Cranberry-orange relish

I thought there was a cranberry-orange relish recipe we used to make from Mrs. Jenkins' and Mrs. Shaul's Yummy in the Tummy book. I just looked and couldn't find it. Does anyone else remember this, and perhaps have a copy?

Thanks! And Happy Thanksgiving! 

  

Nine years ago, when I started my in home cooking Personal Chef Service, I also started doing Thanksgiving prep for one of my dearest college friends. Her family loves my roasted pumpkin soup, and requests it year after year after year. The original recipe is delicious, but labor intensive.

Roasted pumpkin soup

1 medium pumpkin, about 4 pounds
1 T butter
2 slices bacon, diced
1 large yellow onion, chopped
6 c chicken stock
½ c heavy cream, plus 1 c, for garnish
¼ c orange juice
large pinch freshly grated nutmeg
salt and freshly ground black pepper
whole leaves flat-leaf parsley, as a garnish
1 T chipotle pepper in adobo sauce

Preheat the oven to 375°. Halve the pumpkin from top to bottom and place it, cut side down, on an oiled baking sheet. Bake until the pumpkin can be easily skewered, 45-60 minutes. Cool for about 20 minutes. With a spoon, remove the seeds and discard. Scrape the pulp and reserve. Discard the skin. Melt butter in a soup pot over medium heat. Add the bacon and onions and cook, stirring occasionally, until the onions are soft and the bacon is just turning golden, about 7 minutes. Add the pumpkin and stock and simmer until the pumpkin falls apart, about 30 minutes. Let cool for about 20 minutes. In batches, puree the soup in a blender on high speed, 3 minutes per batch, until very smooth. Strain through a fine mesh into a clean soup pot and add the cream, orange juice and nutmeg. Season, to taste, with salt and pepper. If the soup is too thick, correct the consistency with additional water or stock. Chop 1 tablespoon chipotle pepper. Whip 1 cup cream to soft peak. Stir peppers into cream. Ladle the hot soup into bowls. Spoon dollop of chipotle cream into soup.



As my business grew, more people wanted Roasted pumpkin soup that I could start in their crockpots the day or two before Thanksgiving. Now, every year for Thanksgiving I make vats of roasted pumpkin soup with chipotle cream (one year I made eleven!), so I needed a modified recipe, I didn’t have time for cooking bacon from raw, cutting and cooking pumpkins, pureéing soup, and whipping cream (not to mention, fresh whipped cream doesn’t keep well for a day or two). Enter new recipe ... liquid smoke simulates smoky taste of bacon, canned pumpkin pureé and onion powder eliminate the need for roasting actual pumpkin and pureéing end product, and mascarpone cream is a nice substitute for the whipping cream, and also the tanginess of the mascarpone balances the sweet pumpkin soup nicely.

Slow cooker roasted pumpkin soup with chipotle cream

1 lg can pumpkin pureé
6 c chicken stock (or vegetable stock, for vegetarian soup)
½ t liquid smoke
%frac14; t onion powder
¼ t salt
1/8 t pepper
¼ c orange juice
1/8 t nutmeg, freshly grated
1 small tub mascarpone cream
1 T adobo sauce, from chipotles with adobo sauce

Place pumpkin, stock, liquid smoke, onion powder, salt, pepper, and orange juice in the slow cooker on low for 6 hours. Combine mascarpone and adobo sauce, store in refrigerator until ready to serve. When ready to serve, ladel soup into bowls, grate nutmeg over soup, and top with a dollop of mascarpone-chipotle cream.
Enjoy!

The inspiration for the virtual dinner group blog originally came from a flurry of emails around salad’s place at the Thanksgiving table. (My family of origin has always been a “No” on this matter, mostly because we have every other conceivable vegetable on the table ... simply no room for salad. My mother-in-law, however, makes the best simple salad, and it is always served at Thanksgiving, and every other meal, mostly as a palate cleanser between all the other very rich and delicious foods.) I have looked in vain for that email chain in my archives, because it was hilarious, and I would love to not only share it with you, but also reread it myself (who can’t use a little hilarity on a daily basis?).

As far as Thanksgiving Salad goes, I usually pass, and I believe that if there is going to be a salad on a table that rich, it should be a simple (palate-cleansing) salad, and not interfere with “the main event.” However, I made a spectacular Fall salad last week, that I proceeded to make again and again for lunch as the week went on. It was inspired by a recipe in USA Weekend last week for Escarole salad with provolone, warm white beans and prosciutto crisps. I added a little sweetness to balance the bitter greens and piquant provolone. The red from the pepper, onion, and cranberries stand out among the greens and beans and it looks like Fall.

