Fancy Pants Foodie

Foodie news, reviews and how-tos from Arkansas and beyond.

Holiday Tips and Recipes from ‘Tis the Season Class

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cheese wafers spicy pecan crackers

Pecan Cheese Wafers from Saveur Magazine. These were the BOMB!

I was a goofy, disjointed mess at Friday’s ‘Tis the Season event at Central Baptist Church in North Little Rock, and that made it more fun. At least for me. I’m blaming my lingering cold, so there.

This annual women’s event includes a potluck the likes of which you’ve never seen (including some Burge hams provided by the church), door prizes, and the highlight: choosing three of nine available classes on topics from hair braiding and games to cake decorating and my class, holiday cooking.

I learned from the event flyer that I was sharing tips and tricks (ha), so I came up with these:

  1. Buy one good chef’s knife and learn how to use it. No need for a huge knife set! Maybe add a paring knife, and you’re set. I showed everyone my favorite santoku knife and said a regular chef’s knife is just peachy as well. Look for one in the $30-50 range for everyday use. I also demonstrated the very basics of knife work and how to cut things up safely.
  2. Take advantage of small appliances when tackling holiday cooking. For this class, we focused on the food processor and the magical things it can accomplish.
  3. Don’t be afraid to make a recipe your own! Take an old family favorite or something new you found online. Look in your cupboards for new ingredients you can use. Or just go crazy and make something up! Once you learn the basics of how ingredients go together (and I can help if you need it), the sky’s the limit.

The first item I made is a cranberry relish I’ve served at several Thanksgiving and Christmas events over recent years, from the Simply Recipes blog. Since it’s not my recipe, just click the link to check it out! This relish is super simple, with just four ingredients, and it freezes beautifully.

At the class I demonstrated in real time what happens if you overload your food processor with this recipe…you get perfectly-sized relish, with huge chunks of apple and orange throughout. Even if you have a big processor like mine, do half of the recipe at a time to ensure better uniformity, pulsing the processor until it’s just right. And if you have a meat grinder, use that instead for a PERFECT texture!

The next item was a pecan cheese wafer from Saveur magazine’s website. This is an innovative twist on the spicy cheese cracker I’ve made before (as here in culinary school), adding a pecan half with an egg white as “glue.” The pecan’s sweetness perfectly balances the salty, spicy cracker. This recipe is easily made gluten-free, too, since there is very little flour used and the low-protein GF flour keeps the crackers light. I used Cup for Cup for mine.

My only complaint about the Saveur recipe as published is the quantity listed. The recipe claims a yield of 2 1/2 dozen, rolling the crackers to 1/8 inch thick. This is actually pretty thick for a cracker, but I went with it since it’s easier to cut and transfer to a baking sheet that way. I QUADRUPLED the recipe and got just around 3 dozen. I imagine the Saveur folks actually rolled them much thinner in their test kitchens, likely 1/16″ or so. If you want to roll it that thin, try rolling it directly onto some parchment paper on the back of a baking sheet, baking it as a solid sheet. Once it’s crisp, break the sheet into “rustic” uneven pieces. (If you were at the class, you’ll get the joke about “rustic.”)

The final recipe was my own invention, a “Thanksgiving Dinner in a Bite” canapé (see below). This is the demonstration of tip #3 above, creating something completely different on your own. Using a few simple ingredients and fun techniques, I inventioneered this while planning the class. I couldn’t taste-test due to my gluten problem, but class visitors said it was pretty good! Somehow I managed to not take a photo both times I made it, so you’ll have to trust me. It’s pretty cute.

If you attended, thanks for coming by, and sorry I was a little crazy! But as I said, life is more fun that way, right? Let me know if you make any of these, and let me know if I can help!

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“Thanksgiving in a Bite” Canapé
Makes 24 pieces

  • One box of frozen puff pastry
  • 1/2 c. all-purpose flour
  • 1 thick slice of deli turkey or about 1 cup leftover roasted turkey
  • 4 oz. cream cheese (1/2 a standard box)
  • 1/2 cup cranberry relish
  • Optional: 2 T. sour cream or plain yogurt
  • Optional: 2 chives, cut into several 1-inch pieces

Preheat your oven to 325 degrees, and move the puff pastry and the cream cheese to the countertop about 30 minutes before starting the recipe.

