Italian Chard Stuffing

Photo: Leigh Beisch; Styling: Dan Becker

If we could have only one other dish besidesturkey for Thanksgiving, this would be it: Hunks of juicy sausage, fresh parsley, good bread, and lots of chard—a stuffing that works as a side dish too. Former Sunset food editor Jerry Anne Di Vecchio got it from her mother-in-law, and it's just as appealing now as it was 42 years ago.

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Serves 16 (makes 12 cups)

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Recipe Time

Total: 1 Hour, 30 Minutes

Nutritional Information

Calories 318

Caloriesfromfat 59 %

Protein 15 g

Fat 21 g

Satfat 8.3 g

Carbohydrate 16 g

Fiber 1.6 g

Sodium 815 mg

Cholesterol 51 mg

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$ 6 ingredients on sale for ZIP 10020

 

Ingredients

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3/4 loaf (3/4 lb.) French bread $

1 1/2 cups nonfat milk $

2 pounds Italian sausages $

1 cup chopped parsley

1 garlic clove, minced or pressed

1 medium onion, chopped $

1/2 cup finely chopped celery $

1 1/2 pounds green Swiss chard, stem ends trimmed, coarsely chopped

1 1/2 cups freshly grated parmesan cheese

1 1/2 teaspoons dried basil

1/4 teaspoon dried rubbed sage

1/4 teaspoon dried rosemary

Salt $

Preparation

1. Cut bread into 1/2-in. slices. Place slices in a large bowl and add milk. Mix gently with a spoon to saturate with milk and let stand about 30 minutes. Stir occasionally.

2. Meanwhile, place a 6- to 8-qt. pot over high heat. Squeeze sausages from casings into pot. Discard casings. Cook meat, stirring often to crumble, until lightly browned, 10 to 15 minutes; discard fat. Add parsley, garlic, onion, and celery. Cook, stirring often, until vegetables are lightly browned, 5 to 8 minutes. Add chard and 1/2 cup water and cook, stirring often, until wilted, about 5 minutes.

3. With your hands, squeeze bread slices to break them into tiny pieces. Add cooked meat mixture, parmesan, basil, sage, and rosemary. Season with salt to taste.

4. Preheat oven to 325° or 350° (use temperature turkey requires; see Note below). Spoon stuffing into a shallow 3-qt. (9- by 13-in.) casserole. For moist stuffing, cover with foil; for crusty stuffing, do not cover. Bake until hot (at least 150° in center) or lightly browned, at least 30 minutes.

Make ahead: Up to 1 day ahead, make stuffing, put in casserole, cover, and chill. Allow about 1 hour to bake.

Note: For turkeys 10-13 lbs., oven/bbq temperature should be 350°; for turkeys 14 lbs. and over, oven/bbq temperature should be 325°.

Note: Nutritional analysis is per 3/4-cup serving.

Crimson Spice Champagne Cocktail

James Carrier

Notes: For a nonalcoholic alternative, substitute lemon-lime or club soda for the cognac and Champagne. If making syrup up to 1 week ahead, chill airtight.

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Makes 16 servings

Ingredients

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2 quarts cranberry juice cocktail $

8 slices (quarter size and about 1/8 in. thick) peeled fresh ginger

2 cinnamon sticks (about 3 in. long)

2 whole star anise

1/3 cup cognac or brandy

8 cups Champagne or other sparkling wine (about 2 2/3 bottles, 750 ml. each), chilled

32 to 48 fresh cranberries, rinsed, or frozen cranberries (optional) $

Preparation

1. In a 3 1/2- to 4-quart pan, combine cranberry juice, ginger, cinnamon sticks, and star anise. Boil over high heat until reduced to 2 cups, about 1 hour. Let cool about 30 minutes, then pour through a fine strainer into a small pitcher. Chill syrup until cold, at least 1 1/2 hours.

2. For each serving, pour 2 tablespoons of the cranberry syrup and 1 teaspoon cognac into a Champagne flute (6 to 8 oz.). Add 1/2 cup (4 oz.) Champagne. Garnish with 2 or 3 cranberries if desired.

Applewood Smoked Turkey

Ingredients

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4 to 6 cups wine-infused wood chips* or shavings, lightly packed

3 tablespoons olive oil $

2 tablespoons minced fresh sage leaves or 2 tsp. dried sage

1 tablespoon minced parsley

2 teaspoons minced fresh marjoram leaves or 1/2 tsp. dried marjoram

1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

1 turkey (16 to 18 lbs.)

1 Golden Delicious apple $

1 medium onion $

Sprigs of fresh sage and marjoram

Preparation

1. Soak wine-infused chips or shavings in water at least 20 minutes. Mix olive oil with sage, parsley, marjoram, and pepper.

2. To prepare turkey, remove and discard leg truss. Discard lumps of fat; remove giblets and neck. Rinse bird inside and out and pat dry. Rinse giblets and neck (save liver for another use), drain, and reserve for Zinfandel Gravy. Brush turkey all over with 2 tbsp. oil mixture. Cut apple and onion into 1-in. chunks and stir into remaining oil mixture; place mixture in body cavity. Put foil caps on drumstick tips and wing tips. Insert a meat thermometer straight down through thickest part of the breast to bone (if using an instant-read thermometer, insert later).

