Ideas for YOUR Feast

The most common complaint, or at least comment, that I hear after Thanksgiving or other food related family gatherings is "I'm so full I can't eat another thing", and then we bring out the dessert and everyone finds rooms for just a little more. Why do we do this? Well the essence of hospitality in many cultures is to provide far more than enough food when you entertain.

Now that we have clearly entered the time of year when the groaning board is expected, anticipated with delight, and set up proudly by hosts and hostesses, here are some ideas from past posts to help you exceed expectations and create an even more festive holiday meal.

Some of these are simple but satisfying, like the pear-cranberry crisp. Some are quite traditional, like the Stuffing recipe from my Family Food cookbook. Some are over the top like the Pumpkin Pie Spectacular...your family and friends will be very impressed...and grateful...if you make it.

No matter what you serve, here's wishing you and yours very happy holidays!
XO Elle

Holiday Recipes from Soup to Nuts:

Soups -Butternut Squash Soup http://feedingmyenthusiasms.blogspot.com/2006/11/soup-shared-with-friends.html - Very seasonal, smooth and delicious!- Pumpkin Spinach and Rice Soup http://feedingmyenthusiasms.blogspot.com/2010/10/frost-is-on-pumpkin.html - Simple to make and very warming, plus the flavor combination is great!

Salad - This one is perfect for this time of year - Paula's Winter Salad has greens and oranges and raisins and it's a composed salad so you can make it ahead.

http://feedingmyenthusiasms.blogspot.com/2008/01/orange-you-glad-you-heard-about-this.html

I'm not going to do a roast turkey recipe because Butter Ball does such a great job with that. I will, however, give you my favorite STUFFING recipe! Click HERE.

Side Dishes - The all time favorite, and one which is requested often, is a savory combination of wild and brown rice with the tang of cranberries. It goes REALLY well with roast turkey, but is great with pork roast, roasted chicken and roasted duck. Click HERE for a great seasonal side dish.

Still in the cranberry frame of mind? Try Cranberry Pear Sauce with your meal. It uses fresh cranberries which are plentiful most places this time of year. It's a bit like a chutney since it has some vinegar to offset the brown sugar.

It makes a great condiment with left over turkey, too. Click HERE for the recipe.

Looking for a healthy veggie side dish? Try Chard and Spinach with Onions, Currants and Lemon Zest. The flavors are clean and lively which is a nice counterpoint to the richness of other dishes on the groaning board. Find the recipe by clicking HERE.

Now it's time for my favorite part of the meal...dessert!

Desserts:

If you really want to WOW everyone, make Pumpkin Pie Spectacular with Gingersnap Crust. It takes pumpkin pie to the next level and really isn't too much more difficult than regular pumpkin pie. Click HERE to find the recipe.

Maybe you want to go with something seasonal but a little less rich? Try Pear Cranberry Crisp, maybe with a scoop of frozen yogurt added to each bowl when served. The crisp recipe is HERE.

With pomegranates all the rage, you might want to try a tart that uses pomegranate juice to make a fruit curd for the filling and is also used to poach pears for the topping. It's unusual and delicious. Click HERE for the Pomegranate Lemon Tart with Poached Pears.


Last, but not least, HERE is a recipe for a Mosaic Nut Tart (see, nuts came at the end as promised and the photo is at the top of the post) that is similar to pecan pie, but just a little different. Dollop on some whipped cream and enjoy a sweet slice...maybe as you watch the last Bowl game of the day?

If you enjoy any of these recipes and have the time, come back and let me know, OK? Always fun to share and rewarding to know that others liked 'em.

Lemon-Pomegranate Tango

Convergence is a wonderful thing. Just yesterday I was looking at a number of the Bread Baking Babes sites to see what bread they had baked this month. Since Karen of Bake My Day is hostess this month, if you want to see what she chose, go here. While on another Babe's site I saw that Gretchen had gathered a list of upcoming food blogger events. One that had immediate appeal for me was the one celebrating lemons, particularly Meyer lemons. Since a friend recently gave me some Meyer lemons I knew I wanted to participate. Now the convergence part...a box of bottles of POM Wonderful Pomegranate juice arrived yesterday, too. If I couldn't figure out a way to combine Meyer lemons and pomegranate juice then I shouldn't call myself a food blogger!

