According to the Food Network Magazine, did you know 50 percent of you will use premade pie crust, 79 percent will use canned pumpkin, 51 percent will serve canned cranberry sauce and 33 percent of the dinner rolls served will come from a bakery, 33 percent will be brown-and-serve, only 20 percent will be made from scratch and 14 percent will come from a tube?
According to the Food Network Magazine, did you know 50 percent of you will use premade pie crust, 79 percent will use canned pumpkin, 51 percent will serve canned cranberry sauce and 33 percent of the dinner rolls served will come from a bakery, 33 percent will be brown-and-serve, only 20 percent will be made from scratch and 14 percent will come from a tube?
Thank goodness only 2 percent of those making Thanksgiving Day dinner buy premade stuffing, as it is an easy and necessary side dish.
To make a classic cranberry sauce such as the one in the can, here is a recipe for cranberry jelly:
Cranberry Jelly
1 pound cranberries (4 cups)
2 oranges
2 cups sugar
1 teaspoon ground coriander
Kosher salt
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
Put the cranberries in a saucepan.
Remove wide strips of zest from half an orange with a peeler; add to the saucepan with the juice of both oranges (about 1/2 cup). Add the sugar, coriander, a pinch of salt and 1 cup water.
Bring to a simmer over medium heat, cook, stirring occasionally, until the berries burst and the sauce thickens; about 20 minutes.
Remove from heat, remove zest, stir in vanilla. Transfer to a blender and puree until smooth.
Strain through a fine-mesh sieve into a serving dish, pushing the sauce through with a rubber spatula.
Refrigerate until set; about three hours.
Turkey has gotten a bad reputation as containing tryptophan and causing sleepiness after feasting on a Thanksgiving meal. It is not the cause. Instead, it is all the carbohydrates you eat with the turkey that cause you to be sleepy.
Think about it.
Won’t there be dinner rolls, mashed potatoes, stuffing, sweet potato casserole and gravy to go with the turkey? Yes, they are the reason you get so tired, so don’t blame the poor turkey. He’s innocent!
Making some wonderful healthy side dishes that do not contribute to sleepiness is one way of licking this problem.
Kale and Feta Salad
Serves: 6-8
1 bunch kale, large leaves discarded, leaves finely chopped
1/2 teaspoon salt
Massage kale with salt in a large bowl for two minutes.
Pour over the kale and toss to coat:
1 tablespoon cider vinegar
Fold in:
1/3 cup feta cheese, cut into 1/2-inch cubes
1/4 cup currants
1/4 cup toasted pine nuts
1 apple, peeled, cored and diced into 1/2-inch cubes
Black Bean and Couscous Salad
Serves: 8
Bring to boil in a 2-quart pot:
1 1/4 cups chicken broth
Stir in:
1 cup Israeli couscous
Cover pot, remove from heat and allow to stand five to 10 minutes. Cool.
In a large bowl, whisk together:
2 tablespoons fresh lime juice
1 teaspoon red wine vinegar
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
8 green onions, chopped
Add cooked couscous and fluff. Add:
1 red bell pepper, seeded and diced
1/4 cup fresh cilantro, rough chopped
1 cup frozen corn kernels, thawed
2 (15-ounce) cans of black beans, rinsed and drained well
Salt and pepper to taste
Gently mix together all ingredients and serve.
Here are some interesting things to remember from the Thanksgiving issue of Bon Appetit magazine:
1. Do not starve yourself on Thanksgiving. Eat breakfast. Otherwise you might tend to eat too much during the feasting.
2. Your refrigerator will be full, so put all wine, beer and other drinks in a separate cooler.
3. Skip the bread. There will be enough carbohydrates with the stuffing, mashed potatoes and sweet potato casserole.
4. This is the time to get out the fine china and wine glasses. It is a special day, after all. My father, and interestingly, also Jim’s father would not allow the use of paper plates and plastic utensils at any occasion.
5. Unless the hostess asks you, don’t feel obligated to bring a dish. The hostess might already have plans for the side dish you want to bring.
6. If you bring a
dish, don’t expect the kitchen to be available to finish it or finish chopping. The kitchen already is a disaster zone, especially just before the meal is served.
7. Offering to come early to help get ready for the meal or assist in placing the dishes in the dishwasher is appreciated by the host.
8. A salad is a good dish to bring if you want to bring something, as a green salad often is overlooked by the hostess. A salad also is easy to transport and separate components of the salad can be placed in resealable bags until you arrive. Assembly should be easy — a matter of placing the other ingredients into the salad bowl. You can leave the dressing on the side for the guests to pour themselves. Bring your own salad bowl and do not get there and ask the hostess for a bowl. She is busy getting all the dishes out and does not have time to drop everything and look for a bowl for you.
9. The oven might have the important dish, the turkey, so there might not be any space to finish off your dish. Perhaps you can use the hostess’s microwave?
10. If the hostess says, “Just bring yourself,” and you think you still need to bring something, here are some thoughts:
• A guest book to keep a record of guests from each Thanksgiving.
• A special wine for the hostess, not to be opened at Thanksgiving. The wines for Thanksgiving should be nice, but not too expensive. Great table reds and whites reasonably priced are sufficient (for suggestions, ask our own Ryan Kadota or Randy Nunokawa ).
Have a wonderful Thanksgiving!
Email me at audreywilson 808@gmail.com if you have questions.