The Bitten Word

Pork Empanadas with Thyme

Everyday Food (December 2009)

Here in our nation's capital, we have a great little chain of empanada stores called Julia's Empanadas.  In fact, there's one right around the corner from our house. Julia's is a great place to grab a quick bite or a late-night snack.

For those of you not familiar with empanadas, Julia's sums it up nicely on their website:

Every country has one, in Jamaica they're called "patties", in Italy "calzones", the Israelis call them "knishes". We call them "Empanadas". So what's an Empanada? It's a mildly spiced, freshly baked sandwich served hot!!

Maybe it's because we have access to great empanadas, but we had never really considered making them at home. We love them, but Julia's does it so well, could ours stack up? Everyday Food was going to help us find out.

Ham Steaks with Hazelnut Sauce

Saveur (December 2009)

In writing about this recipe, Saveur tells readers that the sauce is "based on a recipe in Mimi Sheraton’s The German Cookbook (Random House, 1965)."

But we think we could have pretty much guessed that on our own. Ham steaks? In a cream sauce?

This dish screams 1965.

It's like something Mrs. Edna Schakowsky of Cleveland, Ohio, would serve for Thursday dinner before her husband's bowling buddies swing by to pick him up.

It's like what Mrs. Francine Flendermann of Eau Claire, Wisconsin, would serve on Monday night when the Dittmeyers come over for bridge.

It's what Alice would've served the Bradys.

The Bitten Word's Day-After-Thanksgiving Kentucky Hot Brown

Washingtonian magazine contacted us a few weeks ago, asking for ideas about what to do with Thanksgiving day leftovers.  Go over to their site to check out our contribution and see recipes from other Washington, DC food bloggers. 

As proud Southerners, we both anticipate the day after Thanksgiving as much as the big feast itself. Why? Kentucky Hot Browns. Clay grew up in Kentucky, and hot browns were a post-Thanksgiving staple in Zach's Tennessee family, as well. This open-faced sandwich takes the Thanksgiving turkey, tops it with bacon and tomatoes, and drenches the whole thing in a warm, gooey, cheesy Mornay sauce. It's not only a great way to transform leftover turkey, it might actually be better than the whole Thanksgiving dinner!

Thanksgiving 2009: Spatchcocked Turkey Video Demo

Lots of people have written us about our recent post on spatchcocking a turkey for Thanksgiving. They've told us they love the idea, but they're not sure exactly how to cut the bird so that it will lie flat.

So we thought we'd show you. Ladies and gentlemen, the first-ever Bitten Word video!

Thanksgiving 2009: Roast Spatchcocked Turkey

Martha Stewart Living (November 2009)

>>UPDATE: Check out our video demo on how to spatchcock a turkey!

We have a love/hate relationship with Thanksgiving turkey. On the one hand, a golden-skinned roast turkey is the classic centerpiece of the Thanksgiving dinner. Done right, the meat is tender and juicy, the skin perfectly crisp.

But getting the bird on the table can be so much work! Do you brine it ahead of time or not? If you do brine, should you do a wet brine or a dry brine? Should you rub the skin with butter? Should you stuff the bird or cook the stuffing separately? Should you baste it while it's roasting?

And then, on the day of the big dinner, the bird sits there, taking up the majority of your oven space for three hours while the clock ticks closer to dinnertime.

Well, forget all that!

Reader, we'd like to have a word with you. Just one word, actually. This word is your key to a Thanksgiving turkey that takes just 70 minutes (!) from start to finish. No brining, no stuffing, no nothing.

That word is "spatchcocking."

Thanksgiving Guide 2009: What the Food Magazines Are Recommending

172 Recipes From 9 Leading Food Magazines

 

Thanksgiving is food magazines' time to shine. In years past, many of the food mags we read have used their November issues to really push the limits with innovative spins on Thanksgiving faves.

Sure, there are usually plenty of approachable standbys. But the classics usually sit alongside some really envelope-pushing ideas: Throw a Thanksgiving clambake! How about a Pacific Rim-fusion dinner? Truffle-laden turkey! Indian-spiced sweet potato gnocchi!! Vegan French-Vietnamese gluten-free stuffing!!!

Not so this year. From the looks of this year's crop of Thanksgiving food mags, 2009 is all about simplicity and basic, standard dishes. It's the Great Recession, and everybody just wants a big ol' piece of pumpkin pie.

Just look at what the magazines call out from the newsstands:

Martha Stewart Living: "Thanksgiving, simple and sensational"

Fine Cooking: "All the classics made easy"

Food Network: "Easy Thanksgiving"

Bon Appétit: "Thanksgiving made easy"

Everyday Food: "A Thanksgiving menu that's easy to make"

We have nine November issues in front of us, and nearly all of them are focused on "traditional" menus that are very straightforward.

The food magazines may have stuck to the classics this year, but that doesn't mean the options are limited. In the nine magazines we have, there are, in fact, 172 Thanksgiving recipes.

All those options can leave you more than a little stressed out. It's all too easy to get wrapped up in the idea that Thanksgiving has to be perfect and if you don't select the right stuffing recipe, your mother-in-law will break into tears at the table.

But fear not!  We've cataloged all 172 options below so that you, dear reader, can browse this year's recipes and make some selections for yourself. Over the next three weeks, we're going to be cooking and writing as many recipes as we can fit in. We'll post our photos and let you know how they turn out.

And as you're gearing up for the holiday, if you have questions, post them here and we'll do our best to answer them.

Okay, ready for the recipes?

Lamb Chops with Mustard-Herb Crust

Everyday Food (November 2009)

 

Sometimes we love poring over a complicated recipe and sourcing exotic, hard-to-fine spices or special cuts of meat. Sometimes we really enjoy spending a lazy afternoon in the kitchen, slowly cajoling ingredients to join in a triumphant symphony of flavors.

Other times, we just wanna eat.

Enter these Lamb Chops with Mustard-Herb Crust. Simple, pleasing and lightning-fast -- it took us longer to pull together a simple green salad than to cook these chops.

Steak au Poivre with Balsamic Reduction

Martha Stewart Living (October 2009)

On summer evenings, you're very likely to find us out on the patio, keeping watch while a big, juicy steak sizzles on the grill. We keep it extremely simple: salt and pepper, maybe a little Dale's.

But it's fall now. It's getting dark earlier and our grill's been cool for a while. It's time for a more grown-up steak, something a little fancier, more refined.

Hello, steak au poivre!

Cashew Chicken

Everyday Food (October 2009)

Just yesterday, one of Zach's co-workers asked, "Have you guys cooked anything recently that you really loved?"

Zach's mind flashed on a disappointing risotto, so-so cookies and good but not mind-blowing roast beef. No, we realized. We hadn't fallen in love with any of our recent dishes.

That was, until we made this Cashew Chicken last night.

Guys? We can say it: We loved this chicken!

Roast Beef and Celery Root with Watercress Salad

Everyday Food (September 2009)

We're not exactly sure why, but we don't make a lot of beef roasts.

Lord knows we love roasting a pork tenderloin (Exhibit A, B, C and D). And it's the exact same process: Sear all sides in a stovetop skillet, then finish in the oven. For some reason, though, roast beef just never seems to occur to us.

Well, that's going to change. With this solid, basic roast beef recipe -- and these lovely roasted vegetables -- we've got a new go-to recipe that's extremely delicious, but so easy it's almost mindless. That's a combination we can get behind!