Preparing for the holidays

I'm having my family over for Thanksgiving, close to 20 people, so I have a lot of food to prepare. I love to cook (the reason most of my posts are cooking related) and love cooking for others, so my Thanksgiving day menu is an extensive one. Everything from drinks, several appetizers, main course and lots of sides and a few desserts. So to keep me from going insane on Thanksgiving I am preparing some of the food in advance.

On my menu I have three cranberry sauces planned (seems a little excessive I know, but like I said I love to cook). I like to make homemade cranberry sauce instead of buying canned. Cranberry sauce is easy to make and has a better flavor when made at home.  I have a plain cranberry sauce, better than canned but a simple taste for those in my family that like a bare bones flavor.

Cranberry Sauce

 Ingredients:
4 cups or 1 12oz bag of fresh cranberries
1 cup of orange juice
1 cup of sugar
2 tsp of cornstarch

Directions:
In a medium size sauce pot bring all ingredients to a boil, reduce to a simmer and cook until the cranberries burst open and the sauce thickens, about 10-15 minutes.  Combine the cornstarch and some of the cranberry sauce together in a small bowl, add the cornstarch mixture into the cranberry sauce, stir and cook for an additional 3 minutes to thicken the sauce even more. Remove from heat allow to cool and serve.

Like I said this is a simple recipe and the flavor is great, just enough sweetness to take away some of the tang of the cranberry but still keeps the cranberry flavor.





My next cranberry sauce recipe is Cinnamon Apple Cranberry Sauce, it's very flavorful and hearty.

Cinnamon Apple Cranberry Sauce

Ingredients:

1 12oz bag of fresh cranberries
1 cinnamon stick, broken in half
1 cup sugar
2 Gala apples, peeled, cored and diced
2 teaspoons corn starch

Directions :
In a medium saucepan over medium heat, add cranberries, cinnamon and sugar, it may seem dry at first but the cranberries will release their juices so don't fret. Bring to a boil and let cook for 5 minutes. Add the apples and cook, stirring occasionally, until the cranberries have softened and apples are tender, about 5 minutes.
Remove 8 ounces of the liquid to a small bowl and whisk in the cornstarch. Slowly add the cornstarch-juice mixture to the cranberry sauce, stirring constantly. Cook for an additional 5 minutes.
Remove from heat and pour into a serving bowl. Refrigerate until thickened, about 30 minutes. Remove the cinnamon sticks and serve.

*if you feel the sauce is too thick you can add a cup of orange juice or water.

I modified this recipe, at the time I did not have the cranberry juice and dried sweetened cranberries it called for so I worked with what I had. The sauce came out fantastic! It's definitely going to be the hit out of the three. It has a great bouquet of flavors, not a traditional cranberry sauce, but brings some fall flavors I love together (cranberries, apples and cinnamon).

The final sauce I made was Tequila Lime Jalapeno Cranberry Sauce, this recipe is not the traditional cranberry sauce you'd expect on Thanksgiving. It has some kick to it and is a great deviation from the norm.

Tequila Lime Jalapeno Cranberry Sauce

Ingredients:

4 cups (1 12 ounce bag) cranberries

1 cup orange juice
1 cup sugar
1 jalapeno pepper, seeded and diced
1 tablespoon lime juice
2 tablespoons tequila

Directions:

Bring the cranberries, water, sugar and jalapeno to a boil, reduce the heat and simmer until the cranberries burst and the the sauce starts to thicken, about 10-15 minutes.Mix in the lime juice and tequila and remove from heat.

The cranberry sauce has lots of flavor you get the kick from the tequila and lime and at the end you get the heat from the jalapeno. My husband and I enjoyed this one, not a traditional sauce at all but a tasty addition to our Thanksgiving menu.

With all the sauce I allowed them to cool and sealed them in zip-lock bags and put the in the freezer (cranberry sauce can be frozen for up to one month).  These are easy to make and take up hardly any space in the freezer, so they are great make ahead dishes.

Here is a helpful chart on thawing your turkey, to make sure you are prepared ahead of time and to ensure its defrosted in time for Thanksgiving, thanks to Jennie-O.

If you plan to brine your turkey add an additional day or you can also use the brine as a way to "cold water" defrost it. However, only brine the turkey for 1-2 days, any longer and you could end up with a very salty bird. I also like to have my turkey rest for a day out of the brine, it helps to makes it moist and tasty by allowing the turkey to distribute and lock in the flavor.

