Happy Thanksgiving!
Radicchio, Fennel and Carrot Salad with Sage and Parmesan
Grated Beet and Apple Salad
Pureed Beets with Yogurt and Za’atar
Potato (and Celeriac) Gratin
Mashed Potatoes (and Celeriac)
Grilled Butternut Squash, Carrot & Fennel Salad w/ Ginger Sesame Dressing
Braised Shallots
Butternut Squash “Pumpkin” Pie
Radicchio, Fennel and Carrot Salad with Sage and Parmesan
This is a fresh, robust salad perfect for a weeknight supper or Thanksgiving. You can scale it up or down and change the ratio of vegetables any way you’d like.
Serves 4-6 as a side
1 smallish head radicchio, halved and (core removed and tossed if there is one) and thinly sliced
2 small-medium carrots, scrubbed and cut into matchsticks or julienned (by all means use a mandolin if you have one)
1 fennel bulb, trimmed and cut into matchsticks
2-3 scallions, trimmed and thinly sliced (white and green parts)
1 ounce (or more) Parmesan or aged Asiago (Asiago Stella) thinly shaved
1 teaspoon fresh sage, finely chopped
Dressing:
11/2 – 2 teaspoons apple cider syrup (or honey or maple syrup)
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 tablespoon red wine or sherry vinegar
Salt and freshly ground pepper
Put all the salad ingredients in a large bowl or on a platter. Mix the dressing ingredients in a small bowl and then pour dressing over salad. Gently toss to thoroughly mix. Taste and adjust seasoning with more vinegar, oil or salt and pepper.
Grated Beet and Apple Salad
–adapted from Vegan Soul Kitchen by Bryant Terry
This is bright, refreshing, and crunchy.
2 large beets, peeled
2 large apples, cored, peeled
1/4 cup apple juice/cider (or 1 tablespoon of maple syrup)
2 teaspoons apple cider vinegar
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
Sea salt
Freshly ground black pepper
1/2 cup golden raisins (or regular ones or dried currants)
Coarsely shred (raw) beets and apples on box grater or in a food processor fitted with large grater attachment. Put the grated apples and beets in large mixing bowl and set aside.
Heat apple juice in small saucepan or skillet over high heat until boiling. Cook until reduced to one tablespoon, about 3 minutes. Transfer to small bowl. Add apple cider vinegar to reduced apple juice and slowly drizzle in olive oil while whisking constantly. Season to taste with salt and pepper.
Drizzle dressing over shredded beets and apples, add raisins, and toss well to coat and meld flavors.
Pureed Beets with Yogurt and Za’atar
–from Jerusalem by Yotam Ottolenghi and Sam Tamimi
This is a gorgeous, easy to make and elegant dish. It would make a wonderful appetizer for Thanksgiving.
I just eat it by the spoonful and spoon it into warm pita bread. It makes quite a bit so halve the recipe if you’d like but go ahead and roast all beets while you’re at it and use half for something else.
6 medium beets (1 1/2 pounds), trimmed and scrubbed
2 small garlic cloves, minced
1 small red chile, seeded and minced
1 cup plain whole-millk Greek yogurt
3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1 1/2 tablespoons pure maple syrup
1 tablespoon za’atar (middle-eastern spice mix including hyssop and sesame seeds—I found it at People’s co-op recently). You can substitute a mixture of dried thyme and toasted sesame seeds.
Salt
1/4 cup roasted skinned hazelnuts, chopped
2 tablespoons goat cheese, crumbled
2 scallions, thinly sliced
Preheat the oven to 350°. Put the beets in a small roasting pan and add 1/4 cup of water. Cover with foil and bake for about 1 hour, until tender. Let cool slightly.
Peel the beets, cut into wedges and transfer to a food processor. Add the garlic, chile and yogurt and pulse until blended. Add the olive oil, maple syrup and za’atar and puree. Season with salt. Scrape into a wide, shallow bowl. Scatter the hazelnuts, goat cheese and scallions on top and serve with bread.
Potato (and Celeriac) Gratin
If you have celeriac leftover form last week (like I do) you can use some of it in this gratin.
I make this in an 8 x 13” dish and we eat it over several days but by all means halve the recipe if that seems like too much.
5 medium potatoes, scrubbed and thinly sliced into rounds
½ medium celeriac, peeled and cut into slices about the size of the potato slices (celeriac cooks slightly more quickly than potatoes so if the slices are little thicker that’s OK)
½ onion, very thinly sliced
2 teaspoons coarse sea salt (or a bit less finer salt) and plenty of freshly ground black pepper
2 tablespoons flour
11/2 cups grated sharp cheddar, gruyere or other grating cheese
2 cups milk (preferably whole)
½ cup water or chicken or vegetable broth or more broth and less milk
Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
Place the vegetables in a large bowl. Mix the flour, salt and pepper in a small bowl and sprinkle it over the vegetables and mix well. Spread half the mixture in the baking dish, flattening the contents a bit. Sprinkle with half the cheese. Spread the remaining potato mixture over the cheese and top with the rest of the cheese. Pour the milk and water or broth over the mixture and cover the dish tightly with foil and bake for about 35 minutes. The liquid should be bubbling vigorously now. Remove the foil and bake for another 20 minutes or so until everything is tender. Run the pan under the broiler for a few minutes if it’s not nicely browned.
