- Amanda As you may have noticed, we’ve been getting a lot of our recent cooking inspiration from you. In the same autumn salad contest that prompted Merrill’s post on Persimmon Chiffon Pie, there were a couple of dressing recipes that incorporated caramelized fruit. I like citrus-based vinaigrettes but sometimes the flavor is too thin, too faint and ephemeral. So I decided to try caramelizing some citrus before squeezing the juice for the dressing.
- Merrill Last week, several of the Autumn Salad submissions contained persimmons, which got us thinking about this distinctive fall fruit, known by the ancient Greeks as the "fruit of the Gods." There are two main types of persimmons available in the United States: one is firm when ripe, and the other is soft. Fuyu persimmons, which are round and squat like a tomato, are the most common variety of firm-ripe, or "non-astringent" persimmon found in this country; these are typically sliced and eaten raw. Hachiya persimmons, a popular soft-ripe (or "astringent") variety, are longer and more pointed, and they're ready to eat when the flesh of the fruit softens to the consistency of jelly. It is this second type that you should look for when a recipe calls for "persimmon pulp," which is just a fancy term for the soft flesh of an astringent persimmon after it has been scooped from its skin.
In order to help you get ready for what is arguably the most important meal of the year, we're dedicating this entire week to all things Thanksgiving. We'll post featured recipes that we think would be great on any Thanksgiving table, and we'll ask you to share some tricks of the trade as well. Today, to kick things off, we're opening up the lines to any and all questions you may have for us about cooking for Thanksgiving. Need to know the right proportions for brining a turkey? Always wondered what the difference is between sweet potatoes and yams? Just post your questions in the comments section below, and we'll answer each and every one. And if we don't know the answer ourselves, we'll find someone who does and report back!
Last week a few of you asked what sort of liquid libation we'd recommend to go with the Thanksgiving turkey. As luck would have it, Chambers Street, our wine partner, has put together a list just for us. Below you'll find a selection of wines (featuring an assortment of colors and price points) singled out by Chambers Street as ideal pairings for Thanksgiving fare. The best part? If you click through and use the promotional code "food52" you can order all of these wines -- and more -- from Chambers Street for a 10% discount!
Setting aside the question of the turkey (and what a question it is: see Thanksgiving 911 for help!), this week we're going to approach the other parts of the meal -- vegetables, starches, and desserts. We'll feature a selection of recipes that have won or been finalists in food52 contests, and would be great additions to any Thanksgiving table. Today, we start with vegetables. Pink Greens by Marissa Grace -- tangy and hot, a nice counterpoint to the heavier dishes on the table. Moroccan Carrot Salad with Harissa by Cordeliah -- a zesty, make ahead dish. Glazed Brussels Sprouts and Apples in Browned Butter and Cream by ChezSuzanne -- full of fall flavors. Autumn Celeriac (Celery Root) Puree by Sonali -- perhaps a migration from mashed potatoes? Grilled Brussels Sprouts by kitchenwitchcookie -- no grill required! Possible to do in a grill pan. Roasted Butternut Squash Coconut Curry Puree by testkitchenette -- a less traditional, but delicious, option. Red Leaf Salad with Roasted Beets, Oranges and Walnuts by Teresa Parker -- one of our earliest winners (so early the contest doesn't actually appear!) was this great fall salad
Today, onto carbohydrates, perhaps the most beloved and bemoaned food group of them all. Thanksgiving tends to be a time when people set aside their neuroses and celebrate the starches of the world. Oh yeah, and family and friends... Below are some more recipes from winners and finalists that deserve to be devoured by all. Individual Sweet Potato Gratins with Creme Fraiche, Onions, and Bacon by apartmentcooker Potato Leek au Gratin by AlexisC What We Call Stuffing: Challah, Mushroom and Stuffing by MrsWheelbarrow Ciabatta Stuffing with Chorizo, Sweet Potatoes, and Onions by melissav
Finally, we turn to the end of the meal. Pie usually dominates, but there are some people for whom (horror of horrors!) pie is not the dessert of choice. Here, we feature recipes from our winners and finalists for sweets that just may put those pumpkin pie cravings to rest. Fig and Anise Clafoutis by Oui, Chef -- great made with dried figs, if you can't find fresh Rum Apple Cake by colombedujour -- a gluten free option Pudding Chomeur by camille -- a celebration of maple syrup An Old Fashioned Apple Spice Cake by betteirene -- a dramatic, holiday-worthy presentation
- Merrill For years now, on the day before Thanksgiving my mother has made what in my family goes by the slightly unappetizing name of "Tuscan Onion Goo." Inspired by a visit to a family-owned gem in Florence called Ristorante del Fagioli, this sour-sweet onion confit was originally served to her as an antipasto. She enjoyed it so much that she asked, in halting but enthusiastic Italian, if the waiter would tell her how it was made. He promptly ushered her into the tiny kitchen, where the sweaty, grinning chef himself showed her how to put together the dish. She took mental notes and then came home and recreated it, with a few small adaptations.
