On 12/3/2010 4:50 PM, A Moose In Love wrote:
> On Dec 3, 1:32 pm, Kate > wrote:
>> Well, I've been a little busy and haven't had time to post.
>> I finally had company for my day-after-T-day dinner. It's been
>> a few years. (What with all my back problems and arthritis
>> aches and pain I kind of let the clutter build up over the past
>> few years and didn't have the energy to clean house for company.
>> Well, I finally managed to get it done! Hurray!)
>>
>> So, I made my usual 20-lb. turkey so I would have leftovers to
>> last me till Xmas. I tried a new stuffing recipe that turned out
>> very well. It's a bread stuffing with sausage (I used sweet Italian)
>> and dried cherries and pistachios in it. Delicious.
>>
>> I tried a new vegetable dish - green beans with oranges. That was
>> not as successful. I did it the way the recipe said - saute the
>> beans in a skillet over very high heat until they are blackened in
>> spots. Then you add fresh orange sections. With the leftover juice
>> you make a dressing by adding olive oil, vinegar (I used balsamic),
>> and some kosher salt. Now I liked the flavors but I hated the, to
>> me, undercooked green beans. I don't like my green beans crunchy.
>> So, I would make it again but use fully cooked or even canned green
>> beans (if no decent fresh ones were available). The oranges and the
>> dressing were quite nice. I think this could be a very good dish if
>> done right.
>>
>> I also made mashed potatoes as usual, but I put garlic and sour
>> cream in them, which was new for me. Very good.
>>
>> I made my usual pumpkin pies, but I forgot that after last year
>> I swore I wouldn't make pumpkin pie any more. It gives me horrible
>> acid indigestion. Even if I eat it for breakfast and have all day
>> to calm down the indigestion. I still wake up in the middle of the
>> night with acid reflux. So somebody please remind me next year of
>> my resolution to forgo pumpkin pie. But it just doesn't seem right
>> not to have pumpkin pie on T-day (or the day after). I think I'll
>> make a couple of chess pies next year. Maybe lemon and chocolate.
>> Yeah, that's the ticket.
>>
>> There were also the family's traditional crescent rolls. It's also
>> not T-day without the crescent rolls. However, no sweet potato
>> casserole and no cranberry sauce. In lieu of cranberry sauce my
>> aunt made her Cranberry Waldorf Salad (without the walnuts, thank
>> you). Even though it's sort of trailer trash fare I still like it -
>> apples, grapes, cranberries, mini marshmallows, and Cool Whip. Yum.
>>
>> I also made my traditional first course of Orange Pomegranate Compote.
>> I love this stuff. Fresh orange sections, pomegranate seeds, and then
>> dressed with a little lemon juice, a pinch of sugar, and some rose
>> water (I used orange flower water though because I was out of rose
>> water). Then I serve it in beautiful crystal stemware bowls and
>> sprinkle freshly grated coconut over it. (I took a picture this year
>> but being the retro camera geek that I am I used real film and stuff
>> so it will be a while before I finish the roll and get it developed
>> - yeah, they still do that - and can post the picture.)
>>
>> My guests mostly didn't eat the pomegranate seeds which really ****ed
>> me off. I had to throw a lot of them away. (Maybe I could have rinsed
>> them off in a strainer and then put them back in the leftovers for me
>> to eat!) These people don't know what's good! I think they were just
>> afraid to swallow the seeds. Sheesh! If they weren't such nice people
>> with whom I've been friends for 20 years I would have had them shot!
>> Sheesh! At least my daughter told me beforehand so I just served her
>> the oranges - she didn't want the pomegranate seeds or the coconut - so
>> nothing was wasted. But it sure spoiled the look of the table. Sigh.
>>
>> Well, in spite of my guests lack of taste they all seemed to really like
>> the rest of the dinner and we had a great time.
>>
>> Hope everyone else had a marvelous T-day (or day after).
>>
>
> Your stuffing sounds fabulous. Green beans, when I get company, I
> usually do them the same way. I steam them until they are done, but
> still crunchy. Then I saute' them in a pan with butter and almonds
> and add some demi-glace. Pretty outstanding. You can get demi-glace
> mixes, but I don't know how good they are. I make my own.

I didn't really follow the recipe, it was mainly for inspiration.
I just pretty much made the stuffing the way I usually do, but
added the sausage, cherries, and pistachios. I got some really
good Italian rustic bread from TJ's. I cut it up myself and
toasted the cubes in the oven. Then put them in a large pot
and added the herbs - basil, thyme, marjoram, sage, rosemary,
parsley - then added broth made from the giblets, neck, and
extra fat globs from the turkey and seasoned with salt, pepper,
bay leaves, parsley. Then I mixed in the browned sausage (in
this case I used bulk mild Italian sausage but normally I use
bulk sage breakfast sausage), the cherries, and the pistachios,
then seasoned it with salt and pepper. I stuffed the turkey
with half of it and made a casserole with the other half.

Kate

--
Kate Connally
“If I were as old as I feel, I’d be dead already.”
Goldfish: “The wholesome snack that smiles back,
Until you bite their heads off.”
What if the hokey pokey really *is* what it's all about?