3. Prepare grill for indirect medium heat (about 325°; you can hold your hand 5 in. above cooking grate only 5 to 7 seconds). If using charcoal, light 40 briquets on firegrate. When coals are covered with ash, about 20 minutes, bank evenly on opposite sides of firegrate and let burn to medium. Place a metal or sturdy foil drip pan (about 9 by 12 in. and 2 1/2 in. deep) between coals and fill halfway with water. To each mound of coals, add 5 briquets and 1/2 cup soaked wood chips or shavings now and every 30 minutes while cooking; if needed, keep grill uncovered for a few minutes to help briquets ignite. If using gas, remove cooking grate and turn all burners to high. Place 1 cup wood chips in the grill's metal smoking box or in a small, shallow foil pan set directly on burner in a corner. Close lid and heat 10 minutes. Then turn off 1 burner and lower other(s) to medium. Set a metal or sturdy foil drip pan, filled halfway with water, on turned-off burner. Add another 1 cup wood chips or shavings now if first ones have burned away (add 1 cup chips every hour or so while cooking). Replace cooking grate.

4. Set turkey, breast up, on cooking grate over drip pan and cover grill. Cook until thermometer registers 160°, 2 1/2 to 3 hours; during cooking, loosely tent turkey with foil if it starts to get too dark.

5. Drain juices, apple, and onion from cavity; reserve for Zinfandel Gravy. Place turkey on a platter and let rest 15 to 30 minutes. Remove drip pan from grill; skim and discard fat from juices. Reserve juices for gravy. Garnish platter with herb sprigs.

*Buy wine-infused chips from Just Chips ($15 for a roughly 2-lb. bag;justinwine.com or 800/726-0049). Or soak mesquite or applewood chips in equal parts red wine and water and omit soaking in step 1.

Note: Nutritional analysis is per 1/4-lb. serving (white and dark meat with skin).

Pumpkin pie

http://www.aspicyperspective.com/2013/11/pumpkin-cream-pie.html

Cream Onions

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/creamed-pearl-onions-recipe.html

Au Gratin Potatoes

http://m.cookingchanneltv.com/recipes/kelsey-nixon/scalloped-potatoes-au-gratin.html

LAVENDER-INFUSED SMASHED YAMS

LAVENDER-INFUSED SMASHED YAMS

By Kim Talon of Jan

"Holidays can be trying times for vegetarians who crave food camaraderie and um…maybe meat? So I decided to experiment with some classic side dishes to help compete with the turkey this year. I love yams and lavender, so I joined them to create a dish to make you feel like you're celebrating Thanksgiving in Provence."

2 lbs. sweet potatoes

¼ lb. (1 stick) unsalted butter, melted

¼ fresh lime juice

½ tsp. crushed lavender

Sea salt and freshly ground pepper

Chopped fresh cilantro leaves

Grated zest of one lime

Preheat oven to 400°F. Prick the sweet potatoes several times with a fork. Place on a foil-lined baking sheet and bake for 1 hour, or until very soft. Set aside until cool enough to handle.

Scoop the flesh into a bowl; save the skins for another recipe. Use a blender or fork to smash the yams. Stir in butter, lime juice, and lavender. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Top with cilantro and lime zest

TURKEY ENCHILADAS WITH MOLE

• 1 small onion 
• 3 cups cold turkey
• Chopped Cilantro
• Mole Sauce
• Corn Tortilla's
• Monterrey jack

Apparently, turkey (aka guajolote) with mole is a typical celebration meal in parts of Mexico. Turns out the flavor combination can be easily re-configured as turkey enchiladas. To start, pull out your food chopper and pulse one small onion and about 3 cups cold turkey. Do this separately, and then add together in a mixing bowl with some chopped up cilantro.

Next you make your mole. There are a number of different ways to tackle this, ranging in purity of approach. You could make it all from scratch and lose two days of your life, or, on the other extreme, just buy it pre-made at the store. I prefer to split the difference and buy a starter paste from one of our favorite Oaxacan restaurants in LA: Gualeguetza. Simply chop up about two cups fresh tomato, sautee in a heavy bottom pan, add the mole paste. (It will be thick, sticky, and most likely stain your fingers and any surface it touches so proceed with caution.) Then add about a quart of stock--I use chicken, but you could use that broth that you made from boiling the turkey neck that you set aside and never used. Bring to boil, adjust the heat down to med-low, and let reduce for about ten minutes while you tackle the tortillas.

Like the mole sauce, you could go all out and make tortillas from scratch. But given the fact that we are going to give these guys a double flavor dip, store bought corn tortillas will work just fine. Using a nonstick pan and a trusty bottle of spray oil, lightly fry each tortilla, turning after about 20 seconds or until they start to bubble up a bit and get slightly browned.

Stack on a plate and keep covered so they don't lose all their heat. Once the whole stack is fried, you are ready for assembly. Take a tortilla and dip in the mole sauce. Dios mio, it will probably still be a bit warm so don't burn those fingers.

Plop down the sauced tortilla in your baking dish, fill on one side with about 1/4 cup of the turkey mix, and roll it up.

Proceed with the rest until you have nice little assembly line of delicious turkey cylinders. Now, wash your hands (they'll be gunky from all that mole dunkin') and open up a cerveza. The hard part is over and it is smooth sailing from here. Preheat the oven to 350, pour some of the remaining sauce on top to give the enchiladas a nice steamy bath and cover with some shredded queso, a good melting variety like monterrey jack works best.

Bake for 25-30 minutes, garnish with some chopped cilantro and sour cream (or crema or thick yogurt as you see here), dar mas gracias, and grub.