kayb

A cold plate of cheeses, salami, olives, pickles and crackers. Probably lunch (and potentially dinner) several days this week as I have the kitchen tied up in Thanksgiving prep.

One more thought. One of my favorite condiments with turkey sandwiches is the old standby Southern "curry dip" -- mayo, curry powder, Worcestershire sauce, grated onion, pressed garlic, chili sauce, white pepper. It really does marvelous things for turkey, and it's a good dip for fresh veggies as well. ETA the Worchestershire. Can't leave that out.

White chocolate cheesecakes for Thanksgiving yesterday. I use this cheesecake recipe; simple, but marvelous. I subbed one package of the cream cheese and 8 oz of the sour cream with 2 cups of slivered white chocolate melted with a half-cup of cream. I'll top them tomorrow night with a cherry glaze, so will post photos then.

What a fascinating flavor profile! I think I have to try this. After Thanksgiving.

I have a question about pate de campagne, as I am about to attempt my first one. It appears this makes a pretty sizeable loaf. 1. How long will it keep, refrigerated? 2. On the assumption I won't be able to use it all before that time, can I vacuum seal, say, half of it, and freeze it? Using the recipe from Epicurious, unless anyone has a better suggestion. Thanks!

I have done, with some success, a wild rice-based salad with a citrus-honey-balsamic viniagrette and lots of fresh and dried fruits -- clementine sections, cranberries, blueberries, cherries, etc., and pecans or almonds. Agree on a seafood salad or some sort of seafood dish. Sounds like much fun to be had by all!

Suggestion -- crisp up that stuffing in your waffle iron. Finest thing going with an over-easy egg and some cranberry sauce on the side.

I buy grass-fed beef in bulk, so SV is great for me -- mine are not the tenderest steaks in the world otherwise, though the flavor is outstanding. One thing I've foundt that helps is to SV for an hour or so, then chill, then take out and sear on the grill. The intermediate chill helps me get a good sear without getting the already-warm interior too hot and overcooking it. Rather abashed that I had never thought about drying/oiling the outside. Duh. Thanks for that tip.

I cook grits, rather than polenta, but when I want them particularly creamy, I add a chunk of cream cheese.

Mexican chicken. Only vaguely Mexican, pure rural Southern American. Boneless, skinless chicken (breasts or thighs), whole kernel corn, black beans, onion, garlic, chili powder, cumin, cheese. Garnished with grated cheese, sour cream, diced avocado. Served on tortilla chips. Easy, quick, good.

Mine is a traditional Southern cornbread dressing, cooked in a separate pan from the turkey. Crumbled cornbread (some people add "light bread" as well; I don't), eggs, chicken pr turkey broth, sage, salt and pepper. Most people add chopped, sauteed onion and celery; some in my family don't like onion and I don't like celery, so I leave both out. Served, canonically, with cranberry sauce and giblet gravy.

Bon Vivant, that choucroute is beautiful. One of my favorite meals. Did you add Reisling while it cooked?

No photos for either, but night before last, Day 3 of the pot roast, reincarnated as vegetable beef soup, possibly the best I have ever made. Last night, shrimp and grits per the recipe from Mr. B's Bistro in New Orleans. Bacon didn't get crisp enough, because I had no cheap, thin bacon and had to use the thick cut. I par-cooked it first, but it still didn't crisp by the time the shrimp got done. Good, anyway.

BK, can I come live with you? Or next door to you? Those were some LOVELY meals.

In a word: No.

I believe I have gained 30 pounds in the last 15 minutes, reading this thread. Kim and Shelby, your goodies look amazing, but I have to say Patrick S's caramel overload tart kicked my taste buds into high gear. I do love caramel anything,and this looked just astounding. I don't bake/cook a lot of sweets, except at the holidays, chiefly because if they're here, I eat them. But my daughter had been bugging me for a coconut cake -- possibly the best dessert I make -- so I gave in. It's presently in the fridge, waiting its requisite three days so it can be good and moist before it's served. You can use your favorite white/yellow cake recipe -- I use one from Cook's Illustrated. I bake in three layers, and use about 1/4 cup of coconut milk spread over the top of each layer. Filling between the layers is a mixture of 1 1/2 cups sour cream, 1 cup sugar, and 1 1/2 bags frozen unsweetened coconut. Use about half the filling between the layers and atop the top one; be generous. Whip about half a cup of heavy whipping cream and fold into the remaining filling; use that to frost the sides and top. Use the remaining half-bag of coconut to sprinkle on top and pat onto the sides. I will confess to sometimes using Cool Whip instead of whipped cream; it just seems more stable to me. I'm always afraid my whipped cream is going to liquefy. Then, as I'd put myself in the mood for something sweet, and I had a bag of apples in the house, I made a Dutch apple pie, from a recipe Cyalexa had shared with me. Quite excellent, particularly with a couple of slices of sharp cheddar alongside.