The puff pastry should still be cool when you’re ready to cut out your circles. Dust a smooth working surface with flour and unfold the puff pastry onto it, then dust the top of the pastry with flour as well. Using a rolling pin or similar device, roll the pastry out just slightly to smooth it out.

Press straight down into the puff pastry with a 1 1/2″ round or scalloped cutter and move the cut rounds onto a baking sheet lined with a silicone mat or parchment paper. The sharper the cutter is, the easier this step will be and the higher the rounds will puff.

Bake the rounds for 10 minutes, then remove from the oven and punch down in the middle with the round end of a wooden spoon or similar utensil. Place back in the oven for 2-3 minutes or until the rounds are slightly browned on the bottom. Allow the baked rounds to cool before filling.

If you would like to lighten up the cream cheese, mix it thoroughly with the sour cream or plain yogurt. (It’s fine without it, just a bit heavier.) Place the cream cheese or the mixture into a piping bag or a freezer bag (don’t use a standard sandwich bag or the seams will burst). Cut off a corner and pipe a small amount, maybe a half teaspoon, into each baked puff pastry round.

Place a small piece of turkey into each round on top of the cream cheese. If you purchased the turkey at the deli, cut it into cubes and smash it a bit so it won’t look so “manufactured.”

Scoop a 1/2 teaspoon or so of the cranberry relish on top of the turkey, and garnish with the chives if you want. Pretty and delish!

Gluten-Free Pie Crust (and Graham Crackers to Boot)

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Gluten free, xantham gum free graham crackers.

Gluten free, xantham gum free graham crackers.

Greetings from our cozy cabin at Big Cedar Lodge near Branson, MO!

We’re spending the week here for Thanksgiving. We got here at 5 p.m. Tuesday and I’ve already been cooking like they don’t sell food around here. But, I actually enjoy that, so taking the larger vehicle so we could sherpa a week’s worth of groceries was totally worth it.

Tomorrow, I’ll get started on all the traditional Thanksgiving fare, but first, I thought I’d share one thing I’ve already made here at the cabin: some gluten-free, xanthan gum-free graham crackers.

S'mores made from my very own GF graham crackers!

S’mores made from my very own GF graham crackers!

See? Yeah. I’m pretty proud of these, actually. The family got right to work after dinner on s’mores, and I had planned ahead just enough to bring stuff to make my own crackers. If I had planned even more, I would have made them at home and brought them…but no matter.

The family making s'mores by the fire. How could I not participate?

The family making s’mores by the fire. How could I not participate?

I used this recipe from Living Low Carb One Day at a Time, although I used real brown sugar rather than her healthier alternatives. (Hey, one step at a time, right?) Kudos to Karen over there for the great recipe.

I worried about the batter being really wet, but it worked out just fine. Just trust her when she says to roll it out between sheets of parchment. Silpats would probably be even better. But, I’m at a cabin, so we use what we brought, which remarkably included parchment.

Tomorrow I’ll be on full Thanksgiving alert, working on the turkey, dressing, pies and such. Oh, yeah, and the hubs wants to take the kids to see Santa at Bass Pro Shops in Springfield. I’ll see if we can work that in.

Speaking of pies, didn’t I promise pie crust in the title of this post? Ah, yes, I did. If you like a graham cracker crust, just use the above cracker recipe and crumble them up using your favorite crust recipe. Here are one or two crust recipes for you.

If you like a more traditional pastry-style crust, here’s the recipe I made ahead and froze into disks for the trip.

Gluten-Free Pie Crust (Traditional pastry style)

The dough actually behaves better after being frozen, or at least parking in the fridge for a few hours. If freezing, take it out of the freezer about 30 minutes before using.

  • 2 1/2 cups gluten-free flour blend
  • 1/4 tsp. kosher salt
  • 1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, cubed small and frozen
  • 1/2 cup lard or margarine, cut into small pieces and frozen
  • 1/4 cup ice cold water

Place the flour blend, salt, butter and lard or margarine into a food processor and pulse (er, I had to run mine a while) until it’s a crumbly meal. If you don’t have a food processor, you can do this with a pastry cutter. Just cut the butter and flour together. 

Drizzle in the cold water a bit at a time, pulsing the processor (or your fingers, as the case may be) until the dough comes together. You don’t have to use all the water, just enough to bring it together. When it just comes together when you press it, it’s done.