Fall salad

2 T extra-virgin olive oil
3 oz thinly sliced prosciutto, cut into small dice2 garlic cloves, minced
1 15-oz can cannellini beans, not drained
1 t crushed red pepper flakes
2 T red wine vinegar
1 T agave syrup
2 T extra-virgin olive oil
1 head escarole halved, cored, chopped, washed, and dried (or slightly bitter greens that are so abundant in Fall)
½ red bell pepper, stemmed, cored, seeded and cut into short thin strips
¼ large red onion, thinly sliced
16 pitted kalamata olives, halved (about ¼ cup)
3 oz provolone cheese, diced
¼ c dried cranberries

Sauté the prosciutto in the olive oil until crisp. Remove to paper towel to drain.

Add the white beans to the sauté pan with the crushed red pepper, and bring to a simmer. Cook until beans are warmed through.

While beans are warming, add vinegar, agave, and olive oil to a jar and shake to combine. Pour dressing into bottom of a large salad bowl. To the salad bowl, add escarole, pepper, onion, olives, cheese and cranberries.

Just before serving, add beans and prosciutto and toss.

Thanksgiving

Now that Halloween is over, I am ready to turn my attention to my Thanksgiving menu. I am hosting my husband's family here. One thing I need to be conscious of this year is that I only have an oven, stove and microwave to cook in - no convection oven as in the past. That means I need to be conscious of how much I need to get into the oven after the bird comes out to rest.

I am thinking I might do a pumpkin soup first course and will probably do the make-ahead mashed potatoes. I think the Moriarty stuffing is a must (the only recipe I know of that was passed down through my father-in-law, and the only food I ever saw him help prepare), and it is quite good. Aside from that, I haven't decided.

What are you making this year?

Thanksgiving desserts

We are having a small crowd (5 adults, 3 kids) for thanksgiving. I made a pumpkin cheesecake http://inhomecooking.blogspot.com/search/label/Pumpkin%20cheesecake

it is in the freezer. I will make a chocolate desert because I love chocolate deserts, thinking http://www.recipegirl.com/2008/08/12/molten-chocolate-cakes-with-irish-cream/

Molly asked about pie. Now I like pie but could live w/o it but is does seem like for thanksgiving you need pie, Molly requested apple, Brad's favorite is blueberry so I'm thinking of making http://www.recipezaar.com/Mini-Apple-Pies-So-Easy-Not-Much-Hassel-286704

And maybe doing 1/2 apple 1/2 blueberry. I figure I can freeze the leftovers. Anyone ever try mini pies? I worry a little about them coming out of the Muffin tins.

Second (or third or fourth) time around

Bridget asked:

What are you doing/did you do with the leftover turkey? I tried some different recipes, I'll post them later. Thanksgiving Strata for Brunch on Sunday, it was tasty, a good change. Turkey Enchiladas and of course Turkey Divan.

I just made the best—and one of the easiest & quickest!—leftover turkey meals I've ever made! I served it with white rice—to which I added leftover mashed butternut squash & a can of drained, rinsed black beans just before serving. It was adapted from www.cookinglight.com.

(BTW, I still have more turkey & a great stock (for this, I just put the carcass in my crockpot Thanksgiving night, fill with water & let it simmer for 12-24 hours), any ideas for a different soup or stew?)

Turkey Picadillo
Turkey matches well with the flavorful ingredients of this Cuban dish: tomato, chiles, cinnamon, and cumin. Serve with baked tortilla chips.

1 t olive oil
¼ c finely chopped onion
1 garlic clove, minced
1 c chopped tomato
2 T chopped jalapenos
1 T dark brown sugar
½ t ground cinnamon
½ t ground cumin
½ t black pepper
¼ t salt
2 T golden raisins
2 T capers
1 T red wine vinegar
1 T dry sherry
2 c chopped skinned cooked turkey
8 flour tortillas

Heat olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add onion and garlic; cook 2 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add chopped tomato and green chiles; cook 1 minute, stirring frequently. Stir in brown sugar, cinnamon, cumin, black pepper, and salt; cook 30 seconds, stirring constantly.

Reduce heat to low. Stir in raisins, capers, vinegar, and sherry; cook 3 minutes or until thoroughly heated, stirring often. Add turkey, stirring to combine. Remove from heat.

Warm tortillas wrapped in foil in oven. Spoon about 1/3 cup turkey mixture onto each tortilla; roll up.

Makes 4 servings.

What's for Thanksgiving?

What are you cooking for Thanksgiving? Are you sticking with the classics? Does your family have traditions? I'm always interested in hearing new yummy recipes. This is an awesome holiday, one focusing on food, family, what we are thankful for and football:)

Green bean casserole

Ok here it is, I like green bean casserole. A few years ago our news paper ran an article on it and had some updated one. I tried one of them.   Am thinking of another one this year.  Do people make it? Do you like it? Why? or Why not? Which one would you make?