Thanksgiving

Christmas is my favorite holiday. I love giving gifts, focusing on the birth of Christ, gathering with family, singing carols, and most especially I love the looks on my children's faces Christmas morning. My SECOND favorite holiday is Thanksgiving. My reason? Simply put, I love good food. This morning I had a call from a friend asking for my turkey brine recipe because she tried it last year and loved it. Well, the recipe is not "mine" per say but I'm always happy to pass along good recipes. In fact, this brine recipe is so good it recently bested Bobby Flay in a...Throwdown! THE Bobby Flay! How exciting is that?!?

For all you food loving fans, here are a couple of my favorite Thanksgiving recipes that will be gracing my menu plan this week:

Pioneer Woman's Turkey Brine

Candied Coconut Sweet Potatoes

Cape Cod Cranberry Relish

Creamy Mashed Potatoes (another Throwdown best from PW)

A Different Cranberry Sauce

Okay. My Thanksgiving confession is I don't like cranberry sauce. My first impression of the sauce was as a young child at my grandmother's house. I still remember seeing the ring marks from a can on the jelly-like red substance that stood firm in the serving bowl. I guess even as a child I felt that if a food looked far from it's natural state it wouldn't taste good (and most likely wasn't healthy for me).

I probably never gave the stuff a fair taste test until a few years ago when my dad made this recipe. As a little introduction to my wonderful dad, he loves stores that give samples (Trader Joes, Costco) and most of the time he gets the recipe, buys the ingredients and makes the dish at home. Yes, that marketing strategy works very well on my dad. I love this version of cranberry sauce or relish to be exact. It's light and fruity and most definitely fresh. I'm excited to make this recipe for our Thanksgiving seeing as we now live in Hawaii and can include fresh pineapple. I LOVE pineapple bought fresh on the islands. Mmmm.. Now if I can only find a market that sells sugarloaf or white pineapples I will be completely pineappley satisfied.

Cape Cod Cranberry Relish

Slightly adapted from recipe featured at a local Albertsons store; source is Decas Cranberry Sales, Inc.

1 lb fresh cranberries, washed and picked through
2 small navel oranges, well washed (or 1 large)
1 c sugar
half a fresh pineapple, cut in 1-in chunks (or canned pineapple tidbits)
2 Granny Smith apples, peeled and cut in 1-in chunks
1/2 c chopped dates
1 c chopped walnuts, lightly toasted
Additional sugar, if necessary

Remove the peel of the oranges with a zester.  Place the peel and sugar in a food processor.  Pulse until peel is ground and well mixed with sugar.  Scrape frequently.  Add the cranberries and pulse until chopped well.  Place in a large mixing bowl.  Remove the white pith from the remaining oranges, cut oranges into 2" chunks, and process in the food processor by pulsing quickly.  Add to cranberries and orange.  Repeat the process with the fresh pineapple chunks and apples and add to cranberries and orange.  Add the chopped dates and nuts to the cranberries and fruit, stir well and cover.  If desired, add additional sugar to taste.  Refrigerate 24 hours before serving.  Serves 4-6.

Tomato and Basil Pie

My mom-in-law recently sent me an email with the subject line of: "You've got to try this!" When you get an email from mom with those words in the title you know the recipe must be good.

Last week my husband and I were invited to a work potluck dinner. I wasn't sure what to bring but when I saw my pile of freshly picked tomatoes this recipe came to mind. Feel free to call me crazy for making a dish for guests that I have never tasted! Thankfully the dish turned out great! I loved the lightness of the filling compared to a more dense quiche. Also, don't be afraid of the amount of basil. It works!  For my next pie I might make the addition of green onions and cheddar like the lovely Mrs. Paula Deen does in her variation of this recipe.

*Note: This photo is of the pie before you spread the mayo/cheese mixture on top.

Tomato and Basil Pie 

(Recipe from Pittsburgh Post-Gazette)

• 9-inch prepared pie crust, unbaked*
• 1 1/2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese, divided
• 5 plum or 4 medium tomatoes
• 1 cup loosely packed fresh basil leaves
• 4 cloves garlic
  
• 1/2 cup mayonnaise
• 1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
• 1/8 teaspoon ground white pepper
• Additional basil for garnish

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees.  
2. Prepare and bake your 9-inch pie crust. Remove from oven and sprinkle with 1/2 cup of the mozzarella cheese. Cool on a wire rack. 
3. Cut tomatoes into wedges and drain on paper towels. Arrange the wedges on top of the melted cheese in the baked shell. In a food processor, combine the basil and garlic, processing until coarsely chopped. Sprinkle over the tomatoes. 
4. In a medium mixing bowl, combine the remaining mozzarella cheese, mayonnaise, Parmesan and pepper. Spoon cheese mixture over basil mixture, spreading to evenly cover the top. 
5. Bake for 35 to 40 minutes, or until the top is golden and bubbly. Serve warm garnished with basil leaves. Serves 4 to 8.

*I used the Betty Crocker recipe of flour, salt, shortening and water.

Asian Lettuce Wraps

Disclaimer: I'm married to a Chemist and to him cooking is like chemistry in that you must follow the recipe word for word and MEASURE everything! (I usually just shake, sprinkle and eyeball my ingredients and it drives him nuts.) I must say that he is a fabulous cook, especially when it comes to an intricate recipe that requires patience and lots of work. I on the other hand like to tweak and change recipes as I go along but I don't inform him of this until I see the smile of enjoyment on his face after he has taken the first bite. Tonight's experience was no exception. (*wink*) He loved this recipe! It's an even greater compliment that my husband enjoyed my version of an Asian dish because he lived in Taiwan for two years and he knows what the authentic food really tastes like.

