Dear Readers, it is my great pleasure to introduce to you Salty Sour Spicy Sweet's first guest-blogger, my brother-in-law and spiritual food twin, Craig Zissel. Craig's dedication to food is rivaled only by his dedication to drinking and seersucker. He is devoted also to sparkling wines - which he'll sell to you just slightly over retail - and, as you'll see, bacon. These, and many other fine qualities, qualified him to be the Godfather of my child who he showers with affection and gifts. I know, I know, you wish he was your brother in law, but too bad...he's mine!! Herewith, his glorious Thanksgiving secrets. Enjoy him as I do.
From Craig:
I have to admit that I am extremely honored to be the first ever "Guest Blogger". As a self proclaimed fat kid (ok, others have called me a fat kid also) I must admit that I sometimes spend unreasonable amounts of time thinking about food. One of my favorite things about me is that I often plan my next meal while finishing the current one.
Of all my favorite food based events, Thanksgiving is at the top of my list. It is one of the few days of year when others share my desire to spend the whole day cooking, drinking and watching TV. When Kristin and Beth approached me about guest blogging in November, I couldn't wait to share my two favorite side dish recipes which I developed last year when I cooked my first ever Thanksgiving feast. One thing that goes unsaid with these recipes and many others related to Thanksgiving is that homeade turkey stock is a must. I know it is gross pulling that bag of turkey vittles out of your preferably fresh turkey from Graul's and boiling them up with onions, celery, salt, pepper and water in a stock pot for 2-3hours, but the savory goodness that results is well worth the trouble. This can be done the night before. Save the onions and Celery as they come in handy for your stuffing the next day, just make sure to refrigerate. So though using canned broth won't alter the flavor of these dishes too much, I will be severely dissapointed and will secretly judge you if you don't make your own.
Brussel Sprouts with Figs and Pancetta
Ingredients:
2 containers of fresh brussel sprouts
1 package of dried figs
8 oz of thin sliced pancetta (mmmm italian bacon)
1 cup of fresh turkey stock.
Olive Oil
salt & pepper to taste
Instructions:
Trim the brussel sprouts and parboil them for approximately 10-15 minutes in salted water until slightly tender. You don't need to cook them all the way through as they will continue cooking in the next steps.
While you are trimming and boiling the brussel sprouts, soak your figs in warm water for about 10 minutes until soft and partial re-hydrated. Reserve 1/2 cup of fig juice.
Slice Brussel Sprouts in half and coarsley chop figs and set aside.
Dice the pancetta and saute over medium high heat with some olive oil until pancetta begins to crisp. Add turkey broth and de-glaze pan, then add brussel sprouts, figs and salt & Pepper. and fig juice.
Cook over medium high heat until broth is reduced to about 1/3rd and thickens to a syrupy consistency. Season with additional salt & pepepr to taste.
Fig, Apple and Walnut Stuffing
This is enough to stuff an 18-24 pound Turkey
4 celery stalks*-- I chop up the celery used to make the turkey broth
2 large apples peeled and chopped into one inch pieces
1 cup of chopped walnuts
1 package of dried figs--soaked in warm water for 10-15 minutes and coarsely chopped
5 Cups of Turkey Broth (used homemade slackers...I and your inlaws are judging)
2 Sticks of butter
Instructions:
Bring Turkey Stock and Butter to a boil, add stuffing, apples, figs, walnuts, celery and onion. Mix thoroughly and allow to sit for a minute. Now you have two options, you can stuff your turkey and allow its flavors to enhance your stuffing, or you can put stuffing in a glass baking dish and bake for 30 minutes at 350 degrees.
I prefer both. I stuff the turkey and the leftover I bake in a corning ware dish while I am letting my turkey rest before slicing.
From Craig:
I have to admit that I am extremely honored to be the first ever "Guest Blogger". As a self proclaimed fat kid (ok, others have called me a fat kid also) I must admit that I sometimes spend unreasonable amounts of time thinking about food. One of my favorite things about me is that I often plan my next meal while finishing the current one.
Of all my favorite food based events, Thanksgiving is at the top of my list. It is one of the few days of year when others share my desire to spend the whole day cooking, drinking and watching TV. When Kristin and Beth approached me about guest blogging in November, I couldn't wait to share my two favorite side dish recipes which I developed last year when I cooked my first ever Thanksgiving feast. One thing that goes unsaid with these recipes and many others related to Thanksgiving is that homeade turkey stock is a must. I know it is gross pulling that bag of turkey vittles out of your preferably fresh turkey from Graul's and boiling them up with onions, celery, salt, pepper and water in a stock pot for 2-3hours, but the savory goodness that results is well worth the trouble. This can be done the night before. Save the onions and Celery as they come in handy for your stuffing the next day, just make sure to refrigerate. So though using canned broth won't alter the flavor of these dishes too much, I will be severely dissapointed and will secretly judge you if you don't make your own.
Brussel Sprouts with Figs and Pancetta
Ingredients:
2 containers of fresh brussel sprouts
1 package of dried figs
8 oz of thin sliced pancetta (mmmm italian bacon)
1 cup of fresh turkey stock.
Olive Oil
salt & pepper to taste
Instructions:
Trim the brussel sprouts and parboil them for approximately 10-15 minutes in salted water until slightly tender. You don't need to cook them all the way through as they will continue cooking in the next steps.
While you are trimming and boiling the brussel sprouts, soak your figs in warm water for about 10 minutes until soft and partial re-hydrated. Reserve 1/2 cup of fig juice.
Slice Brussel Sprouts in half and coarsley chop figs and set aside.
Dice the pancetta and saute over medium high heat with some olive oil until pancetta begins to crisp. Add turkey broth and de-glaze pan, then add brussel sprouts, figs and salt & Pepper. and fig juice.
Cook over medium high heat until broth is reduced to about 1/3rd and thickens to a syrupy consistency. Season with additional salt & pepepr to taste.
Fig, Apple and Walnut Stuffing
This is enough to stuff an 18-24 pound Turkey
Ingredients:
2-1 lb bags of cornbread stuffing ( I use Pepperidge Farm, but any brand should suffice)
4 celery stalks*-- I chop up the celery used to make the turkey broth
2 large apples peeled and chopped into one inch pieces
1 cup of chopped walnuts
1 package of dried figs--soaked in warm water for 10-15 minutes and coarsely chopped
5 Cups of Turkey Broth (used homemade slackers...I and your inlaws are judging)
2 Sticks of butter
Instructions:
Bring Turkey Stock and Butter to a boil, add stuffing, apples, figs, walnuts, celery and onion. Mix thoroughly and allow to sit for a minute. Now you have two options, you can stuff your turkey and allow its flavors to enhance your stuffing, or you can put stuffing in a glass baking dish and bake for 30 minutes at 350 degrees.
I prefer both. I stuff the turkey and the leftover I bake in a corning ware dish while I am letting my turkey rest before slicing.
1 comment:
the brussel sprout recipe looks amazing. what was the inspiration?
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