Stoneview

   Yesterday morning we got about three inches of snow. This didn’t deter our feathered visitors especially after the feeders were filled. Chris and Daniel got out in the snow for a little while and Chris demonstrated sledding with a caf tray. He brought this one home for Daniel but Daniel’s not yet impressed.

I finished Grandma’s oyster dressing. I cooked a chopped onion with chopped celery and minced garlic and stirred that into the broken cornbread with a pint of oysters and 1/2 cup chicken broth – bake  until cooked through, about 45 minutes. It’s been seasoned with salt, pepper and dried thyme.

Jason made these baby Brussels sprouts. He browned some butter, seasoned with salt and pepper then added steamed Brussels sprouts and toasted hazelnuts.  This is the first year we’ve had these and I think they are a keeper, they were really delicious.

Jason requested creamed pearl onions with mushrooms. I browned the sliced mushrooms in a little olive oil, seasoned with salt and pepper and set aside. I peeled the onions and simmered in a bit of cream until they were soft and the creamed was thickened. Stir the mushrooms back in and heat through.

It was pretty chilly outside so the rolls didn’t rise as well as they normally do. Next year I’ll start them first and then pop them in the fridge once they are nearly risen to await baking at the last minute. Daniel was disappointed because he really loves these. I’ll have to make them again for him this week.

Buttermilk yeast rolls

1 cup buttermilk, warmed
2 1/4 teaspoons active dry yeast
1 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons sugar
2 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
2 1/4- 2 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
3 tablespoons unsalted butter cut into small pieces

Combine the buttermilk and yeast in a large
mixing bowl, stir and let stand 5 minutes until bubbly. Add sugar, butter and 2
cups of the flour. Beat vigorously until well mixed. Add the salt and mix a few
minutes longer. Add enough flour to make a workable dough. Turn out onto a
lightly floured board and knead briefly. Let rest 10 minutes, covered with saran
wrap or a clean bowl. Knead in as much of the remaining flour as is needed to
create a smooth elastic dough that is not sticky. Place in a large greased
bowl, cover with saran wrap and allow to rise until doubled in bulk.

Butter a baking sheet. Roll the dough into a 12 x 16 inch rectangle. Scatter
the cut pieces of cold butter around the dough, fold the dough into thirds and
then in half the other direction. Roll out to a rectangle 6 x 8 inches. Cut
into 16 pieces, transfer to the baking sheet, cover and let rise 30 minutes.
Bake in a preheated oven at 400 F 15 to 20 minutes or until lightly golden.

This is our second time doing a brined turkey and I’m really sold on it. I didn’t baste even once and it came out tender and juicy as well as delicious. The only caveat is that you really don’t want to use the pan juices for gravy, they are much too salty. I made chicken stock earlier in the week specifically so I could use it for gravy.

Brined Roast Turkey
14-16 pound fresh turkey
water to cover by a few inches
2 cups kosher salt
1 cup sugar
2 cups Wild Turkey

We use a rectangular clear plastic bin for doing the brine that just fits into our refrigerator. Combine all ingredients except the turkey and stir vigorously until the salt and sugar are well dissolved. Chill completely then add the turkey and let sit overnight in this solution.

The next morning loosen the skin all over. Because the turkey has been
brined there is no need to salt it. Season with pepper and rub butter and herbs
de Provence under the skin. Place
the turkey on a rack  in the roasting pan breast side down.  Roast at 350 F for 45 minutes. Remove pan from the oven and flip the turkey so that the
breast is right-side up. Continue roasting  until the
turkey measures 160 F with the meat thermometer inserted in the thickest part.
I tent the turkey with foil until the last 30 minutes of cooking. The juices should run clear when the thermometer is removed. Allow the turkey
to stand,  tented with foil,  at least 30 minutes before carving.

Sweet Potato Casserole

3 pounds sweet potatoes, cooked and mashed
3 tablespoons unsalted butter
1/3 cup brown sugar
1/3 cup skim milk
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 large eggs
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup flour
1 teaspoon cinnamon
2 tablespoons butter
1/3 cup pecans, chopped

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Lightly grease a medium baking dish. Mix
the  mashed sweet potatoes with the butter in a large bowl. Beat in the
brown  sugar. In a small bowl whisk together the milk, vanilla, and egg
whites. Mix  the milk mixture into the sweet potatoes. Spoon the sweet
potatoes into the prepared dish. If desired, you can make the dish ahead to
this point and refrigerate  it for up to 24 hours. Return to room
temperature before baking. Mix together the  brown sugar, flour, and
cinnamon in a small bowl. Cut in the butter. Fold in  the pecans. Sprinkle
the mixture over the sweet potatoes and bake for 35 minutes.

Here’s the table all set and everyone waiting for me to finish taking pictures and sit the heck down. The pumpkin cheesecake turned out nicely and here it is with it’s praline topping all finished and ready to eat.

