Thanksgiving Subs Ins

 You're in the middle of creating that perfect Thanksgiving dinner. Everything seems to be going well  except you've either run out of or forgot a crucial ingredient? The stores are closed? What do you do? Sub it. Try to find substitutes that can fill in for the real thing.

The worst thing  is being out of flour . We do tend to use a lot it before Thanksgiving , especially for our pie crusts. Yet' it's also a crucial ingredient in gravy. If your gravy needs it and you've run out of it not to worry. Cornstarch can do the trick. You can also use arrowroot and tapioca powders too. however be aware that those can cause a gravy to become stringy. Another idea is roast veggies like carrots, onions,carrots, whole onions or red peppers. Puree them and use the mash to thicken the gravy (your best bet here is the onion because it will add the most to the sauce). What happens when you didn't buy enough potatoes to maked mashed? Add about a cup of potato flakes to it to stretch it. If not try adding spinach or kale to make that Irish favorite colcannon. You make be creating a new holiday tradition with this dish. Another idea is using those sweet potatoes in the recipe. It's an interesting and tasty way to make sure that everyone get a scoop of mashed.If you;ve run out of butter then sub in olive oil. It gives a silky texture to gravies and mashed potatoes.

What happens when that salad isn't going to be enough for the Thanksgiving meal? How do you stretch a bowl of greens and tomatoes? Add anything. Nuts like almonds and walnuts work. You can easily make croutons by air frying any bread. Just cube the slices , coat in olive oil and season with either garlic or onion powder. Air fry for about five minutes at 350 degrees Farenheit. Also if you have any jarred veggies, add them. Any salad can benefit from peppers , olives or artichoke hearts. Another troubling thought is running out of whipped cream at dessert time. Many love a big blob of it on their pies. Yet what happens when everyone wants a lot and it runs out? Not to worry. You can use ice cream as a side or if you want a fresher take. try Greek yogurt if you have it.It;s just whipping cream with the addition of vanilla and sugar.Use a hand mixer  and whip the yogurt and vanilla until soft peaks start to form. Gradually blend in the sugar. Continue to whip until the peaks are very stiff.

Don;t worry if you run out of something on Thanksgiving. There's always a substitute to fill. You'll still have a great holiday meal.

A Boozy Thanksgiving

 Alcohols seems to make everyting and everyone feel better. Imagine adding it to your Thanksgiving menu . A basting or a cup of bourbon, whiskey or whatever can add to the recipe. It can liven up dinner or dessert.

Bourbon is  perfect for any Thanksgiving dish. Thanks to its' sweet and spicy flavor it can be used in both main and dessert recipes. A bourbon maple glaze is a great addition to  a turkey and will make for a memorable bite.It's taking aquarter cup of the drink and mixing it with a quarter cup of maple syrup. The glaze is cooked with a stick of unsalted butter and ahalf cup of apple juice along with a quarter teaspoon of ground black pepper. it'sten brished on the cooked turkey slices . You  can also sub in whiskey for the bourbon. Another idea is a cognac gravy This is combining veggies like leeks, onions and celery witflour and  four cups of chicken broth. A cup of cognac is added to this and the already cooked turkey parts are added to this.If you feel that a bourbon or whiskey glazed tur

key may be too much, then simply add the alcohol to the gravy.It 's mixing a cup of Sauvignon Blamc with a quarter cup of bourbon and then stirring it into heavy cream based roux .This will alsohave turkey giblets, neck and drippings. it whisked together to form a tasty gravy that would also be good over mashed potatoes.

What about those sides? Can they get boozed up too? Yes . Sweet potatoes are another great pairing with bourbon. Both have a sweetness that can bounce off each other. Think a sweet potato casserole made with warm fall spices like cinnamon, and clove. Vanilla and light brown sugar also compliment the yam's flavor.Eggs give it body and texture. It's topped with a sweety crunchy crumble of, raw pecans, brown sugar,c cinnamon and melted butter. You could also makea brown butter bourbon cauliflower side too. This is roasting cauliflower florets in olive oil. While this is roasting make the butter sauce.It's cooking the butter until it's brown. Two tablespoons of bourbon and one tablespoon of maple syrup are added to this along with half a cup of walnuts. Of course bourbon is a great addition to pecan pie.It's almost mandatory in this Southern classic. It's a simple recipe that also involves bot light and dark corn syrup mixed with three eggs and half a cup fo melted butter. One and three quarter cups of pecans gives the pie its' nuttiness and crunch.

