More from Sabrina's the next morning http://sabrinascafe.com/ ...farmacia wasn't open on Fridays and my visitors were here only briefly...

Thanksgiving

Background: It's nice to have lots and lots of folks around for a large Thanksgiving feast. But sometimes, when there's a fractured toe involved that makes grocery procurement difficult, it's nice to do a more intimate and small scale dinner.    The items that finally made the cut this year:

Apps:

Shrimp cocktail with cilantro chutney aioli

Cranberry pecan sourdough bread with rosemary butter 

Cornbread with chipotle apricot preserves

(Had tried making an artichoke soup but was a failure so I didn't serve it...)

Sides:

Garlic and scallion roasted asparagus

Modern Esquites--chili lime corn with queso fresco (which of course, I forgot to put out...)

Chestnut and leek cornbread stuffing (used Trader Joe's cornbread stuffing mix for this part...would use it again, but not use the season packet...and/or would cut it down)

Mashed potatoes (http://theoceanwaves.blogspot.com/2011/11/new-method-of-mashed-potatoesintrigued.html)

Truffled mashed potatoes

Main:

Slow roasted salmon with tarragon, thyme, and cumin grapefruit sauce

Dessert:

Pumpkin flan (would make again)  http://theoceanwaves.blogspot.com/2011/11/next-up-pumpkin-caramel-flan.html

French apple tart (would not make filling again) http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/French-Apple-Tart-363307

Pie crust from Moosewood (would make again)

other potential Thanksgiving items to try some other time

http://www.foodandwine.com/recipes/steamed-red-snapper-with-mushrooms-and-ginger
http://www.foodandwine.com/recipes/asparagus-and-grilled-shiitake-with-soy-vinaigrette
http://www.foodandwine.com/recipes/molten-chocolate-cakes-vongerichten
http://www.foodandwine.com/recipes/tangy-tomato-and-mango-salad

New method of mashed potatoes...works SO well.

Background: I've had my ups and downs with making mashed potatoes.  Too much cream--bad for your health.  Too little cream--just doesn't do the trick.  Potatoes steamed--way too steamed [bit of a cultural miscommunication one year with someone unnamed helping me boil the potatoes].  Olive oil versus butter.  Veggie stock or none.  One potato, two potatoes, three potatoes, four.  Red potatoes, yellow potatoes, russet potatoes, more.
I LOVE mashed potatoes.  I just don't always have the heart to give it all the extras that taste so good but just aren't good for you.  I came across the follow recipe and gave it a whirl.  My modifications below (healthier ratio, I think... but still tasted delicious--the boiling in dairy piece made a big difference and let me get away with less butter)

Guaranteed Not-Gummy Mashed Potatoes
Anthony Myint and Karen Leibowitz, Mission Street Food
Serves 8-10
5 pounds russet potatoes
½ quart whole milk
½ quart cream
½ pound butter, at room temperature
Salt and pepper, to taste

1. The night before, wash, peel and cut potatoes into roughly 1-inch discs. Place in water overnight to allow some starch to leach out.
2. The next day, drain the potatoes and place in a large pot of salty-tasting water. Bring up to a very gentle simmer and cook for 20 minutes. Drain potatoes and run them over with cold water, draining and changing the water at least once to cool the potatoes completely.
3. Place the potatoes back in the pot with the milk and cream, bring up to simmer, and cook gently until they’re soft enough to mash (about 5 minutes of gentle simmering). Pour off and reserve the dairy.
4. Add the butter and mash thoroughly, adding back the dairy if you like your potatoes softer and creamier. Taste, and adjust seasoning. Cover with plastic wrap, allowing the wrap to touch the surface of the potatoes, then cover completely with foil and keep in a warm place until it’s time to eat.

Note: If there’s left over milk and cream, it can be used to enrich and thicken sauces or soups later.

My Method:
6 individual organic gold yukon potatoes--no idea what they weighed.  I do like organic potatoes more than conventional.  It's one of those splurges that really seems to be worth it.
1 quart milk
1/2 quart cream
4 T butter
See above methodology.

Results: best mashed potatoes / easiest mashing process EVER.  This is a keeper.

Next up: pumpkin caramel flan

I love flan.  I love Pumpkin.  I love Michelle Bernstein.  What isn't there to love about this recipe?

Pumpkin Caramel Flan
Michelle Bernstein, Michy’s
Makes two 9-inch flans or 16 individual ramekins
For the caramel
1 cup sugar
½ cup water
For the flan
14-ounces sweetened condensed milk
14 ounces whole milk
6 ounces cream cheese, room temperature
8 ounces pumpkin puree
5 large eggs
1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spices
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
½ teaspoon salt
To serve
1 cup whipping cream

1. Preheat oven to 300°F. In a small pan, combine the sugar and water and cook over medium high heat without stirring until it turns dark golden brown. Pour directly into your pie plates or ramekins.
2. Combine the flan ingredients in a blender and puree until smooth. Strain directly over the caramel into the pie plates or ramekins, filling it to the top.
3. Put a towel on the bottom of a roasting pan (to keep the molds from sliding around) and place the flan molds on the towel. Pour boiling water into the roasting pan until it comes up about ½ the height of the pie plate or ramekins, being careful not to get any water into the flan. If baking large pies, bake for about an hour, until the flan is just set and jiggles a little when shaken delicately. If baking ramekins, bake for about 25-30 minutes—the center should still have a wobble.
4. Cool completely at room temperature, then remove molds from the water and refrigerate until cold, about two hours. Run a sharp knife around the rim of the mold, place a plate on top of the mold and invert, giving a sharp shake.
5. Whip cream to soft peaks, and serve flan with a dollop of whipped cream.