Well here’s a big surprise, recipes posted on Thanksgiving. This is our favorite spiced cranberry sauce. I made this yesterday morning and it seems to have set well.

Spiced Cranberry Sauce

4 cups fresh cranberries
2 cups sugar
2 cups water
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
1 pinch ground ginger

Wash cranberries, drain, and set aside.

Combine remaining ingredients in a large saucepan; bring to
a boil. Add cranberries; cook 7 minutes or until cranberry skins pop. Reduce
heat, and simmer mixture 30 minutes, stirring occasionally. Remove mixture from
heat, and allow to cool. Chill until ready to serve.

I spent many Thanksgivings at my Grandmother Singleton’s house in Foley, Alabama. She always made oyster dressing to go with the turkey and to me it’s just not Thanksgiving without it. I’ve even been known to have dinner at someone’s house without it and then come home and do a whole Thanksgiving dinner myself just so I can have the "right" dressing. This is the cornbread I made yesterday afternoon in preparation for making dressing later today.

Cornbread

2 cups all-purpose flour
2 cups cornmeal
2 tablespoons baking powder
2 teaspoons salt
2/3 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 cup canola oil
2 cups skim milk

Heat the oven to 400 degrees F.  Generously
oil a 12 x 17-inch jelly roll pan. In a very large mixing bowl, whisk together
the flour, cornmeal, baking powder, and salt. In a medium bowl, whisk the
brown sugar and oil until the mixture is smooth; whisk in the milk.

Add the milk mixture all at once to the cornmeal
mixture and whisk quickly until just combined; don’t over-mix. Pour the batter
into the prepared pan and bake until a knife inserted in the center comes out
clean, 12-15 minutes. Cool the cornbread in the pan for 10 minutes, cut it into
1-inch cubes, and let it finish cooling in the pan.

A few times we had Thanksgiving at my sister Heather’s house in New Jersey and a few times they came here. One of the first times we went to their house Jason volunteered to do dessert and searched about for a suitable recipe on the internet. While I will eat pumpkin pie I’m a bit of a renegade as it’s not my favorite. At Grandma’s house there was always also a pecan pie and that’s what I always ate. Jason loves pumpkin pie so in a lovely compromise he settled on this cheesecake recipe. Last year I convinced him to try it with a fresh pie pumpkin and it was a hit. We cut the pumpkin in half and bake until very soft then mash that and substitute 2 cups of it for the can called for in the recipe. I highly recommend it, yum!

Pumpkin Cheesecake

For the crust
2 cups gingersnap cookie crumbs
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 cup unsalted butter

For the filling
32 ounces room temperature cream cheese
1 1/2 cups sugar
3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 1/2 tablespoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground ginger
4 large eggs
15 ounces canned pumpkin
3 tablespoons bourbon
2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Make Crust.  Preheat oven to 325F.
Stir cookie crumbs and cinnamon in a medium bowl to blend.  Add butter;
stir until crumbs are moistened.  Press onto bottom and 1 inch up sides of
9-inch diameter spring-form pan with 2 3/4-inch-high sides.  Bake crust
until set, about 8 minutes.  Cool.  Double-wrap outside of pan with
heavy-duty foil.  Place in large roasting pan.

Make filling.  Using electric mixer, beat cream cheese and sugar in
large bowl until smooth.  Beat in flour and spices.  Beat in eggs 1
at a time.  Beat in pumpkin, bourbon and vanilla.  Transfer to crust.

Pour enough hot water into roasting pan to reach 1 inch up sides of spring-form
pan.  Bake cake in water bath until center is just set, adding more water
to roasting pan as needed, about 1 hour 45 minutes.  Remove cheesecake
from water.  Cool in pan on rack.  Remove foil.  Run small sharp
knife between cake and pan sides.  Chill until cold, then cover and chill
overnight.

Release pan sides.  Place cake on platter.  Sprinkle crushed pralines over,
leaving 1 inch plain border at edge.

There’s a recipe for praline with the cheesecake but I’d been making pralines yesterday to send home with Mom in the candy tins and Jason went with some of the uglier ones to crush for his cheesecake. I tried several recipes last year and found one I really liked but I seem to have misplaced that. This one is from the Southern Living Cookbook and is a pretty close second.

Pralines

2 cups sugar
2 cups pecan halves
3/4 cup buttermilk
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
1/8 teaspoon salt
3/4 teaspoon baking soda

Combine sugar, pecans, buttermilk, butter and salt in a medium heavy-bottomed pan. (This will get very foamy so be sure to use a large enough pan.) Stir with a wooden spoon to combine and cook over medium-high heat to 235 F on a candy thermometer. Remove from heat and beat in baking soda with a wooden spoon, continuing to stir the mixture until it just begins to thicken. Working as quickly as you can, drop by spoonfuls onto a silpat or foil and leave a few hours to set.