A Very Vegetarian Thanksgiving...

     So you guys know I totally love me some Thanksgiving sides, but I realized I haven't posted any main dishes for vegetarians, so I thought I'd do one up.  And then I decided to do a couple more sides.  Because whatevah, I do what I want.  For those of you with ovens full of turkey, this vegan bean dish is perfect for the slow cooker!

Slow Cooker Herbed White Beans

1.25 lbs bag of Emergo (aka white runner) beans, pre-soaked, other options are cannellini, navy beans*
6 C water
1 tsp butter
1/2 C chopped scallion
2 cloves garlic, pressed
1 3-inch sprig rosemary
3 2-inch sprigs thyme
6 leaves fresh sage
2 tsp.salt
pepper

Quick-soak the beans in salted water by bringing them to a boil, turning the heat off, and letting them sit for an hour.  Drain.  Melt butter in a pan and cook scallion till soft.  Press in garlic and cook till fragrant.  Pour beans into crock pot, add water and salt, stir, then add the rest of the ingredients.  Cook for 8 hours.  (Cooking time/water ratio may vary with different beans)

*If you decide to sub another kind of bean, be cautious using kidney beans in a crock pot, they can make you very sick if they are under cooked.  Using a modified quick-soak method on red kidney beans is the ideal way to make sure you have removed the poison, making sure you boil them for 10 minutes before leaving them to soak.

Roast Green Beans with Balsamic Thyme Reduction
Yield: 6-8 small servings

2 lbs fresh green beans, stems and strings removed
1 Tbs sea salt
1/2 C balsamic vinegar
2 sprigs thyme
1/2 tsp honey (optional)
1/2 C raw pecans

Preheat oven to 350°.  Rinse greenbeans and drain slightly spread them in a single layer on a baking sheet.  Sprinkle with salt.  Bake greenbeans for 10-15 minutes until beans are tender, but not too browned.  Timing may vary depending on how wet they are when they go in.   On a smaller separate tray, spread a layer of pecans and bake for 2-3 minutes until roasted.  They will burn easily so keep an eye out!   In a small pan, add vinegar and thyme and heat balsamic until it boils.  Stirring constantly, to keep from burning, boil vinegar until it thickens and becomes syrupy.  It doesn't take long.  Sweeten with honey if you'd like.  Pour reduction over beans and stir to combine.  Sprinkle with pecans.

     Most people know how to make mashed potatoes and there are tons of recipes and discussions on the best potato type out there so I won't bother.  Instead I will give you a good ratio for making as many mashed potatoes as you need no matter how large your guest list.  Incidentally, this ratio applies for mashed cauliflower, turnips, rutabagas, or even sweet potatoes.  Mix it up a little this Thanksgiving!

Ratio Mashed Potatoes:
1/2 lb potatoes per guest
3 Tbs milk per 1/2 lb*
1 tsp butter per 1/2 lb
2 tsp sour cream per 1/2 lb (or plain yogurt)
1/4 tsp salt per 1/2 lb
1/8 tsp pepper per 1/2 lb
chives, parsley, thyme, or rosemary as garnish
*liquid ratio may vary depending on potato type

Peel, cube, and boil potatoes until tender.  The smaller the cubes, the faster this will happen.  Drain.  Mash with a potato masher or use a ricer.  Stir in milk, butter, sour cream, salt, and pepper.  Taste for any adjustment.  Top with garnish when serving.

I hope you all have a wonderful Thanksgiving!  I'll keep you posted on my heritage bird adventure!

It's Sneaking Up on Me, I Can Feel it...

It's about to pounce...  That time of year when all heck breaks loose around here.  After Halloween begins the long downhill slide of merriment until the New Year arrives.  We've got two birthday parties to attend, one to throw, two more small home birthday celebrations to deal with, Thanksgiving, 12 Days of Christmas Cookies, 25 days of Advent, Christmas, and the arrival of our dear friends for a week-long visit all between now and next year.  Plus there's supposed to be school, martial arts, piano lessons, and swim lessons in there somehow.  And all you guys out there probably have similar schedules!  It's just that time of year.  It's the most wonderful time of the year.  It's going to kill me.  And I wouldn't change a minute of it if you paid me.

