Tag Archives: Thanksgiving

Foto Friday

Posted on November 25, 2011 | 6 comments

Ughh, that’s the only sound I can make right now.  Probably because I am still so full.  Oh, the beauty of stuffing your face for 3 straight hours.  Well, one more thing I’m thankful for this year, is that this feast only happens but once a year.

I have been promising you photos all week, and boy do I have a lot of them! I hope you enjoyed your Thanksgiving as much as  I did.  And if you are still hungry for more, I have serious leftovers.

Thanksgiving Photo Recap…it’s right about now I wish this was a slideshow…

Baked Brie 

Autumnal Salad

Turkey Breast 

Drunken Cranberry Sauce

Coconut Ginger Mashed Sweet Potatoes

Apple Pie

Brownie S’mores Pie

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Happy Thanksgiving

Posted on November 24, 2011 | 7 comments

Happy Thanksgiving!! Or in Turkey speak…Gobble Gobble! Ironic that we gobble up the one thing that says gobble gobble? Not to get all existential on you or anything.  But today is the time to reflect, and say thanks for all the things we are grateful for.  Here’s a brief list of the things I am especially thankful for this year:

Family – and the fact that I got to spend this week with the people I love most
Friends – I am a lucky girl to have such great friends
The health and happiness of my family and friends
Cookies
My grandma
- 86 and still the smartest person I know
Glitter
- especially the edible kind
My new niece – I miss you already Arli Dylan
Puppies – all of them everywhere
My Bite-Sized readers – my love for you is anything but Bite-Sized

And now, the moment you have all been waiting for…drumroll please…

Turkey Breast
Ingredients
1 bone-in turkey breast
4 Bay leaves
1/8 cup of Black Peppercorns
½ head of garlic, smashed
¾ cup of sugar
¾ cup of Kosher salt
Sage
Rosemary
1 Apple (preferably reddish and sweet)
Butter, and lots of it, at room temperature
1 bag of large carrots, cut into big pieces
3 onions, quartered
2 parsnips

Directions
The first thing you have to do to ensure a tasty turkey is brine, brine, brine! To make your brine, add 8 cups of water to a stockpot.  Then add ½ head of garlic, 1/8 of a cup of black peppercorns and 4 bay leaves.  Bring this toa boil.  Once the mixtures boils, turn off the heat and add ¾ cup of kosher salt and ¾ cup of sugar.  Remove from the heat and let cool completely.  Add your turkey breast to a brining bag and place the bag in a baking dish.  This will prevent any bring leaking in your refrigerator.  Once the brine has completely cooled, add it to the brining bag with the turkey.  Make sure the entire breast is submerged and then tie to seal.  Place in the refrigerator overnight.

When you are ready to cook your bird, preheat the oven to 380 degrees.  Remove the turkey from the brine and pat completely dry.  Place the sage and rosemary under the skin, stems removed, just leaves.

Place the carrots, turnips and onions in the bottom of your baking dish and place the bird on top of the vegetables.  Place the apple in the cavity and then cover the turkey in a very generous amount of butter.  Think Paula Deen.  Add the leftover herbs to the turkey breast as well.

Place the bird in the oven uncovered for 20 minutes.  After 20 minutes, remove the baking dish from the over and cover with foil.  Return to the oven and cook for about an hour or until the bird is 160 degrees.  This may vary depending on the size of your bird.  Once it reaches 160 degrees, remove the foil and let the bird cook until it is golden brown.  Remove from the oven and let sit for about 20 minutes before carving.

While the turkey is resting, it’s time to make the gravy.  Remove the veggies from the baking dish and place on the tray you will use to serve the turkey, making sure to preserve the drippings in the pan.  In a small saucepan, make a roux.  A roux is a combination of flour and fat, which will help to thicken the gravy.  Combine 2 tablespoons of flour and 2 tablespoons of butter in the small saucepan over medium heat.  Cook for a minute or two until the flour has been completely incorporated into the butter.  Once the roux is finished, pour in the drippings from the turkey pan.  Whisk until the mixture is smooth and warm.  Serve with your turkey!

Happy Thanksgiving!!  And remember, there will be pictures tomorrow!!

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As Feast Week Continues…

Posted on November 23, 2011 | 10 comments

Twas the night before Thanksgiving, and all through the house,  were scents of sweet dishes that were sure to arouse…Seriously though, my apartment smells fantastic!! Today was my first official day of cooking and baking in preparation of the feast, excluding the ice cream making I did last week.  And man, am I ready for tomorrow or what.  I mean mentally ready, cause damn I’m tired.  But I still have a few more dishes to finish off tomorrow.

In the meantime, here are a few more recipes to get your juices flowing…

Cranberry sauce is a staple at the Thanksgiving table.  But, it can be kind of boring.  So, I put a Bite-Sized spin on this classic dish and added alcohol.   Now the dish is delish and has it’s own catch phrase: “Cranberry sauce you can get sauced from.”  Okay, I’ll work on the catch phrase, but this cranberry sauce really is spectacular.

