Posted by Sarah Wolf, May 9, 2008 at 11:00 AM
If you're wondering how to get the kids off your hands while you fix Mother's Day brunch this weekend, why not try making them your sous chefs? It'll be fun for them, it'll be less work for you, and Mom will be delighted. And if anything goes wrong, no one will think it's your fault.
Here's a possible menu of dishes that are deliciously uncomplicated to make and involve child-friendly steps like mixing and grating. (For safety's sake, just be sure to carefully supervise your kids and leave the grating and any chopping to your older children.)
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Posted by Adam Kuban, March 22, 2008 at 3:00 PM
If you're celebrating Easter, you've probably already got plans for tomorrow night's supper, but if not, I've found this recipe, adapted from The River Cottage Meat Cookbook by Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall, ideal for a Sunday afternoon. I'm posting it a little ahead of schedule, just in case you want to get to the butcher and grab some lamb shanks. Because you're braising the shanks—a great way to handle a cut that can otherwise be easily overcooked—you've got time to go out and attend church or visit with family while the oven does most of the work. Once the lamb is tender, it's only a matter of finishing the sauce and serving with some appropriate sides. I like this one because I can still do lamb without cooking a very large piece or going through a large amount of fuss to have a taste of this traditional Easter dish.
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Posted by Adam Kuban, March 20, 2008 at 1:00 PM
Purim starts tonight, and one of the traditional foods associated with the holiday is Hamantaschen. The triangular treats are said to either resemble the villain Haman's tri-corner hat or his triangular pockets (hamantaschen literally means "Haman's pockets"). Though originally associated with Purim, this little pastry pocket is traditionally filled with lekvar (prune paste), mohn (poppy seeds), or apricot paste. Schwartz goes a little out of the pocket here with a chocolate-filled version.
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Posted by Adam Kuban, March 18, 2008 at 1:45 PM
Today's recipe from this week's featured cookbook, Arthur Schwartz's Jewish Home Cooking, is for Potato Latkes. You basically couldn't write a book by that title or blog about it without highlighting these little fried potato pancakes. Here, Schwartz recommends using matzo meal instead of flour for a crisper surface. Another trick he recommends is stirring the mixture with a tarnished silver spoon, leaving it in between stirrings—it helps prevent the potatoes from turning gray. Latkes are typically served at hanukkah, but we couldn't resist bringing you this recipe several months in advance—it's not like you can't make them any ol' time.
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Posted by Gina DePalma, March 18, 2008 at 8:30 AM
Eggs are essential ingredients in Italian Easter celebrations, playing a role that extends beyond the huge, elaborately decorated chocolate eggs that decorate every shop window in the weeks before the holiday.
Eggs were a symbol of new birth and renewal for many of the ancient civilizations predating the Christian era, when they were adopted as a representation of the resurrection of Christ. They evolved as part of the traditional Easter feast partly because they were one of the foods originally forbidden to have during Lent. These traditions are still intact today, ingrained in the mind, heart, and stomach; each region of Italy has its own special recipes for consuming eggs on Easter.
Romans are likely to enjoy a light first course of Brodetto Pasquale at their Easter table, the local version of a soup that features eggs as well as lamb, another iconic Easter food.
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Posted by Paul Clarke, March 14, 2008 at 5:15 PM
Let's start the weekend right—with a cocktail recipe from Paul Clarke (The Cocktail Chronicles). Need more than one? That kinda week, eh? Here you go. Cheers!
For a holiday so frequently associated with tipsy merriment, St. Patrick’s Day is certainly celebrated with a bum bunch of drinks.
Okay, there’s Guinness—I’ll give you that as the primary redeeming tipple for the day, with a tip of the hat also to the decent drams of Red Breast. But what else do you see being poured? Buckets of American lager tinted with vegetable dye, mugs of Irish coffee so laden with sugar and whipped cream that a drinker will lapse into a diabetic coma before inebriation sets in, and in the more raucous places the young folks frequent, the unfortunately named Irish Car Bombs.
