Between Thanksgiving and Christmas

Between Thanksgiving and Christmas we had a graduation party and there were several things worthy of posting. First, I have been on a thirty-year search for the Best Salmon Dip (Spread or Pate) and after sampling a lot I think I have found it. Second, my tried and true Chocolate Truffles recipe was a hit and it is included here.

It has been raining and so dark in Portland that I could only think of soup and the beets at the market looked good, so yesterday we had Ukrainian Beef Borscht and Ratatouile. And because I am in the eggplant mood I am including a great recipe for Caponata, also known as: And the Priest Fainted, a great dip or topping for brushetta.
The secret to the Borscht, Ratatouile and the Caponata is the oven roasting, it makes a huge difference in taste.


SALMON DIP

Ingredients:
8 oz cream cheese, softened
½ cup sour cream room temperature
1 TBS lemon juice
1 TBS dill
1 tsp horseradish
½ tsp salt (depending on how the salmon is cured)
¼ tsp pepper
¼ lb smoked salmon, shredded and bone checked
(Optional – 1 tsp minced red onion, 1 tsp minced capers)

Cream the cream cheese and sour cream with a hand blender or small food processor. Add ingredients one at a time and blend. Add the salmon last and blend until smooth. Serve with Fresh dill.

CHOCOLATE TRUFFLES

Ingredients:
12 oz semisweet chocolate (Trader Joe’s works well but any good chocolate will do)
½ cup + 2 TBS whipping cream
2 TBS liquor (brandy, Kalua, Amaretto, or very strong espresso)

¼ cup unsweetened cocoa
¼ cup powdered sugar

Instructions:
Melt the chocolate in double boiler. Boil cream in separate heavy pan for one minute and then cool for about 5 minutes. Blend the melted chocolate into the cream with a whisk until smooth. Add liquor. Cool over night (in the winter I cover the bowl of chocolate and put it in the garage or outside on cement) or until you are able to mold the chocolate into walnut size pieces or pieces the size of one or two bites. Drop onto waxed paper and continue cooling. Do not chill in refrigerator, as the chocolate will bloom. Mix the cocoa and sugar in a bowl and when the chocolate is hard enough, roll each in the cocoa mixture and set into mini paper or foil muffin cups.

BEEF BORSCHT
Makes about 3 quarts

Ingredients:
1/4 cup plus 2 + TBS extra-virgin olive oil, plus 2 more TBS
2 pounds beef – chuck cut into small cubes
Sea salt and freshly ground pepper
1 tsp oregano
2 bay leaves
1 tsp garlic powder
1 medium onion, diced
1/2 cup dry white wine
4 cups low-sodium chicken stock
1 tsp oregano
2 bay leaves
1 tsp garlic powder

5 garlic cloves, quartered
1 cup of small celery sticks
2 medium carrots or a small bag of processed mini carrots
2 pounds beets
1 medium onion, diced
1-2 medium tomatoes cut into ½ inch pieces

2 cups Napa cabbage finely julienned
1 cup kale finely julienned

½ cup stewed tomatoes
1 TBS fresh lemon juice
2 TBS red-wine vinegar
2 TBS balsamic vinegar
2 TBS chopped parsley

1+ TBS dried dill
sour cream

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350.
Heat 1/4 cup oil in a Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Dredge the meat in the herbs and brown. Add 1 onion, and reduce heat to medium. Cook, stirring, until softened, about 4 minutes. Add the wine and broth; simmer for 1 hour or until the meat is tender.
Meanwhile, cut up vegetables, toss with the oil and place in Pyrex baking dishes or heavy non-stick lipped baking sheets. Place in oven and cook for about an hour or until the vegetables start to soften but are not close to being mushy. Cool the vegetable until they are cool enough to handle. You can either process them in a food processor or shred them on a medium grater.

Strain stock through a sieve, and remove the meat.
Heat 2 tablespoons oil in a heavy soup pot over medium heat. Add all the vegetables including the raw cabbage and kale. Add the meat, the stewed tomatoes, lemon juice, vinegars. Parsley and 1 TBS dill. Cook until just heated. Add enough stock to make it the consistency of a chili or unthickened stew. Cook for 20 minutes.
Serve with sour cream and fresh or dried dill.
To make it really special and meaty, add 1 cup fried bacon cut into small strips.