Turn the dough out onto a clean surface. It will still be a bit crumbly, and that’s okay. Divide the dough in two and form each portion into a disk, pressing slightly to help it come together. Place each disk into a freezer bag and place in the freezer until about an hour before you need it.

Thaw and roll out on a GF-floured surface. If it comes apart, don’t freak — just use a spatula to pick up pieces as flatly as possible and press them together in your pie pan. Comes out exactly like the traditional pie crust you always knew.

What You Need To Do This Week for Thanksgiving Prep

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Goat cheese and pomegranate salad from last year's Thanksgiving.

Goat cheese and pomegranate salad from last year’s Thanksgiving.

If you, my foodie friend, are cooking Thanksgiving dinner (lunch, whatevs) this year, you need to get it in gear this week. I know. So early! But trust me. You’ll be happier.

Hang with me.

Every year, the first week of November, I start getting a little twinkle in my eye. Just call me the Santa of Thanksgiving.

Maybe you don’t get the same level of excitement, and maybe you don’t even do a T-day meal that’s all that fancy. Even so, this is the week you should start putting a few thoughts that direction. Why? Because it will save you lots of stress and probably a lot of money in a few weeks.

Menu
This week is the time to work on your menu. Why so early? Well, several reasons. For one, there are elements that you can prep early and freeze (veggies for dressing, stock for gravy, etc.), saving you some time and sanity later on. Also, if you’re like me, you might need to spread your Thanksgiving expenses across two paychecks, and buying some of the items now will help you not be busted come Black Friday. (More on that in a minute.)

Need some inspiration? Time to troll the internets and magazines. My favorites this time of year are Food Network and blogs like Simply Recipes and Gluten Free Girl and the Chef. Last week, I even bought my first Martha Stewart Living magazine in like 15 years. I still haven’t forgiven her for being a heifer and business cheater, but I was recently at a bookstore and got sucked in by the luscious cover. (Martha’s idea I’m lifting this year: brûléed pumpkin pie. Oh yes.)

You might even like my would-be menu from that Thanksgiving I ended up with the flu. Hey, it’s a start. Embellish at will.

Of course, there’s also nothing wrong with making your feast just like your family has done for generations. Just write down the list of every menu item you plan to prepare. Feel free to send reminders this week to family members who typically bring a particular dish.

Once you have all your menu items chosen, write down every.single.ingredient you’ll need to make each dish. If you know you have something in your pantry/freezer, make a note, but write it down anyway. Print out all the recipes to help make lists and to have them handy for prep.

*****

Budget
Holiday meals can be expensive, so a little forethought can help with budget planning as well as sanity.

Write on a piece of paper how much money you are going to spend on this meal. Period. No cheating. If you end up adjusting your menu because of it, so be it. Maybe ask relatives to bring some of the items, or even just the ingredients if you want to do it yourself. Just be sure to coordinate with them so you get the items in time to prepare them for the meal.

Next, consider how many people you will be feeding and how many leftovers you want. Carefully take note of your recipes where it says how many it feeds, and multiply/divide as needed. If you’re going by recipe-free tradition, just adjust as necessary based on what you know it makes. This step helps make sure you don’t spend too much on copious quantities you won’t use.

Now check out the specials at your favorite store, or even one or two that you don’t normally frequent. If you don’t wait until the last minute (and sometimes, even if you do), you can find some really great deals on Thanksgiving dinner items. As mentioned earlier, there are things you can prep and freeze early, so catch some sales and get things moving. Use your ingredient list you made earlier and get your groceries in two phases: Stuff that can be done early, and stuff you want to do later.

*****

My family is escaping to the lovely Big Cedar Lodge this Thanksgiving, so I’m planning a small feast that we can prepare in our cabin there.

I just purchased some turkey legs ($3) to make into a stock for gravy and dressing. This can be frozen way ahead of time. I’m also going to make some dressing, gluten-free rolls and a pie (maybe two) to freeze ahead of time and carry with us in a cooler, along with a very small turkey, maybe just a turkey breast. Add some bacon-wrapped green beans and a pan of sweet potato casserole and we are SET.

What are you having for Thanksgiving this year? Let me know in the comments. And, as always, if you have any cooking questions as you go, feel free to drop me a line.

Happy cooking!

BLOGtober: Thanksgiving and Carolina on My Mind (with Recipe for Hoppin’ John)

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Hoppin’ John will probably make an appearance at our Charleston Thanksgiving.

Ever since the monumental Thanksgiving disaster of 2009, I haven’t planned a lot for the holiday.