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Posted by Lucy Baker, February 9, 2008 at 2:00 PM
I love chocolate. But when it comes to Valentine's Day it can be a bit of a cliché: the Whitman's Samplers with their impossible-to-decipher filling maps; the miniature heart-shape drugstore candy bars; the Hershey's Kisses, once simply silver, suddenly dressed in every shade of pink and red.
This year, why not make your honey swoon by baking her (or him) a special treat made with that other creamy, sweet, incredibly rich and decadent substance—peanut butter?
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Posted by Adam Kuban, February 4, 2008 at 5:30 PM
The first of our Cook the Book recipes this week is for a simple breakfast Valentine that you could bake up for your sweetheart the morning of Valentine's day or for tea later that afternoon. They require a 2 1/2-inch heart-shape cookie cutter, so dig yours out of the drawer or go grab one at the kitchen-supply store if you don't already have one.
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Posted by Dorie Greenspan, January 31, 2008 at 12:45 PM
Use a heart-shaped waffle maker for the best results
I know it’s a little early for Valentine’s Day, but for those of you who plan ahead and test ahead, you might want to give these little heart-shaped waffles a pre-fete run.
The batter for these waffles is almost a chocolate cake batter, which is why, when they’re baked, they taste like no other waffle you’ve ever had. That they’ve got crushed amaretti in them only makes them that much more special. Amaretti, for those of you who need a new addiction, are dry, crunchy, kind-of-meringuey Italian almond cookies that, in their most famous incarnation, are sold wrapped in beautifully printed tissue paper. Even though they’re a splurge, the amaretti I like best are Lazzaroni Amaretti di Saronno—they’re the ones in the red boxes and save-worthy tins. That said—I’ve used supermarket-brand amaretti and my waffles have been fine.
To get the full heart effect, you need a five-of-hearts waffle-maker. Lacking that, don’t give up on the recipe: make it in your regular waffler and, if you want to be truly romantic, cut your waffles ordinaires into hearts.
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Posted by Erin Zimmer, January 17, 2008 at 3:30 PM
It’s too bad we’re not all in rural Carhampton right now, or Gloucestershire, or really any Western European village with an apple orchard celebrating Apple-Wassailing Day. Rousing apple trees from sleepy wintertime, in hopes of a bountiful crop later this year, is a sport for many Brits on January 17th each year. As apple cheerleaders, they carry torches and bang on pots and pans to wake-up napping Fijis and Staymans.
At the core (heh) of this, is the hot wassail, a spiced drink that falls somewhere between cider, punch and mulled wine (each village has their own recipe, some with dry sherry or beer). Villagers rally around the biggest apple tree then pour hot wassail all over tree roots and finally break out the shotgun to scare away evil, crop-ruining spirits.
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Posted by Dorie Greenspan, January 3, 2008 at 12:30 PM
Here in Paris we said au’revoir to the last bûches de Noël (yule logs) on New Year’s Eve and bonjour to les galettes des Rois on January 2, the day the city’s pastry shops reopened. While the galette des rois is a cake meant specifically for January 6, Epiphany, it’s impossible to resist its temptations before or after the official holiday—so impossible that some shops offer the sweet until the end of the month.
The galette is really very simple, if a little time-consuming to make—it’s an almond and pastry-cream filling sandwiched by two rounds of (all-butter) puff pastry dough—but so, so good. Nothing beats buttery puff pastry and a filling made with more good butter! But great taste is only one of its attractions—the chance to wear the king’s crown is another, and probably the one that keeps kids asking for the cake over and over.
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Posted by Ed Levine, December 31, 2007 at 7:30 PM
Another delicious cocktail from the fertile imagination of Mario Batali to toast the new year with. Think of it as the liquid version of Larry Gonick's Oranges Campari. Let's raise a glass to the Serious Eats community. We love hanging out with all of you, chewing the fat about our mutual food enthusiasms and passions. May the new year be filled with all things delicious. Happy New Year, Serious Eaters!
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Posted by Paul Clarke, December 28, 2007 at 6:00 PM
Let's get this weekend started right. Here's a cocktail recipe from Paul Clarke (The Cocktail Chronicles) to kick things off. Need more than one? That kinda week, eh? Here you go. Cheers!