One thing I'm doing different this year for Thanksgiving is that we're actually going to have real live guests here with us for dinner finally.  Since my husband and I got married, we have always had people over for Thanksgiving.  Every year a revolving list of friends has feasted with us depending on what family plans people had.  One year we had one person.  Our largest gathering was 10.  When we moved to Washington though, we just never found anyone who could join us.  Everybody had family here and plans.  But this year I ordered a turkey.  And not just any turkey.  One of these turkeys:

Photo Courtesy: R Heritage Farm

That's right, folks.  One of these beautiful animals is ours.  My friends Monique and Ben at R Heritage Farm are selling heritage, GMO-free, pastured turkeys.  (I hear there may even be a few left if anyone's interested.)  Note how colorful they are.  How they are roaming around completely cage-free on green stuff I understand some people call "grass."  They may occasionally (try not to faint, y'all) eat a bug.  If I'm going to cook an animal, this is how I want it to be raised.  Pay attention, farmers.  If one of these gorgeous, grumpy gobblers is going to give his life to feed my family, I wanted to make darn sure none of him was wasted so I put the word out on facebook and lo and behold we had a friend in town!  I am so excited to be having guests again I can hardly contain myself.

I am going to cook the bird low and slow just like the good old days and I will probably trot out lots of traditional (yet vegetarian) sides to go with it.  I'll post a picture of the bird once it's done if I can get one before the horde descends.  To inspire you a little, here are some recipes I've made in the last few years.

Mains:

Apple and Sage Roast Chicken

Simple Roast Chicken

Sides:

Brussels Sprouts with Balsamic Vinegar	Roast Fennel
Roast Vegetables with Quince	Vegetarian Mushroom Gravy
Pears	Five-Minute Cranberry Sauce
Pears with Ricotta Cheese and Chestnuts	Butternut Squash and Sweet Potato Soup

Breads:

Whole Wheat Bread	Pumpkin and Sage Cornbread
Pumpkin and Sage Cornbread Dressing	Simple Cornbread Dressing

Desserts:

Pumpkin Not-Pie Dessert	No-Bake Cheesecake with Soft Orange Cookie Crust
Rhubarb Kumquat Crisp with Goat Cheese	Pumpkin Mousse

Hopefully, I'll get a few new ones posted soon!

2 Years and Counting...

This marks the second anniversary of Crackers on the Couch!  I can't believe it!  Thank you so much for visiting this little place and encouraging me!

 While it's still the 26th, I think I'll go ahead and get this up...

Just in case you've got some Thanksgiving leftovers left, this is what I did with mine.  Basically, you put all your leftovers into ramekins and top it with leftover mashed potatoes.  It helps if you've got gravy made, too.  This really isn't a recipe so much as a technique.

Leftover Thanksgiving Shepherd's Pie

This year's pies had green beans, sweet potatoes, gravy, chicken, apples, celery, and onion.  I left the stuffing out as a side and topped them with mashed potatoes and a dollop of cranberry sauce when they were done cooking.  You can use virtually any side in these.  Last year, leftover roast veggies were perfect for these, for example.  Adding extra herbs like thyme, parsley, or rosemary is a nice touch, too.

Preheat oven to 350°.  Chop one onion, and sauté in olive oil until cooked, add cold veggies and gravy and cook until everything is warm.  Fill ramekins 3/4 full with filling mixture and top with mashed potatoes.  Place ramekins on a cookie sheet and heat in the oven until the mashed potatoes have heated through and begun to brown (about 20-30 minutes).  Remove from oven, serve with stuffing and a drop of cranberry sauce if available.

Review:
The great thing about these is that everything on the Thanksgiving plate usually tastes great together.  My favorite thing as a kid was getting a fork full of everything.  That's exactly what you get with these.  My youngest even eagerly chomped down onions, apples and celery that he totally skipped on during the regular meal. 

Get ready to begin another 12 Days of Christmas next week!  I can't wait to show you what Cara and I have in store!

Thank you all for another wonderful year!

Let Us Give Thanks...