Usually, we get together for a largely non-traditional dinner of chili and fixings (along with some ham, dressing and green beans for a degree of normalcy) at my niece’s house. I bring one thing, sometimes just the fixings for the chili.

A few months back, we decided at a family gathering that we’d do Thanksgiving in Charleston this year. We have extended family there, and we’d make an epic family-fest trip of it. I’d plan a simple-but-fab menu, go to the year-round farmers’ market, pull out all the stops. All the moms were on board.

Then, my mom bailed, then my mother-in-law.

My mom insists she can hang with friends this year, which seems silly, but whatever. We’re still going, at her insistence.

The menu in Charleston will probably include this, which I test-ran tonight: Hoppin’ John.

This traditional South Carolina dish is made with cowpeas there, which are similar to blackeyed peas but smaller. Tonight, I had some dry blackeyes in the pantry and some bacon in the freezer, so it made a delicious and inexpensive dinner. The hubs said at least three times, “Wow, this is really good!”

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Hoppin’ John
Serves 6-8.

  • 2 cups dry blackeye peas
  • 6 rashers of bacon, diced
  • One half yellow onion, small dice
  • Three cloves garlic, minced
  • 2 quarts chicken stock (guessing here)
  • Two bay leaves
  • Juice of 1 lemon
  • Salt and pepper to taste
  • Hot sauce of your choice
  • 2 T. fresh rosemary, minced

For the rice:

  • 1 1/2 cups brown rice
  • 3 cups water or chicken stock
  • 1 T. oil
  • 1 tsp. salt
  • 2 T. fresh parsley, minced, plus extra for garnish

Soak the beans in cold water overnight, then rinse thoroughly in a colander.

In a heavy pot over medium-high heat, render the bacon until it is about halfway done, then add the onion. Reduce the heat. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the onions are translucent, then add the garlic. Cook just until the garlic is fragrant.

Add the soaked beans, stir everything together, and cover the whole thing with chicken stock. I’m really not sure how much I used, since it was homemade stock in a big pot, but I’m guessing 2 quarts. Just use enough to cover the beans by about an inch. Add your bay leaves.

Bring the pot to a boil, then reduce to a simmer and cook for 1 1/2 hours. (Check your beans before this point; mine were a little soft.) I covered the pot slightly, but I’m not sure it really matters.

About 30 minutes into cooking the beans, combine the brown rice, stock or water, oil and salt in a small saucepan, bring to a low simmer and cover. This will take about 45 minutes to cook.

When the beans are done to your liking, remove most of the liquid. Add the lemon juice, salt and pepper, hot sauce (if you want) and rosemary. Crush some of the beans with your spoon (or whatever) to thicken the remaining liquid and stir.

When the rice is done, mix in the parsley, then spoon about a 1/4 cup into the bottom of each serving bowl. Ladle the bean mixture over the top, and garnish with some more parsley. (Confession: my rosemary is still alive, but my parsley is not; today, I used the dreaded dry kind that I usually hate.)

I hope my Hoppin’ John comes out as well at my Charleston Thanksgiving this year!

Posts this week will be part of Arkansas Women Blogger’s BLOGtober Fest challenge. I usually don’t blog daily unless there are a lot of events going on, so don’t freak out if you get posts by email! Click the pumpkin badge on the right side of the page for related (or not) posts from bloggers across Arkansas.

Asparagus They’ll Actually Eat

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Pre-roasted beauties. See how pretty and green they are if you blanch them?

As you might have noticed, I’m totally blowing it lately on keeping you updated on, well, anything.

That’s pretty much because I’m totally NOT blowing it at school. In fact, considering a semester of sick kids and sick me, I’m kicking butt. Or at least I feel like I am this week.

On top of all my busy school schedule this week, I needed something snazzy to take to a women’s pre-holiday get-together tonight. I made an asparagus appetizer from my Banquets & Catering class, with my own little twists.

Oh, I know, you don’t think you like asparagus, or you know that your family will turn up their noses if you bring it out for Thanksgiving. (Wait, what? Thanksgiving is coming? I’m so not ready.) But I’m pretty sure these will change your mind.

Post-roast aspies.

The problem with most asparagus is that it’s overcooked. This method ensures green, crisp yumminess, plus some roasty goodness to boot. And you get some yummy fat, too.