For many people New Year’s Eve means breaking out the bubbly, but all too often the bottles are kept socked away until midnight. That’s a shame—good Champagne and other sparkling wines are great to enjoy throughout the evening (in moderation, of course). And as a bonus, modest wines easily take on a new, more luscious character with just a little help from the liquor cabinet.
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Posted by Paul Clarke, December 21, 2007 at 7:00 PM
Let's get this weekend started right. Here's a cocktail recipe from Paul Clarke (The Cocktail Chronicles) that's perfect for Christmas. Cheers and ho! ho! ho!
As Yuletide traditions go, they don’t come much more classic than the Tom & Jerry. Bowls of this rich, boozy warmer were a staple at countless 19th century saloons after the season’s first sign of snow. As a Christmas tradition, the ritual of breaking out the Tom & Jerry mugs lasted well into the Eisenhower administration; the link between the drink and the holiday was such that it was immortalized by Damon Runyon in Dancing Dan’s Christmas, in 1931:
This hot Tom and Jerry is an old-time drink that is once used by one and all in this country to celebrate Christmas with, and in fact it is once so popular that many people think Christmas is invented only to furnish an excuse for hot Tom and Jerry, although of course this is by no means true.
Changing tastes left this venerable holiday drink behind, but pockets of devotees still remain. Today, the Tom & Jerry is enjoying a bit of a renaissance, as lovers of classic cocktails try their hand at mixing a bowl. Preparing the batter does take a little work, but it can be doled out all day (and night) at holiday parties and Christmas gatherings. Basically a sort of hot eggnog, the drink may seem unfamiliar to contemporary palates; no worry, Tom & Jerry has a way of making friends real fast.
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Posted by The Gurgling Cod, December 20, 2007 at 3:45 PM
For those of you who may have been intrigued by the Charleston Punch but do not have plans to entertain groups of 300 people over the holidays, consider this saner yet festive alternative from The Lee Bros. Southern Cookbook
.* Matt Lee and Ted Lee are Charleston denizens, but Matt developed the prototype of this punch for a black-tie holiday dinner at a Harvard eating club, so make of that what you will. It is possible that lower indigenous levels of gentility call for lower levels of alcohol.
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Posted by Dorie Greenspan, December 20, 2007 at 12:30 PM
I don’t know how it got to be just five days before Christmas (and therefore almost the end of 2007—yikes!), but here we are. The stockings are already hung by the chimney with care and the carolers will be at the door any second. And by now you just might be cookied-out, having baked for the cookie exchange, the office party, the kid’s school, a bunch of charitable groups or a house party—or maybe all of the above. So, this week I’ll skip the cookies and give the recipe for what I think is a fabulous gingerbread cake.
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Posted by The Gurgling Cod, December 18, 2007 at 10:00 AM
Eggnog may be second only to fruitcake as a holiday punchline. And why not? It comes up most often as an explanation for otherwise inexplicable behavior at office parties, and the pre-made version in most grocery stores resembles an opaque, insipid quart of 10W-30 motor oil. For the first 30 or so years of my life, I never gave much eggnog much thought. Then, thanks to a lucky day at Myopic Books, the Gourmet's Guide to New Orleans came into my life. The name is misleading—it is, in fact, a Junior League cookbook. Charleston Receipts is probably the most famous Junior League cookbook, but as a rule, they are worth keeping an eye out for when you trawl the cookbook section at your favorite used book store. My copy is the 13th edition, from 1955, but I don't know when the eggnog recipe became part of the collection. After I read the recipe, I knew immediately I had to make it:
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Posted by Paul Clarke, December 14, 2007 at 5:00 PM
Let's get this weekend started right. Here's a cocktail recipe from Paul Clarke (The Cocktail Chronicles) to kick things off. Need more than one? That kinda week, eh? Here you go. Cheers!
Think of it as an easy, no-egg eggnog. Or think of it as a classic Southern tipple, with an alluring blend of sweetness and richness, and a deep-flavored kick. However you approach the milk punch, just be sure to think of it sometime during the holiday season.
