Giving Thanks Tablescape

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This was my Thanksgiving table from last year. I had wanted to post it back then, but I was so frantically busy trying to get ready to serve 12 for dinner that I really didn’t get a chance. Fortunately, I photographed it. This year, I am posting it, in memory of my dad, and I and I calling it my “Giving Thanks” tablescape. Little did I realize we all sat down to dinner last year that would be the last Thanksgiving we would spend with my dad. So, I’m going to ask all of you to sit down at your dinner table this year, and look at each person at the table individually, and be thankful that you’re able to enjoy dinner with them.

This is a table setting that I tend to vary only slightly from year to year. I have had the Johnson Brothers “His Majesty” dishes for nearly 35 years. It’s hard to think of a Thanksgiving without them. The tablecloth is from Williams-Sonoma, and seems to complement various holiday tables quite well. 

Last year, while in the belly of the beast, I unearthed a set of place card holders that I had forgotten about, so made use of them here, and everyone enjoyed them. 

The flatware is from Cabela’s. Cabela’s may not be the first place you think of when you think of flatware and dinnerware, but you might be surprised at the interesting offerings they have.

This pitcher, by Fitz and Floyd, is one of my favorites. My mother had the female companion piece that will be gracing my table this year.

This vintage squirrel was a new addition to the table, and quite fragrant, filled with fresh sage from my garden. 

I wish you all a joyous and memorable Thanksgiving. Be thankful. Be grateful. Seriously.

This post is linked to:

Tablescape Thursday

 

Anne Byrn’s Skillet Love, Reviewed

There is a new cookbook from Grand Central Publishing that needs to be on your Christmas giving or receiving list this year. It is Anne Byrn’s Skillet Love, From Steak to Cake: More Than 150 Recipes in One Cast-Iron Pan. If you have been confounded by cast iron in the past, if you have your grandmother’s cast iron pan tucked away in a closet somewhere, get that pan out, and get this book. You will become an expert chef in the blink of an eye by reading Byrn’s 10 Principles of Cast Iron Cooking, and experimenting with all of these mouthwatering recipes. Why cast iron, you may ask? Let me answer with her words:

“...[a] cast iron skillet allows you to cook boldly. Big flavors are achieved by a number of techniques and tricks, but the most important is high heat. The next time you go out and look into the open kitchen at your favorite restaurant, you will likely see fire and flame. You will hear sizzling, and you will smell char. In the world of food science, that means flavor.”

This beautiful book features recipes for every time of the day, from breakfast and brunch, to lunch, small plates for snacks, dinner, side dishes, even desserts. As someone not particularly familiar with cast-iron cooking, I have to say that my eyes were really opened with this one. 

I had no idea that so many things could be made in one pan. I think I was most surprised, first by the breakfast dishes, and then by the sides. My experience with cast-iron has generally been cooking steaks and scallops; I love the wonderful sear, as well as the butter-like tenderness. But to make an entire meal to serve right in the skillet, with no additional pots and pans involved, to use it for side dishes, or just serve a beautiful pan of caramel rolls is something completely out of my realm. Experimentation has already begun, and, thus far, I have been very pleased.

Whether you are a seasoned cook, or just starting out, this book has equal value for both. Recipes are clearly written, ingredients are those you are likely to have on hand, the techniques are clearly explained, and you will end up creating a meal that makes you proud to serve, and that your friends and family will doubtless enjoy.

I think the biggest surprises in this book were the Bacon Jam and Bourbon Peach Preserves. I’ll be trying both of them; my mouth waters as I write. Prior to reading this book I wouldn’t have considered a cast-iron skillet for such a thing, but the evenness of heat, steadiness of temperature, not to mention being able to get a good char on the peaches, as well as the bacon, makes a lot of sense. Trust me when I tell you, that next peach season I will be exploring the latter and give a full report. Meanwhile, Bacon Jam is on my list for today. I can only imagine how good that’s going to taste on top of a cheeseburger.