Add some das to your holiday meal. A few tablespoons of bourbon, whiskey or cognac can elevate any dish. Try it for a fun , boozy Thanksgiving Day.

A Good Homemade Soup

 Here's the question of the week - what's your favorite homeade soup?

This is my new favorite.It's taking soup veggies (which you can get at any grocery store) slicing and sauting them in a mix of butter and olive oil. Garlic is added for more flavor as are salt and pepper. After twenty minutes of gentle sauteing add the broth. The result is a tasty homeade, fresh tasting vegetable soup. This is much better than the canned version. It's worth making and freezing for the winter ahead.

Will this be your favorite? Make it and let us know.

A Deconstructed Casserole

 For some reason green bean casserole has become ubiquituous with Thankgiving. It's am American classic that continues to be loved despite its' reputation? Why?

Chef and regular contributor Eric KIn wrote about this standard in yesterday's New York Times Food section. The recipe iself was devveloped as an extra for Campbell's Cream of Mushroom soup at a time when cassaroles were all the rage. It was the mid 1950;s, 55 to be exact when Dorcas. B Reilly created  this odd combo of green beans soup and frittered onions doused with soy sauce and black pepper.It was an innovator because no on had thought to add onion rings to a casserole before. The inspiration came from longtime food editor and writer Cecily Brownstone when she had dined on something similar at a press conference in Florida. She called it "Beans and stuff', a simpl casserole of green beans with an intriguing topping.It swept th nation. Now it's being deconstructed, thanks to Chef KO, who is simply taking it apart or as he puts it "taking apart a toy to see how it works".How do you take something with parts made from processed food and turn those parts into something fresh and organic.

It starts with the soup itself. Nix that and create a simple white sauce. Leave the mushrooms out if so that the green beans alone will shine. Another must have in the recipe is celery salt .It'll give the casserole a quiet unami flavoring.This is important ingredient when making the sauce - a simple blend of heavy cream, butter and white four.It's superb at bringing out the flavors of the celery salt and another ingredient nutmeg. As for the green beans themselves, Mr. KIm recommnends using frozen ones that will be braised in chicken stock, Doing such will bring out their vegetal nuttiness. DON"T use canned green beans. They'll disintegrate into green mush thanks to all that time in the liquid. Keep the topping of French's crispy fried onions. YOu could try to reolicate them by placing chopped white oniona and frazzling them in an air fryer. However the cammed ones are everyone's favorite part. They do add savoriness and crunch, which is what this bake needs.

Yes, you can deconstruct a classic Thanksgiving recipe. It's easier than you think. The end result is an elevated version of the classic green bean casserole.

Pies For All

 What better defines Rhanksgiving thna pie?It's the crowning end to a fantastic meal. It's also perfect hours afterwards with a good cup of coffee or tea? Which one to make? There are so many.

Regular contributor and baker par extraordinaire Claire Saffittz wrote about serveal of them along with giving recipes in today's THnaksgiving special New York Times Food section (this is a keeper issue, there are tons fo recipes and tips in it to get you through the big day.) She offers unusual spins on traditional recipes. Her pumpkin pie with a top layer of pepeitas sounds intriguing and tasty . The pumpkin seeds are coated in maple and incorporated in the filling itself. It adds ctunch to a usually silky mouth feel. Her pecan slab pie has the right amount of crunchy pecans but without all the sugat.It has a cream filling which cuts down on the sugariness. The slab is made with brown butter which has an even nuttier flavor. You could also try  the caramel apple pie, always a treat. This is more kije a tarte tatin with no cinnamon or allspice needed for flavor. It's the butter and caramel along with the apples that give it such an intense flavor.Ms Saffitxz also includes the recipe for flaky pie crust which can be also used for Christmas pies as well.

For the non traditional there is a lemon cream pie with honey and ginger along with a cranberry cheesecake tart. The first has a filling of heavy cream, egg yolks and hone. This is is whisked together with lemon juice and fresh ginger. The crust is different too, being made with ground sugar wafers or for more gingery zing ginger snaps Four tablespoons of butter and one large egg yolk bind it . UNlike holidays pies slathered with whipped cream, this is topped with either sour cream or creme fraiche and decoarated with honey roasted lemon slices. The cranberry cheese cake has the usual grahamm cracker or speculoos cookie crust . The filling is an untraditional mix of goat and cream cheese along with heavy cream and two large eggs.Vanilla extract and grated orange zest give it its flavor. The topping is fresh cranberries cooked in amox fo gelatin and cranberry and orange juices. After being placed in an ice water bath the berries are arranged on the tart . The gelatin mix is then poured over this and unmolded.

