Thanksgiving Sides

Ahhhh, Thanksgiving. My favorite holiday of the year. Now, my favorite holiday meal of the year is still hands-down the Christmas Eve Seven Fish dinner…more on that in a few weeks. But when you’re talking holidays, Bird Day is the tops for me. I love everything about it. The smells, the colors, the crisp fall air, the leaves on the ground. Everything about it screams tradition, comfort and nostalgia. Just the smell of turkey brings me back to when I was a kid, when my brother and I would help my mom make the apple pies. We would start the morning by watching the parade on tv, followed by hours of the WOR Holiday King Kong movie festival (monsters were always more important to me than football when I was little). Then came the food. The glorious food! Now that I have a family of my own, we have our own traditions that we look forward to. And they still involve lots of eating!

Obviously, the main event of the day is the turkey. These days there are countless ways to prepare the main course. My friend John does both a traditional bird in the oven, and another one on the grill. My friend Tony, on the other hand, has turned deep-frying into an art form. So I won’t even begin to suggest turkey tips. Now, if you grew up in an Italian household, chances are that your Thanksgiving main course consisted of a double bill – a pasta course, followed up to a few hours later by the turkey.

So, what I’ve decided to do was offer you some side dishes that go over well with our family dinner. The first, Cranberry Compote, was an Emeril recipe that I came across a few years back. The second, Baked Butternut Squash with Apples, was one that I just recently found. Enjoy, and have a very Happy Thanksgiving!

FRESH CRANBERRY COMPOTE

6 ounces fresh cranberries, rinsed and picked over
1 tablespoon orange zest
1/2 cup sugar
1 cup water
Pinch of salt
Pinch of ground cinnamon
1 tablespoon cornstarch
1/4 cup fresh orange juice

In a non reactive, non-stick saucepan, over medium, combine the cranberries, zest, 1/2 cup sugar, water, salt, and cinnamon. Bring the mixture to a boil and cook for 10 minutes. Dissolve cornstarch in the orange juice. Add the mixture to the cranberries and stir to blend. Simmer another 15 minutes until the mixture is thick. Remove from the heat and cool completely. Cover and refrigerate until chilled.

BAKED BUTTERNUT SQUASH WITH APPLES

2 tblspn butter
1/2 tspn ground cinnamon
1/4 tspn ground nutmeg
1-1/2 lb butternut squash, peeled, seeded and cut into 1/2-inch cubes
2 to 3 large Granny Smith apples, cored, cut into 1/2-inch cubes
1/4 cup maple syrup
1 tblspn balsamic vinegar
1/4 cup chopped pecans,toasted

Heat oven to 375ºF. Place butter in 13×9-inch glass baking dish; heat in oven 5 to 7 minutes or until melted.
Stir cinnamon and nutmeg into melted butter. Add squash; toss to coat. Cover with foil; bake 20 minutes. Meanwhile, in a large bowl, mix apples, syrup and vinegar.
Pour apple mixture over squash. Cover; bake 10 minutes. Stir; bake 5 to 10 minutes longer or until squash is tender. Stir before serving and sprinkle with pecans.

Party Salads

Since we’re heading into the holiday party gathering season, I though it would be appropriate to post two of my favorite party salads that always go over well with company. Enjoy!

ASIAN COLE SLAW
1 bag cole slaw mix
1 pkg. chicken-flavored Ramen noodles
1/4 cup sliced almonds
3-4 tbsp sesame seeds
3 tbsp red wine vinegar
3 tbsp sugar
1/3 cup (or so) vegetable oil

Lightly toast sesame seeds by heating them in skillet over medium heat for about 5 minutes. Meanwhile, rinse and drain coleslaw mix and add to serving bowl. Add almonds. Crush the Ramen noodles and add the noodles to the serving bowl (reserve flavor packet).

To make the dressing, combine sugar, vinegar and flavor packet. Add oil gradually while whisking. Add toasted sesame seeds to salad; pour dressing over top. Toss and serve.

