What's on my table for Thanksgiving?

Here's more of a 'roundup' post of what I plan to bring to a friends 'pot luck' thanksgiving.

1. "Cranberry Sauce". No one volunteered for this and when someone suggested "the can" I caved and decided to 'ad lib' a cranberry sauce. Basically, I took a cup of apple-cranberry jam from 101 Cookbooks that I had already canned. Then, In a food processor, I blended a good hunk of ginger with about 1/2 cup to a cup of orange juice - processed well, strained (squeeze the pulp well, keep the juice, ditch the pulp), and then added the ginger/orange concentrate (to taste) to the jam. I also added a pinch of cinnamon, some more orange juice, zest of one large orange, and a touch of powdered sugar (all of these 'to taste' -- this is by no means an exact recipe!). I ended up with about 1.5 cups of "sauce" which should be plenty for the 6 or so expected guests.

2. Parmesan Buttermilk Mashed Potatoes. I love this recipe as an alternative to the super-buttery mashed potatoes of yore. Nice and light. Perfect with chives.

3. Sweet Potato and Swish Chard Gratin. This was meant to be. I happened to have these ingredients from my last trip to the market, so I just had to make it. I hope my hosts won't mind a bonus dish! One of two smitten kitchen recipes making the trip. A real post about this to come?

4. Dessert! Yum. I'll be bringing along some of my Brown Butter Pumpkin Pecan Dulce de Leche Ice Cream. Along with some homemade dark chocolate magic shell!

5. Last but not least, I'm going to make Smitten Kitchen's Cranberry Caramel Almond Tart. But with a slight twist. We've made this before, and had some leftover filling and tart dough so we cut out shapes (think large sugar cookies) and baked the dough and filling separately. Then, just before serving, we scooped some filling onto the tart dough cookie and had a 'deconstructed' tart. This meant I could accurately gauge the baking of the tart dough and the filling without using anything fancy like pie weights. Plus, it will likely travel better this way. Last we made this, was for cjr's boss's tenure party and it turned out adorable (cjr's boss loves dinosaurs...)

I look forward to sampling all of the other guests homemade goodies. Especially more pie. Oh, how I love pie. No turkey for me though. I never liked the stuff anyway :)

Ginger Lime Concentrate for Tea or Soda

So I'm sick. Could be some flavor of the flu, but that's unconfirmed.

In the meantime I'm spoiling myself with pea soup and mac'n'cheese, but I'm also considering my health. Aside from drinking far to much pedialyte (so much better than gatorade for dehydration! Mix unflavored pedialyte + italian soda syrup -- I like cherry -- for a much more effective electrolyte beverage) I'm also taking my mother up on her advice that I eat some ginger.... So here's something pungent to kick my cold.

Ginger Lime Concentrate
Two or three pieces of medium sized ginger, peeled.
Juice from 3 large, juicy lime (about 3/4-1 cup of juice)
1/4 cup water

1. In a food processor, process all the ingredeints for about five minutes. Stop frequently to scrape down the blade.

2. Strain the mixture into a bowl and discard the remainig pulp.

3. Store in the fridge for up to a few days (hopefully your cold willl subside by then!).

Ginger Lime "Tea"
8 oz boiling water
Honey (to taste)
Cayenne Pepper (optional)
1-2 tablsepoons Ginger Lime Concentrate (to taste)

1. Mix all the ingredients together. Sip and enjoy.

Ginger Lime Italian Soda
1-1.5 cups Chilled carbonated water (or soda water + ice). I use pellegrino.
2-4 tablespoons Ginger Lime Concentrate (to taste)
Sugar, simple syrup, honey, or agave nectar (to taste)

1. Mix all ingredients, add sweetener to taste, enjoy.

Homemade Hot Cocoa Mix

Hot Chocolate is not just for children anymore. In fact, many have touted chocolate milk's role as a "cheap" recovery drink after a particularly strenuous workout (it has the right ratio of carbs/protein)

Now, I've written about Hot Chocolate before but I wanted a more convenient (and less calorie-laden) version while I'm away from home.

The little cafe in my office building actually makes a delicious, frothy hot chocolate but even though $2 is not that steep for a hot chocolate, the convenience of having it on hand and making it on a whim without having to go outside is enticing (and yes, saving some money here and there).

I went into the supermarket today on the lookout for a good mix, but what I found was that most of them cost something like $4/box and had only 8 or so servings! Besides, they were loaded with ingredients that read more like something I'd find in the stock room of Tan Hall* then what I would want to put in my body.

Instead of cocoa mix, I left the supermarket with a box of powdered nonfat milk. Judging by the back of the labels it seems like the other basic ingredients of cocoa mix I already had: good cocoa powder, sugar, and whatever other delicious flavorings I had.

Besides, think of the DIY possibilities for the holidays! Make a bulk amount of the hot cocoa mix, and send it off to friends in cute tins with instructions.

For the basic template I used Alton Brown's recipe with a few modifications.

I think it's best to attempt this if you either have a sifter, food processor, or decent blender. Otherwise your ingredients won't incorporate together well and you'll get an uneven mix that doesn't dissolve readily in hot water. Also, don't leave out the corn starch. It's acts as a thickener and the mix will just turn out watery if you omit it.

Basic Ingredients

1.5 cups powdered sugar
1 cup good quality cocoa powder
2.5 cups powdered milk
1 tsp salt (salt + chocolate = winning combination!)
1 tbsp cornstarch

1. In a blender, food processor, or using a hand sifter combine all of the ingredient until well blended and the texture of flour. If you are using a sifter, you may have to sift the ingredients together several times to achieve this consistency.

