looked inside. And probably never will. Why, I don't know. It's probably just a hella-belated birthday card. My seeing it would just barely, marginally, forgivably violate Helena's and Amanda's privacy. But every time I see that name, hand-scrawled in pencil, it stops me in my tracks. If the name weren't there, it would be different. I would open it in a heartbeat. Because of that name, I'm leaving it for future generations to find. Because of the name, a simple envelope has become a mystery. Maybe one day, as my unborn kid is opening this book, out it will slide. Maybe they'll open it immediately. Maybe they won't. Either way, they'll have a story to go with their recipes.

Beat the eggs. Whip the cream. Show no mercy.

Take THAT, Malabar Spinach

Herbed Malabar Spinach Flans Topped with Sweet-n-Spicy Roast Peanuts

Ingredients:

1/3 c. shredded Malabar spinach, well packed

1 Tbsp. minced fresh parsley leaves

¼ tsp. fresh thyme

1 garlic clove, pressed

Pinch salt

1 egg

1 Tbsp. + 1 tsp. whole milk

1 Tbsp. + 1 tsp. heavy cream

¼ c. grated Parmesan cheese

Handful shelled peanuts

Pinch dried cayenne

Drizzle honey

Salt-n-pepper

Directions:

Preheat oven to 375.

Smash the hell out of the Malabar spinach with a mortar and pestle until its insides bleed out and it is purged of all its un-spinach-like evil. Add the parsley, thyme, garlic, and salt and do it AGAIN, just to make sure its dead. Let sit for about 15-20 minutes at room temperature; partially to let the flavors mingle, and partially to be sure that the spinach has learned its freaking lesson.

Beat the egg, milk, cream, and parm together. Add the spinach goop and beat again. And again. And again.

Grease or spray two individual-serving-sized casserole dishes or oven-safe molds. Pour in mixture and bake 25 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean when inserted. Wait ten minutes for the flans to cool. Meanwhile, toss the peanuts well with salt, pepper, cayenne, and honey. Stick them in the oven while the flans are cooling. When the flans are cool, remove the peanuts from the oven and carefully overturn the flans onto serving plates. Top with hot peanuts. Shout maniacally, “Bwa-ha-ha, Malabar spinach! You thought you were so tough, didn’t you? Well, look who’s laughing NOW!!”, then serve. Makes two flans (Aww…)

Thanks a million to Citron et Vanille, who reminded me that savory flans exist.

Beat the eggs. Whip the cream. Show no mercy.