2 cans of mandarin oranges—in a perfect world each orange piece would be cut in half—but I do understand that adequate occasionally needs must trump ideal.
2 bags of mixed greens
1-2 diced avocados (depending upon how many perfectly ripe avocados you can get your mitts on)
A few tablespoons of oil—olive, almond, or walnut
Open the cans and with the lids still on, lightly drain the fruit—just tip it into the sink and then decant into your salad bowl. The juice clinging to the fruit will serve as the basis of your salad dressing. Add the greens, avocado and a good pinch of salt and toss thoroughly (hands are the best for this). Drizzle in your oil and toss again.
Life will get better, sister, I promise: Stuffing
Two large onions Diced finely
About 6 stalks of celery-finely chopped (celery does not get enough love in the world—always add more celery)
12 cups of stale bread cubes—you can buy them, although if you do, get the unseasoned ones. The seasoned ones smell like the attic of an old lady who collects postcards from circuses circa 1910. I prefer to use a firm bakery loaf. Cut off the crusts and then take the slices and stack them and dice into small cubes. Allow to dry on a baking sheet over night (or up to a few days).
3 TBL finely minced fresh sage
3 cloves garlic—I use my microplane grater, but if you want to use a garlic press, you can.
Chicken broth/vegetable broth—either will work—about nine cups, but the moisture content of your bread will be a factor.
Add the the onions to the hot fat in your pan and turn the heat way way down. Throw in a sprinkle of salt and stir often. We want golden—not burnt. When the onions are soft, toss in the celery and stir for a few minutes. Remove from heat and toss in the bread cubes, garlic and sage. Stir vigorously—once you add liquid it will be much harder to distribute anything in the mass of damp stuffing. Once everything is mixed up—add your liquid; start with six cups. Then let it sit a minute and see if it seems to need more. Add it in 1/2 cup increments and watch it for a bit. By the time it is done, your breasts are no longer plump pillows. And yet, the flavor of stuffing cooked inside the bird is simply unbeatable. There is a lusciousness a bit of crispiness on some parts that are exposed to the hot air and a depth of flavor that only meat juices can provide. What to do, what to do? Wings to the rescue—yup—chicken wings. The frozen ones are fine for this—although they need to be thoroughly thawed—and patted dry; no point adding a lot of salmonella carrying chicken water to our magnificent stuffing. Your stuffing can be made days before and stored covered in your fridge. An hour before you want to eat; you will spoon your stuffing into a wide flat baking dish (sprayed with cooking spray, of course) then you will lay the chicken wings side by side on the stuffing and place the whole thing in your oven. Hopefully, the turkey will be getting its last forty minutes of cooking at the same time. The wings will brown and drip gorgeousness unto your savory cubes of feast worthy yumminess. Should the wings still be pale and floppy as a beach goer in April—simply run it under the broiler while the turkey rests. You want brown. Now, set the wings aside (you can add them with your turkey carcass to the stock that you will be making, or give them to a starving nephew who is exceptionally appealing). There. No salmonella. No spooning steaming stuffing out of a cavity not being enough to hold all of the stuffing so you have some in a baking pan any damn way.
Gravy Train:
While your turkey rests before carving, spoon about 6 TBL of drippings out of the roasting pan into a saucepan. Add 4 TBL flour and stir vigorously over low heat, a wooden spoon may be traditional (those things are incredibly useful—I suggest you have half a dozen) but I find a whisk works best for this. Pour in two cups of stock and stir constantly. It will take on the texture of wall paper paste, but what you are doing is getting rid of lumps. Add stock in 1 cup increments until it’s the consistency you want. It will probably take five cups. If you happen to have an open bottle of white wine around (and while preparing the biggest meal of the year, I highly recommend it) add about 1/2 cup. If you make it too thin just simmer it for a few minutes. Season with salt pepper and minced garlic.
Glazed Root Vegetables:
(In this case either carrots or sweet potatoes—we need some color on that plate.) Root vegetables are always available. This version uses a touch of brown sugar to add sweetness and a scraping of fresh ginger to provide a kick in the pants. (That was truer than her readers would ever know, she thought.)
1 lb of either sweet potatoes or carrots—peeled and cut into small moon shaped pieces.
2 TBL butter
About an inch of peeled fresh ginger, grated with a microplane grater.
1 cup of either orange juice or apple juice
1 cup of chicken stock
Bring the liquids to a boil in a pot with a tight fitting lid. Dump your veggies in. Cook until tender with the lid on. When just fork tender—use a slotted spoon to remove the half moons. Allow the liquid to boil down until it's about 1/2 cup. Add butter, brown sugar and ginger. Return vegetables to pot and stir to coat with glaze. It’s better if this isn't done ahead of time. The texture suffers. This dish is all about balance—sweet and spicy—familiar and unusual. Absolutely worth the effort.
Cranberry Sauce:
There are lots of ways to cook cranberries. I find that the Thanksgiving plate needs not only that jolt of ruby red, but some tangy crunch—hence I make the following:
1 bag of cranberries
1 cup of sugar
2 crisp apples (Braeburn is about perfect for this—Granny Smith is too tart and Red Delicious are mealy and disgusting)
1/4 cup port (this is not as wasteful as it may seem—you can serve port at Christmas, so it's okay to buy some now)
Combine berries and sugar in saucepan and cook until they begin to pop. Stir in the apples and port and set aside to cool. This is acerbic and boozy and bright.
Crab Cakes with Lemon Mayonnaise:
1 lb of cooked fresh crabmeat picked over
3 TBL of mayo
15 saltines finely crushed
3 lightly beaten eggs
2 finely chopped shallots
A handful of finely chopped parsley
Salt and pepper and if you are so inclined “Old Bay seasoning”—I am not usually so inclined.
