Thanksgiving Essentials: Honey-Sweetened Cranberry Sauce and Maple-Whipped Sweet Potatoes

Hello readers! So, I know it's been a while, but this weekend I find myself in western MA with Brady  - which means a real kitchen with all my gadgets and an actual food audience - so it it seemed like a good time to jump on the holiday bandwagon. This was very fortunate timing for Brady, as his MAT colleagues had a lovely Thanksgiving potluck shindig this weekend as well. I would like to think that I did him a favor cooking two things for us to bring, but I've missed cooking for people other than myself, so I can't act like it was some huge hardship.

And also.. I'm sorry. I'm sorry for the complete lack of photos in this post, but those of you who have ever tried to cook something and bring it to a party still warm can relate: those last few minutes getting out the door are a bit nuts. So you will just have to believe me when I tell you that the sauce and the potatoes were both colorful and lovely. Or better yet - make them yourself if you don't believe me!

Cranberry Sauce (Vegan)

I am not ashamed to admit that usually, can-shaped cranberry sauce is my preference. I love the stuff. But, when arriving at somebody's house for a party, I thought cranberry jell-o might be considered a bit.. gauche. So, here is a simple recipe that is cool, refreshing, festive, and a great relish compliment to all those rich holiday sides. This makes a rather large batch, since I was serving about 12 people, but can be easily halved:

Ingredients
2 12-oz bags fresh cranberries
1 1/2 cups water
1/2 cup 100% orange (pulp is ok), cranberry juice (not cocktail), or tangerine juice
1 tsp grated orange or tangerine zest
3/4 cup honey

Autumnal spices - ground cinnamon, nutmeg, clove, allspice, etc (optional)

Directions
1. In a medium-to-large saucepan, combine water, zest and honey, and bring to a boil.
2. Rise cranberries, picking out any shriveled or ugly-looking berries, and add once liquid is boiling. Bring back to a boil. Reduce heat to medium and cook uncovered for about 10 minutes. (You can also add a dash of cinnamon or nutmeg, or a pinch of ground clove or allspice at this step, if you want to).
3. Remove from heat and cool fully at room-temperature, then refrigerate for up to one week. (Sauce will thicken as it cools).

The orange adds a more mellow citrus flavor to the tart cranberries, and with the honey it is a nice balance of tart and (barely) sweet. I had tangerines on hand, so I used the juice and zest from one in place of the orange, which worked out great. And of course, I certainly feel better about using honey than a refined white sugar. If you can be convinced to deviate from the can-shaped variety, I recommend it!

Sweet Potatoes (Vegetarian)

This recipe comes from Martha Stewart's impossibly-perfect-yet-so-elegantly-simple recipe for Maple-Whipped Sweet Potatoes, which calls for oven-roasted potato flesh and a few staple additions to make some seriously beautiful potatoes with minimal effort. Again, this is a pretty big batch, but close to all of it was eaten by 12 people:

Ingredients
7-8 medium sweet potatoes
4 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
1/4 cup pure maple syrup
Coarse salt and ground pepper

Directions
1. Preheat your oven to 400 degrees. Prick sweet potatoes all over with a fork; about 6-8 times each.
2. On a rimmed baking sheet, bake potatoes until very tender when stabbed with a fork, about 1 hour. When cool enough to handle, halve the potatoes lengthwise, and scoop out the flesh, discarding the skins.
3. Transfer potato flesh to a food processor, add butter and syrup, and process until smooth. Season with salt and pepper, and serve warm.
4. (Or, if you're in a party-travel situation, transfer sweet potatoes to a large covered baking dish, cover with aluminum foil, wrap in clean cotton dish cloths, and hope they stay mostly-warm through the 20 minute drive to the party. If needed, you can always reheat them, uncovered, later on).

These were super, super tasty, and got lots of compliments. And it's not exactly quick, but definitely easy, and surprisingly light in texture. I did end up reheating them quickly when we arrived, but that's more because we got lost on the way than anything else. They were keeping my lap quite toasty until that third wrong turn...


We had a great evening with some great people, and as potlucks go it was exceptionally "lucky" - everybody brought something delicious that they had made, the hostess roasted a beautiful turkey, and a good time was had by all. Enough to make you thankful to know good people, even if you don't know them all that well. Thanksgiving success.

Crocktober: Vegan Sweet Potato and Pinto Bean Chili

After an unexpectedly long shift at my retail job this evening, I'm feeling a little short on poetic banter, but that doesn't mean that this recipe isn't a good one. The spice factor is totally up to you, but personally I'm a bit heavy-handed with them, so my three teaspoons of chili powder were probably more like "heaping teaspoons." Do whatever makes you happy.

Ingredients:

1 cup dry pinto beans (2 1/2 cups prepared)

1 large sweet potato or yam, peeled and cut into 1/2-inch-ish cubed 

1 cup water

1/2 onion, chopped

1 14.5 oz can diced tomatoes with jalapenos

2 tsp orange or tangerine zest

3 tsp chili powder

1/4 tsp paprika

1/4 tsp cayenne pepper (optional)

Pinch ground allspice (optional)

Fresh cilantro leaves, torn, for serving 

Salt and pepper, to taste (I used about 1/2 tsp seasoned salt)

Cooking spray

Directions:

1. If you're using dry beans, sort, rinse, and soak them in the refrigerator overnight (or for up to 24 hours) in plenty of water. Change the water at least twice in this time. If you are using canned or pre-cooked beans, just skip this step and rinse them well just before you add them to the crock.

2. Combine everything but the cilantro in a sprayed crock, and cook on low for 7-9 hours or high for 4-5. Serve with some fresh cilantro on top.

Easy peasy. I don't have a zester (or a grater, for that matter) so I used a vegetable peeler to peel off just the outer skin of my tangerine (no white stuff!) and minced it, which I think worked just fine.

