Thursday, November 24, 2011

Thanksgiving, Continued

Here are a couple of other things I made for Thanksgiving, in addition to a nutritarian-friendly dressing of whole-grain dried breads, lowfat homemade cornbread, celery and onions, dried cranberries, currants, sage, marjoram, and thyme, plus stock:

Orange-Apricot Glazed Brussels Sprouts
4 cups fresh brussels sprouts
1/2 cup orange juice
4-6 dried apricot halves, snipped into small pieces
2 teaspoons crumbled rosemary leaves

Steam brussels sprouts and set aside. In a saucepan large enough to hold the sprouts, boil orange juice until reduced by half, adding the apricots and rosemary during the process.  Once the apricots are softened and the juice reduced, add the sprouts, stirring to coat with the glaze.

Verdict:  Very Good.  I had some of these cold when others were breaking out the leftovers in the late evening.

Crisp Asparagus Spears
1 bunch slender asparagus, tough ends cut or snapped off
1/3 cup Amazing Creamy Garlic Dressing (see previous post)

Lightly steam asparagus, leaving still very crisp, then plunge into cold water.  Arrange in serving dish and provide dressing on the side as a dip.

Verdict: Very Good.  You just can't go wrong with this condiment.

Clear and Elegant Gravy
3 cups high-quality stock, defatted
1/2 cup white wine
2 teaspoons cornstarch and a little water to dissolve (may use more for thicker consistency)

Cook down the stock until 1/3 to 1/2 the original volume, then add the wine and cook down a bit more, adding the dissolved cornstarch near the end to thicken a bit. The idea is not to have a thick and gloppy gravy but to give the naturally-thin stock a bit more body for serving over potatoes, dressing, etc.

Verdict: Excellent.  The trick is in the stock, no doubt. It must be a high-quality thing, never bouillon or (horrors!) canned stuff or sloppily-thrown-together vegetable or meat water.  It is beyond my expertise to explain stock well myself, as I do it by instinct and taste and sight. I'll have to leave you to your own instincts or investigations.

4 comments:

  1. How do I subscribe to your blog???

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  2. Hi, Christy. I have a bar at the top of the blog that gives the option to follow, if you can see that. I subscribe to all the blogs I like by using Google Reader. Maybe that's a good option for you. Thanks for reading--sorry I'm not posting much lately!

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  3. Cindy--loved this post! Actually featured your brussels sprouts recipe as the Recipe of the Week on my blog! Check it out: http://happyrehabdoc.blogspot.com/2011/12/best-of-blogosphere-from-last-week_18.html

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  4. I was so honored at that, Cat, and I thought I'd posted a response here, but I'm cleaning up old stuff on the blog and found I hadn't. So here's a belated thank-you. I do love that method with the sprouts!

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I'd love to know what you think of these or if you have suggestions for improvements!