RATATOILLE
Makes about 2 quarts

Ingredients:
1 can (28 ounces) whole peeled tomatoes, drained( saving the juice) and cut into ¾ inch pieces or what I just did 2 fresh tomatoes, cubed, ¼ cup sun dried tomatoes, and 1/2 can stewed tomatoes
5 cloves garlic, quartered
6 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1 large eggplant (1 pound), peeled and cut into 1-inch pieces
2 large yellow onions, diced large
2 red bell peppers, seeded and diced large
2 large zucchini, diced large
8 oz button mushrooms, quartered
Sea salt and ground pepper
1 bay leaf
1 TBS oregano
2 TBS red-wine vinegar
1 TBS balsamic vinegar

Instructions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Place tomatoes and garlic on a rimmed non-stick baking sheet or in Pyrex baking dishes. Drizzle with 2 tablespoons oil and bake until thickened, 30 minutes, stirring regularly.

Meanwhile, toss the cut up eggplant, onions, bell peppers, zucchini, and mushrooms in remaining olive oil and cook for an hour or until the vegetables are softening, browning around the edges but not mushy. Add the cooked tomatoes and vegetable to a large heavy bottomed stock pan. Add saved tomato juice and spices and vinegars and cook for about 15-20 minutes until flavors blend but the vegetables do not fall apart. Correct seasoning to taste and remove bay leaf before serving.


CAPONATA

Ingredients:
2 tablespoons olive oil
4 cloves garlic, minced
1/2-3/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
1 red bell pepper, seeded and diced
1 zucchini, diced
1 large sweet onion, peeled and chopped
2 ribs celery, chopped fine
1 medium firm eggplant, peeled and diced

1/2 cup large green olives, pitted and sliced
1/2 cup black kalamata olives, pitted and sliced
1 3-ounce jar capers, drained
1/2 cup golden raisins (a couple of handfuls)
Salt
1 32-ounce can diced tomatoes
2 T tomato paste

1 T balsamic vinegar

1/4 cup pine nuts, toasted

1/4 cup flat-leaf parsley, chopped (a handful)

Preparation:
This recipe also benefits from roasting the raw vegetables in oil in a 350 oven for an hour and then adding them to a heavy bottom pot and cooking them with the remaining ingredients but you can follow the more traditional frying method, it is just a flatter, less sweet taste, still good.

Place cutting board near the stovetop. Preheat a deep pot over medium heat. Add oil, garlic and crushed pepper. As you chop vegetables (peppers, onion, celery and eggplant), add them to the pot. Once vegetables are all in, increase heat a bit.

Stir in olives, capers and raisins. Add tomatoes and paste and stir well to combine. Cover pot and cook caponata 15-20 minutes, until vegetables are tender. Correct seasoning with salt. Stir in vinegar, parsley and pine nuts and remove pan from heat.

Gluten Free Thanksgiving Dinner

Gluten Free Thanksgiving Dinner

Cooking Thanksgiving with friends is the best, but this year I did it on my own and with the help of cds by Pink Martini I had a ball. Only a very crazy person would make all of this (I speak from recent experience) but I have just created and cooked all of the recipes and can vouch for them if you are willing to take on any one.

We had:

Scottish Oat Crackers, Mascarpone and Chutney

Trader Joe’s Sparkling Apple Cider

Brined, Butterflied Roast Turkey with a Cranberry Glaze.

Wild Rice and Cornbread Dressing

Arugula Salad with Marinated Root Vegetables

Mashed Potatoes with Garlic

Gravy with Potato Starch

Cranberry Sauce with Pomegranate and Orange Juices

Green Beans with Bacon and Balsamic

Pumpkin Pie with Cognac

Raspberry Pie with Lime Curd and Mascarpone Cream

So here it goes:

VERY EASY APPETIZERS

1 box Nairn’s or other Scottish Oat Crackers

1 container of mascarpone

1 jar Mango Ginger Chutney (we used Trader Joe’s brand)

Each cracker, spread with mascarpone, add a small dollop of chutney, plate.

THE TURKEY PROCESS

15 lb kosher turkey butterflied and brined. (see below) I brined the turkey whole and butterflied it afterwards, before roasting. My one mistake was to not rinse the brine off more thoroughly because leaving it on made the bed of stuffing saltier than I would have liked but it was still very good.