     Uhhh... Sorry about that folks... I'm not sure what happened... Anyway, some of you may have gotten an advanced, advanced, advanced version of my Thanksgiving post... Bwoops!  I guess that's just a little insight into how I write my posts... derp.

    This is hardly how I wanted to start this post, but sometimes things happen that you don't expect.  Weather hits, election results come in, someone calls with a happy surprise, someone calls with bad news, a butterfly lands on your nose, you forget the Brussels sprouts in the oven... you know, stuff happens.  On the days when the downers outnumber the warm fuzzies, it's especially important to be Thankful for what you have.

     I love the song by the Shaker, Elder Joseph Brackett, called "Simple Gifts."  I think it nicely sums up the Shaker ideal of simplicity as worship and I think conveys an air of thankfulness.  Especially in this day and age when we rarely seem grateful for what we have and never seem to stop wanting more.  I think the opening lines are my favorite.

"Tis the gift to be simple, tis the gift to be free."

     Simplicity is a gift.  I'm giving it to myself this Thanksgiving.  Nothing crazy.  Nothing spectacular.  Something simple that will not leave me harried on Thanksgiving but will nourish myself and my family, whom I am terribly, tremendously, unabashedly, humbly, Thankful for.

     Freedom is a gift.  Those pilgrims who ventured to the new world so many years ago searched for freedom.  They found it here and I am thankful this country is still a place people come to find it.

     Last year I posted an elaborate Thanksgiving meal with fancy pumpkin cornbread stuffing and fancy chicken and other fancy stuff of fanciness.  This year, simplicity.

~Menu~

Simple Roast Chicken

Basic Cornbread Stuffing

 Roast Brussels Sprouts with Balsamic Vinegar

Steamed Sweet Potatoes

 Mashed Potatoes

Cranberry Sauce

Quick Roast Fennel

Roast Pears with Fresh Ricotta and Chestnuts

Pumpkin Mousse

I am going to list the recipes here in the order they should be started.  Beginning with the cornbread stuffing which actually takes two or three days.  I swear it's simple.  It's mostly waiting for things to dry out!  Lol!

 

Basic Stuffing
First, make the cornbread.  Let cool and crumble.  Leave on the counter overnight to dry out.  The next day, chop 1 medium onion, 4 stalks of celery, 1 C walnuts, 1 Tbs fresh sage, 1 Tbs fresh thyme, and 2 cloves garlic.  Heat 1 Tbs olive oil in a skillet and saute celery and onion until the vegetables have softened.  Add garlic, walnuts, and herbs and cook just a moment or two more until the herbs and garlic become fragrant.  Remove from heat.  Add to crumbled cornbread and add 1 C stock (I like mushroom stock, but chicken or vegetable is fine, too) and stir to combine.  Season with salt and pepper to taste.  Put the stuffing mixture into a glass casserole dish.  Place in preheated oven uncovered and bake for 20 minutes at 350° until the top is toasted and the nuts are crunchy.  Serve warm.  It's even better the second day.  I usually make it a day ahead and store it in a covered casserole in the fridge (this is where that pesky third day comes in).  Reheat at 350° uncovered for about half an hour.  Cover if top becomes too brown. 

     The Cranberries I made last year can easily be made a day ahead.  They take 5 minutes.  Seriously.

      What can be easier on your Thanksgiving time budget than a dessert you make the day before?  I found this Pumpkin Mousse recipe last year at Country Living for our Halloween party.  It's orange, white, and black and perfect for the Halloween color scheme, but it's full-on pumpkin-pie-without-the-pie flavor is made for Thanksgiving.

Note: 
I followed this recipe exactly except I substituted agar flakes for the gelatin.  I made this recipe last year and the agar didn't dissolve properly in the rum.  It happened again this year.  I think the gelatin is supposed to give the mousse a more pie-like texture, which I'm not crazy about anyway.  The agar left little chewy lumps in it.  I kinda like it.  But next time, I think I'll leave it out all together and see what happens.  This tastes just like pumpkin pie with out the weird consistency.  Woohoo for pie haters!

     This homemade ricotta recipe from Zestuous is for the pears (see recipe below).  You can make it the day before (or several if you need to) but it takes about a total of 35 minutes.  5 for boiling the milk, 30 for letting it drain.  Seriously hands-off stuff, folks.

