Tagged Thanksgiving
A Lazy Languid Pumpkin Butter Recipe – Pumpkin Butter Afterglow
Photo Courtesy Lucy Eloi at l’homme Voyage
On Thanksgiving I find myself focused and fussing over a humble turkey dinner. It’s an all day event with a kitchen full of pots, pans, lots of good food and the promise of leftovers the day after. Ahh the afterglow of the leftovers – a lazy meal for languid cooks.
Being professionally trained nothing goes to waste in my kitchen. And I start eyeing those gorgeous pumpkins and squash that decorate the table & the mantel. Slow cooking or rather roasting them in a low oven will put them to good use in soups, pies, and even some preserves throughout the winter.
If you have a classic cheese pumpkin or blue hubbard squash – your in for a real treat. In fact, my forager Ron insists that his mother used blue hubbard’s exclusively in baking as it gave her ”pumpkin” pies a smoother texture.
I slow roast the pumpkins by dividing my work into two parts – roasting first – and then running the pulp thru a food mill to create a fine puree. This can easily be frozen to use for soups, filling in pasta, pies or pumpkin butter with the recipe that follows.
The Cornell Cooperative Extension does not advise home canning of pumpkin in a water bath preserving process because the puree does not reach the correct internal temperature for sterilization. Freezing in proper containers with square corners is a much better way to extend your season. You can still fill canning jars and refrigerated the Pumpkin Butter to give as gifts during the holiday season. But this must must remain refrigerated and be consumed within 2 weeks.
This is a basic recipe for a delicious Pumpkin Butter sweetened with brown sugar. I have suggested simple pumpkin pie spices – but feel free to experiment. My sister in law uses nutmeg exclusively, I just made a batch with fresh ginger & curry spices that is excellent in chicken or turkey salad. You may want to play with almond or caramel extracts and other warm winter spices or add a dash of New Mexican chili for a spicy pumpkin butter.
Thanksgiving Feast Pumpkin Butter Sweetened with Brown Sugar.
One Cheese Pumpkin or Hubbard Squash
2 t butter
Brown Sugar
1/2 c Apple Cider Vinegar
1/4 c Lemon Juice
2 t Pumpkin Pie Spices
1 T vanilla
salt & pepper optional
Pectin if needed
1. Turn your oven onto 350 degrees. Depending on the size of your pumpkin – slice it in half or in quarters.
2. Scoop out the seeds – these can be saved, washed, and roasted. We roast ours with Soy Sauce.
3. Place the pumpkins cut side up in a roasting pan. Add a dollop of butter and sprinkle a scant t of brown sugar over the surface. Salt and pepper if you choose.
4. Roast in the 350 oven for approximately 45 minutes. It really depends on the size of the pumpkin. It is done when a fork easily pierces the pumpkin.
5. Let the pumpkin rest and cool to handle.
6. Scoop and weigh out the pumpkin with a kitchen scale.
7. Use a food mill to puree the pumpkin. If you do not have one a food processor may be used.
8. A good size pumpkin will yield about 6 to 8 pounds of pumpkin meat. For each pound of pumpkin meat measure out one cup of brown sugar.
9. In a preserving pan or pot add the pumpkin meat, the brown sugar, 1/2 cup of apple cider vinegar, 1/4 cup of lemon juice, 2t apple pie spices. Other spices can be used see the note below
10. Cook on a low heat until the Pumpkin butter coats the back of a spoon. This can take anywhere from 1 to 3 hours cooking on a low flame to prevent scorching. If you prefer a thicker butter you can add 2 pouches of liquid pectin.
Wild Turkey-tini with Fresh Pressed Apple Cider
Sean just pressed 6 bushed of apples in his cider press – so we are blessed with an embarasasment of delicious heirloom apple cider. He’s thinking of making some hard cider but in the meantime I came up with a Wild Turkey-tini in honor of the bird we will be eating on Thursday.
Wild Turkey-tini
2 oz wild turkey bourbon
2 oz fresh apple cider
2 dashes of bitters – I prefer Fee Brothers West Indian Orange Bitters
One Maraschino Cherry for garnish – I prefer Tillen Farms
Combine the first 3 ingredients in a shaker with ice – and shake vigorously. Strain and serve in a martini cocktail glass . Garnish with a maraschino cherry
Leftover Turkey Chili
It’s Thanksgiving and now that your turkeys are ordered and your shopping list goes on for miles – cauliflower, turnips, pearl onions, green beans, carrots and parsnip – my all time favorite. And then there are the pies – sweet potato, apple and pumpkin. I really love a Thanksgiving Feast!