Pies are a mainstay on any Thanksgiving table. Opt for the tradtional. Opt for the non traditional if you want to mxi it up.Either way it's still a slice fo a tasty dessert.

Twealing And Perking

 Sometimes even storebought foods need a perk or a tweak to make them more palable. If that sauce is not quite tasty enough - add something? Or the pie crust that needs a little something extra. Add to it. It makes for a tastuer bite.

One of the easiest items to zing up is sauce and gravy. Jarred tomato sauce is tasty but it can be made to taste almost like mom's. Add olive oil to give the sauce some body. This gives it a smoother texture to it which makes for  a silky bite . Sliced green or red peppers are always a good plus to any tomato sauce. Both kinds add sweetness and depth to the flavor. Mushrooms give a chewiness to the sauce as added in sausage. THis could be vegan or non vegan for a more heartier sauce.For a vodka sauce splash in a quarter cup of vodka and half a cup of heavy cream. Frozen pizza can also benefit from some tweaks and perks too. A good sprinkling of oregano helps improve the taste  along with a liberal drizzle of oil. Most frozen pizza have just the usua; topping but you cna perk up a plan 9one with artichi]oke hears, greena dn black olives alogn with vegan susage and even bacon. Scatter pineapple chunks on it as well if you want to . You can apply this idealogy to Thanksgiving foods too, You could add some steamed chestnut to that Stovetop Suffing or add a drop of cognac to jarred gravy.

Baked goods can also get some tweaks and zings. Croissants are good on their own but add some almond butter mixed with cinnamon to create a tasty breakfast or brunch treat.You could also split them, warm them and add apple butter as well.  Since this is pie season, premade pie crusts can always get a boost. Brush them with melted butter for a more homemade taste. You could also brush heavy cream on and then dust the edges with granulated sugar. Zing up that store bought pumpkin pie with some fin homemade toppings. You can make a pecan streusel. Use toasted pecan pieces, oats melted butter , brown sugar and salt. Pop into the oven fro ten minutes to get the streusel crunchy.You could also drizzle on homemade or store bought caramel sauce. As for that other Thanksgiving staple pecan pie. think of serving it with a dollop of bourbon whipped cream. This is combining heavy cream with confectioner's sugar and adding one tablespoon of bourbon along with a teaspoon of vanilla.  Bought shortbread cookies, a favorite winter treat can be elevated a notch when dipped in melted dark chocolate.

Turn the ordinary into the extraordinary. Add some zing to every day ingredients or store bought foods. Giving them some oomph wikk make a difference.

Six Years Without The Chef

 It has been six years since we lost the Master Chef of this household. I wonder what she would have thought of some of my most recerntly acquired tastes. would she have liked the Caribbean and Puerto Rican influences in my diet? I wonder.

I work at a school where there are some interesting food choices in the campus .I have finally tried jerk chicken and loved it. There'sa fieriness to it that add totp the meat's flavor. Would my Mom would have liked it? That's a hard question. She would have appreciated the work going into it but the spiciness may have put her off a bit.I know she would have had fun in replicating the recipe. She may have tweaked it and would have eliminated fiery Scotch bonnets and added more crushed peppers and/or nutmeg. She would have also tried making a vegan version of it as well. Then there are the tostones  and empanada from the Borracua stand. She would have like the tostones if they had the pink sauce, a mix of ketchup, mayo and some hot sauce.I think she would have like the empanadas too, enjoying their crispiness  and either the tender spiced chicken insid or the pizza one , rich with sauce and mozzarella.

My Mom was open to all sorts of recipes and flavors. I know she would have dome some amazing recipes with my Berbere spice that I use for my Ethiopian stews. Would she have approved of my taking the family recipes for both the broccoli and green bean salad and changing them slightly? I use onion powder instead of fresh minced onions. Ir's easier and the onion flavor is nicely distributed. Using the powder also gets rid of the threat of heartburn which comes with eating fresh cut onions.As for air frying, she'd probably OK it. She would have liked the ease of it  along with the crunchiess it gives to almost everything. She would have definitely gotten one and used it on a daily basis if they had come out forty or thirty years ago. (why didn;t they? There's not much technology in them- they're jsut a mini convection ovens after all). All our meals would have been cooked in them from chicken to ham. all made delicious thanks to her magic touch

My Mom would have like the new addtions to my diet. She would have liked my air fryer.They would have been perfect for her.