One more batch of preserving to be done. Arkansas Black apples are in season now, which means -- apple butter!

Day 2 of the pot roast, shredded in a thickened gravy (just the jus thickened with a bit of cornstarch in water), served over mashed potatoes with sugar snap peas (which had been the freezer a tiny bit too long, but were still tasty). Followed by a slice of Dutch apple pie, recipe courtesy of Cyalexa, with sliced sharp cheddar alongside. Day 3 of pot roast is today -- vegetable beef soup simmering now. ETA the pie pic.

Let me add mine: it's a favorite I've made for years. Boil 5 or 6 sizeable sweet potatoes (you're aiming for 4-6 cups of mashed sweet potatoes) in the jackets until tender; when they're cool enough to handle, peel and mash with 1/2 stick softened butter, 1 tsp vanilla, and 1/3 cup granulated sugar. Spread in bottom of a 9 x 13 casserole dish. For streusel topping: Mix 3/4 cup all-purpose flour, 3/4 cup brown sugar, and 1 cup pecan pieces in a bowl. Melt 1/2 stick of butter and pour over. Mix to make a crumbly mixture. Scatter on top of sweet potatoes. Bake 40-45 minutes at 350, or thereabouts; they're forgiving,and can share the oven with most anything at any temp. Just make sure not to let the streusel burn. I see no reason you couldn't add a bit of cinnamon, nutmeg, allspice, cloves, et. al. to the potatoes or the topping. My family prefers the sweet potato flavor to stand out, so that's what we do.

What about deep frying? Can you deep fry in it?

Shelby, I can see I'm going to have to break down and get an Instant Pot. Am I correct one can discard one's slow cooker and rice cooker in favor of this do-it-all vessel? Edited to fix typo.

No photos (we were starving and fell upon the meal like the Visigoths on Rome), but the first pot roast of the fall. Seared off a shoulder roast (grass-fed, grain-finished, locally farm-raised), surrounded it with carrots, potatoes and onions, poured a cup of red wine and a half-cup of water, along with a couple of tablespoons of Worcestershire sauce, over all, covered tightly with foil, and into a 300-degree oven for five hours. Meat was meltingly tender, potatoes (Yukon Golds) and carrots and onions all creamy, flavor perfect. Leftovers tonight, and vegetable beef soup tomorrow.

I found myself in this situation recently at a major hotel, which a meeting ran long and I headed for the deli to grab sandwiches and chips. The bill came to $92. I was undecided as to whether to tip -- the counter staff took my order and made the sandwiches, as well as packing up a collection of condiments -- but the service was good enough I thought I should, so I did.

Old: Cornbread dressing, sweet potato casserole with a pecan streusel topping, cranberry salad. New: I've ordered a farm-raised turkey from the local co-op where I buy my chicken. Picking it up fresh on Tuesday before Thanksgiving. I expect I'll brine it and then roast it with my standard apple, orange, stick of butter and handful of sage in the cavity. Also on the "new" list, green beans cooked with brown sugar, bacon and soy sauce instead of the canonical green bean casserole. I love Thanksgiving. My favorite holiday. Menu will also include a corn pudding, and homemade yeast rolls.

I wish we had a winter farmers market here. The closest one is in Memphis, an hour away. I think I may try to start making that trip on an occasional Saturday during the offseason. We had much more hoop-house vegetable growing when I lived in L.A. (that would be Lower Arkansas) than we do up here in the northeast corner of the state. I wonder if the temperature differential -- probably less than 10 degrees, but still noticeable -- is the cause. Huiray, thanks for the kind words. It was a stomach flu -- unpleasant, but not life-threatening, though I will confess to WANTING to die from it a couple of times. All better now.