recipe, please.

Debbie: Which chocolate pecan pie recipe did you use, and how did it turn out?

Robin

Question on Art Beauty and Horror

On Jane's facebook there is a quote someone sent about beauty always being related to horror:

Rilke: Beauty is nothing but the beginning of terror.

What do people think of this. She is in discussion about this, but she said why is the tingle of beauty with a fine meal, poem, etc. associated with horror. Someone quoted Edmund Burke "On the sublime":The passion caused by the great and sublime in nature..is Astonishment; and astonishment is the state of the soul, in which all it's motions are suspended, with some degree of horror. In this case the mind is so entirely filled with its object, that is cannot entertain any other."

Our Thanksgiving dinner

Our Thanksgiving dinner was a conglomerate of old recipes and memories and fresh input from Howie and Abby. I made this amazing broth from a Saveur recipe Abby sent me with white wine and Calvados (I substituted pear brandy) which later was used in both the gravy and the stuffing. The stuffing was the highlight: started with a box of Trader Joe's corn bread stuffing mix and added chestnuts, cooked pork sausage (good-bye vegan diet for yesterday), Howies "aromatics", an egg, more broth, dried cranberries; part went into the neck area of the bird and the rest we cooked in an open shallow baking dish until crisp on top.

Also good was a chocolate pecan pie which again was a combo of Frontera Grill and 3 other recipes found on line. By melting the bittersweet choc., it turned more into a chocolate pie with pecans....but was delicious!

I am also reading the Finkler book. Try "Dog Boy" by Hortung. Also "Friday Night Lights" on NetFlix which P and I have become addicted to.

Happy Postpandrial Thanksgiving

Hi Alts everywhere,

Hope all the celebrations went well. Thought it might be fun to share one or two items that turned out really well, and one that didn't. For me the turkey (even though I relied on the little plastic pop up for when done-don't tell the foodie high priests) was great, was brined, looked great, and was moist, along with the chestnut dressing. The other dish I liked was a sweet potato gratin with coconut milk, pureed chilpotles in adobo, minced ginger, garlic, and allspice powdered on top. My brussels this year disappointed me, blanched, sauteed in some bacon, maple syrup, and soy. They tasted metallic. Don't know if they were too old, I cooked them too long, the maple, soy, and bacon came together in some strange way.

Have a great rest of the weekend!! Current Kindle book I am reading is The Finkler Question by Howard Jacobson

The whole family is here getting the meal ready. Sarah's friend Brennan Mueller is here helping out. Turns out he knows how to harvest mushrooms in the wild in the rain forests of the Olympic Peninsula. I liked the aluminum log idea. Martha Stewart recommends slicing root veggies in half--I use rutabagas, turnips, parsnips, and a fennel bulb--and laying them on the bottom of the roasting pan to form the rack for the turkey. Debbie's doing pumpkin, chocolate pecan, and apple pies. More later

Gravy for the Intrepid-Thanksgiving Basics

Hi All,

Thanksgiving morning here. Last night I had the turkey stock simmering (wings and necks bought separately, half garlic head, thyme, parsley, whole peppercorns, 3 bay leaves, dried basil, about 5 hours of simmer) to use in gravy, stuffing, etc.

For the turkey I role up a couple of pieces of tin foil into logs to put at bottom of roasting pan to lay turkey on. After the turkey is done, I life it out and the foil logs, to prepare the gravy:

1. tip and remove most of fat being careful not to lose the tasting bits of carmelized turkey on botton of pan.

2. put pan (sans turkey) on a medium burner or two (want it to simmer a little). Deglaze with light vermouth, scraping the tasty scraps on the bottom. At this point could add some diced mushrooms if want to (I don't). Mix a TBS of flour in a jar with a cup of room temp turkey stock, or water. Shake to turn into slurry. While roasting pan is simmering pour the slurry in, stir or whisk till it thickens. Can add more flour slurry if not thick enough. Season with salt, pepper, fresh thyme, sage, a squeeze of lemon, dried basil, etc, according to your creative juices. I often add some white wine or vermouth, letting it simmer to rid it of alcohol. Play with stock, slurry, any other liquids to rich your taste with seasoning, thickness, flavor.

Thank you Pat!

Peeling the chestnuts the night before Thanksgiving was something we did at 1144 every year in our early marriage years. Wonderful memories as we would anticipate a delicious and lively Thanksgiving together.