Today for lunch the lemon and pomegranate flavors did a tango with each other resulting in a flavorful sweet-tart dressing which went really well with fresh salad greens, chunks of cooked chicken, Braeburn apple slices, and chopped walnuts.

Since I used not only the Meyer lemon juice but also the Meyer lemon zest, the dressing was bursting with crisp citrus flavor which played up the delightful fruitiness of the POM Wonderful pomegranate juice. The dressing also had freshly ground black pepper for bite, and some olive oil, plus a small amount of dried thyme. It went together quickly. Why even consider using a bottled dressing when you can put this delightful dressing together in a flash, and enjoy the goodness of pomegranate juice and the zing of fresh lemon. If you don't have Meyer lemons, use whatever lemons you have available. Be sure to include some zest and make sure to use only the colored part. After you taste the shaken dressing, you may want to adjust the amount of any of the ingredients to suit your own taste buds. I threw this together without a recipe, but it is quite likely that there are other similar recipes elsewhere.

For a further convergence, not only will I send this along to Wine Imbiber for the Lemon Lovefest event, but I'll also send it to Annie for the Grow Your Own event created by Andrea of Andrea's Recipes and hosted this month by House of Annie. The round up for Grow Your Own can be found here. I think of it as cross pollination and a way to introduce bloggers to each other...something very appropriate for this time of year. Check out these events and their participants and you may find some new wonderful blogs to visit as winter turns to spring. For the Lemon Lovefest event, you can see the round up at the Lemon Lovefest Library here.

Lemon-POM Tango Dressing

1/2 cup POM Wonderful pomegranate juice
1/4 cup olive oil
zest and juice of 1 medium Meyer lemon (or regular lemon)
1/8 teaspoon dried thyme
freshly ground black pepper to taste

In a jar or other container with a sealed lid, place all of the ingredients. Seal with lid and shake vigorously to emulsify the oil in the rest of the ingredients. Check for taste and add more pepper if needed.

Use to dress any salad that will taste good with a slightly sweet dressing. I used mixed salad greens, sliced Braeburn apples, chunks of cooked chicken and chopped walnuts.

Almost Turkey Time

If you don't live in the U.S.of A., the coming of fall probably doesn't mean that it is time to gather up the recipes for cooking a big turkey for a family, or extended family, or family and friends dinner toward the end of November.

If you do celebrate American Thanksgiving, you probably have a raft of family traditions associated with the feast.

It might be Aunt Mabel's green bean casserole with onion rings or Uncle George's special meatball appetizer or Grandma's super sweet, marshmallow covered sweet potato casserole. With the way that tastes change over time, this might be the year that you decide to try something new and different...well, at least for one dish.

If you are the brave soul that is willing to stand up against family pressure and make a casserole that has fresh green beans and no fried onions in sight, or something with sweet potatoes that is actually savory, perhaps with some sage butter, or even a different stuffing for the turkey, you might need some suggestions for new recipes to try. I'm selfish enough that I want you to make one of the recipes I've blogged about if thats teh case...besides they are good!

There will be round ups and lists to be found around the Internet. My group of Thanksgiving ready recipes will be limited to ones I've posted here in the Land of St. Honore' at Feeding My Enthusiasms. That might make it a short list, but that makes it easier for you to scan it, check out any that look interesting to you, then pop on over to the next blog (which might be one on my likely blogs list...if you are smart).

Here goes....drumroll please.....

Appetizers:

White Bean Dip, http://feedingmyenthusiasms.blogspot.com/2009/10/this-dip-made-with-canned-cannelli.html hits a lot of high notes - robust taste, not too filling, good-for-your-heart legume based, great with either crackers or crudites, easy to make and ...Yay!...can be made ahead and tastes even better if you do.

Caprese on a Skewer, http://feedingmyenthusiasms.blogspot.com/2009/11/catching-up-caprese-on-skewer.html is colorful, fun to make and fun to eat. Finding flavorful tomatoes might be a challenge, but you can use cherry tomatoes which are usually sold in pint baskets. They generally taste good. You can substitute flat leaf parsley (Italian parsley) leaves for the basil leaves. The flavor combo will be different, but the skewers are still pretty that way. You can Serve the skewers by sticking the end in a small pumpkin or you can corral a bunch of filled skewers in a tall glass, fanning them out.