2. Store at room temperature in an airtight container.

3. To make a cup of hot cocoa add about 8 oz (1 cup) of boiling water to 3-4 tablespoons of cocoa mix. Stir well, enjoy. If you want your cocoa a bit creamier, use heated (but not boiling!) milk instead of water.

Variations:

• Process a few candy canes into a powder and add them to the mix to make a delightful "Peppermint Hot Chocolate"
• Add a few pinches of cayenne pepper and a tsp of cinnamon to make a "Mexican" hot chocolate.
• Other flavorings to consider: ginger, nutmeg, & cardamom.
• Hot cocoa mix + instant coffee mix = convenient mocha (or just sub out the 8oz of water for 8oz of coffee!).
• Sending them off to family with some homemade marshmallows is always recommended, though a truly delicious (homemade) vegetarian marshmallow eludes me (even though I know it's - deliciously - possible).
• Of course you can play with the ratios/ingredients. Add more sugar or more cocoa. Or replace the nonfat powder with full fat milk powder. More cornstarch = thicker final product. Or, try soy milk or even goat's milk powder! [Disclaimer: I have no idea how this will play out, but it might be worth a test batch?]
• Oh, and homemade whipped cream (heavy cream + pinch of sugar + hand mixer, mixed until whipped cream consistency) never goes out of style!

*Tan Hall is where the UC Berkeley chemistry department's stock room is. The only time I go in there is if I've run out of highlighters or kleenex tissues.

Brown Butter Pumpkin Pecan ice cream with Dulce de Leche Surprise

Okay okay, so this is really just a variation on the Brown Butter Pecan recipe I posted, but it's festive, so it counts.

This recipe does take some planning. Here's a reasonable timeline for serving on (let's say) Saturday evening:

Thursday evening: "make" the dulce de leche, toast the pecans, and make the ice cream base.
Friday evening: churn the ice cream and add the pecans/dulce de leche as per instructions that follow and then allow to set in freezer overnight.
Saturday: enjoy the ice cream!

If you must, I suppose you could do the following:
Friday evening: dulce de leche/pecans/make ice cream base
Saturday morning: churn ice cream/add pecans & dulce de leche and set to freeze.
Saturday evening: enjoy the ice cream.

I highly recommend the dark chocolate magic shell to accompany the ice cream.

Brown Butter Pecan Ice Cream

Ingredients
1 cup butter (2 sticks), cut into cubes
1 cups milk
2 cups heavy cream
1/2 cup sugar (divided)
7 yolks
1 tsp salt
2 cups chopped, roasted pecans (recipe follows)
1 can pumpkin puree (15 oz)
1 can dulce de leche (recipe follows)

1. Place the butter in a deep pan over medium heat and begin heating the butter, stirring or swirling often. The butter will start to foam and bubble but keep watching just as it starts to brown and smell nutty remove it from the heat. The process should just take a few minutes. If you 'over brown' your butter, just strain out all the brown bits.

2. Put your 6 yolks + half the sugar in a blender or food processor (you need a volume of about a quart + in the blender or food processor so to make sure you have enough room for all the liquids).

3. When fully combined, leave the blender or food processor running. Then, slowly pour the (strained) hot brown butter into the yolk/sugar mixture and keep blending until fully combined (if you don't blend while adding, you'll cook your eggs!).

4. Rinse out the pan you used for your brown butter and place the rest of the sugar, salt, and milk (but NOT the cream) in the pan over medium heat. Allow the mixture to get to a simmer and then cut the heat.

5. Again, while blending, add the sugar/milk mixture into the egg/brown butter mixture.

6. When all the yolks have been fully incorporated, poor off the liquid into a large bowl. Add the cream and pumpkin puree and mix to combine.

7. Allow to chill in freezer overnight.

8. Freeze as per manufacturers recommendations on your ice cream maker.

9. In the last few minutes of churning (or afterwords if your ice cream maker doesn't set your ice cream too stiffly) add in the chopped pecans.

10. Pour a 1/2 inch layer of ice cream into a lidded, wide container and then place 1-2 tsp size dulce de leche globs onto the layer, spreading evening, pour another layer into the container and repeat the dulce de leche glob process until all the ice cream is used up (or the container is full!) . Place a piece of parchment paper over the surface of the mixture (this will stop the leathery freezer burn-yness that tends to form on top of ice cream). Seal the container with the lid and place in the freezer to set fully. Enjoy in a few hours.

Pan Roasted Pecans
If you have another method you prefer for roasting nuts, go with it. (For example, in the oven on a sheet pan). This one is fast and easy (especially to watch so it won't burn).

Ingredients
2.5 cups raw pecans

1. Place the pecans in a dry pan over medium heat. Stirring constantly until a roasted smell starts to waft over you and the pecans just start to change color. Pour into an open countainer and allow to cool on the counter (do not seal the container as the water in the air may condense and fall onto your pecans causing them to 'wilt'). When they are cooled completely, close the container and store at room temperature until use.

No fuss Dulce de Leche
Do not be afraid of boiling a can! It's magical! While you're at it, I recommend boiling several cans at once since you might as well. You can just stash them on a shelf at room temp as long as the seal hasn't be compromised on the can.

Ingredients
1 can sweetened condensed milk

1. Remove the label from the can (this is an important step) and place in a large stock pot/canning pot. Cover with water and allow to come to a simmer. Make sure there is plenty of water covering the can and check on it periodically, adding hot water as needed.

2. Allow to simmer for 3 full hours. After 3 hours, cut the heat, remove the can (canning tongs are useful here, but household tongs should do the trick, otherwise just let it cool in the water) and allow to cool overnight. When you open the jar you'll find the easiest Dulce de Leche you've ever made!