Tonight I really wanted to make Asian Lettuce Wraps because I had a 3-pack of iceberg lettuce I needed to use but I didn't have ground chicken like I used in my previous posting for this recipe. I had a package of ground turkey so I searched online to see if any recipes use this ingredient in place of chicken. (We love the taste of ground turkey and use it often as a healthy alternate to ground beef.)  When I couldn't find a recipe that looked tasty or didn't require ingredients that were not in my cupboard I decided to wing it. To my husband's great pleasure the recipe turned out fabulous! Even better was that my kids LOVED this! It isn't often that my 7 year old is the last one to leave the table but tonight she was. 

Asian Lettuce Wraps

(Who "Dished" it first? Me!)

1 pound ground turkey

1/2 of a red bell pepper (about 1/2 cup), diced

2-3 stalks celery, diced very small

1/2 cup finely grated carrots

1-2 teaspoons garlic

2 green onions, finely diced (I didn't have any so I used a shake or two of onion powder)

Sauce: (I have seen sauce recipes that include sesame oil and hot sauce but I was all out and I wanted to keep the heat out of this recipe for my kids' sake.)

1/2 cup water

1/4 cup sugar

2 Tablespoons rice vinegar (I didn't have any tonight so I used apple cider vinegar)

1/2 cup soy sauce

1/2 teaspoon fresh ginger

Brown the ground turkey in a sauce pan drizzled with olive oil. Add the vegetables when the meat is cooked and saute for 1-2 minutes. (You can reserve the carrots to add at the very end. I've done that before but tried this tonight where I add them at the beginning at since they were so finely shredded I didn't taste a noticeable difference. I think the real difference is presentation and preserving the bright orange color.) Add three-quarters of the sauce mixture, reserving the remaining sauce for dipping. Simmer this mixture until the sauce is reduced and there is almost no liquid in the pan. While this is simmering wash, dry and separate your lettuce leaves. When the meat mixture is prepared serve it on individual lettuce leaves dribbling a spoonful of the reserved sauce on top of each. 

**My notes: The soy sauce mixture can be salty so I would use low-sodium soy sauce if you have it. Traditionally lettuce wraps are served with the reserved sauce for dipping but my family is usually happy without the extra sauce. In fact, recently I'm experimenting with adding less than 3/4 cups of sauce to the meat mixture. Leave a comment to tell me if you like it with less sauce.

Hamburger Buns

I made hamburger buns from scratch!! I can't believe it! I'm not a professed baker of breads but with the exorbitant costs here in Hawaii I thought I would give these a try. The best part is they turned out and tasted fabulous! 

Light Brioche Burger Buns

Ingredients:
3 tbsp. warm milk
1 cup warm water
2 tsp. instant yeast
2½ tbsp. sugar
1½ tsp. salt
1 large egg
3 cups bread flour
1/3 cup all-purpose flour
2½ tbsp. unsalted butter, softened

For topping:
1 large egg beaten with 1 tbsp. water, for egg wash
Sesame seeds

Directions:
In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, combine the milk, water, yeast, sugar, salt and egg.  Mix briefly to combine.  Add the flours to the bowl, and mix until incorporated.  Mix in the butter.  Switch to the dough hook and knead on low speed for about 6-8 minutes.  The dough will be somewhat tacky, but you want to avoid adding too much extra flour which will create tough buns.

Transfer the dough to a lightly oiled bowl.  Cover with plastic wrap and let rise in a warm place until doubled in bulk, 1-2 hours.

Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or a silicone baking mat.  Using a dough scraper, divide the dough into 8 equal parts.  Gently roll each portion of dough into a ball and place on the baking sheet, 2-3 inches apart.  Cover loosely with lightly oiled plastic wrap and let rise again, 1-2 hours, until puffed up and nearly doubled. (*I live in a very warm climate and mine were large enough to bake after less than 30 minutes.)

Set a large metal pan of water on the lowest rack of the oven.  Preheat the oven to 400˚ F with a rack in the center.  Brush the tops of the buns lightly with the egg wash and sprinkle with sesame seeds.  Bake the buns about 15 minutes rotating halfway through baking, until the tops are golden brown.  Transfer to a rack to cool completely.

Source: adapted from Smitten Kitchen, originally from Comme Ça via The New York Times

Mango Shortbread Bars

Living in Hawaii we're blessed to eat fresh tropical fruits. We've tried papaya milkshakes for breakfast and pineapple floats for dessert (fresh pineapple juice with pineapple ice cream). The other night I noticed our mangos were getting over ripe so I looked online for a fun recipe to make with them. This mango shortbread had a tasty crust (3 cubes of butter...it better be good!) and the mango flavor was nicely complimented by the nutmeg and cinnamon.

Mango Shortbread Bars

Allrecipes

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 cups butter
• 1/2 cup white sugar
• 3 cups sifted all-purpose flour
•  
• 4 cups sliced mango
• 1/4 cup white sugar
• 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 1 pinch ground nutmeg

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
2. In large bowl, cream together butter and 1/2 cup sugar. Blend in 3 cups flour and press 1/2 of mixture into the bottom of a 9x13 inch baking dish.
3. In a medium bowl, stir together mango, 1/4 cup sugar, 1/4 cup flour, cinnamon and nutmeg until well combined. Pour mango mixture over shortbread in pan. Sprinkle remaining shortbread mixture over mango mixture. Press down lightly.
4. Bake 1 hour, until topping is golden brown. Let cool 15 minutes in dish before cutting into bars.