Salads:

A tossed green salad is always welcome, but if you want a make-ahead salad, try this Composed Orange Salad, http://feedingmyenthusiasms.blogspot.com/2008/01/orange-you-glad-you-heard-about-this.html . You can arrange the lettuce and orange slices on salad plates, stack them up in the 'fridge, then dab on the mayo, add the cherry and sprinkle on the raisins and coconut shortly before guests sit down and put them a plate at each place. The orange is refreshing and light which is a good way to start a meal that is heavy on the starches.

Soup:

If the day is chilly as November often is, starting with a nice bowl of soup is warming and welcoming. Try a seasonal favorite like Two Squash Soup, http://feedingmyenthusiasms.blogspot.com/2009/11/soups-on-and-its-two-squash-soup.html rich with roasted butternut and pumpkin squashes, plus onions, sweet potato and apples. With a sour cream and diced red pepper garnish it's quite festive and flavorful.

Turkey:

The main event is usually a roast Turkey, golden and juicy. Turns out that I haven't blogged a turkey recipe, so I'm sending you to the experts. The Butterball turkey folks have a great helpline and website if you need a recipe or help. I usually cook mine in a brown-in-bag because it makes it difficult to over cook the bird, plus clean up is so easy.This one wasn't cooked in a brown-in bag and it is overcooked.

Sides:

What is a turkey without stuffing? No nearly as good! My Mom makes the best stuffing (you knew I'd say that, right?...well, it's true) and the Stuffing, http://feedingmyenthusiasms.blogspot.com/2008/11/stuffed.html recipe I posted last year is based on her bread and corn bread stuffing. You'll need a slightly drier stuffing if it is going inside the bird than if it goes in the casserole, so add a little extra broth to the casserole baked stuffing. You can make it your own by adding favorite dried fruit, different nuts, and so on. Make plenty because people usually want seconds of this stuffing!

Good turkey benefits by the accompaniment of cranberries. There's something about the sweet-tart fruitiness that brings out the best in the bird. Cranberries also ripen in the fall, making them a fall favorite since Colonial times. If you want to break away from cranberry relish, try Elle's Wild and Brown Rice with Cranberries, http://feedingmyenthusiasms.blogspot.com/2008/10/for-holiday-meals.html for a side dish instead. It has the nutty flavors of wild and brown rice, plus apple juice soaked cranberries and a dash of orange flavor for zest.

(You can still open a can of cranberry jelly for purists).

Swiss chard is a seasonal green that is all too often forgotten makes a wonderful side dish. It is refreshing and savory and light...just right with such a rich meal. Try it fixed as Swiss Chard and Spinach with Onions, Currants and Lemon Zest,
http://feedingmyenthusiasms.blogspot.com/2007/12/sneaking-in-chard.html an interesting mix of greens, onions with the contrast of currants and the zip of lemon zest.

Bread:

Even though the usual Thanksgiving meal has plenty of carbs without it, everyone loves freshly baked rolls. Pile the bread basket with these Refrigerator Rolls, http://breadbakersdog.blogspot.com/2009/03/refrigerator-rolls-ready-when-you-are.html which can be partially made ahead. They are from my other blog, Bread Baker's Dog, devoted to bread baking. Pop them in the oven when the turkey comes out. They'll bake while it's resting and being carved and you will be a star when you pass the bread basket and people get a whiff of freshly baked bread.

If you are feeling artistic and want to really impress, make the Harvest Sheaf bread, also found on Bread Baker's Dog. It is easier to make than it looks. To serve, I just sliced across the sheaf.

Dessert:

The last morsel of turkey has been polished off and the coffee is brewing. Now comes my favorite part, dessert. Here are three desserts that use seasonal fruits. They make a nice addition to the dessert table, which can also include a traditional pie.

The first Double Apple Bundt Cake with or without Rum Glaze, http://feedingmyenthusiasms.blogspot.com/2008/05/its-not-tuesday-but-its-still-dorie.html features crisp, tart apples complemented with spice in an easy to serve bundt cake with a decorative rum glaze.