DORITO SALAD
1 bag of Lettuce (or 1 head of shredded lettuce)
1-2 diced tomatoes or a handful of cherry tomatoes
1 bag of nacho cheese Doritos, smashed
1 package of Perdue Southwester Style Short Cuts pre-cooked chicken strips, chopped
1 bag of shredded Mexican blend cheese
1 large bottle of Catalina dressing

Combine all ingredients into big bowl, stir well and serve!

Crab Cakes

For this dish, I suggest using Panko bread crumbs. They are Japanese bread crumbs that are very light and airy, which make for a crisp coating. They can be found in almost any supermarket, either up the bread aisle or the international food aisle. If you can not find Panko bread crumbs, regular bread crumbs or cracker crumbs can be used instead.

Also, when making this dish (or any other crab dish), be sure to buy the large 16-oz cans of crab meat that are located in the seafood section of your supermarket. While they can be a bit pricey at times, they are packed with 100% crab meat. The smaller cans that are found near the cans of tuna are packed with about 1/3 water, so you are getting your money’s worth with the larger cans.

INGREDIENTS
1/4 cup mayonnaise
1/4 cup minced onion
2 large eggs, lightly beaten
1/2 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
1/2 teaspoon dry mustard
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon Old Bay Seasoning
1 pound lump crab meat
1/4 cup finely crushed saltine crackers
1 cup Panko bread crumbs
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
1/4 cup vegetable or peanut oil

DIRECTIONS
In a large bowl, combine the mayonnaise, onion, eggs, Worcestershire sauce, dry mustard, salt and Old Bay. Fold in the crabmeat and the cracker crumbs.

Place mixture in a container and refrigerate for at least 4-6 hours ahead of cooking time (up to 24 hours ahead of time is fine). This will allow the mixture to come together and make for easier cake shaping.

When chilled, grab a hand full of the mixture at a time and squeeze out any excessive moisture (this will help the cakes keep their shape). Shape the mixture into 16 cakes about 1 inch thick.

Coat the crab cakes with the Panko bread crumbs.

In a large skillet, melt 1 tablespoon of the butter in 2 tablespoons of the oil. When the foam subsides, add half of the crab cakes and cook over moderate heat until golden and crisp, 2 to 3 minutes per side. Drain the crab cakes on paper towels, then keep warm in a low oven. Repeat with the remaining 1 tablespoon of butter and 2 tablespoons of oil and cook the remaining crab cakes.

* For lighter crab cakes, bake in oven at 350º for about 20-30 minutes or until crisp, flipping once.

Not-So-Sloppy Joe

Ok, so who exactly is this guy Joe? And if he’s so sloppy, why would you want to eat anything that he cooked? Perhaps a question we’ll never know the answer to.

Which is why I’ve strayed from the basic canned-wich version and added my own spin to this classic quick meal.

Simple and tasty!

2 tablespoons olive oil
1 garlic clove, minced
1 small red or green bell pepper, coarsely chopped
½ cup chopped onion
1 15-oz can tomato sauce
1-lb ground turkey
salt & pepper
Italian seasonings (oregano, basil, etc.)

Heat oil in medium skillet over medium-high heat until hot. Add bell pepper, onion and garlic; cook and stir 2-3 minutes or until crisp-tender.

Add the ground turkey, stir together and cook until well-browned (I say well-browned because ground turkey is very moist. By just letting it quickly brown, I find it to be a bit too mushy for my taste. By all means, prepare to your liking). Drain all excess fat.

Add the can of tomato sauce and season with salt, pepper and Italian seasonings to taste.
***Optional, but recommended – add a splash of red wine (anything you have open will do). Stir together, lower the heat to medium-low, and simmer for 10-15 minutes until sauce thickens up.

Serve over a bed of rice or noodles, or in a burger bun as a sandwich. Top with shredded cheddar cheese. Goes great with a cold beer.