My Husband's Special Birthday Meal

My husband just celebrated his birthday, it's a tradition that we make each other a meal for our birthdays. I gave my husband some options and he decided on Rustic French Onion Soup for his dinner and for dessert Bacon Bourbon Chocolate Chunk Cookies.

This french onion soup is a very simple (there was some tears shed but only from slicing the onion :)) and very tasty recipe. I was a little worried it wouldn't come out good because I'm use to making french onion soups with more herbs. This one used simple ingredients and still turned out fantastic, even the next day!

Rustic French Onion Soup:


Ingredients:
Serves 8
3 tbsp unsalted butter
1 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
3 lbs medium yellow onions (about 5), thinly sliced
1 tsp granulated sugar
1 tsp salt
1 tbsp all-purpose flour
8 cups Beef Stock
2 cups local dry red wine
Salt and freshly cracked black pepper
2 cups cubed baguette, toasted
41/2 cups shredded Gruyère cheese (about 1 lb)
2 tsp minced fresh thyme

Directions:
In a large, heavy pot, heat butter and oil over medium-low heat. Add onions, cover and cook, stirring occasionally, until softened and translucent, about 20 minutes. Increase heat to medium-high and add sugar and salt; sauté, scraping up any brown bits from the bottom of the pot, until onions are softened and a deep, rich brown, about 15 minutes.
Reduce heat to medium, sprinkle with flour and cook, stirring constantly, for 2 to 3 minutes. Gradually whisk in 2 cups of the stock, then add the remaining stock and wine. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Simmer for about 30 minutes to blend the flavors. Taste and adjust seasoning with salt and pepper, if necessary.
Preheat oven to 425ºF. Divide baguette cubes among 8 individual ovenproof bowls. Fill bowls with onion soup and sprinkle each with a thick layer of cheese. Set bowls on a large rimmed baking sheet. Bake until cheese is browned, about 8 minutes. Garnish with thyme.

We left out the thyme, only because we forgot and were so hungry from smelling the wonderful aroma all afternoon, we couldn't wait to eat. We also used red cooking wine since it was all we had, it tasted great. My 7 year old daughter even enjoyed the soup both days with us she really loved the broth from it.




 My Husband is not a big fan of cakes so when I told him about the Bourbon Bacon Chocolate Chunk Cookies he was all for it. These cookies take a bit longer to make then the traditional chocolate chip cookies, but are a great spin on the traditional.

Bourbon Bacon Chocolate Chunk Cookies

Ingredients:

3/4 pound center cut thick bacon, 1/2-inch diced
2 1/2 cups All-Purpose Flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
1/2 cup reserved bacon fat, chilled
3/4 cup granulated white sugar
3/4 cup packed brown sugar
3 Tablespoons Bourbon
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 large eggs
8 ounces dark chocolate, chopped (I used Hershey's dark chocolate bars)

Directions:

In a large skillet, cook the bacon until the bacon pieces are golden brown and crisp. Remove the bacon from the skillet and onto a plate lined with paper towels to drain. Reserve the bacon fat in the pan. You'll need 1/2 cup of the bacon fat- spoon it into a 1/2 cup measuring cup and refrigerate it until it has solidified.
Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, salt and baking powder. In a separate large bowl, use an electric mixer to combine the butter, bacon fat, sugars, bourbon and vanilla. Mix in the eggs, one at a time, until well combined. Beat in the flour mixture. Then stir in the bacon and chocolate (hint: if you want your cookies to look really pretty, save a few bacon and chocolate pieces to add to the top of each cookie dough blob before baking). Drop by rounded tablespoonfuls onto parchment or silpat-lined baking sheets- about 2 inches apart.
Bake 9 to 11 minutes, or until the cookies are lightly browned. Let stand on the cookie sheets for about 5 minutes, then remove the cookies to a cooling rack to cool completely.
Store cookies in an airtight container for up to 5 days, or store in a covered container or zip bag in the freezer for up to 6 weeks.

The bacon fat gives the cookie a bacony flavor throughout however, if you don't want all the bacon flavor just the bacon bits in it, omit the bacon fat and replace with another 1/2 cup of butter (making it a full cup/one stick in the recipe instead). We found that if the bacon isn't crispy enough it turns out to be chewy, chewy wasn't bad but I feel it would of been better crispy, so make sure that you get your bacon nice and crispy. My husband, kids and I all enjoyed this cookie, it was a good change from the normal.

On my next post: Getting ready for the holidays, I'll have three different cranberry sauce recipes. Why buy the canned stuff when these recipes are easy and much tastier!