The next two are a bit unusual but delicious. Try Stuffed Figs and Plum Clafouti, http://feedingmyenthusiasms.blogspot.com/2007/09/fun-with-fall-figs.html with the added kick of bittersweet chocolate hiding in the figs.

Pomegranate Lemon Tart with or without Spiced Poached Pears, http://feedingmyenthusiasms.blogspot.com/2009/03/some-kinda-wonderful.html makes use of the season's pears and is very pretty with the sweet-tart pomegranate lemon pastel tart filling and the fan of bi-colored pear slices on top.

Still need some recipe ideas? Check out the index by clicking on the set table photo at the top right corner of this blog.

Happy Thanksgiving! East well and enjoy time with family and friends. XOXOXO Elle

Still Wonderful

Although this dish was created last month, there has been a lot going on lately, so it had to wait it's turn.

A steak is Sweetie's idea of good eating. It's not exactly healthy, but prepared this way it's wonderful. Using another of those cute bottles of POM Wonderful pomegranate juice, I created a marinade for the steak. It was delicious.

The rosemary and garlic went really well with the pomegranate juice and I think the juice kept the steak moist and juicy. There are healthier ways to enjoy this great juice, but if you are a meat and potatoes kinda person...try this.

Here's what it looks like after it's been marinated. The marinade begins cooking the meat a bit.



Pomegranate Rosemary and Garlic Marinated Steak

enough for steak for 3-4 people

8 oz. POM Wonderful pomegranate juice
2 tablespoons fresh rosemary, chopped roughly
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
2 tablespoons olive oil
1/2 teaspoon salt

Place the marinade ingredients in a gallon size zipper lock plastic bag. Shake well to mix. Lay the plastic bag in a large baking pan, carefully un-zip and place the steaks in one layer in the marinade. Close plastic bag. Let marinate at room temperature for an hour, then turn the bag over and let the other side marinate for an hour.

Remove steaks from the marinade and discard the marinade. Grill the steaks to the degree of pinkness you desire. Serve at once.

Some Kinda Wonderful

When Diana Salier contacted me to ask if I’d like to try some POM Wonderful pomegranate juice and blog about the results, it was easy to say ‘Yes’.

In general I avoid commercialization on my blog, mostly because I like to be free to do what I want to do. The reason it was easy to say ‘Yes’ was because I’ve already used the product and found it to be a delicious juice, 100% pomegranate juice according to the label.

Having some samples to play with encouraged me to think a bit outside of the box. It has many health benefits, but the recipe that came to mind first was not a bit healthy.

In her fabulous book Baking, from My Home to Yours, Dorie Greenspan has a recipe for a lemon cream that sounds dreamy. She makes an orange and a lime variation. I wondered if I could make a pomegranate and lemon version and how that would work.

Since I rarely make tarts, the first hurdle was making the tart dough and baking it as a crust in a tart pan. I know there are some for whom this is as easy as falling out of bed.

For me it was somewhat nerve wracking. I wasn’t sure that I processed the dough mixture enough (or too much) in the food processor and then I didn’t have a 9 inch tart pan, so I used a smaller one and a very small one, but was unsure if the volume was correct for that much dough.

When I was baking the frozen crusts, I thought the filling would cook faster, so when they needed to come out of the oven and have the foil removed, I was madly stirring filling with a whisk. Fortunately Sweetie was happy to take the crusts from the oven and then I used one had to stir and the other to remove foil!

As it turned out, the crusts are fine. Next time I might use a little less dough in the pans for a thinner crust, but these are OK. Next time I would increase the gelatin because the filling was a bit too goopey, even after chilling. The filling also seemed to be a dull color, so I added some food color. Not sure if that was a good thing, either, but I do like the combination of the spiced pears poached in more POM Wonderful pomegranate juice with the sweet tart creamy, buttery filling. You can taste the delicious flavor of pomegranate juice and the zing tartness of lemon juice.