TURKEY BRINE MIXTURE

1 cup very coarse sea salt

¼ c sugar

½ cup dried cranberries

½ cup chopped dried apple

The peel of one orange, cubed

3 cloves of garlic, chopped coarsely

1 TBS dried thyme

1 TBS dried rosemary

1 TBS dried sage

1 TBS black peppercorns

Boil 1 qt of water, add the brining mixture and stir until dissolved. Cool and add another qt of water and pour into a thick plastic bag (I double bagged this to insure no leaks but I also left the bagged turkey overnight in an ice chest). Add the turkey and another qt and a half (6 cups) of ice cubes to the bag. I let the turkey brine for 24 hours, that is all the time I had. 48 hours is recommended but I was totally satisfied with the moisture content and tenderness of the turkey after 24 hours so I am not sure how much better a result 48 hours of brining would have produced.

After 24 hours and just before roasting, rinse the turkey in very cold water and pat dry with towels. I strained the contents of the brining bag to save the chunky ingredients and of that, set aside about ½ cup to make the glaze.

BUTTERFLYING THE TURKEY

To butterfly the turkey, simply get a pair of strong cooking shears and cut along the backbone, on both sides.  It is not nearly as hard as the YouTube videos make it and you do not need a guy to help you ladies. You may need a large, strong knife to hack through some of the bones stouter than the ribs but it is not a big deal to take the backbone out of a 15lb bird. Larger than this you may need help but butterflying is worth it. It took less time to cook and the drumsticks were not dry at all (one of my biggest complaints about cooking turkey.

TURKEY BROTH

All the parts you have left from the turkey: neck, backbone, etc.

Cover the turkey bits with cold water and bring to a boil along with:

1 onion, very coarsely cut

2 stalks celery, very coarsely cut

1 carrot, very coarsely cut

2 cloves of garlic, smashed

1 tsp salt

Bring to a boil and then reduce to a simmer and cover and cook 1-2 hours until the meat is falling off the bones. Cool and strain in a colander. Discard the bones after removing the meat and reserve the vegetables. Place the meat and veggies in a bowl with enough of the saved liquid to cover and blend with an immersion blender or place in a blender or food processor and process until very smooth. Cover and set aside in the refrigerator.

THE CRANBERRY GLAZE

½ cup cranberry sauce

½ cup melted butter

¼ cup olive oil

½ cup brining spices

Combine in a bowl and either blend with an immersion blender or in a processor until smooth. Put blended mixture through a strainer and set aside to baste on turkey later.

CRANBERRY SAUCE WITH POMEGRANATE AND ORANGE JUICES

1 bag (12 ounces) fresh or frozen cranberries

1/2 cup pomegranate juice

½ cup orange juice

¼ cup packed brown sugar

¼ cup white sugar

½ tsp cinnamon

pinch of salt

1 TBS Grand Marnier liquor

1/2 cup pomegranate seeds

Cook all the ingredients above except the pomegranate seeds in a medium heavy bottomed saucepan over medium high heat until the mixture comes to a boil. Reduce to a simmer and cook for about ten minutes until the cranberries burst and the mixture thickens. Set aside to cool.

WILD RICE AND CORNBREAD DRESSING

The day (or early morning) before:

1 qt chicken broth

1 cup raw wild rice

1 tsp salt

Bring the broth and salt to a boil, add the wild rice, return to a boil and reduce to a simmer. Cover and cook for 45 minutes or until the rice is done but still a bit toothy (or not falling apart tender.) Set aside for assembly.

Bob’s Red Mill Gluten Free Cornbread Mix

I followed the directions on the package, except that I used buttermilk instead of plain milk. I baked the mix in a buttered Pyrex baking pan and when it was cooled I cut the entire pan into three large strips, removed them from the pan and carefully, with a serrated bread knife, cut each slice horizontally in three slices and then cubed each slice so that I had left only cubes about ¾ inch square. I then toasted these on cookie sheets in a 350 degree oven until they were crispy, turning the cubes several times to release the moisture. I cooled these and put them in a plastic bag until I was ready to assemble the dressing.

The day you roast the turkey:

WILD RICE AND CORNBREAD DRESSING (CONT'D)

2 large onions, diced

½ bunch of celery, diced

1 carrot, diced

3 cloves garlic, minced

½ lb mushrooms, diced

1 apple, diced

2 TBS olive oil

2 TBS butter

1 TBS dried sage

1 TBS thyme

salt and pepper to taste

Melt the butter and olive together in a very large frying pan. Add the onions, celery, carrots, apples and mushrooms and sauté until just barley done. Add the herbs and set aside.