Drunken Cranberry Sauce
Ingredients
1 12 ounce bag of fresh or frozen cranberries
½ cup white sugar
½ cup brown sugar
¾ cup of orange juice
¼ cup of water
1 shot of orange liquor (Grand Marnier)
1 orange

Directions
Place all of the ingredients, except the orange, in a sauce pan and cook on medium – high heat for about 15 to 20 minutes or until most of the liquid has reduced, stirring occasionally. You will hear the cranberries pop, which is a good thing! Once most of the liquid has been reduced, remove from the heat and let cool.  While the cranberry sauce is cooling, segment 1 orange.   To segment the orange, slice off the top and bottom of the orange.   This will give you an even surface for cutting.  Cut off the peel, including the white pith.  Try not to remove too much of the orange along the way! Cut the orange between the membranes and remove the fruit.  Then, cut into quarters and add to the now cool sauce.  Cool the sauce in the refrigerator until it’s time to serve.

Presentation is 9/10ths of the law, the law of eating that is.  So to make this sauce look even better, I brulee a couple orange slices to add to it.   First, thinly slice half an orange.  Lay out a few slices on a baking sheet.  Sprinkle liberally with sugar.  Using your kitchen torch, brulee those babies and add them to your sauce as a garnish!

Another Thanksgiving staple, that is totally one of my favorites, is Sweet Potatoes.  But like I told you before, I’m not adding any marshmallows to this dish.  Instead, I’m making Coconut Ginger Mashed Sweet Potatoes.  Sounds a little funky, but I promise this dish will be huge hit around the dinner table.  Trust me, and if you don’t trust me, then trust Heidi Swanson, author of www.101cookbooks.com, where I found this intriguing recipe.

Coconut Ginger Mashed Sweet Potatoes (serves 6)
Ingredients
2 1/2 pounds orange-fleshed sweet potatoes
1/3 cup coconut milk
1 tablespoon fresh ginger, grated
1 tablespoon maple syrup
1/2 teaspoon fine-grain sea salt
1/3 cup raw, unsweetened grated coconut
2 tablespoons olive oil or melted butter
1/3 cup toasted macadamia nuts, chopped

Directions
Preheat your oven to 350F degrees. Pierce each sweet potato numerous times with the tines of a fork and wrap in foil.  Place in the oven for somewhere between an hour and an hour and a half, until each is baked through. Times vary greatly depending on the size of your sweet potatoes – in the end you should be able to cut through the center flesh as if it were soft butter. Remove the potatoes from the oven, let them cool for a few minutes, and cut each sweet potato in half. Scrape the flesh into a medium mixing bowl. You should have about three cups of sweet potatoes. In a large bowl mash the sweet potatoes with the coconut milk. Stir in the ginger, maple syrup and salt. Let it sit for a few minutes, stir again and taste – adjust the seasoning if you need to.

Spoon the sweet potato mixture into a large baking dish, sprinkle with coconut, drizzle with olive oil and bake uncovered until warm and the coconut golden roughly 30 – 40 minutes. Remove and sprinkle with the toasted macadamia nuts.

To see the recipe by www.101cookbooks.com, click here:
http://www.101cookbooks.com/archives/nikkis-sweet-potatoes-recipe.html

Still waiting on that Turkey recipe, huh? Well, guess what? You are going to have to wait one more day! Tomorrow wouldn’t be Turkey day without a Turkey, now would it?

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Feast Week – Day 2

Posted on November 22, 2011 | 15 comments

As feast week continues, I bet you’re wondering what Bite-Sized recipes are headed your way today.   You know I love to keep you on your toes, so I’m switching up the order of things.  Watch out now!  Yesterday we did dessert, today we are starting back at the beginning.

The beginning for me is when my guests first arrive.  And since the football starts before the feast, I can’t expect my guests to be anything but early.  Good thing for this Bite-Sized Blonde, and my family, that basketball isn’t normally on Thanksgiving day.  Otherwise, we would all be eating Chinese takeout, lockout aside.

So, the eating starts early on Thursday and you betta believe I have something up my sleeve for an appetizer,  something that’s not lackluster like crudités, or too filling like devils on horseback.  While delicious, these little guys pack a deadly, and by deadly I mean filling punch from the combination of a little protein and fiber.  So, what’s left to serve?  Baked brie and crackers.  This sweet, salty and savory treat will leave my guests satisfied but not full, which is a very important, and thin line to be aware of on Thanksgiving.

Baked Brie is another one of those dishes that is impossibly easy.  There’s just so much to do on T-day, so much cooking, so much baking, so much eating, why make any more work for yourself than you already have?  I know I make a good point, which is why I make a good Baked Brie.

Ingredients
1 wheel of Brie (2 lbs)
1 cup of peach apricot preserves

Directions
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.  Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Place the cheese on the parchment paper and cover with the preserves.   Bake in the oven for approximately 20 minutes, or until the cheese looks like it’s softening.   Remove from the heat and let cool.  Once cool enough to handle, place the cheese on a plate and serve with crackers, veggies or nuts!

