recipes 98, 99, 100, and 101: Thanksgiving!

Before I say anything, I want to point out that I'm about to hit recipe 100! This is a milestone! I am a huge fan of psychologically pleasing numbers. 100 definitely qualifies. For example, I recently had a conversation with my friend Bridget where I asserted that I always wished I was born on January 1st because that would have just made things very neat and tidy with birthdays and years, etc. Just another sliver of my crazyland mind.

Last year's pre-Thanksgiving included a mini-Thanksgiving where Tristan and I attempted to make one billion recipes in his tiny NYC apartment. Here is the camera phone evidence. (You will see some cornish hens, which are obviously mini versions of turkeys and fit into the whole theme of the mini event quite well).

This year's pre-Thanksgiving includes Tristan and I running around and re-creating three delicious side dishes for our respective families.

Without further ado, here are my Thanksgiving recipes (and please include the pumpkin cheesecake from below: http://cookingmywaytothe365.blogspot.com/2012/11/recipes-94-95-96-and-97-pumpkin-stuff.html).

TRISTAN'S MOM'S STUFFING (aka THE BEST STUFFING IN THE WORLD!)*

Ingredients:
-homemade croutons (loaf of day-old French bread, olive oil, and a little bit of salt)
-2 c chopped onion
-1/2 lb bacon, cooked into 1/2 in pieces while raw
-1 lb sausage (casings removed)
-1/2 c - 1c light cream
-2 lb cooked chestnuts (vacuum-packed is fine)
-2 T sage
-2 T fresh parsely
-1 t thyme
-1/2 t allspice
-1/4 c sherry
-salt and pepper to taste

Instructions:
1) preheat the oven to 400 degrees
2) cut the French bread in cubes, toss with oil, and sprinkle with salt
3) bake for about 10 minutes, until the bread looks like croutons (don't overcook)
4) saute the onion and bacon in the same pan until the bacon is crisp
5) transfer the bacon and onion to a bowl with a slotted spoon
6) in the remaining fat, saute the sausage, breaking with a fork, for about 10 mins
7) transfer the sausage to the bacon bowl
8) in a separate bowl, coat the croutons with enough light cream until they are coated but there is no extra liquid
9) crumble the chestnuts and add to the croutons
10) add the herbs, spices and the bacon mixture to the croutons
11) stir in the sherry, salt and pepper to taste, and allow to cool

12) bake the stuffing in the oven at 350 degrees until it browns (or, I guess alternatively, you could stuff it into the turkey!)

OH YUM!!

THANKSGIVING GRAVY
Ingredients:
-turkey drippings from the pan
-1 c sherry
-"veloute sauce" - (melt 1/3 c butter and mix in 1/3 c flour; cook for a few minutes, stirring; add 3 c chicken broth and cook/stir until the sauce thickens; cook down to 2 1/2 c)
-extra light cream/extra chicken broth

Instructions:
1) pour off the fat from the turkey drippings in the pan
2) add 1 c of sherry to the remaining drippings and deglaze the pan, scraping up the brown bits at the bottom of the pan
3) reduce the liquid by half, stir in the veloute sauce and simmer for 5 minutes (stirring)
4) stir in extra chicken broth or extra light cream, depending on desired consistency

TRISTAN'S MOM'S CREAMED SPINACH
Ingredients:
-2 slices of bacon, cooked and crumbled (1 T of bacon fat reserved in the pan)
-10 oz box of frozen spinach, cooked and drained
-2 T butter
-1 1/2 T flour
-1 c whole milk
-most of 1 small onion and 1 shallot, diced
-1 T butter or olive oil
-dashes of salt, pepper, nutmeg

Instructions:
1) add 2 T of butter to the 1 T of reserved bacon fat and whisk in the flour, making a roux, and then stirring constantly for 2 minutes
2) slowly add the milk, whisking constantly and then simmering for 10 minutes
3) saute the onion in the remaining butter
4) add the onion to the sauce with salt, pepper, and nutmeg (to taste)
5) add the spinach and stir

so, SO yummy!!

CRUSTLESS SWEET POTATO "PIE" (source: this recipe is at least partially made up, but the rest of the source is unknown, sorry!)
Ingredients:
-2 sweet potatoes
-1/2 c brown sugar plus 1 T brown sugar
-1 stick of unsalted butter, melted
-2 large eggs
-1/2 c light cream
-3 T flour
-some cinnamon and nutmeg
-1/2 t vanilla

Instructions:
1) preheat the oven to 350 degrees
2) wrap the potatoes in two layers of aluminum foil and pierce the potatoes with a fork a few times
3) roast the potatoes until very soft (about 1 hour, 15-20 minutes)
4) remove the potatoes from the foil and cool
5) scoop the sweet potatoes out of their skins and mash with a fork
6) add all ingredients except the 1 T of brown sugar, and whisk until very smooth
7) spray a pie pan with some cooking spray, add the potatoes, and sprinkle on the remaining brown sugar
8) bake until set, about 40 minutes

This appears yellow because I (accidentally) experimented with yellow sweet potatoes... uncharted territory for sure!

*NOTE: This is seriously, seriously the best stuffing ever. Tristan wants you to know that it's won "stuffing competitions" in international settings. This is also one of the best recipes I have. Hands down.

On next year's to-learn Thanksgiving list: Cranberry sauce for sure! Turkey? Maybe. Maybe not. Not sure if I'm ready for that yet!

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!