But when all is said and done – after the table has been cleared – and the meal is enjoyed – the pies are mere crumbles of their former self, what do you do with all those leftovers? A roast turkey sandwich is great, with Cranberry Sauce or JF Hurricane Hot Pepper Preserves. But….
One of the best ways to extend your Thanksgiving meal is a pot of Roasted Turkey Chili. I love the fragrance of New Mexican chili and cumin on a cold fall afternoon. This is an easy and healthy meal that makes all those containers of leftovers simply disappear.
3 T olive oil
1 large onion – I like a sweet variety
4 cloves of garlic – there is a wide variety in your farmers market try a German hard neck if you can
2 stalks of celery
3 to 4 carrots
2 parsnip
1 to 2 pounds of Turkey
1T to 3 T chili mix – ( Try Josephine’s Feast Rough Rider Chili )
1 T cumin
1 can of organic tomato paste
2 quarts Chicken or Vegetable Stock – homemade or organic low sodium.
Sea Salt
Pepper
Start with a large pot and add 3 T olive oil and heat. Dice or slice the onions and garlic. Sauté in olive oil. Dice Celery, Carrots, Parsnip, and add to the sauté. Dice a 1 to 2 pounds of leftover turkey and add to the pot. Now the magic happens – add 1T to 3 T of chili mix and 1T of ground cumin. Continue the sauté until the mix begins to perfume your kitchen. Add the tomato paste – you want to cook off the raw taste of the chili & tomato with out burning the spice. Add sea salt & pepper to taste – Remember, “Less is more” you will have a chance to adjust the seasoning later. Add 2 quarts of chicken or vegetable stock. The better the stock the better the meal. And cook on a low simmer for 45 minutes to an hour. If the stock is cooking off too quickly – add some water. If the chili has too much broth raise the flame. If your adventurous you can add a plethora of leftover vegetables – cauliflower, Brussels sprouts – even diced baked potato. This chili is unique as the cook that makes it and is a mouth watering healthy meal that extends the Thanksgiving Feast!
Serve with a pot of black beans or over polenta for a wonderful autumn meal. It can also be frozen for a quick meal when you are too busy to cook.
Brining A Turkey
What strikes me most about Thanksgiving is that just a few weeks before – I get that urge to cook a turkey. Call it a seasonal urge, just like driving upstate New York to see the leaves change color. I can’t wait to cook my turkey dinner.
In anticipation I page thru a number of favorite cookbooks looking for ways to improve on my favorite recipe. This year my interest is brining. We have had a great summer barbequing brined pork ribs and chops – why not the Thanksgiving Feast!
I must admit that my all time favorite Turkey recipe is “Turkey with Two Stuffings” from the Theory and Practice of Good Cooking by James Beard. The bird is stuffed with a fresh herb bread stuffing and the neck is stuffed with a rich coriander scented sausage stuffing. I prefer to use an organic turkey – one from North Sea Farms but in the past I have also used a wild turkey and even a boned turkey breast – we’ll save that technique for another post.
Brining is simple, but it takes some planning – you’ll have to start 3 days before Thanksgiving if you are using a frozen turkey. Similar to a marinade – Brining makes cooked meat moister by hydrating the cells before cooking, via the process of osmosis. There are no short cuts to brining; your turkey must remain in the brine for 16 to 24 hours. Simply stated this process makes a great piece of meat even better
The basic bring mix is quite simple – salt, sugar, and water. This recipe is an adaptation from Jeremiah Tower’s “New American Classics” Influenced by Elizabeth David, Richard Olney & Alice Waters – this is a cookbook that changed the way we thought about American food when it was published in 1986.
For the Brine:
1 cup of salt – I prefer grey sea salt
½ cup of brown or organic sugar
1 gallon of water – plus additional water
2 T black peppercorns
2 bay leaves
2 T whole coriander
3 T dried thyme or Herbes de Provence
3 days before cooking you will have to thaw your turkey – if it is fresh – all the better.
Combine one gallon of the water with all the ingredients above in a large stockpot over medium heat. Stir and bring to a boil. Remove the brine from the heat cool down and refrigerate
The day before cooking pour the brining mix into a 5-gallon bucket. Adding an additional gallon or more of water. Place the thawed turkey in the bucket and weight it down to insure the brining mix covers it. Cover and refrigerate for 16 to 24 hours.
Brining works by osmosis – if you cut the brining time you will result in an over salted turkey. If you allow the full 16 to 24 hours for the brine – you’ll have a delicious turkey with outstanding gravy.
This recipe can be reduced by half or quarters and used to brine organic chickens, pork chops, pork tenderloin and my absolute favorite barbequed ribs.
If you don’t want to make your own brining Mix, Then try ours. Enough for one Turkey.