S1, Ep 3: What’s for Dinner?
In Episode 3, our hosts get creative with their lockdown Thanksgiving menus and share favorite food memories from Turkey Days past.
SOURCES
Laura Esquivel, Like Water For Chocolate, trans. Carol Christensen (Bantam Doubleday, 1992).
Jonathan Safran Foer, Eating Animals (Little, Brown and Company, 2009).
America’s Test Kitchen, The How Can It Be Gluten Free Cookbook (America’s Test Kitchen, 2014).
Robin Wall Kimmerer, Braiding Sweetgrass: Indigenous Wisdom, Scientific Knowledge and the Teaching of Plants (Milkweed Editions, 2015).
Meghan Splawn, “How to Quick Pickle Any Vegetable,” August 9, 2020, Kitchn. <https://www.thekitchn.com/how-to-quick-pickle-any-vegetable-233882>
Mardi Michels, “The Delicious Difference Between Potatoes Au Gratin and Dauphinoise,” November 17, 2018, The Food Network. <https://www.foodnetwork.ca/holidays/blog/the-delicious-difference-between-potatoes-au-gratin-and-dauphinoise/>
“Knife Skills: How to Spatchcock a Turkey,” Serious Eats. <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hZxWF0VyK60>
“How They Make Peking Duck so Crispy and Tender,” Eater. <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v0QIejfDBUk>
“60 Second Video Tips: The Best Way to Shuck an Oyster,” America’s Test Kitchen. <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n_YPxcF1ta4>
Debra Kelly, “The Real Reason We Eat Turkey on Thanksgiving,” November 8, 2016, Mashed <https://www.mashed.com/30402/real-reason-eat-turkey-thanksgiving/>
Josh Cohen, “Chinese Sausage Stuffing,” October 22, 2019, Food52. <https://food52.com/recipes/82015-chinese-sausage-stuffing>
Sarah Bode-Clark, “Heritage Turkey Tips,” October 13, 2009, Saveur. <https://www.saveur.com/article/Techniques/Heritage-Turkey-Tips/>
Cooper-Atkins 24HP-01-1 Stainless Steel Bi-Metal Oven Thermometer, 100 to 600 Degrees F Temperature Range <https://www.cooper-atkins.com/products/haccp-dial-oven-thermometer/>
RECIPES
Smoked Fish Dip (courtesy Sunset magazine)
Ingredients:
2 filets smoked trout (1/2 lb.), skin removed, trout broken into chunks
1/4 C cream cheese
2 TBSP mayonnaise or plain yogurt
Juice and zest of 1/2 lemon, plus more to taste
1 TBSP cream-style prepared horseradish
1 bunch green onions (5 or 6), finely chopped
2 TBSP jarred brined capers, brine squeezed out
1/2 TSP freshly ground pepper
Directions:
Put all ingredients in a food processor and pulse until just mixed (it's nice a little chunky).
Make ahead up to 1 week, chilled.
Per 2-TBSP serving: 18 Cal., 61% (11 Cal.) from fat; 1.5 g protein; 1.2 g fat (0.4 g sat.); 0.3 g carbo (0 g fiber); 17 mg sodium; 5 mg chol. LC/LS
The Jello Cranberry Sauce
Ingredients:
1 12oz bag fresh cranberries
1 ½ cups water
1 6oz pkg cherry jello
½ - 1 cup sugar
1 8oz can crushed pineapple or equivalent fresh chopped pineapple
About a cup chopped pecans
Directions:
Hard simmer cranberries and water in a saucepan until all berries pop. Cook and stir about 5 minutes longer, making sure all berries are crushed. Remove from heat. Add sugar and jello and stir until dissolved. Stir in pineapple. Taste for sweetness and add more sugar if needed. Refrigerate until cooled through and set, it won’t be jiggly like straight jello. Stir in nuts a few hours before serving.
Kristina’s Mom’s Pepperidge Farm Stuffing (heavily adapted from the bag’s recipe)
Ingredients:
½ cup unsalted butter, divided in equal parts
1 pint mushrooms, diced
1 large onion, diced
4 garlic cloves, minced (I like a lot of garlic and honestly add more, but feel free to up the garlic or omit completely)
2 celery stalks, diced
2 ½ cups low sodium chicken broth (low sodium vegetable or other stock of your choosing can be subbed in)
1 package (14 ounces) Pepperidge Farm® Herb Seasoned Stuffing
1 large crisp apple, peeled and diced
1 cup apple sauce (an optional curve ball!)
2 tsp fresh rosemary, minced
2 tsp fresh thyme, minced
1 tsp fresh sage, minced (while you can be more liberal with rosemary and thyme to your taste level, be careful to not overdo it with sage, which can quickly become overpowering and piney)
Directions:
Pre-heat oven to 350°F and grease a 9”x13” baking dish.
Gently melt ¼ cup butter in a saucepan over medium heat.
Add diced mushrooms. Resist the urge to constantly stir them at first to allow for nice browning. Once browned, add in other ¼ cup of butter to melt.
Add onions and saute until sweated out and translucent.
Add garlic and stir until soft but not brown.
Add the celery and saute until tender-crisp, just a minute or two.
Add the broth to the mushrooms, onion, garlic, and celery and heat to a boil. Remove the pan from the heat once it reaches a boil.
Carefully fold in the stuffing, diced apple, and fresh herbs. Mix lightly.
If the mixture is looking a little dry, add in some apple sauce little by little to moisten, but not saturate. You might not use the entire cup of apple sauce.
Season with salt to taste and spoon the stuffing mixture into the greased baking dish and cover with foil.
Bake for 30 minutes until the stuffing mixture is hot.
To crisp the top right before serving, put the baking dish back into the oven for 5 minutes.
Mason + His Mom’s GF Skillet Cornbread
Ingredients:
2 tbsp olive oil or bacon fat
1 ½ cups cornmeal
½ cup corn flour/masa harina
3 tbsp sugar
2 tsp baking powder
½ tsp baking soda
2 tsp salt
2 cups buttermilk
3 large eggs, beaten
2 tbsp butter, melted & cooled
Directions:
Preheat oven to 425. Put 2 tbsp olive oil or bacon fat in a standard-size cast iron skillet, and place the skillet in the oven while it preheats.
Mix all the dry ingredients (cornmeal, corn flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, salt) in a large bowl.
Add the melted butter, eggs, and buttermilk to the dry ingredients. As you whisk to combine, think about how you want to feel when you eat your first bite.
Once the oven has reached 425°, remove the skillet from the oven, tilting it so that the oil covers the entire surface area (if it isn’t already). Pour the batter into the skillet.
Return skillet to oven, cook for 25 minutes or until the top has started to turn golden brown and the edges have crisped/pulled away from the sides.
Remove skillet from oven, take a knife and run it along the edges. Immediately place an upside-down cooling rack on top of the skillet, and carefully flip it over so that the cornbread falls onto the rack. Place another cooling rack on top of the upside-down cornbread like a sandwich, and flip it over again so that the right side is up.
Allow the cornbread to cool for 5 minutes before you slice it. Can be stored in an airtight container for 3-4 days (recommend re-heating in toaster oven for 3-5 minutes, then spreading jam and/or honey for maximum yum).