1 pound bulk turkey or pork sausage (gently pre-fried in olive oil in walnut size chunks until just barely done)

1 cup coarsely chopped baked chestnuts (from the shell is best, purchased already processed are good but they do tend to get lost once cooked, fresh chestnuts will retain their integrity better when cooked under the bird)

To a large bowl add the wild rice, cornbread cubes, fried vegetables and herbs, cooked sausage, and chestnuts. Add just enough of the prepared turkey broth to barley moisten.

To a large, buttered, at least 12x15 inch, heavy roasting pan add the Dressing Mixture in a layer on the bottom. Place the butterflied rinsed and dried turkey on top. Brush with olive oil. Preheat oven to 425. Cook the bird for 30 minutes and then reduce the temperature to 325 and cook for another 1-2 hours or until the internal temperature is 170 degrees. Remove from oven and let the bird rest on the dressing for 45 minutes until removing and carving.

MASHED POTATOES WITH GARLIC

1 ½ lbs medium red potatoes, unpeeled, cubed

3 cloves garlic, smashed

1 tsp salt

2 TBS butter

¼ cup warmed milk

salt and pepper to taste

Boil about 2 qts of water in a medium saucepan and add the potatoes and salt, return to a boil, add the garlic and then reduce to a simmer and cook for about 10 minutes or until the potato cubes are tender. Drain the cooked potatoes in a sieve. Return the potatoes to the warm pan, add 2 TBS butter and enough of the ¼ cup warm milk to make the mashed potatoes the texture you want. Blend with an immersion blender or hand potato masher. Add salt and pepper.

GREEN BEANS WITH BACON AND BALSAMIC

1 pound of small green beans or haricot verde

5 strips of fried or oven roasted bacon cut into small strips

1 TBS extra virgin olive oil

½ TBS good balsamic vinegar

salt and pepper

Steam the beans until just done. In a bowl toss the beans with the bacon and oil and vinegar. Adjust to taste (may need to add more vinegar.) Add salt and pepper if needed.

TURKEY GRAVY

3 cups turkey broth from above

1 Tbs melted butter

1 TBS olive oil

2-3 TBS potato flour

salt and pepper to taste

Bring the turkey broth to a boil, reduce to simmer.  Remove ½ cup to allow to cool. To the melted butter in a small bowl add the olive oil. Gradually stir in the potato starch. As the mixture thickens add some of the cooling broth. Stir in the lump less potato starch mix to the simmering broth with a whisk and whisk until smooth.

ARUGULA SALAD WITH MARINATED ROOT VEGETABLES

3 cups of arugula

1 cup of spinach

3 scallions, sliced

½ cup cherry or grape tomatoes, sliced

1 golden beet, sliced

1 red beet, sliced

½ cup tiny carrots, sliced as thick as the beets but on the diagonal

Dressing:

6 TBS olive oil

3 TBS balsamic vinegar

salt and pepper

½ tsp thyme

½ tsp oregano

1 clove garlic minced or pressed

1 tsp sugar

1 tsp Dijon type mustard

Steam the beets and carrots until just tender. While still warm marinate for several hours in the dressing ingredients. Drain. Assemble the salad with the arugula and spinach, tomatoes, scallions, the drained root vegetables and then add enough of the remaining dressing/marinade to lightly cover.

PUMPKIN PIE WITH COGNAC

One premade 9 inch frozen gluten free single piecrust

1 15 oz can of pumpkin

1 tsp ground cinnamon

½ tsp fresh grated nutmeg

½ tsp ground ginger

¼ tsp ground cloves

½ tsp salt

1 ½ cup heavy cream

¼ cup white sugar

½ cup plus 2 TBS brown sugar

1 TBS molasses

2 TBS cognac

2 eggs plus 4 eggs yolks, lightly beaten together

1 tsp vanilla

Mix all the ingredients in a large bowl and beat with a whisk or an electric mixer until smooth. Pour into the raw piecrust. Bake at 425 for 15 minutes, reduce the heat to 350 and cook for another 35- 45 minutes or until the pumpkin custard is set. Cool and serve with slightly sweetened whip cream.