Recipes from Reading Terminal's website

These all look exciting...

Metropolitan Bakery’s Pumpkin-Walnut Muffins
Have Thanksgiving guests staying overnight? These muffins, which will appear intermittently at Metropolitan Bakery’s Reading Terminal Stand through the end of November (sometimes in a Pumpkin-Chocolate Chip variation) and which are featured in the bakery’s 2003 cookbook, could be the delicious centerpiece of your Black Friday continental breakfast.
4 cups all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
2 ¼ teaspoons baking powder
2 ¼ teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon ground ginger
½ teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/8 teaspoon ground cloves
2 cups granulated sugar
2 cups firmly packed dark brown sugar
10 tablespoons (1 ¼ sticks) cold unsalted butter, cut into small cubes
6 large eggs
2 ¼ cups pumpkin puree, fresh or canned
¾ cup milk
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 2/3 cups chopped walnuts, toasted
Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Butter twenty-four 2 ½ half-cup muffin-pan cups.
In the bowl of a heavy-duty mixer, sift together the flour, cinnamon, baking powder, baking soda, salt, ginger, nutmeg and cloves. Stir in the granulated and brown sugars. Add the butter with the flour mixture and toss. With a paddle attachment at low speed, mix the butter into the flour mixture until the mixture resembles a coarse meal. In a medium bowl, whisk the eggs; stir into the flour mixture. Stir in the pumpkin puree, milk and vanilla, just until blended. With a rubber spatula, fold in the walnuts.
Spoon the batter evenly into the prepared muffin-pan cups. Bake 15 to 20 minutes, rotating the muffin pans between the upper and lower oven racks halfway through baking, until a wooden skewer inserted in the center of a muffin comes out clean. Cool the muffins in the pans for 5 minutes. Remove the muffins from the pans and cool completely on wire racks. Yields 2 dozen muffins.


Nanny’s Roasted Potato Balls
Many shoppers might assume Contessa’s French Linen owner Laura DiFrancesco would have some French DNA. She’s actually half Italian and half Penn Dutch and she grew up helping her “Nanny,” her late maternal grandmother Elizabeth Imber of Lebanon, prepare this traditional bread stuffing-potato hybrid every holiday. Besides being delicious, it reheats well (make it the night before and then refrigerate), a big plus for the quintathalon of cooking tasks that is Thanksgiving.
2 1/2 cups plain mashed potatoes
1 1/2 cups fresh bread crumbs
1/2 medium onion, finely chopped
2 stalks celery, finely chopped
2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley
2 eggs, beaten
1 stick plus 4 tablespoons butter, melted (4 tablespoons reserved)
1/2 to 1 cup milk (enough to moisten)
Salt and pepper to taste
Butter an 8 by 8 or 9 by 9-inch casserole dish. Make the mashed potatoes from about 1 1/4 pounds fresh potatoes. Preheat oven to 350 degrees f. Use a blender or food processor to turn slices of soft, fresh bread into the breadcrumbs. Combine all ingredients in a mixing bowl except 4 tablespoons of the melted butter. Use an ice cream scoop to form mixture into 1.5- to 2-inch balls. Place balls side-by-side in the casserole dish. Drizzle the reserved melted butter over formed balls. Bake, uncovered, for 20 minutes, or until lightly browned. Finish by placing the dish under the broiler for two to three minutes. Serves 4 to 6.