     Since this Thanksgiving is all about ease, this chicken is the very easiest thing I've ever done.  I make it all the time when my family is hungry and all I have the brain cells for is slamming a chicken in the oven.  It's modified from this recipe on Epicurious.
  
Roast Chicken
One 2- to 3-pound chicken
Salt (I use sea salt, but kosher is what the original recipe calls for)
Kitchen twine

Preheat the oven to 425°. Rinse the chicken, then dry it very well with paper towels, inside and out. Salt the cavity, then truss the bird.  Salt the exterior liberally.  Place the chicken in a roasting pan and roast it for about an hour.  Don't baste it, don't fiddle with it, just let the skin get crispy.  When the internal temp reaches 165°, remove it from the oven and tent the chicken by covering it with aluminum foil.  Let it rest for about 15 minutes.

Note:
The only problem with this chicken is that roasting it at such high temps tends to make the fat explode everywhere.  Talk about smoke!  I put a layer of aluminum foil over the top rack and the bottom rack to catch drips and splatters.  The skin doesn't get as beautifully dark as when you leave them off, but the house doesn't get all smoky, either.  I take the top aluminum off for the last 15-20 minutes of cooking to let it brown.  If I forget to put the aluminum foil on, not only does my oven smoke while I'm cooking the chicken, it smokes every time I use it for the next 3 or 4 uses!  Unless I clean it, but who does that?

     Say, did you notice what temperature that bird was roasted at?  425°, right?  Guess what?  Everything else bakes at 425°!  How awesome is that?!

Roast Brussels Sprouts

Preheat oven to 425°.  Slice Brussels sprouts in half.  Heat 2 Tbs olive oil in a large ovenproof skillet. Place sprouts in the heated oil cut side down.  Saute with a little salt and pepper until the sprouts have turned bright green and the cut side has begun to brown slightly.  Toss in a little balsamic vinegar (about 1/4 C) and stir to coat the Brussels sprouts.  Place frying pan into preheated oven and bake until sprouts are tender about 15 minutes.

Roast fennel
Remove the fronds and core of the fennel.  Slice thinly with a mandoline (watch your fingers!).  Toss with a drizzle of olive oil, and salt and pepper to taste.  Lay the fennel on a baking sheet in a thin layer.  Roast at 425° for about 5-10 minutes until the fennel is soft and the licorice flavor is mostly gone.  (Say, didn't those Brussels sprouts take about 15 minutes?)  This large fennel bulb was enough for my husband and I to have a small side with no leftovers, the boys wouldn't eat any.  If your family likes fennel, you will probably want to plan at least 3/4 large bulb per adult.

Roast Pears with Homemade Ricotta and Chestnuts
1/2 Pear per diner
1 Tbs lemon juice (or more as needed)
2 Tbs Sucanat or other sugar with a high molasses content (plus more as needed)
1/2 C Fresh ricotta
4-5 chestnuts

Slice pears in half.  Remove seeds with a melon baller.  Brush with lemon juice.  Place cut side down onto a cookie sheet.  Cut X's into chestnuts and place on the same tray as the pears X side up. Bake for 10 minutes at 425°.  Remove chestnuts from pan and place on the counter to cool.  Flip pears cut side up and sprinkle with Sucanat.  Bake an additional 5 minutes.  Peel chestnuts and chop finely.  When pears are done, place a melon ball size scoop of homemade ricotta into the hole and sprinkle with chestnuts.

Note:
For a stronger cheese flavor try goat cheese or feta or maybe even blue, if you're brave.  I'm not.

     You may be saying to yourself, "Hey! Those pears also take about 15 minutes!" to which I say, "Yep!"  I shoved all these things in the oven at the same time and 15 minutes later, they all came out ready to go.

All of these recipes are quick and simple.  Added together, they do take some time, but I hope you can find at least one to substitute into your day to make it a tiny bit less hectic.  It can be hard to focus on Thankfulness when you're focusing on not burning off your eyebrows with the kitchen torch.  Here's to simplicity, everybody.  Happy Thanksgiving!