RASPBERRY PIE WITH LIME CURD AND MASCARPONE CREAM

Ingredients:

Raspberry layer:

20 oz frozen raspberries

12 oz (2 cartons) fresh raspberries

1 cup juice (may need water to make full cup)

3 1/2 TBS corn starch

1/3 cup sugar + 2 TBS

½ tsp salt

1 tsp lime or lemon juice

4 egg yolks

2 drops almond extract

1 TBS butter

Defrost the frozen raspberries and place in a large sieve over a bowl to drain and save juice. When thoroughly thawed crush the berries with the back of a spoon to the sieve and collect more juice. Carefully wash and rain the fresh raspberries keeping them in tact.  If you do not have 1 cup of juice add water to make the amount. To a medium heavy bottomed saucepan add the cornstarch and sugar and salt. Gradually add the raspberry juice and stir to eliminate lumps. Add the saved raspberry pulp and seeds and lemon/lime juice and cook over medium high heat stirring constantly while the mixture thickens. Remove from heat. Add a few TBS of mixture to the beaten egg yolks in a separate bowl, stir well and then add tempered mix to the saucepan. Cook over medium heat for two minutes. Remove from heat and add the almond extract and butter. Chill.

Mascarpone Cream Layer:

1 cup heavy cream

1/3 cup powdered sugar

1 tsp vanilla extract

1/2 cup mascarpone cheese

Whip the cream with the powdered sugar and vanilla. In a separate bowl whip the mascarpone. Fold the two creams together and chill.

Lime Curd Layer:

2 cups lime curd (jarred or if you want to make it recipe follows)

Homemade Line Curd

Makes about 4 cups

3/4 cup water

1 1/2 cups lime juice

6 tablespoons butter, divided in half

3 cups sugar, divided

6 extra-large eggs

4 extra-large egg yolks

In a large, non-reactive saucepan over medium-high heat, combine water, limejuice, half the butter and half the sugar. Bring to a boil and let simmer until sugar completely dissolves. In a large bowl, combine eggs, yolks and remaining sugar. Whisk to combine. Temper the egg mixture by adding a small amount of the warm mix and combine the two mixtures in pot. Over medium heat, stir constantly until thickened to curd consistency, scraping the bottom and sides of pot so eggs do not overcook. Have a mesh strainer set up over a bowl within a bowl ice bath and force curd through strainer into bowl. Add remaining butter to curd, whisking until butter is fully incorporated. Store the Lime Curd in the refrigerator with vented plastic film touching the curd so a skin does not form and chill well.

Pie Crust

One 9 inch prebaked, cooled gluten free pie crust

Raspberry Jam Glaze

1 cup of raspberry jam

1-2 TBS Karo syrup

Heat the raspberry jam in a small saucepan. Pour the warm, melted liquid jam through a small mesh sieve to remove all the seeds. Add 1-2 TBS syrup to mixture. Cool.

Assembly:

To the cooled piecrust add the 2 cups lime curd to the bottom layer, smooth. Gently pour the mascarpone cream to the second layer and smooth. Gently add the raspberry custard to the third layer. Place the clean, dry fresh raspberries on the third layer in concentric circles to fill the top.

To gild the lily. When you have the pie assembled and the fresh raspberries in place spoon the raspberry glaze over each raspberry to coat. Chill. It is stunning!

A Recipe From a Great Natural Cook

One of the best, most creative, adventuresome and enthusiastic cooks I know is my friend Tina. We have shared many meals and also share the willingness to try almost anything but have especially bonded over Kabul's Afghani Restaurant food in Sunnyvale. On my most recent visit to Tina she fixed me a "road dish" (food she lovingly prepares to see me from California to Oregon but is almost always consumed long before the border.) I recommend this so highly. The various flavors explode in your mouth and you can chose the proportions of the various ingredients. Tina made her own plum sauce, which was delicious, and dried her own mushrooms which were semisoft. This dish is a jumping off point for your own creative additions but it is worth your while to try it in its original form. It was a wonderful surprise for me as I sat at a rest stop with all the little piles of ingredients, the final product was unexpected and became an instant classic. This would make a great and fun company starter.

TINA’S LETTUCE WRAP

INGREDIENTS:

Butter lettuce – the smaller center leaves

Chop finely and kept in separate containers or piles:

Ginger - after peeling the "meat" only

Jalapeno - as hot or mild as you like it

Shallot

Lime - the pulp center not peel

Cilantro

Toasted coconut (unsweetened, natural is best)

Salted peanuts

Savory mushroom

Or

Dried shrimp

Chinese plum sauce

DIRECTIONS:

Pile the chopped ingredients on the leaf, top with plum sauce, wrap and gobble down!