I had a great time sipping one of these on a July morning in New Orleans, but with its fullness of flavor, its silky texture and its nutmeg finish, the milk punch seems particularly well-suited to this time of year. Classically made with a combo of brandy and rum, the milk punch also works well with bourbon in the place of either or both. And while it’s lovely to drink the punch when poured into a glass full of crushed ice, you can instead serve it hot, for a rich and potent warmer. Either way, this drink that dates back to horse-and-buggy days has a way of slowing everything down, taking the edge off a hectic holiday season if only for an hour or two.
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Posted by Mario Batali, December 14, 2007 at 10:00 AM
Most purists in Italy consider any sauce for any fish to be nearly heretical, but in Liguria, the herbacious bath of pesto has the weight of barely floral scented spring and early summer breezes so, the odd exception is often made.
In this case the particularly briny shrimp from the Mare Tirreno marry well with a pesto with less cheese than normal and a slight increase in the pine nut content. The first time I tried this was at a seriously relaxed place on the high end in Portofino callled Il Splendido. There is a pool terrace and then a casual restaurant in the garden where they serve lunch only to high-roller Euro types and American heiresses who missed the boat to Clooney's house over on Lago di Como and where, despite the often kiss-kiss-mwah crowd, the food is actually killer.
They serve these marinated shrimp on the salad buffet (I know what you're thinking, and it is not that way here; it is truly exquisite), but they also do a piatto del giorno with a fresh puffy pillow of focaccia genovese, piled with shrimp, pesto, sun-dried tomatoes, and giant, nearly bitter arugula leaves. Two glasses of local vermentino and a plate of green melon and the nap by the pool puts you into the dreams of Gian Vincenzo Imperiale.
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Posted by Erin Zimmer, December 13, 2007 at 5:00 PM
Yesterday, D.C. Metro riders were glued to the Washington Post’s food section. 'Twas the annual Cookie edition! With 26 recipes, it got fudgy, nutty, fruity (and fatty, but whatever). One twenty-sixth of it especially struck me. The ANZAC biscuit, an all-caps acronym for Australian and New Zealand Army Corps, which doesn't usually appear until April on its eponymous holiday.
According to urban legend (un-scary ones), World War I care packages were filled with these oaty rockstars to feed fighters. As a Serious Eats reader back in August put it wisely, they’re “like oatmeal cookies on steroids, and they keep forever.”
Last night I attempted the bellicose biscuits, and added a few personal touches.
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Posted by Mario Batali, December 6, 2007 at 3:45 PM
Editor's note: Mario Batali had never participated in any Hanukkah rituals until he came to New York and met his wife, who loves making a big deal about Hanukkah for their kids. But just because he was a Hanukkah neophyte doesn't mean he didn't have a strong point of view about latkes and apple sauce, as you can tell from this. —Ed
We love to celebrate all holidays—especially the ones that have a specific food item. In the case of the first night of Hanukkah in our house, we make latkes and apple sauce. We celebrate alone with no guests and keep it very simple. We peel spuds and apples like devils and then make the stuff. Then we light the candles and say the prayers in our limited ability and then eat happily. It's a tradition.
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Posted by Zach Brooks, November 23, 2007 at 12:00 PM
For sandwich lovers all around the country, Friday is pretty much our Super Bowl. Starting late on Thursday night and continuing until the Thanksgiving meal is exhausted, amateur sandwich chefs will engage in a ritual that is as American as Thanksgiving itself—the transformation of Thanksgiving leftovers into a very serious sandwich. My concoction is pretty standard (roll, turkey, stuffing, and cranberry sauce), so I decided to turn to Serious Eats' contributors for some day-after-Thanksgiving, sandwich-making inspiration.
The answers run the gamut and should provide you with more than enough ideas for your pile of leftovers. Not surprisingly, every sandwich contained turkey, and all but two called for cranberry sauce of some kind. Cheese showed up on three sandwiches (brie being the most popular), and mayo is the clear condiment of choice, appearing four times (five if you count aioli), beating out mustard (one sandwich) and butter (two sandwiches). And bacon shows its almighty power in appearing twice, despite the fact that it requires you to cook more food, thereby totally defeating the purpose of the day after Thanksgiving, "leftovers" sandwich (but undoubtedly making it more delicious).