Pomegranate Lemon Tart with or without Spiced Poached Pears
a variation of Creamy Orange Tart in Baking from My Home to Yours by Dorie Greenspan

Tart Crust
1 ½ cups all-purpose flour
½ cup confectioners sugar
¼ teaspoon salt
1 stick plus 1 tablespoon (9 tablespoons) very cold or frozen butter
cut into small pieces
1 large egg yolk

Put the flour, confectioners sugar, and salt into the work bowl of a food processor with the steel blade. Pulse a couple of times to combine. Scatter the pieces of butter over the dry ingredients and pulse until the butter is cut in. Stir the yolk briefly, then add to the ingredients in the food processor a little at a time, pulsing after each addition. Once the egg is processed, pulse the mixture with longer pluses, about 10 seconds each, until the mixture forms clumps. Turn the clumped dough out onto a work surface and very lightly knead the dough to incorporate any dry ingredients missed by the pulsing.

Butter a 9 inch tart pan. Add the dough and press the dough evenly over the bottom and up the sides. Save one little piece for patching once baked. Work gently to keep the crumbly texture.

Freeze the crust a minimum of 30 minutes or longer. While crust is freezing, you can make the filling.

Pomegranate Lemon Filling
1 cup sugar
Grated zest of one lemon
4 large eggs
¼ cup lemon juice
½ cup POM Wonderful 100% pomegranate juice
2 sticks plus five tablespoons (10 ½ oz) butter at room temperature, cut into tablespoon size pieces
1 tablespoon cold water
1 ¼ teaspoons unflavored gelatin

Bring a few inches of water to a simmer in a saucepan.

In a large heatproof bowl, rub together the sugar and the lemon zest. Whisk in the eggs, then whisk in the lemon juice and pomegranate juice.

Place the bowl over the pan of simmering water and stir with the whisk as soon as the mixture feels tepid to the touch. Continue whisking until the mixture reaches 180 degrees F (an instant read thermometer is best way to check). Whisk constantly. The mixture will start out foamy and eventually, just before reaching 180 degrees F, will start to thicken and the whisk will leave tracks.

As soon as the mixture reaches 180 degrees F., remove from the heat and pour mixture through a strainer into a blender (best) or food processor. Discard the zest that collects in the strainer.

Let the cream stand, stirring occasionally, until it cools to 140 degrees F, about 10 minutes.

Turn the blender on high or start the processor. Add the butter about 5 pieces at a time. Scrape down the sides as needed. Once the butter is incorporated, keep the machine going for about another 3 minutes.

While the machine is processing for the last 3 minutes, mix the cold water and gelatin in a small heatproof cup. Microwave for 15 seconds to dissolve the gelatin. Set aside.

Pour the mixed creamy mixture from the blender or food processor into a bowl. Whisk in the gelatin. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap, pressing the wrap directly onto the pomegranate lemon filling.

Chill for at least 4 hours or overnight.

While the filling is chilling, bake the crust, as long as it has chilled for at least 30 minutes in the freezer. (This would work far better than the way I did it, trying to bake the crust and cook the filling at the same time!).

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Center a rack in the oven.

Butter the shiny side of a piece of aluminum foil and fit the foil, buttered side down, tightly against the crust. Put the tart pan on a baking sheet and bake the crust for 25 minutes. Carefully remove the foil. If the crust has puffed, press it down gently with the back of a spoon. Return to the oven and bake for another 8 minutes or so or until it is firm and golden brown. If there are any cracks in the baked crust, use the save piece of dough to patch them, then bake another two minutes.

Let the crust cool completely before filling.

Take the chilled filling from the fridge and whisk vigorously to loosen.

Spoon the filling into the cooled crust and spread evenly. Serve now or refrigerate until serving time. Serve within four hours for best crust results.

Optional addition - pear topping :

While cream is chilling, poach a pear or two that has been peeled, cored and sliced

in the following poaching liquid:

1 cup POM Wonderful pomegranate juice
1 tablespoon lemon zest
¼ teaspoon freshly grated or ground nutmeg
¼ teaspoon ground cardamom

Poach the pear slices for 5 – 10 minutes until pink and softened. Remove from poaching liquid with slotted spoon or skimmer and let cool completely.

Place a layer of pear slices on the crust and cover with the pomegranate lemon filling or spread on the filling, then arrange pear slices attractively.

If pears are on top of tart, you can glaze them with:

1/3 cup apple or quince jelly mixed with ½ teaspoon water

Bring to a boil, then use a pastry brush to glaze the pear slices and pomegranate lemon filling.

Chill to set the jelly before serving.