The Bitten Word

Thanksgiving 2009: Steamed Persimmon Pudding with Cinnamon Crème Anglaise

Bon Appétit (November 2009)

In selecting recipes to try out prior to Thanksgiving, we definitely wanted to choose some dishes that were outside our comfort zone. These could be either things we wouldn't typically make for a Thanksgiving meal, like an Oyster Casserole, or dishes that seemed challenging.

Well, we met our match with this recipe for Steamed Persimmon Pudding.

Truly, this may be a recipe worthy of MacGyver.

Thanksgiving 2009: Beet Chutney

Bon Appétit (November 2009)

 

If our Jellied Cranberry Sauce was a country club debutante, and our Nutty Cranberry Relish was the same girl with messy hair and artsy jewelry, then this Beet Chutney is that girl's wild and worldly best friend, the one who used to get drunk and dance on tables but now has shaved her head and joined an ashram.

Thanksgiving 2009: Oyster Casserole

Gourmet (November 2009)

 
We've always been curious about the idea of a classic oyster stuffing for Thanksgiving. We'd always heard of it, but neither of us had ever eaten one.

Technically, we supposed we still haven't. This Oyster Casserole, from Gourmet magazine's final issue, is a richer, creamier, more custard-like take on traditional oyster dressing. But who are we to nitpick?

To be honest, we were a little unsure about this Oyster Casserole. Like olives, cod and wasabi, oysters seem a bit out of place at the Thanksgiving table.

Thanksgiving 2009: Green Beans and Walnuts with Lemon Vinaigrette

Bon Appétit (November 2009)

If you're like us, your Thanksgiving menu may start to look heavy on the stuffings, puddings and potato dishes, and light on the greens.

It's a predicament we run into year after year. The Thanksgiving dishes we're most drawn to are often the most starchy, and it's not because we don't love vegetables. We adore them!  But Thanksgiving memories are made of corn pudding and delicious stuffing. 

Though green vegetables may seem like a Thanksgiving afterthought, these Green Beans and Walnuts with Lemon Vinaigrette are one of the best afterthoughts you can have, and they couldn't be simpler.

Thanksgiving 2009: Nutty Cranberry Relish

Food Network Magazine (November 2009)

As we said before, we just love cranberry sauces. And we really liked the Jellied Cranberry Sauce we tried out earlier. Simple, basic and delicious, it's the sort of polite, restrained gelatin you'd serve at a country-club luncheon.

But we wanted to try something with a little more texture, a little more edge.

If our earlier Jellied Cranberry Sauce was a country-club society girl, this Nutty Cranberry Relish is the society girl who's started mussing up her hair and ditching school to make her own jewelry.

Thanksgiving 2009: Squash Bread Pudding with Rum Sauce

Saveur (November 2009)

One of the more unusual features in this year's crop of Thanksgiving magazines comes from Saveur. In it, Chef Susan Trilling, author of the cookbook Seasons of My Heart, tells about an annual Thanksgiving dinner she throws at her cooking school in Oaxaca, Mexico. 

Last year, 60 people attended the dinner and Trilling asked them to bring dishes that used ingredients native to the New World. It's not your typical holiday fare. The recipes that accompany the article are interesting spins on classic Thanksgiving dishes.

There's a Oaxacan stuffing with chiles, fennel, cumin and prunes, along with sweet potatoes in syrup with guava. We loved idea of these dishes, but the one that really caught our eye was this new spin on bread pudding that incorporates squash.

Thanksgiving 2009: Sourdough Stuffing with Sausage, Apples, and Golden Raisins

Bon Appétit (November 2009)

We have seen heaven.  And they sell pork there.

Earlier this fall we traveled to Western Kentucky for a friend's wedding. Clay grew up in Western Kentucky, and the region is known for producing some excellent country ham.

When we booked our travel to go to the wedding, we were already thinking that we might bring back a ham.  And there was one ham in particular that we were after, from famed and award-winning cured meat producer Broadbent's. Heck, Chef David Chang even serves their ham at Momofuku. 

So on the Saturday morning before the wedding, we -- along with friends from New York and Seattle who had flown in for the wedding -- loaded up our rental cars and made the drive up the interstate to buy some pork.  And buy pork we did!  We were like kids in candy store, only with delicious pork products instead of boring ol' candy.  We loaded up on peppered bacon, ham steaks, seasoning pieces, slab bacon, ham hocks and country sausage.

(Side note, in case you were wondering: The TSA totally will allow you to count a bag of ham as one of your carry-ons.)

Which brings us to this Sourdough Stuffing with Sausage, Apples and Golden Raisins.

Thanksgiving 2009: Jellied Cranberry Sauce with Fuji Apple

Food & Wine (November 2009)

Pity the cranberry sauce! Nobody would ever consider it the star of the Thanksgiving show. But can you imagine a Turkey Day dinner without it? 

For lots of folks, cranberry sauce is a complete afterthought. (Many people wouldn't even recognize it without the imprinted ridges left from the can.)

We, however, love cranberry sauce, with its tart, refreshing burst in the middle of all those mashes and dressings and casseroles.

A great cranberry sauce need not be fancy. And it doesn't get any more basic than this Jellied Cranberry Sauce.

Thanksgiving 2009: Sweet Potato and Sage-Butter Casserole

Martha Stewart Living (November 2009)

If forced to choose between white potatoes or sweet potatoes for Thanksgiving, we resoundingly come down on the side of sweet potatoes.

Sure, regular potatoes have their place, but sweet potatoes -- with their orange autumnal hue and sugary flavor -- seem tailor-made for Thanksgiving table. 

For the past two years, we've made the same sweet potato dish for Thanksgiving: Spiced Whipped Sweet Potatoes with Brown Sugar. 

We loved that dish two years ago. We adored it last year.  This year, it's time to try something new.  Can this Sweet Potato and Sage-Butter Casserole hold up to our two-time favorite?

Thanksgiving 2009: Brussels Sprouts with Toasted Hazelnut Butter

Fine Cooking (November 2009)

Reader, we fear we've done you a grave injustice. There's one vegetable we absolutely love, a vegetable we serve at home with great frequency. In fact, if you were to come to our house for dinner during a cold month, chances are this vegetable would be on the menu.

But until now, we've somehow never written about it on The Bitten Word!

We're rectifying that right now: We adore Brussels sprouts, and so should you.

Most of the time, we prepare Brussels sprouts very simply. Cut off the stems and cut each sprout in half. Drizzle with olive oil, sprinkle with salt, and -- the real key -- dice a couple slices of bacon and mix them in. Roast the whole thing in the oven for about a half hour.

Seriously, it's great: We've made Brussels sprout converts out of countless dinner guests who arrived with horrible childhood memories of sprouts as limp, mushy and bland.

If you think you don't like Brussels sprouts, it's just because you haven't had them the right way. Trust us!

And if you're looking for a terrific Brussels sprouts recipe (other than our roast version with bacon), look no further than these Brussels Sprouts with Toasted Hazelnut Butter.