A list of Serious Thanksgiving Sandwiches, courtesy of the Serious Eats Team, after the jump.
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Posted by Erin Zimmer, November 23, 2007 at 10:00 AM
Although this Brit comfort food is typically made with minced lamb, it's a dish that rolls with the punches. When replaced with ground beef, it's cottage pie. In New Zealand, spuds are the key ingredient so it becomes the potato pie. In our red-white-and-blue nation, we've got one with corn called the cowboy pie. (Yee-haw) The meat-hating crowd does a vegetarian shepherdess pie. And the Midwest? They've got one, too, with cream of mushroom soup and green beans.
So along comes Thanksgiving with all its leftovers: a perfect chance for a seasonal shepherd's pie. Emeril has a fussied-up version and Martha does a more basic one. Either way, the bottom line is to throw leftovers (turkey, green beans, cornbread, stuffing, and cranberries) into a casserole dish. Bake at 400°F for about 30 minutes, until bubbling. For fun, throw the sweet potatoes into a pastry bag, and as if they were icing, dress the dish with some frilly designs.
Posted by Robyn Lee, November 23, 2007 at 9:00 AM
Photograph from brooklyn on Flickr
It's the day after Thanksgiving, but the holiday isn't over yet. Surely you didn't forget about that pile of leftovers in your fridge. You know, the one with all the turkey. And mashed potatoes. And cranberry sauce. Etc.
You could eat the leftovers just the way they are and bore yourself to death, or you can give them new life as ingredients in different recipes. Here's a selection of recipes that will turn some (or all) of your leftovers into something tasty instead of something you'll forget in the fridge and rediscover a month later, topped with a layer of mold.
Have any ideas of your own? Contribute them to the "What do you do with your turkey leftovers?" Talk topic!
Posted by Nick Kindelsperger, November 21, 2007 at 4:00 PM
I was searching for one last Thanksgiving trick. I flipped through my copy of the Silver Palate, hoping to find some deah simple preparation for carrots, one that would fit nicely on an already overflowing table. I’d already made glazed carrots before, but this one only called for a few key spices. I was intrigued.
It was advertised as Ginger Candied Carrots, which sounded like a perfect match for all the other sweet sides. But what ended up on my plate was less candied and more earthy. That certainly came from the caraway seeds, which made this dish kind of nutty, and overwhelmed every other ingredient. It was a really interesting dish, but alas, not much of an All-American Thanksgiving side. Oh well, I’m already going to toss some carrots in with my mashed potatoes. Other than that, it’s all about the turkey. Good luck everyone!
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Posted by Erin Zimmer, November 20, 2007 at 4:00 PM
Whip out the butane torch, kids. This Pumpkin Pie Brûlée, also from friend Brendan Cox of D.C.'s Circle Bistro, is super simple and just needs that hand-held ignition and flame tip (also good for destroying small patches of weeds and for high-tech lightage of birthday candles). Grandma Mildred may call it untraditional, but again, we say: Bring on the pyromaniac urges.
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Posted by Erin Zimmer, November 20, 2007 at 3:00 PM
We’ve done sweet potato spoon bread and Japanese sweet potatoes with scallion butter, but not a sweet potato trifle yet. The traditionally Brit dessert with a kick could be considered "fusion" since it combines Union Jack with the American harvest. As long as we don’t start giving you sweet potato spotted dick and sweet potato bangers and mash, we think the combo is safe.
This recipe was created by Washington, D.C., chef Brendan Cox of Circle Bistro, who even adds an expected s’mores twist for a little campfire fun at the end. Also, on the topic of trifle—we were pretty impressed when this commenter 'fessed up on our "10 Steps to Getting a Thanksgiving Invitation," admitting that she tragically dropped her hazelnut torte (with hand-peeled hazelnuts even), and when it broke into “about 60 chunks,” presto-chango transformed it into a trifle but “told no one.” Good strategy. We like.