- Amanda At the food52 launch party, Tamio gave Merrill and me a great little book, The Metropolitan Cook Book, published by the Metropolitan Life Insurance Company in 1924. The book begins with a quote by Ruskin that mirrors so much about our approach to cooking at food52: "Cookery means carefulness and inventiveness and willingness and readiness of appliances. It means the economy of your grandmothers and the science of the modern chemist; it means much testing and no wasting; it means English thoroughness and French Art and Arabian hospitality." We may need to work on the French Art and Arabian hospitality, but we're getting there.
Last week, a colleague emailed me for some help with a piece she was writing on maple syrup -- specifically, on how lots of chefs are using it in savory dishes. She may have seen a short blurb I wrote on Grade B maple syrup when it was all the rage a couple of years ago, or she may just have been asking for my input as a cook and an eater. But it got me thinking. Last year, I created a fall salad for a dinner party that went over particularly well; I used maple syrup in the vinaigrette, which I hadn't done before (if a dressing is too tart, I typically add a bit of honey or raw sugar). At the time, I made a mental note to start using maple syrup in my salad dressings on a regular basis. Alas, good intentions are not always enough: time and time again over the past year, it slipped my mind, and my vinaigrettes remained sadly syrup-free.
- Merrill While I have always been somewhat of a sweet potato addict, I prefer savory preparations to the traditional brown sugar and maple syrup concoctions typically found on the Thanksgiving table. I originally got the idea for these potatoes from Marcus Samuelsson, chef and co-owner of Aquavit in Manhattan. A few years ago, he teamed up with Slow Food to give cooking lessons to some of the students at The Children's Storefront, an independent tuition-free school in Harlem. I happened to be there observing one afternoon when he taught the kids his version of the recipe, and I have been making my own adaptation ever since. I hope you'll find the combination of sweet potatoes, crème fraîche, garlic, herbs and parmesan as rich and satisfying as I do.
- Amanda This past weekend, on a trek to Chelsea Market in Manhattan with a friend and our kids, we stopped in for lunch at Buon Italia, an Italian grocery store that many of the city's chefs turn to for esoteric and high-quality Italian ingredients. I couldn't stop thinking about one of the dishes we had, a butternut squash antipasto. The squash had been sliced into ribbons so that it looked like pappardelle, and then these ribbons seemed to have been roasted -- there were browned edges -- and yet not quite cooked through -- some had a great little crunch. They tasted candied but were doused with plenty of vinegar. Transfixed and determined, I got in the kitchen, and now you, too, can make this salad....
- Merrill Since we did a video tour of Amanda's kitchen, I thought I'd put together a slide show of mine. Here I've included some of my favorite cooking and serving items, along with a recipe for Coconut Rice Pudding with Ginger Lemongrass Syrup that would be perfect served in the Roseware glasses my mother gave me.
- Amanda After a week during which my kitchen felt like an apple cake factory, I figured it was time for a salad. So I took the concepts behind escarole salad with warm bacon dressing and pear and blue cheese salad -- two salads I love -- and combined them. I crisped bacon in a pan, then sauteed shallots and figs, and finished the dressing with red wine vinegar and a little sugar. The warm dressing softens the lettuce leaves -- I used curly endive but you could use escarole, arugula or romaine -- and adds a little bitterness. And for a little salinity to contrast with the sweet figs, I crumbled some blue cheese on top.
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