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Cinnamon Ice Cream

 The late Mr. O-P did not like cinnamon. Can you imagine? I, on the other hand, love cinnamon, but, as spouses and partners often do, they give things up, or least put them on the back burner, in favor of something mutually agreeable. The other day while shopping I spotted a Dutch apple pie at a favorite local Italian market that somehow ended up in my cart. On the drive home I couldn’t help but think how wonderful a slice of that pie would be topped with a scoop of cinnamon ice cream.

 

Having never made cinnamon ice cream before, but also having an ice cream maker perpetually at the ready, I decided to give it a try. It is both easy, and delicious, although in my case not without incident. I may have mentioned that while number two son (and his wife and two cats) await the completion of their new home, they are living with me. While I was making the ice cream, the younger, more curious of their two cats, decided to knock down a picture. It startled me, I turned, mid-whisk, splashing some of the custard on the floor, stepped in it with my barefoot, slid, splashed my face and glasses with the custard that remained on the whisk, while not even breaking stride in the stirring process. Fortunately, no harm, no foul, both picture and I remain intact, and that calls for a scoop!

Cinnamon Ice Cream

2 large eggs
1 c. granulated sugar
¾ c. whole milk
1¾ c. heavy whipping cream, divided
2½ t. ground cinnamon 

1 t. vanilla

Crack eggs into a medium/small bowl; set aside. Whisk together sugar, milk, and 3/4 cup of the heavy cream in a medium saucepan, and place over medium-low heat. When the mixture begins to simmer, remove from heat, temper eggs,* and s-l-o-w-l-y add the whisk-warmed beaten eggs in a stream, whisking quickly so that the eggs do not curdle; stir in the remaining 1 cup heavy cream. Continue cooking over medium-low heat, stirring constantly, until the mixture is thick enough to coat the back of a metal spoon. Remove from heat, and whisk in vanilla and cinnamon. Set aside to cool for 35-40 minutes. Refrigerate 6-8 hours, or overnight.

Pour chilled mixture into an ice cream maker (I use this one), and freeze according to the manufacturer's instructions.

* The trickiest part about making ice cream is preventing the eggs from curdling. To do this you need to temper the eggs, which means to warm them up a bit so that the cold egg mixture is not shocked when it hits the warm custard mixture. I have found the best way to do this is to beat the eggs with the warm whisk from the custard mixture. Pull the whisk out of the custard, quickly beat the eggs in a separate bowl, put the whisk back into the custard, give it a couple of stirs, remove it and beat the eggs again. Repeat this back-and-forth process 3 to 4 times. At this point, the eggs have warmed up significantly enough to be added in a slow stream to the custard.

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Rum Raisin Sweet Potato Bread

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Perhaps undeservedly, I consider sweet potatoes to be a seasonal food and, as such, only work with them once a year. I am not one for sweet potato fries or baked sweet potatoes, but because I understand their value and nutrition, decided to try something new. This is the time of the month when I experiment with possible Thanksgiving dishes, so thought that perhaps working yams into a bread, rather than the usual side dish, might be a welcome change. This flavorful, mildly sweet quick bread with rum-soaked raisins will be most appreciated by your guests, young and old. Serve it warm with cinnamon butter at brunch or dinner. Delish! 

Rum Raisin Sweet Potato Bread

11-lb. pkg. Melissa’s Baby Garnet Yams
2 T. dark rum
½ c. golden raisins
1 ½ c. flour
2 t. baking powder
¼ t. salt
1 T. pumpkin pie spice
1 c. granulated sugar
2 large eggs
½ c. vegetable oil
1 c. chopped pecans

Preheat oven to 400°F. Bake baby garnet yams for 45 minutes or until they test done with a fork; remove and cool slightly before mashing and measuring out one cup.

While yams are baking, soak raisins in rum -- the longer the better, seriously, go read a book.

