Recycling is a wonderful thing… not only with paper and plastic but with food too. Of course, the most basic form of food recycling is reusing leftovers, taking the leftover beef from a roast, and making burritos, for instance.  Or in this case, using the red wine poaching liquid from the poached pear post on 11/18/09 and using it to flavor this wonderful Thanksgiving side dish. Don’t fret if you didn’t make the poached pear recipe but want to make this, just use red wine in place of the poaching liquid.

I’m using frozen “petite whole onions” also known as pearl onions for this recipe.  Until about a month ago, I did not even know that pearl onions were sold peeled and frozen. What a find, all these years I’ve been meticulously boiling and peeling them myself!

The soaking liquid for the dried mushrooms is also reused here.  If you have any left after using the 1/2 cup asked for in this recipe, freeze it and use it to enrich sauces or deglaze pans in the future. And be sure to recycle those Thanksgiving leftovers too! I’ll post plenty of ideas after  Thursday.
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This is our traditional Thanksgiving soup. Back in the day, I went all “Martha” and hollowed out miniature pumpkins and served the soup in those. Hey, it only took about 4 or 5 hours to cut and hollow out 8 of those little guys! I am thankful that I eventually recovered my mind and my sanity and purchased and now use darling orange and green ceramic pumpkin bowls instead!

Butternut squash can be difficult to cut, but luckily many stores (including Costco and Trader Joe’s) sell packages of already peeled and cubed squash. If you can’t find them, look at the “Tip Index” on this site and learn how to correctly (and safely) cut butternut squash.  Save the oil the sage leaves are fried in to use in place of olive oil for just about any Thanksgiving recipe, especially those that have herbs included in them or to saute vegetables.
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Just about all the dishes I make for Thanksgiving are “must-haves” from my family. There can be no variations in our traditional stuffing, we must have butternut squash soup served in our individual pumpkin bowls.  There has to be pumpkin pie – plain old pumpkin pie – nothing fancy and if we do not have the jellied cranberry sauce from the can, it is not Thanksgiving!  I can make another gourmet cranberry sauce if I wish, but I’ll be the only one eating it!  And we must have this outstanding apple tart!  I’ve been making it annually for at least 12 years since it was introduced to me by Barbara Pool Fenzl of Les Gourmettes Cooking School, where I have worked for the past 21 years. It makes me feel old to say that aloud!  Old, but very proud to work with and have such an amazing, giving, and loving person, like Barb, to call my dear friend and mentor.

In addition to the fact that it comes from Barb, there are several things that make this particular apple tart so special. There is a thin layer of raspberry jam topping the bottom crust, and the gorgeous lattice top, but mostly it’s the irresistible cookie dough-like macadamia nut crust.

Because of that cookie dough texture, it may seem difficult to roll out, but don’t fret – if it rips, just piece it together or press it into the tart pan, it all melts back together and will turn out perfectly – perfectly beautiful and delicious!

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There are so many Thanksgiving recipes to get posted before the big day!  I figured, I better get the star of the show up soon, as in today!

The turkey here is trussed, which means the wings and legs are bound closed. When you truss a bird, the wings and legs stay close to the body; the ends of the drumsticks cover the top of the breast and keep it from drying out. Trussing helps cook evenly, reduces shrinkage by about 15%, and also makes for a more beautiful roasted bird.

The pictures here are lifted from the internet and will be replaced with my pictures when I actually make my turkey next week. Until then…
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The second appetizer of the day for Thanksgiving is just as easy and quick as the first.

Hot Feta and Tomato Spread

16 ounces crumbled feta cheese
2 tablespoons, drained and chopped sun-dried tomatoes
5 plum (Roma) tomatoes, cut crosswise into thin slices
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon finely chopped fresh oregano leaves
Freshly ground black pepper, to taste
Pita chips
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With all the dishes you’ll be making for the big Thanksgiving feast, you need a couple of easy, quick, and tasty appetizers to go with the crudites. One of the quickest and easiest products to use is puff pastry.

Puff pastry can be purchased in the freezer section of the grocery store, usually near the pie crusts. Most grocery stores carry the Pepperidge Farms brand. Trader Joe’s also carries their own signature brand of puff pastry (you can pick up the tapenades there too). Both brands have two sheets of pastry per package, only one is needed for this recipe. Wrap well and refreeze the second sheet for future use.
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Before we get to the second poached pear recipe – a momentous occasion – for me, at least.  This is my 100th post, never imagined I’d get here when I began my blog back in August! Oh, Happy Day!  OK, enough self-congratulatory for now and on to the work at hand… savory poached pears…

Pears were poached in a sweet liquid and used for dessert in yesterday’s post. Today, these wine-poached pears are used in a savory salad. The flesh takes on a gorgeous deep red color.