Tootsie’s Sweet Potato Casserole
This is one of the most popular dishes on Tootsie Salad Express’ hot bar. It appears there four to five times a week year-round (even in July!)
6 pounds sweet potatoes, peeled and cut into 1-inch cubes.
3/4 cup sugar
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
1/4 pound (1 stick) butter, cut into 1/4-inch slices
2 tablespoons cinnamon, (or more, to taste)
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Prepare the sweet potatoes. Grease a 9- by 13-inch pan and fill evenly with the potatoes. Pour sugar over the potato pieces and toss. Drizzle vanilla over all. Place the squares of butter evenly over the potatoes. Sprinkle cinnamon over it all. Bake uncovered for 1 hour or until the potatoes are fork-tender. Serves 10 to 15.
Beck’s Bread Pudding
Pumpkin or apple pie might be the quintessential Thanksgiving dessert on East Coast Thanksgiving tables but in Beck’s Cajun Café’s food hub of New Orleans, you’d just as likely see bread pudding. Beck’s owner Bill Beck does not dare to show up at his wife’s family’s Thanksgiving gathering without several trays of this pudding, which features the fall-favorite apple-caramel flavors. It also is a best-seller at his Reading Terminal stand.
10 eggs
3 1/4 cups light brown sugar
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon allspice
Pinch of nutmeg
3/4 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
2 quarts heavy cream
1 pint whole milk
2 tablespoons water
1 large skin-on apple, cut into 1/8-inch slices
2 tablespoons butter
1/4 cup raisins
8 cups, day-old or stale bread cubes (3/4-inch by 3/4-inch), crusts removed
Butter a 9 by 12 baking dish. Preheat the oven to 275 degrees F.
Add eggs to a mixing bowl and mix to combine yolks and whites. Add 2 3/4 cups of the light brown sugar and the rest of ingredients down through the whole milk and mix well. Taste the custard to see if you like the way it tastes (If not, add more cinnamon and/or nutmeg).
Place a one-quart saucepot on the stove with the water and the reserved 1/2 cup of light brown sugar on a medium flame and stir. When the mixture starts to simmer, stir continuously for one minute to reduce and marry the sugar and water fully. Turn off the heat, remove from the stove and gently stir in the butter. Set aside.
Pour all the warm faux caramel sauce evenly over all the apple slices (reheat it if it’s not hot enough to pour easily or if too much is stuck to the bottom of the pot). Scatter the bread cubes evenly over the sauce; then do the same with the custard and the raisins. Push the cubed bread into the custard mix; do this two more times over the next 20 minutes so the bread has evenly absorbed the custard.
Place on center rack of the oven for two hours or until the inside is moist but the top is light brown and crispy. Serve warm with ice cream, macerated fruit or whiskey sauce (as is the custom at Beck’s). Serves 8 to 10.



12th Street Cantina’s Turkey Mole
You can only eat so many turkey sandwiches. Twelth Street Cantina to the rescue with this deliciously different way to use up leftover dark turkey meat, a simplified version of a turkey mole dish sometimes featured in the Cantina’s deli case.
2 ½ pounds boneless and skinless cooked dark turkey meat, (or white meat if you prefer), cut into large chunks
2 tablespoons lard or vegetable or olive oil
1 small onion, diced small
¼ cup chili powder
4 garlic cloves, minced
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
½ teaspoon ground cloves
½ teaspoon anise or fennel seeds
½ teaspoon cumin seeds
1 large ripe tomato, diced small
1/3 cup raisins
1/4 cup sliced or slivered almonds, toasted
2 tablespoons sesame seeds, toasted
1 large ripe banana, cut into medium pieces
One 6-inch corn tortilla, cut into pieces
2 cups turkey stock (or chicken if turkey is not available)
1 ounce semisweet chocolate
Heat lard or oil in large nonstick sauté pan. Add onion and cook until tender.
and all the spices through and including the cumin in the pan, and cook over medium heat, stirring constantly until mixture is dry and spices become darker. Add tomatoes and raisins and cook a few minutes until tomato is tender.
Remove from heat. Set aside 2 teaspoons of the toasted sesame seeds and put the rest of the sesame seeds, all the almonds and everything in the sauté pan into a food processor.
Add banana, tortilla and half a cup of the turkey broth. Puree. Return mixture to sauté pan and bring to simmer.
Add chocolate and stir until melted. Add remaining 1 ½ cups turkey stock and reduce heat. Cover and simmer for about 30 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add turkey meat. Simmer approx. 10 minutes longer. Add a little water if sauce seems too thick; simmer uncovered if it seems too thin.
Serve over rice, garnished with the reserved toasted sesame seeds and, if you wish, chopped cilantro and toasted pumpkin seeds. Serves 6 to 8.

More Philly Discoveries

Some new favorites

JG Domestic
Food was too fantastic to take pictures of.  I was in horrible pain from fracturing my toe right beforehand.  But I do think it was the food that was so amazing, I succesfully forget about my pain for two hours...  and then I stood up again.  Still, completely worth putting off going to the doctors for the sake of the food.
http://www.jgdomestic.com/

Farmicia
http://www.farmiciarestaurant.com/

Sabrina's

Mammoth stuffed french toast

Pumpkin pancakes with strawberry streusel

Salmon burger

Roommate Challenge

Background: My roommates bought a pumpkin ice cream from Trader Joe's that they quite disliked.  They kindly (?) offered it to me.  At dinner, we discussed alternative uses of food...and it suddenly dawned on me that perhaps, the pumpkin ice cream could serve as an easy base for savory pumpkin-cream-based concoctions.  It was deemed perhaps unlikely, given that the ice cream is quite sweet.  The challenge was on.  They agreed to sample what I made, so long as it was in good faith effort to be edible.  

Method

I created two items:

1. pumpkin empanadas with kale and chipotle salsa (eaten before the camera)

2. pumpkin and goat cheese bake.

Results

Both were edible...and actually quite delightful! :)

Discussion

Future studies should consider the costs and benefits of using pumpkin ice cream for savory dishes versus eating the ice cream itself (which I quite like, when eaten with melted chocolate chips)