How easy was that? I know, totally awesomely easy.  Now, onto the next step, salad.   I know you are probably not expecting fireworks here.  Wait, who am I kidding?  I know you are expecting fireworks here, and here you have them.  This Autumnal Salad is a recipe inspired by a recipe by Chef April Bloomfield for New York Magazine.  One look at this salad, and I knew this is what I had to serve at Thanksgiving.  The colors scream fall and the flavors and textures will have your feathers flustered.

Autumnal Salad
Ingredients
2 packages of organic baby lettuce mix
20 ounces of butternut squash, peeled and chopped
1 cup of pomegranate seeds
1 cup of shaved parmesan cheese
1/2 cup of pine nuts
2 garlic cloves
1 lemon
Olive Oil
Balsamic Vinegar
Salt and Pepper

Directions
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Smash 2 garlic cloves with the flat side of your knife, then chop the garlic until it is very fine. Combine with olive oil and salt.  Place the butternut squash in the bowl and coat with the oil mixture. Put the butternut squash in a baking dish, drizzling any leftover oil over the squash and pop in the oven. Roast the squash until it is tender and slightly brown, about 30 minutes.  Allow to cool.

Lightly drizzle with 1 tbs. of olive oil and a splash of lemon, and place on platter. Put market greens in large bowl, and gently toss with salt, 2 tbs. of olive oil, and a squeeze of lemon. Sprinkle the greens in and around the butternut squash, and finish with a drizzle of balsamic, a hearty handful of pomegranate seeds, Parmesan shavings, and pine nuts.

This recipe was interpreted from a recipe by Chef April Bloomfield  which you can see by clicking HERE.

Also, there will be more recipes to relish at tomorrow, so come back and see me soon!

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Feast Week

Posted on November 21, 2011 | 9 comments

Today begins Feast Week, like Fleet Week – but think less sailors, more stuffing – face stuffing to be exact.  The eating doesn’t start today, but the preparation sure does.  And since it would be totally selfish to prep my feast and not help you prep yours, I’m going to share my Thanksgiving menu with you.

The Bite-Sized Thanksgiving Menu, which is anything but Bite-Sized includes… in serving order:
Baked Brie
Autumnal  Salad
 Turkey Breast
Drunken Cranberry Sauce
Coconut Ginger Mashed Sweet Potatoes
Apple Pie
Brownie S’mores Pie
Vanilla Gelato

I’ll start by sharing my dessert recipes, partly because I have already shared these recipes and partly because pies can be made in advanced…like the day before.  Any earlier and you risk having a stale pie – uncool, totally uncool.

Apple Pie is a classic Thanksgiving dessert, and the classics are classics for a reason.  This is the pie that the phrase easy as pie was born from.

Click here to see the recipe for Easy Apple Pie.

Brownie S’mores Pie is another dessert I’m serving for Thanksgiving this year for a couple reasons.  This pie was a big hit at last year’s Thanksgiving, and it’s a perfect use for marshmallows, since I’m not using them on the sweet potatoes.

Click here to see the recipe for Brownie S’mores Pie.

The only dessert recipe you haven’t seen from the Bite-Sized Blonde yet is Vanilla Gelato.  Sure, you’ve seen Ice Cream recipes, but we all know Ice Cream is not the same as Gelato the same way College Ball is not the same as the NBA.  So, without further ado, I give you…

Vanilla Gelato*
Ingredients
1 ¼ cup of whole milk
1 ¼ cup of heavy cream
6 egg yolks
1 vanilla bean
½ cup sugar

Directions
Whip the heavy cream until it becomes whipped cream.  Then, place in the refrigerator.  Add the milk and vanilla bean to a small sauce pan over medium heat.  Heat the mixture until it starts to bubble along the edges.  Remove from the heat and let the mixture cool down for approximately 10 minutes.  Once cool, remove the vanilla bean.  Cut the bean in half lengthwise and scrap out the black seeds using the back of a knife.  Add the seeds back into the milk mixture and discard the now empty vanilla bean shell.

Bring a pot of water to a boil.  You will be using this to heat the custard mixture you are about to make.  Make sure the water does not come up too high, because it cannot touch the bottom of the bowl.   In a large, heatproof bowl (typically glass), whisk the egg yolks and sugar until creamy.  Once the pot of water is boiling, place the bowl on top of the pot.  Add the now cool milk and vanilla mixture to this bowl and continue to whisk.  Once the mixture is incorporated, stop whisking and begin stirring with a wooden spoon.  Stir this mixture until it becomes a custard – which means that it should be thick enough to coat the back of your spoon.  Be careful with the heat as this custard should not simmer! Once the mixture is thick enough, remove from the heat and let cool.  Once cool, fold in the whipped cream.  Transfer to your ice cream maker and follow the manufacturer’s instructions.

Still craving more dish on Bite-Sized Thanksgiving dishes? Check in each day of Feast Week for more recipes.

*Pictures will be displayed at the end of the week, so stay tuned my Bite-Sized readers…

Recipe by:
Alex Barker, 500 Ice Creams, Sorbets & Gelatos

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