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Posted by Nick Kindelsperger, November 19, 2007 at 4:30 PM
Really good cranberry sauce isn’t such a secret. It’s basically just a simple concoction of fresh cranberries, sugar, a little salt, and water. Boil for it for a scant five minutes, let cool, and it’s ready to go. Certainly not as nostalgic as the jelly mold sold in cans but comforting in its own way. Although the method described above is tasty enough, by changing a few ingredients and popping the cork on a bottle of bubbly, a whole other dimension can be added.
It, unfortunately, does make the dish just a little un-American. I’m fairly sure the Puritans didn’t have Champagne, not to mention the Native Americans. So it seems a little tragic to add. But it’s such a perfect complement to the cranberries. If your conscience gets the better of you, then just do what we did and toss about a tablespoon of the cranberry sauce into a wine glass and top with Champagne. It’s not exactly a Thanksgiving tradition, but here's to trying to make it one.
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Posted by Adam Kuban, November 19, 2007 at 12:45 PM
The following recipe was provided by Serious Eater Karen Resta, as part of her essay A Modern Woman's Thanksgiving.
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Posted by Adam Kuban, November 19, 2007 at 12:45 PM
The following recipe was provided by Serious Eater Karen Resta, as part of her essay A Modern Woman's Thanksgiving.
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Posted by The Pioneer Woman, November 15, 2007 at 8:00 AM
And the Pioneer Woman's back with one of her patented visual recipes—this time for sweet potatoes so rich and decadent that they're almost dessert. —The Serious Eats Team
OK, so they’re my mom’s sweet potatoes. And OK, they weren’t even hers to begin with; she picked up the recipe in New Orleans more than 30 years ago when she was pregnant with me or my brother or someone in my family, I’m not sure who. I don’t remember those days very clearly.
Known originally as "Soul Sweet Taters," this dish is so deliciously divine, my sibs and I would gobble up the entire pan every Thanksgiving and meet our annual beta carotene requirements in one sitting. And really, folks, when you look at the list of ingredients in this dish, you’re going to laugh at me. No, really. You’re going to laugh and ridicule and mock and criticize and laugh again. Because while I’m passing this off as a Thanksgiving side dish, it’s every bit as decadent as a dessert. Still, I think it needs to stay on the plate with the turkey, dressing, and mashed potatoes, as you wouldn’t want to do anything to upstage Aunt Bessie’s pecan pie. That would be really rude.
Let’s get started, shall we?
Here’s what you’ll need: Sweet Potatoes, Milk, Sugar, Vanilla, Eggs, Salt, Butter, Pecans, Flour, and Brown Sugar. How bad can THIS be?
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Posted by The Serious Eats Team, November 14, 2007 at 8:00 AM
When we talked to Bon Appétit editor in chief Barbara Fairchild about the November 2007 issue of the magazine, we asked her what her favorite Thanksgiving recipes from the issue were. This potato gratin, published here courtesy of Fairchild and Bon Appétit, was one of them. Here's what she said about it: "It's way too rich for Thanksgiving, especially since I serve two kinds of stuffing and two kinds of potatoes already. But, man, is it good."
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Posted by The Serious Eats Team, November 14, 2007 at 8:00 AM
When we talked to Bon Appétit editor in chief Barbara Fairchild about the November 2007 issue of the magazine, we asked her what her favorite Thanksgiving recipes from the issue were. These muffins, published here courtesy of Fairchild and Bon Appétit, were among them.
This recipe is fun, Fairchild says, "because everyone gets their own little cornbread muffins. I bet it would even work with a cornbread mix, though we never tested the recipe using a mix."
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Posted by The Serious Eats Team, November 14, 2007 at 8:00 AM
When we talked to Bon Appétit editor in chief Barbara Fairchild about the November 2007 issue of the magazine, we asked her what her favorite Thanksgiving recipes from the issue were. This chutney, published here courtesy of Fairchild and Bon Appétit, was one of them. Here's what she said about it: "It's easy, different, and I like the texture. Plus, it's foolproof, so I'm giving it to a friend who never cooks the other 364 days of the year."