Decrease heat on oven to 325° F. Spray a 9” x 4” loaf pan with Baker’s Joy.

In a medium bowl, stir together flour, baking powder, salt, pumpkin pie spice, and sugar. Beat in eggs and oil until well blended. Stir in the mashed yams, pecans, and golden raisin/rum mixture. Pour batter into prepared pan. (I sprinkled a little bit of cinnamon sugar on top to give it a hint of sparkle.) Bake for 70 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Allow bread to cool in the pan at least 15 minutes before removing.

For best flavor, store overnight before serving. This is delicious served with cinnamon butter or pumpkin cream cheese.

The Great GINGER Harvest

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If you don’t follow me on Instagram, then you may not be aware that the Great Ginger Harvest took place last weekend. I probably could have let it go a little longer -- ginger is to be harvested when the leaves turn yellow -- but cold weather was moving in, and I still wanted to be able to work the soil.

I had plenty of roots, and, as you can see, they grow laterally, each section sending up its own shoot. Had I started it earlier, the tubers would have been much bigger. Considering that I only planted one little sprout, I was plenty pleased with the outcome.

I didn’t get a lot of them, but what I did get was incredibly juicy and flavorful. If you have ever worked with ginger, then you know it can be woody, stringy, and difficult to cut; this was not. It chopped up beautifully, juices ran, and the fragrance was positively intoxicating – a difficult to describe combination of citrus and spice that was nearly addictive.

This is on my list to grow next year, and if you like using fresh ginger in dishes as much as I do, give it a try. The plant is not unattractive, and takes well to growing in a large container.

Missouri Pot Roast

I’m sure that most, if not all of you, have heard of the slow cooker recipe for Mississippi Pot Roast. Here is my version, named for my state that we all found to be absolutely delicious. I went for low sodium -- not that you would notice -- lighter on the butter, as well as fewer peppers, to give it flavor, without heat, because not everyone (perhaps your grandmother) likes their Sunday roast spicy. Hearty, warming, and intensely flavorful, this is a keeper.

Missouri Pot Roast

1 3-4 lb. chuck roast, trimmed
1 packet (3 T.) Ranch Dressing Mix
1 T. Better Than Bouillon Reduced Sodium Beef Base

2 whole Melissa’s Pickled Jalapeños
6 T. unsalted butter

Place all ingredients, in the order given, into a crockpot. Cook on high for 5-6 hours, or low for 8 hours. Serve on a mound of whipped potatoes.

 

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Homemade Vegetable Stock

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Yesterday I told you about not just pearl onions, but Cipollini and red boiler onions as well. Today I am going to advise you to buy a few extra containers of these specialty onions, because they add so much more flavor and color to homemade vegetable stock than white or yellow onions tend to do. If you haven’t made vegetable stock in the past, let me tell you it is incredibly easy, extremely inexpensive, and not only adds depth to vegetarian dishes calling for stock, but soups and stews as well. It is also a great sipping broth, and who couldn't use a nice, warm, cup of broth on bitingly cold winter days? What a delicious way to add flavor to any dish while fend off colds and flu.

Homemade Vegetable Stock

 
1 7-oz. pkg. Melissa's Cipollini onions, washed but not peeled
1 7-oz. pkg. Melissa's Red boiler onions, washed but not peeled

1 leek, cleaned and cut into chunks

3 large carrots, cleaned and cut into chunks
4 celery stalks, cleaned and cut into chunks

½ c. more or less, cleaned mushroom stems
1 Bay leaf
1 small bunch of fresh parsley
1 teaspoon rainbow peppercorns
1 teaspoon kosher salt
8 cups water

Put all ingredients into a stock pot, bring to a boil, and simmer for one hour, stirring occasionally. Allow to cool, stream through a fine mesh sieve, and then store in the refrigerator for up to one week, or freezer for up to four months.

Feel free to experiment with onions, choosing scallions, shallots, or leeks, as well as using various herbs and seasonings of your choice.