Basics-Stuffing

I do the stuffing Thursday morning (but have peeled and crumbled the chestnuts the night before with the fam while sipping negroni's or pomtinis). A great bonding experience.

1. Saute the aromatics: diced celery, carrots, onions, shallots, red peppers, in some olive oil, bacon pieces, and butter. Simmer till just starting to carmelize, but not too much. Add diced mushrooms (shitake, cremini, or what you have). saute those till they release their liquid and brown, also can add a pinch of red pepper flakes.

2. At this point I deglaze with dry vermouth, or wine, or sherry.

3. Can add other items you like here-sausage, etc, (I usually don't add a meat)

4. Mix the bountiful aromatics and mushrooms with the crumbled chestnuts and add in a large bowl to cubed bread (large baguettes from Trader Joes, or sour dough, or Italian bread)

5. Mix all together, add a little white wine or vermouth, salt and pepper, parsley, a couple of eggs, and a little turkey stock if too dry. Mix well, taste for the seasoning. I also add some dried basil, or the seeds from the basil that has died outside. Also sage leaves and thyme.

6. I always stuff in the turkey. Soaks up good turkey flavor and love the well browned skin where the tail is with the stuffing underneath. So I stuff in the cavity as well as the end where the tail is.

7. That is my basic method. I am sure will have some other ideas and comments.

Thanksgiving Basics for the Intrepid

For all in the family that are getting a little nervous now I thought I would post some helpful ways of organizing and simplifying the cooking experience.

1. Menu skeleton:
Turkey (Trader Joes has good brined turkeys, or kosher ones are also good, or can brine own with Alice Waters recipie)
2. Stuffing (can go in many different directions but will talk about mine)
3. Gravy
4. Sides

The power of Re Gifting

Just peeled the raw chestnuts with Abby's hooked chestnut peeler. Great tool. After I chop them pretty coarsely in the cusinart, I toast them in the oven on a cookie sheet, so that they're actually crunchy in the stuffing. Does anyone have any novel stuffing ideas for this year? I've always heard about using oysters, but have never tried it.

Preparing the Palate

I've been planning out my meals for the next couple days so that my belly is perfectly primed for Thursday. I'm in charge of dessert, which I hope will include a cinnamon-pear crostata and a chocolate pecan pie. Drew comes into town tonight and I'll be making lentils with tomato, carrot, onion, garlic, bay leaf, basil, etc., a spinach/arugala salad, and a loaf of sourdough with my new favorite type of cheese: the blue/brie hybrid.

Right now I'm reading the DSM. Looking forward to cracking the Kindle over winter break.

Love,
Val

Anticipating a whole lot of cooking

I just got to Evanston with the kids last night and the fridge is already stocked with ingredients for the great turkey cook-off. Violet (who is only slightly larger than the size of the bird) will be helping dad stuff the turkey and mom make pumpkin pies. My contribution will involve Pomtinis.

I'm currently reading The Love Wife on my kindle - a fantastic read about a Chinese and American mixed-heritage family with two adopted Chinese girls and one biological son. I love the way the dialogue is written out - almost like a screenplay. Highly recommended.

Books

I will create a sidebar where each family member can list their favorite recent reads. Also look forward to interesting discussions.

Recent Kindlized Recs

A few of good reads on the Kindle:

Bridge of Sighs by Richard Russo

The Finkler Question by Howard Jacobson (Recent Man Booker award winner)

Iron Lake by William Kent Krueger (About the boundary waters in the North Woods, detective, indian tribes, murder , mayhem)

Turkey Time

I've just finished preparing the Alice Waters turkey brine, increasing the salt and decreasing the sugar to avoid a wimpy turkey. Grilling 4 extra turkey thighs because dark meat rules. Roasting the main turkey with an atomic heat shield over the breast composed of 4 slices of Nueske's bacon, cheese cloth dipped in butter, covered with foil for the first two thirds of the cooking.

Love,

Winnie

Welcome to the Alt Family Salon

Here we can all share food, recipes, flicks, and books we are reading in real book form or on our kindles, what our fav's are.
Will be fun to see this evolve.

Was great to see everyone and look forward to Andrew's wedding in Wisconsin.

Everyone has full capacity to post

Howie

Welcome all Alts to Share-Eats, Books, Kindles, Flicks