Thanksgiving Photo Submissions

Thanks to everyone who submitted photos of their Thanksgiving meals to me! And thanks for being patient waiting for them to be posted...

Julia's Thanksgiving (1): Fresh hazelnuts and almonds waiting to be cracked in front of the fireplace (in an off-the-grid solar powered home in Maine in the middle of the woods).

Julia's Thanksgiving (2): Pies, coffee, tea, and corn pudding keeping warm on the wood-burning stove (in an off-the-grid solar powered home in Maine in the middle of the woods).

Jill and Declan's Thanksgiving

Steph's Thanksgiving in France

Manissa and Keegan's Thanksgiving (1): A vegetarian feast

Manissa and Keegan's Thanksgiving (2): Pies, pies pies!

Beth's Thanksgiving: Cranberry Cherry Torte.

Her mom found the recipe in the Cleveland paper and theydoctored it up. Super delicious! Here are the ingredients:

CRUST:
2 ounces whole hazelnuts
1 3/4 cups whole wheat pastry flour
1/2 confectioners sugar
1/2 teaspoon grated lemon zest
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 cup unsalted butter, cold, cut into small bits
1 egg, beaten

FILLING:
2 cups leftover homemade cranberry sauce
1 bag frozen cherries (pitted)

Thanksgiving, family style

Thanksgiving in my house is always a big event, although not big in the way that many are with countless family, friends, and pies. While we have shared Christmas and Easter with family, and now Rosh Hashanah with our new extended family, Thanksgiving has always been a holiday reserved for my mom, dad, sister and I. We probably cook as much food as a get-together for ten, but that’s part of the fun. We munch all day on some antipasto that my father prepares.

In past years my father has made turkey a number of different ways, and it has always been good. In recent Thanksgivings he has experimented with brining the turkey, a popular method as of late. It always produces a moist turkey (although be careful not to brine it for too long to avoid an over-salty piece of meat). This year, he simply roasted the turkey on a bed of vegetables and herbs. It was delicious!

Carving a turkey is always tricky business. This year I watched my father carefully. Start by removing the wings and legs. Then cut into the breast and slice off the breast meat. We barely ate half our turkey!

The final meal included turkey, mushroom gravy, green beans, mashed potatoes, stuffing, cranberry sauce, salad, and biscuits.

The tower of leftovers!

For dessert we had two pies (my mother-in-law’s pecan pie and my pumpkin pie), and my mother-in-law’s famous pumpkin chocolate chip mini muffins. You can find the recipe for my pumpkin pie in the South Bronx Thanksgiving post, but the muffins will remain under wraps.

Bronx Thanksgiving Recipes - Caramelized Apple Pecan Pie

OK, I love pecan pie and I love apple pie. That's why when I saw a recipe in this month's Bon Appetit magazine for a caramelized apple and pecan pie, I knew I had to try it.

Inredients
Apples:

• 1 1/2 cups (packed) brown sugar (I used a mix of light and dark)
  
• 3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, diced
• 3 Albemarle Pippin apples or Fuji apples (1 1/2 to 1 3/4 pounds), peeled,quartered, cored

Filling:

• 1/2 cup sugar
• 2 tablespoons all purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 4 large eggs
• 1/4 cup light corn syrup
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1 1/2 cup coursely chopped pecans, toasted (be careful not to toast too long...)
  

Directions

For apples:
Preheat oven to 350°F. Whisk brown sugar and butter in large ovenproof skillet over medium heat until butter melts, sugar dissolves, and mixture comes to boil.

Boil 1 minute, whisking constantly. Remove from heat. Arrange apples, rounded side down, in syrup.

Bake 15 minutes; turn over. Bake until just tender, about 20 minutes longer.

Transfer apples to paper towels to cool slightly.

Whisk syrup in skillet until smooth. Cool slightly and reserve. Maintain oven temperature.

For filling:
Mix sugar, flour, and salt in small bowl. Place eggs in medium bowl. Gradually whisk in reserved syrup from apples. Add corn syrup, vanilla, and sugar mixture; whisk until smooth. Stir in pecans. Pour filling into crust. Arrange apples, rounded side up, atop filling.

Bake pie until filling is set in center, covering edges with foil if browning too quickly, about 1 hour 20 minutes. Transfer to rack and cool completely.

The pie was a delicious success! I slightly reduced the amount of sugar from the original recipe and it was definitely sweet enough. I will be making this again tomorrow for Thanksgiving.

Bronx Thanksgiving Recipes - Pumpkin Pie

Let me begin by saying that I love pumpkin Pie. It is a strange thing that despite this affinity, I only crave it this time of year. I have made pumpkin pie many times, often from scratch. This year, short on time, I used canned pumpkin puree as my base and a frozen pie crust. I even used the recipe on the pumpkin can. And you know what? It turned out to be one of the best pumpkin pies I've made. Go figure.

Ingredients
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 tsp. salt
1 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 tsp. ginger
1/4 tsp. ground cloves
2 large eggs
1 can (15 oz) pure pumpkin
1 can (12 oz) evaporated milk
1 9 inch deep dish pie shell


Directions
Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Mix the sugar, salt, cinnamon, ginger, and cloves in a small bowl.


Beat eggs in large bowl. Stir in pumpkin and sugar-spice mixture. Gradually stir in evaporated milk. I got non-fat evaporated milk. I only used about 1/2 of the can (any more and it would have been too watery and too much).


Pour the mixture into a pie crust. As recommended to my by my mother-in-law, I always use Oronoque Orchards pie crusts. You can find them in the frozen section for about $2.50 for two.


Bake at 425 degrees for 15 minutes. Reduce the temperature to 350 degrees. Bake for 40-50 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean. Let cool. Serve immediately or refrigerate.