Walnut oil is used for the vinaigrette, but olive oil can be substituted. Nut oils should always be stored in the refrigerator. Just like the nuts they come from, the oils go rancid quickly at room temperature.

The “seeds” of a fresh pomegranate are called arils and they should be showing up in markets since it is pomegranate season, take advantage and purchase them now, the season is short. The good news – arils can be frozen. To freeze, spread arils in a single layer on a wax paper-lined baking sheet. Place in the freezer for about two hours. Transfer frozen arils to a labeled and dated zip-lock bag. You can easily remove the amount you need when desired and return the rest quickly to the freezer.  They will keep for about 6 months.

This salad is beautiful for any of the upcoming holidays and the poaching liquid can be saved for an upcoming Thanksgiving recipe for Pearl Onions and Wild Mushrooms in Red Wine Sauce, which will be posted later this week.*
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I believe I’ve mentioned this before – I love chai! My brain has been working overtime to come up with recipes to use the chai concentrate that I am totally addicted to. First up are poached pears in chai – these are delicious! The poaching liquid uses a fresh vanilla bean. Vanilla beans (and extract for that matter) are expensive, so be sure you’re getting a nice fresh one. The way to tell if it is fresh is to feel it. It should be soft and pliable, when you bend it, it should not break or crack. Costco sells gorgeous plump beans in a glass tube with a rubber stopper (the stopper helps keep them fresh longer once the package is opened). The glass tube is attached to a large piece of cardboard, look for it in the spice aisle. A good reason to purchase the beans at Costco is because of their high turnover. When purchasing vanilla beans at the grocery store, (where the turnover isn’t as quick) be sure to pull a bottle from the very back of the shelf and give it a good shake and listen to whether it sounds hard or soft. If you get it home and it is hard and breaking, be sure to return it, it is of no use in that state.

Once you remove the vanilla bean from the poaching liquid, allow it to dry on a counter for a couple of days, when it is completely dry, add it to your container of granulated sugar, the vanilla flavor will permeate the sugar and give you lovely vanilla scented sugar.

The best way to core the pears is with a melon-baller. It creates a perfectly round hole in the pear to fill. Tomorrow the other poached pear recipe – savory instead of sweet…
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Piping on the mashed potato-squash topping.

Shepherd’s pie, also known as cottage pie, just screams “Autumn!”  This version with its sweet potatoes, butternut squash, and maple flavor puts it over the top.  The entire dish can be made a day ahead, just leave off the sprinkling of paprika until immediately before putting it in the oven, cover and refrigerate and add about 15 minutes to the baking time.

This recipe can easily be switched out to use leftover turkey after Thanksgiving.  Just omit the sweet Italian sausage. Then once the maple breakfast sausage is browned, stir in 1 pound of shredded or chopped turkey meat and proceed with the recipe. If you have leftover mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes, and/or squash – mash them all together to make 3 to 4 cups and use that for the topping, in place of or in addition to, the roasted and mashed potatoes and squash in the recipe. And if you have leftover vegetables such as corn, green beans, cauliflower, etc. substitute for or add them to the corn, broccoli, and red peppers… you get the idea – be creative!

Autumn Shepherd’s Pie

1 1/2 pounds sweet potatoes, peeled, cut into 2-inch pieces
1 pound butternut squash, peeled, seeded, cut into 2-inch pieces
2 Yukon gold potatoes, peeled, cut into 2-inch pieces
2 tablespoons olive oil
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 tablespoon butter, melted
2 tablespoons cream cheese, at room temperature
1 1/2 tablespoons maple syrup

1 pound sweet Italian sausage, casings removed
8-ounces maple sausage breakfast links, cut into 1/2-inch slices
2 cups peeled and chopped onions
2 garlic cloves, peeled and minced
1 1/2 teaspoons crushed dried rosemary
2 cups broccoli florets
1 red bell pepper, cored, seeded, and diced
1 cup frozen corn kernels
1/3 cup fat-free half and half
1 large egg, lightly beaten
1/4 cup minced fresh Italian parsley
5 dashes hot pepper sauce, such as Tabasco
1 teaspoon sweet paprika
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It’s been 2 weeks since Halloween and I still have candy around the house… this is not a good thing! Maybe your kids still have candy and you want to do away with it, or like me, you have extra candy you didn’t give out and now you’re sneaking a piece every day and just wish it would disappear and not to your hips. Why not put it to good use for your Christmas baking? These cookies freeze well and the recipe can be cut in half or even doubled depending on how much candy you need to get rid of. If you don’t have Nutella on hand, just use a full cup of peanut butter, although the Nutella adds a grown-up edge to these big chewy cookies.
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