 The only significant thing I would change about this is to alter the bean-to-potato ratio by adding another sweet potato. In my 2 qt machine another sweet potato wouldn't have fit, but in a larger crock it would. As a technical thing, I might add the sweet potatoes a couple of hours into the cooking time, in the future. Even with dry beans that had been soaking for about 20 hours, the sweet potato was done well before the beans were. I also think this would be yummy with butternut squash instead of the sweet potato.

If you're not bound to the "vegan" thing, this would be yummy with some grated cheese on top.

Quote of the Day: Said Aristotle unto Plato, "Have another sweet potato?,"Said Plato unto Aristotle, "Thank you, I prefer the bottle." ~ Owen Wister (1860-1938), American novelist

Hot-Sweet Shrimp Skewers and Minted White Bean Salad

This meal, like many that happen in my apartment, began with a recipe from EatingWell.com. And, like almost all of those meals, I edited a few things.

 The bean salad recipe calls for fresh sage and oregano, which besides being difficult to locate (understatement) in our local grocery store, I didn't imagine I would have much later use for. So I made the bean salad with some fresh chopped mint leaves, left out the tomato, and added a chopped radish instead. You could use chickpeas instead of the cannellini beans, or a mix of the two. This really couldn't be easier. My recipe serves two:

Ingredients:

1 can cannellini beans, or about 1 1/2 cups cooked beans

1 small handful of fresh mint leaves, chopped

1 green onion, thinly sliced

1 large rib of celery, finely chopped

1 radish, finely chopped

1 tsp. lemon juice

Olive oil

White wine vinegar

Salt and pepper

Directions:

1. Mix everything in a large bowl and refrigerate for at least 15 minutes, or as long as overnight.

For the shrimp (I cooked about 25, 5-per skewer), I made a sweet-spicy sauce. These measurements are all approximate, so definitely tweak it as you see fit.

Ingredients:

1 tsp dried cilantro

2 tsp sesame ginger salad dressing

1/2 tsp lemon or lime juice

Sriracha, to taste - I used about 1/2 tsp

1 tsp honey

25 shrimp, peeled and deveined

Directions:

1. Combine all, and mix with shrimp. Marinate in the refrigerator for at least 10 minutes.

2. Skewer shrimp and grill until cooked through.

 I used my George Foreman Grill, which was a little awkward with the length of the skewers, but it all worked out fine. I did have to rearrange the skewers to make sure they were cooking evenly, but the whole grilling process only took about 6 minutes.

I served the bean salad and shrimp with some warm bulgur wheat. The shrimp came out nicely spicy-sweet, the bean salad was light and summery, and might even be better the day after. There were no leftovers tonight, so I can't say for sure!


Quote of the Day: Weather means more when you have a garden. There's nothing like listening to a shower and thinking how it is soaking in around your green beans. ~ Marcelene Cox

Brined Dijon Pork Chops, Crock Pot Baked Sweet Potatoes & Baby Spinach Salad

Yeah, that title is a bit of a mouthful. (Get it?)

I love terrible puns. The worse, the better. I'm sorry you had to find out this way.

Okay, but on the serious: I find pork chops very frustrating. My dad and his partner Kathy will insist - and I am sure rightfully so - that the pork available in stores today pales in comparison to the fatty, moist, flavorful pork of their youth. They may even tell you not to bother with it at all. (If you've tried my dad's crown roast, though, you would strongly disagree). But personally, I see it as a challenge to marinate, brown, and perfectly cook (generally braise) it into a tender and moist cut of meat. So far, I wouldn't say that I have succeeded, exactly.

I've cooked a few that were pretty tasty, but none that have been outstanding, and tonight's was no exception. What was different this time, though, is that I brined the two boneless chops for over 36 hours. Still, a tiny bit dry. (What's a girl gotta do?!) I lightly browned both sides over medium-low heat in a grill pan, then covered and let them cook over low heat for about 10 minutes. The meat retained the tiniest bit of sweetness from the brine, which was great with the dijon mustard that I marinated it in post-brining. I'm only partially clear on the science behind brining, so perhaps it was the combo of salt&sugar brine and mustard that inhibited its juiciness. It was a flavorful but still slightly dry result.

I can't really explain the odd pattern of the grill-marks...

The LIFE CHANGING part of tonight's dinner is the concept of baking potatoes in a crock pot. Who knew you could do that? Not me. At least, not until I read this. I skipped the limes and rubbed the spuds with seasoned salt, cumin and garlic powder. I also forgot to stab them with a fork before wrapping them up in aluminum, but they didn't explode, so all's well that ends well. Ours cooked on high for about 7 hours, but that's just as much because of my schedule as their actual required cooking time. They may have been done at 5 hours, but if they were, they surely didn't suffer for it.

These sweet potatoes came out PERFECTLY. The skin was crispy and the flesh was buttery soft with a slightly oozy sugary goop-glaze. This might have happened differently if I had stabbed them, but I'm not totally sure. Either way, I am very happy with both the result and the process, and when the craving strikes, you too can have a fully-loaded baked potato in the middle of summer without having to evacuate your overheated kitchen. My two-quart crock pot (the "baby" to the 5-quarter) snugly held two medium-large tubers. I was surprised how subdued the cumin flavor became though. Next time I will probably try a more varied blend of spices. Naturally, I served them with a little butter.

For color and "balance," I tossed some baby spinach greens with oil and my new favorite salad vinegar, the apple cider variety. This is such a simple thing, but the three components of this meal worked so well together that I think I will make sweet potatoes and spinach salad a more frequent combination. We were pretty happy!

Quote of the Day: “It is a solemn thought: Dead, the noblest man's meat is inferior to pork” ~ Mark Twain