Simple Fall Soup

Thanksgiving is just a week away!  ACK!  This little soup is very quick and would make a nice starter or an easy tummy soother for the day after.

2 cups cubed butternut squash
1 large sweet potato
2 medium potatoes
1/4 onion
2 cloves garlic
salt & pepper
fresh thyme or rosemary, optional

Peel and cube veggies.  Boil in about 4 cups of water for 30 minutes or until veggies are soft.  Puree and add additional water as necessary until soup reaches desired consistency.

Review:  
A very quick and filling soup that serves 4.  You could easily double everything for a larger group.


I hope you've enjoyed my Thanksgiving posts!  It'll be back to normal programming next week.  But coming up in December I've got some seriously awesome cookies!

Cider for your Celebration

     You guys know I believe in supporting local business almost to a stalkery, pretentious, extreme.  Most of my favorite local businesses are farms I visit at my farmer's market.  I also have a favorite local toy store, butcher, grocery store...  Here in the Seattle area we are fortunate that a lot of the big name national brands are local.  Hello, Amazon, Starbucks, Microsoft, and Costco?  But my very favorite businesses to support are small, family-run businesses who produce quality, artisanal, products.  I have huge respect for farmers, having killed nearly every plant I've ever planted, so any thing that comes from a farm be it an egg, an apple, or a bottle of hard cider are practically a miracle to me.

    Not all ciders are the same, though.  I have bought some that were good, but tasted more like champagne.  The Snowdrift Cider Cliffbreaks Blend, made in Wenatchee, WA, tastes like apples.  A little sweet, a whole lot wonderful.  We served this at our Halloween party along with red and white wines.  The cider was the only bottle that was completely consumed!  I heard many comments about how great was.  If you live in Washington State, I highly suggest you try out this cider.  If you don't, they sell online, too! 

     This is not a paid advertisement.  Snowdrift Cider doesn't have any idea who I am.  I just like their cider and I think you will, too.  If you decide not to buy Snowdrift, I hope you will take the opportunity to check your own grocery store for ciders made in your area!

A Tiny, Tangy Tale...

Once upon a time there was a berry. It was a sour little thing. It looked like this:

And then somebody put a ton of sugar in it and boiled the heck out of it and it turned into this:

And the world rejoiced! It went on to play a supporting role in every single Thanksgiving Day celebration across the United States and eventually branched out into juices, salads, and energy bars. It's quite the American success story, really.

My entire life I ate one type of cranberry sauce. Ocean Spray whole berry from a can. No generic would do. You can't skimp on Thanksgiving, after all. Then one day, my friend Susan shoved this stuff in my face and I never looked back. She got the recipe from her horticulture professor, Zane.  Where he got it, the world may never know.  But it is so easy to make, there really is no excuse not to.  It might take 10 minutes to make it.  15 tops.

Zane's Cranberry Sauce
8 oz cranberries
2/3 C water
1/2 C sugar
1/4 C port wine

Place cranberries in pan with water. Boil cranberries until soft.  (They will pop).  Add sugar to pan and stir till dissolved.  Add port.  Simmer till sauce reaches desired thickness and taste.

Notes:

• I like to leave about a quarter of the berries un-popped so there is still a little sour zing.
• For all intents and purposes, this is jam.  It will thicken after it cools, so don't worry too much if it looks a little thin in the end.
• I like my cranberry sauce cold.  I make it the day before, pop it in the fridge and all I have to do on Thanksgiving is put it in a nice dish and put it on the table. 

Review:
This is better than the canned stuff and it's almost as easy as opening a can.  Plus, you're left with almost an entire bottle of port!  Woot!

Pears... Just Pears... Awesome Pears...

Asian pears are very firm and crispy almost like an apple.  A friend gave me a bag a few weeks ago and I've still got them hanging around.  I came up with this when I had some left-over syrup from canning a bunch.  Let me tell you something... this is fantastic.  This works best with really firm pears, it can get a little gritty if they're too soft.  These will be great for Thanksgiving as either a side or a dessert.

Pears
2 C water
1 1/4 C Sucanat
4 C peeled, cored, and sliced Asian pears
1 tsp cinnamon
1/8 tsp ground cloves
1 Tbs butter

Boil water and sugar until thickened into a syrup.  Add spices and pears and boil again until pears have soaked up juice and syrup has thickened more.  Just before serving, add butter and stir until melted.