The recipe:

Soppressata-Wrapped Roasted Asparagus

  • 100 stems asparagus (or whatever it is you call an individual asparagus)
  • 50 very thin slices of soppressata (I used Applegate Farms from Whole Foods; salami or prosciutto works, too.)
  • Kosher salt
  • Freshly ground pepper
  • 1 lemon

Gently bend each asparagus until it naturally breaks the woody stems away. If you’re in a hurry, you could go ahead and cut the whole lot in about the same place the first handful broke, but you’ll probably have some woody stuff left here and there. Meanwhile, get a large pot of salted water boiling. Near the stove, have a large bowl of ice water ready, along with some paper towels laid out on the countertop or on trays.

Leave the asparagus in the boiling water for just a minute or two, or until it just gets bright green. You might push them around a bit to make sure they all get cooked evenly. Immediately pull them out with a spider (I used a combination of tongs and the large slotted thingy that comes with a Fry Daddy), drain as best you can, and dump them in the ice water.

Somewhere in the middle of this, answer the door to find a punk kid claiming to put himself through UCA and help Arizona-I-mean-Arkansas Children’s Hospital selling $55 magazine subscriptions. Oh, that was just me? Huh.

Pull the cooled asparagus out of the ice water (more quickly than I did, lest the vitamins leech out) and dry them as best you can on the paper towels. Word to your mother, you just learned to blanch and shock! Don’t you feel like an Iron Chef? 

Set up two sheet pans lined with parchment paper or Silpats. Wrap two stems (pieces? stalks?) of asparagus with one piece of soppressata. Lay this on the pan seam-down, repeat until all are done. Season lightly (the meat is plenty salty) with kosher salt and pepper. Zest the lemon and sprinkle over the whole deal.

Roast in a 350 degree oven for about 20 minutes, or until the soppressata is just crisp.

Delish! Even if you don’t think you like asparagus.

Thanksgiving Disappointments and Blessings

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For many of us foodies, Thanksgiving is the ultimate holiday. We have a socially acceptable excuse to spend far too much time planning, shopping and cooking for just one special meal.

In my case, this was to be the first Thanksgiving I hosted and cooked myself. I had shopped the farmer’s market, prowled two grocery stores, studied recipes, made lists, planned an elaborate three-day schedule of cooking. I had purchased large plastic bins for brining our 19-pound turkey and three pheasants. I had washed critters out of a veggie drawer full of farm-fresh romaine lettuce.

Then, I got the flu.

Monday morning I awoke to the reality that Thanksgiving would not be what I had imagined. After a couple days of being mostly unconscious, on Wednesday afternoon I started lying around trying to watch television. Food Network, my usual staple, was in full-foodie-Thanksgiving frenzy. It was too depressing. I switched to HGTV.

Last night, still weak but just needing to “get some cook out,” I made two pans of dressing with the six loaves of bread I had purchased for the purpose. (My sister-in-law, who had graciously taken over Thanksgiving festivities, had also purchased new food.) One pan was for the Heritage House, a public housing retirement facility where our church hosts Thanksgiving each year. The other was just for us, that night. The hubs breaded and fried some deer meat he had in the freezer, which our daughter, surprisingly, was gaga over.

I also tackled a rather complex recipe for a gingerbread cake with lemon glaze, just because. I managed to save it for the actual holiday festivities.

After making those two items, I started to feel much better about things.

Today, on what was supposed to be the ultimate foodie showcase at my house, we drove over to my niece’s house, not far away. There, my in-law family had prepared a wonderful spread. We talked, we ate, the kids played. We went back home and took huge naps. And it was just fine.

What I learned from the whole thing: While it’s OK to demonstrate your abilities and cook a sumptuous feast, it’s not what Thanksgiving is about. Yes, the original Pilgrim meal was probably complex and showy. But it was with deep intentions to show gratitude for the very ability to do so — for survival, for provision, for friends and family. Today, because I was still too weak to be caught up in cooking, I was able to receive the gift of a lovingly prepared meal and more time with family at the table.

I still plan to cook most of the meal I had planned, in a little over a week. We are having some friends over from church for our turn at a supper club. It was going to be a different menu, but what else am I going to do with a 19-pound turkey? And this time, I’ll remember to replace frenzy with friends and family. And of course, good food.

My would-be menu:

I hope that each one of you had a wonderful Thanksgiving and that you remembered to count your blessings, even if they weren’t the ones you expected.