For sauce
Zest and juice of one lemon
1/2 cup mayo
Gently mix together all “cake” ingredients. Use a large spoon to portion the mixture into 8 crab cakes. Set on a parchment lined baking sheet to thoroughly chill.
Mix together the sauce ingredients and set aside.
In a mixture of butter and oil (about 2 TBL of each) fry the crab cakes until crispy on the outside and warm within. Serve over mixed greens with a drizzle of the sauce.
The best Pumpkin Pie:
Okay—here I lose half of you—buy the pre-rolled pie crusts in your local refrigerator section. No, they aren't quite as good as perfect homemade pie crust, but they are foolproof and you have plenty to be getting on with. They are also a sight better than not very good homemade crust—so get over yourself. You will need two (that’s one package) for this pie
1 can of cooked pumpkin—NOT pie filling. Vacuum packed pumpkin. If you want to you can cook a fresh pumpkin and then sieve it to get rid of the fibers. I do not want, it isn’t better and it takes a lot longer.
1/2 a stick of butter
1/2 of a cinnamon stick
4 cloves
About 1/4 of a nutmeg-
These must be whole. You need a spice grinder—or a pestle or mortar for this. I am sorry, but perfection has its costs.
Grind them together.
4 eggs
1 cup white sugar
1/2 cup light brown sugar
1/2 cup half and half
In a large skillet melt butter and dump in pumpkin—you will cook over medium heat until it smells a bit roasty and has become darker in color—this will add a richness
to this pie that you will not believe. Set the pan aside to cool. In a large bowl, mix 4 eggs, 1 cup white sugar and 1/2 cup light brown sugar, half and half and the spices. When the pumpkin is cool enough that it won't cook the eggs, add it to the bowl and mix thoroughly.
Put your pie crust into a metal pie plate. Using a leaf cookie cutter—or any shape you want really, cut shapes out of the remaining circle of pie crust. Pour your filling into the pie crust. Using a bit of water apply the leaf shapes around the edge of your pie—this gives your beautiful edge. On a baking sheet—this is IMPORTANT—if your pie overflows without one, you will have to stop and scrub out your oven. Ain't nobody got time for that, bake at a 325 degrees for about forty minutes. You should have the merest hint of a wobble when you pull it out. Allow to come to room temperature.
Orange Cranberry Cake:
1 box of yellow cake mix
6 eggs
Zest and juice of two oranges
1/3 cup vegetable oil
About 1/2 cup buttermilk
3 sticks butter
1 cup of fresh cranberries
1 cup of light brown sugar
2/3 cup white sugar
Sugared cranberries for decoration. (Froth up an egg white and tip about 1/2 cup of berries into it. Remove them and roll in sugar set aside to firm up.)
Measure your orange juice. Add buttermilk to make one cup of liquid total. In a mixer bowl, mix the cake mix, the yolks of the eggs, the vegetable oil and the liquid. Mix until fluffy and combined. Bake in two 8” pans at 325 degrees until just springy.
In a pan, combine the cranberries and white sugar and cook until the cranberries pop. While still hot, blitz in your food processor. Use the egg whites, brown sugar and butter to make Swiss meringue buttercream (recipe on blog) spoon the cranberries on one cake layer and top with the other. Refrigerate until the cakes aren't slipping and sliding. Frost the cake with the remainder of the butter cream. Decorate with the sugared berries and if you are so inclined a few slices of orange. This looks spectacular on your sideboard—keep it in mind for Christmas too.
Green Bean Casserole:
Today I am going to talk you through improving the gloppy green bean casserole that we all grew up with. Its ghastly. This is much better.
2 lbs green beans—you will need to cut the tails off. “Frenching” green beans—slicing them thin lengthwise is a very good way to need stitches. Instead, simply stack them up and cut them into about three pieces.
1 onion diced
1 lb mushrooms—diced
1/2 cup dried mushrooms—finely snipped with scissors
1/2 cups milk (whole)
3 cloves garlic
1/2 cup Butter
Flour
1 can of those fried onions
Soft breadcrumbs from 4 pieces of torn bread
Soak the dried mushrooms in hot milk—heat it in microwave—set aside to steep. Blanche the green beans in a large pot of salted boiling water. Sauté the onion in the butter. When it is soft, add the mushrooms and stir until most of the water evaporates from them. Sprinkle 3 TBL flour over the onions and mushrooms. Stir like crazy. Pour over the milk from the dried mushrooms and use that liquid to make your sauce. You want a mushroom sauce that is full of pieces of vegetables. Stir the green beans into the sauce and combine with a few firm strokes. Spray a 9x12 baking dish with cooking spray and pour in the beans and cream sauce. You can cover it with cling wrap and refrigerate it for up to three days at this point. Melt a generous pat of butter in a large skillet and stir in bread—when golden, dump into your food processor. Add the canned onions (no one wishes more than I that they were not necessary—it's just not the same without them.) Mix with a few quick pulses (this can also be done days ahead, but don't top the casserole with them until you are sliding the whole shebang into the oven.) Bake at 350 degrees for about forty-five minutes. It’s pretty forgiving though, it can loiter in the hot oven for a while if you need it to.
The End
About the Author
Susannah Shannon
Susannah Shannon lives in the Midwestern USA with her family. She is a committed cook, a more committed eater and reads anything she can get her hands on. She is delighted to have joined the Blushing Books publishing family. Her books combine humor, romance and spankings.
http://susannahshannon.com/
Don't miss these exciting titles by Susannah Shannon and Blushing Books!
A Handful Of Stars
The Cass Chronicles:
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Rendered - Book Three
Rare - Book Four
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Rare: A BBW Romance (The Cass Chronicles Book 4) Page 9