Review:
Super yums!  Make this a day or two ahead, it reheats great.

A Thanksgiving Timeline...

     When I plan for Thanksgiving, I like to make sure that I know which food I'll be making, what I have already, what I need to buy, and when I'm going to make it.  This is what my lists look like for this year.  (Though this is a much neater version, all in one place.  The "real" version is scribbled on a million scraps of paper which move around on legs of their own and also seem to multiply.  I'm thinking of instituting a breeding program...)

     There are a couple of things on the menu that I haven't and won't give recipes for.  My mashed potatoes and green beans aren't anything to write home about.  They're good places to put butter and gravy and quick things to make the day of that I don't have to think about when I'm focusing on not burning the darn chicken.

Menu

Dish	Timeline
Bread	Up to 1 month in advance
Pumpkin	Monday
Cornbread	Tuesday
Stuffing	Wednesday
Gravy	Wednesday
Cranberries	Wednesday
Pears	Wednesday
Roast Veg.	Wednesday
Dessert	Wednesday
Chicken	Thursday
Mashed Potatoes	Thursday
Green Beans	Thursday

Check Lists

Check the Pantry	Check the Fridge	Check the Cellar	Grocery List
cloves cinnamon nutmeg ginger salt pepper sugar brown sugar whole wheat flour all purpose flour bread flour vegetable oil olive oil 3/4 C cornmeal 1/4 C grits 1 can evaporated milk 2 C mushroom stock pecans	2 boxes of butter 2 C milk eggs	5 small red potatoes + more for mashed potatoes 3 onions 1 1/2 heads garlic 3 medium apples	1 Quince 1 Parsnip Chicken 1 package of Poultry herbs (Rosemary, Sage, Thyme) 1 package of Sage 1 Fruity White wine like Riesling or Pinot Grigio Celery 8 oz Cranberries 1/2 lb Chanterelles 1 Portobello 6 pears 1 box yellow cake mix 1 bottle whipping cream Fresh Greenbeans Snowdrift Cider

11-11-11

     In honor of this momentous date.  And also because it's the end of the week.  And also in continuation of my Thanksgiving Postapalooza.  I am going to post the only pumpkin dessert you will ever find me eating.  Remember last week when I said I hate pumpkin pie and I had plans for the leftover pumpkin?  These, my friends, are those plans...

     My Mom gave me this recipe for the first Thanksgiving I ever celebrated with my husband.  Years later, she swore she'd never heard of it and I ended up giving it back to her.  When she gave it to me she told me she got it from someone at a potluck.  It certainly does seem like something that would have come out of some Southern Grandmother's kitchen...  Stuff with this much fat and sugar can only come from some Southern Grandmother's kitchen.  (Paula Deen, I love you...)  It's a little on the sweet side.  I like to tame it with a few chopped pecans, though I didn't for demonstration purposes.  But I guarantee, when all is said and done, you will want to take a bath in this stuff.

     First things first, remove the skins on your pumpkin, and purée the remainder of the flesh.  If you don't have quite 2 Cups worth, microwave half a butternut squash or *gasp!* open a can of pumpkin to make up the difference.  I found the purée to be too watery for this cake so I drained it for a few minutes in some cheese cloth. 

  
Pumpkin Pie Dessert 
Crust:
1 box yellow cake mix (divided)
1 stick melted butter
1 beaten egg

Filling:
2 C pumpkin
3/4 C evaporated or whole milk
1 C sugar
2 eggs
1/2 Tbs cinnamon
1/8 tsp ginger
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1/4 tsp cloves

Topping:
1 box Yellow Cake Mix (divided)
1/4 C sugar
1/4 stick softened butter
1/4 tsp cinnamon

Optional:
1 C Chopped pecans
Whipped cream or ice cream

To assemble:
Preheat oven to 350°.

Take 1 C of cake mix and place into a small bowl.  Put the rest of the mix in with a stick of melted butter and 1 beaten egg and mix well.  Grease a 9X13 inch pan and press mixture into the bottom to form a crust.