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Posted by The Serious Eats Team, November 14, 2007 at 8:00 AM
When we talked to Bon Appétit editor in chief Barbara Fairchild about the November 2007 issue of the magazine, we asked her what her favorite Thanksgiving recipes from the issue were. This brussels sprout hash, published here courtesy of Fairchild and Bon Appétit, was one of them. Here's what she said about it: "I want something green at my Thanksgiving table, and it's always brussels sprouts. I know my nephews are going to pick the almonds out of the dish."
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Posted by The Serious Eats Team, November 9, 2007 at 8:00 AM
When we talked to Cook's Illustrated publisher Chris Kimball about the November 2007 issue of the magazine, we asked what recipes really stood out in it this year. This pie crust is one of them, he said. "It's a brilliant recipe," Kimball said. "The secret ingredient in it? Vodka."
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Posted by Dorie Greenspan, November 8, 2007 at 12:30 PM
Although I can’t quite believe it, it’s almost Thanksgiving, America’s favorite and most food-centric holiday.
I’m like everyone else, I love Thanksgiving—but it’s not a holiday without its hassles. For me, the biggest problem, and the one I can never beat, has to do with real estate, specifically: how to get everything into my one average-size oven when the turkey is hogging most of the space for most of the day.
Since every square inch of space I can liberate is precious (and also, as I see it, a triumph of ingenuity), I try to get as much of the baking as possible done as far ahead as possible—something that’s easy to do since so many sweets freeze so nicely.
I get biscuits, muffins, and scones in the freezer early, ditto coffee cakes for Friday’s brunch, and I always have this All-in-One Holiday Cake ready to go.
This bundt cake includes all the ingredients we think of at holiday time—pumpkin, cranberries, apples and nuts—and cinnamon, nutmeg and ginger, the fall spices, too. The only thing more you might want is maple syrup and you can get it – you can mix a little into some whipped cream and use it as a topping, or you can make a maple sugar icing to drizzle over the cake (see Playing Around).
If you bake the cake ahead—and I think you should—make sure to:
- Cool the cake completely
- Wrap it airtight (I either double wrap it in plastic film then give it a last wrap in aluminum foil, or double bag it, making sure to get all the air of the plastic bags before sealing them;
- Freeze it and then, the day before you want to serve it.
- Defrost it, still in its wrapper
Next week, another Thanksgiving treat.
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Posted by Jenn Smith, November 6, 2007 at 4:00 PM
Thanksgiving is about welcoming everyone to the table, and sometimes that means accommodating specific dietary restrictions. An increasingly common dietary need is that food be prepared without wheat, as the gluten present is intolerable by people with allergies and celiac disease.
Jacqueline Mallorca's The Wheat Free Cook collects recipes that substitute for—or are built on an absence of—this problematic ingredient, and includes a chapter on gluten-free groceries.
While her recipe for stuffing on one level simply substitutes rice-flour bread (available at many grocery stores including Trader Joe's and Whole Foods) for the traditional white or cornbread, it is nice to be able to follow tried-and-true proportions developed especially to factor the change in bread texture, so that your final product ends up crumbly but moist.
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Posted by Zach Brooks, October 31, 2007 at 12:30 PM
Photograph from concrete angel on Flickr
In honor of Halloween, I wanted today's Serious Sandwich to be truly terrifying. Something that was both scary good, but also just plain scary. I think this one fits the bill. I don't know if it's good, but it certainly is terrifying on many levels. Why bother with the same old Italian hero at your Halloween party when you can petrify your guests with Paula Deen's "Snake Bites Sandwich"?
Enter the haunted house of a Paula Deen sandwich, where the first obstacle is finding the bologna, ham, salami, and Monterey Jack that have become lost in the winding, crisp crust (from a can of course). Beware of being lashed by its roasted red pepper tongue, as you stare down the beast through its chilling pimento-stuffed olive eyes. Surprisingly there's no extra fat in this recipe (considering the source), so you'll have to be satisfied with the already butter-filled crescent rolls that make up the easily penetrable skin of the beast. Ooooh, and don't forget a little dip in Dijon mustard. Creepy indeed!
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