In another bowl, mix pumpkin, milk, sugar, and eggs.  Add cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, and cloves.  Pour over crust.

For the topping, mix sugar with the reserved 1 C of cake mix and cinnamon, then incorporate 1/4 stick softened butter.  Combine until crumbly.  Sprinkle over top.  (Now is also the time to sprinkle the pecans if you want them).

Bake for 45 minutes.

Review:
I have made this for 11 Thanksgivings, now.  It's on its way to becoming a tradition around here.  It's enough like pumpkin pie that pie lovers don't feel gypped and it's far enough away from pie that I can actually stand it.   And when I say "stand it" I mean "sit down and eat a whole pan by myself."  Dare I say it?  I have to say it!  This dessert goes to Eleven!!

The Star of the Show...

     Thanksgiving is just two weeks away!!  Up until now, I've shared an entirely vegetarian menu, so all you folks out there who say, "What do I feed my vegetarian guests?" Now you know.  But today?  Today is all about meat.  My very first post on this blog, nearly a year ago was this very dish.  I didn't even include a picture.  Today?  Today there's a picture...

Com'on now!  I don't even eat meat and this looks good.

     I got the recipe from Country Living Magazine many years ago, and have made it every Thanksgiving since.  Because it's just me, the hubs and two small boys most years, an entire turkey just doesn't make any sense.  When we have a ton of people over, I have made two, but I have never made another turkey.  When we've got two teenagers in the house, I may have to revisit this... o.O  This is also my "showing off for the fancy people" dinner.  Mr. Crackers loves it when we have fancy people over for dinner... 

     I haven't modified the recipe much since I posted this, but the times have never worked for me, so this post will include some time changes.  OK all you meaties, this one's for you:

Apple and Sage Roast Chicken with Pan Juices

First things first, Prepare the bird:
Thaw it out if it's frozen.  Empty out all the stuff in the cavity if there's anything in there.  Rinse inside and out, and dry well (this step is really important for the rub to stick properly).  Next assemble the ingredients:

1 roasting chicken
3/4 t salt
3 medium apples, cored and quartered
3 small onions, quartered
2 celery stalks, quartered
2 cloves garlic
2 T fresh sage, chopped
1/4 C butter, softened
1 T whole-grain mustard
1/8 t cracked white pepper
1 t fresh thyme
1/4 C fruity white wine, such as Riesling
3/4 C fresh apple cider

Directions:

   1. Preheat the oven to 375°F. Rub the inside of the chicken with 1/2 teaspoon salt. Chop 1 apple, 1 onion, and the celery into 2-inch pieces. Toss the apple mixture with the garlic and 1 tablespoon sage, and place it all in the chicken cavity.
   2. Tie the legs together with kitchen twine, and tuck the wings securely under. Mix the butter and mustard to a smooth paste and rub over the chicken skin and sprinkle with the remaining salt and white pepper. Place the bird in a medium roasting pan. Roast in the lower third of the oven for 30 minutes. Brush any remaining mustard-butter over the bird and continue to roast for 30-45 more minutes.
   3. Baste the chicken with the pan drippings, and sprinkle with remaining sage and the thyme. Scatter the remaining apples and onions around the bird, tossing lightly to coat with the drippings. Add the white wine, and roast the chicken 15 minutes. Baste the bird, and toss the apples and onions again for even browning. Continue to roast until bird juices run clear and the meat between the leg and thigh reaches 160°F. Remove from the oven and transfer the chicken to a serving platter. Arrange the apples and onions around the chicken.
   4. Prepare the jus: Tip the roasting pan so the liquid pools to one end, and use a large spoon to remove any excess fat from the pan juices. Add apple cider and place the pan over medium-high heat. Use a wooden spoon to scrape the bottom of the pan, and then pour the jus over the chicken, apples, and onions. Serve warm.

Tips:

• For instructions on trussing a chicken: http://www.ehow.com/how_2098435_truss-chicken.html
• I use Inglehoffer Original Stone Ground mustard on this chicken and sprinkle a half teaspoon or so of whole mustard seed for good measure, too.  I just like how it looks in the end.
• I never make the jus.  Mostly because I don't have a stove top safe roasting pan.  That, and it gets a little Christmas Story up in here when I make this chicken so to keep the hounds at bay, I get it to the table as soon as possible...

Review:
I reviewed this last time and the review remains the same.  Everyone I've ever served this to has loved it.  The end!

Quince Charming?

     That thing in the front there that looks like a pear is a quince.  It's like the pear's hardest, sourest, crunchiest cousin.  The chef guy at my favorite grocery store even gave them the stink eye.  But when I asked him if he thought they'd be good in roast veggies, his eyes lit up like Christmas.  They smell really sweet, a little like a flower.  Usually, quinces are made into jam or jelly or a pie with another sweeter fruit like apples.  Roasted, they do become quite mushy, but keep their slightly sour taste.  I used two sweet root vegetables to help lift it a little.  Overall, it was pretty interesting.  If you can't find a quince, you could use apples in this or a firm pear.

Roast Quince and Root Vegetables
5 or 6 small red potatoes (skin on)
1 peeled quince
2 small beets, peeled
1 medium sweet potato, peeled
1 large parsnip, peeled
1/2 large onion, quartered
2 cloves of garlic, quartered
1 stem rosemary
2 stems thyme
Olive oil
Salt and pepper

Preheat the oven to 400°.  Slice the beets into rounds and chop the quince and all the veggies into bite size pieces.  Toss the veggies and the quince with a little olive oil, season with salt and pepper, and toss in the leaves of the rosemary.  Roast covered for 45-60 minutes.  Remove cover, add thyme leaves and roast for another 30 minutes or until the onion has started to brown nicely.  And then you get this:

 Whoa, Mama!

Review:

The quince stays a little sour.  Mixed in with a big bite of everything though, it virtually disappears.  It just leaves a little bit of something to accent the rest.  I like it.  But it's not for everybody.  My kids, for example...  If your family is full of traditionalists, use an apple.  If you've got a bunch of weird adventurous family members give em' a quince!

Everything is Gravy...

     I don't eat gravy very often but I loved the idea of doing a mushroom gravy for Thanksgiving.  The fact that I had a pound of chanterelles sitting in my fridge didn't hurt either... It's chanterelle season here in the Pacific Northwest.  If you can get some now, store them in a paper bag in your fridge and they should keep until you want to use them on Thanksgiving.

Mushroom Gravy
1/2 pound fresh chanterelle mushrooms
1/2 large portobello mushroom
1/2 large onion
2 medium cloves garlic, pressed
leaves from 1 sprig rosemary, chopped small
leaves from 3 sprigs thyme
3 C Water
1 C mushroom stock
1 Tbs butter
1/4 C whole wheat flour
1/3 C white wine
Salt and Pepper

Heat mushrooms and onions in a large skillet until onions soften and mushrooms release their juices.  Press garlic into pan and stir to cook it a little.  Add water and herbs, simmer on low, covered for an hour.  Add mushroom stock as water evaporates.  When mushrooms and onions have simmered, remove from heat and purée about half of it using a regular or immersion blender. In a smaller pan, melt the butter.  Add the flour and stir continuously until flour begins to have a cooked, toasty smell (1-3 minutes).  Add the wine a little at a time, stirring until it forms a paste.  Put large skillet back on the heat, and slowly incorporate the flour mixture.  Stir continuously to keep from forming lumps.  Season to taste.

Tips:
This could be easily veganized by substituting margarine or olive oil for the butter.  If you want to try it gluten free, I really like the Bob's Red Mill GF flour, but haven't tried it in this.  If you do, let me know how it goes!  Is corn starch GF?  That would probably work just fine, too and you could probably skip the butter all together...  See how well I research my recipes?

Review:
I could eat a whole pan of this stuff by myself, growling like a dog at anyone else who wandered into the kitchen.  As the lone vegetarian at my table, it really helps add some texture and depth to my plate.  And the meat eaters say it goes well with their dinner, too.  It reheats easily.  Just add a little water before you heat it and it should loosen right up.  A great make-ahead candidate.

I'm sorry.  I really did try to take a picture of the gravy that didn't look like dog food.  You'll have to trust me on this.  It's ugly, but it's Yummy!!