Mashed Potato (and Celeriac) Tips
I make mashed potatoes once a year, at Thanksgiving. I’m not sure why I don’t make them more often. They are wonderful. If you are making mashed potatoes, I’m a bit of purist and think they’re best made with a mixture of whole milk or cream—you can decide the ratio, and butter. Be sure to have your milk, cream and butter all melted together and good and hot when you are ready to mash. Don’t skimp on the salt and don’t worry about getting them too smooth. Mashed potatoes get gluey quickly (never put them in a food processor—they’ll turn into a lump of glue) so just quickly mash them by hand. They also absorb much more liquid than you might think so, again, don’t skimp on the milk/cream.
For really fluffy mashed potatoes use a ricer. I just mash them in the pot with an old fashioned masher as I like a bit of texture.
By all means use a mixture of boiled or steamed potatoes and celery root for the mash. It will be a lighter and very tasty adaptation.
I use about ½ cup milk and 4 tablespoons butter for 2 lbs of potatoes (or other vegetables, though I think Celeriac needs less butter than potatoes do).
Grilled Butternut Squash, Carrot & Fennel Salad w/ Ginger Sesame Dressing
This dish is inspired by Yotam Ottolenghi’s new book Plenty More though it’s different enough to be barely recognizable. The original recipe includes 5 ounces of udon noodles so by all means add those if you’d like. Curious what you think of it.
½ cup rice vinegar
1 1/2 –inch piece ginger cut into very thin matchsticks
1 ½ tbs sugar
1 small-ish butternut squash, cut into 1/2-inch dice or 2-inch x 1/3-inch batons which is what the original recipe suggests and what I did above but it’s a bit of a pain to do (about 1 ½ lbs trimmed)
2 tablespoons peanut oil (or sunflower or olive)
1 large fennel bulb, trimmed, quartered and cut into very thin slices, crosswise
2 small-medium carrots, cut in half lengthwise and then into very thin half rounds crosswise
1 cup cilantro leaves and fine stems, roughly chopped
1 teaspoon sesame oil
1/2 teaspoon sea salt (likely a bit more)
2 teaspoons sesame seeds (black or regular)
Heat the vinegar, ginger and sugar in a small sauce pan, stirring frequently until the sugar dissolves. Set aside.
In a large heavy skillet heat the oil over high heat and add just enough diced squash to cover the bottom. You don’t want to crowd the pan. Sprinkle with salt. Fry the squash, turning after a few minutes until starting to blacken and get soft. Proceed with the remaining squash, adding oil if needed.
When the squash is done put it in a bowl and toss with half of the dressing and set aside to cool.
Toast the sesame seeds in a dry skillet for just a couple of minutes until a shade darker and fragrant. Be careful not to burn them.
Add the sliced carrots and fennel, cilantro, salt and sesame seeds to the squash and pour over the remaining dressing. Taste and adjust seasoning with more salt if needed. Serve immediately.
Braised Shallots (or Shallots and Onions)
–adapted from Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone by Deborah Madison
A perfect side dish for most anything. Wonderful with most any roasted, grilled, braised meat though I just enjoyed these with the parsnips and braised greens. They are rich and luscious and so easy and make your house smells wonderful for hours.
1 tablespoons butter or olive oil
5-6 shallots or 3 shallots and 1-2 onions
2 bay leaves
3-thyme sprigs
2 teaspoons sugar
generous 1/3 cup dry white wine
Salt
Peel the shallots and let them break apart where they naturally do. Then cut them in half lengthwise.
Heat the butter or olive oil (or a combo) in a large, heavy skillet with the bay leaves, thyme sprigs and sugar over medium-high heat. Stir things up a bit so the sugar doesn’t burn. Add the shallots and coat to toss and then cook for 8-10 minutes, shaking the pan or stirring occasionally, until the shallots are nicely browned. Take care not to burn them and turn down the heat if they’re getting dark too quickly.
When they’re nicely browned pour in the wine and a few pinches of salt. Then cook at a gentle simmer, covered until the shallots are tender and coated in syrup about 15-20 more minutes. You may need to add a couple of tablespoons of water if things dry out too much.
Butternut Squash “Pumpkin Pie”
I included this recipe (slightly adapted) a few weeks ago but now it’s really pie time. And I think butternut squash makes the best pie.
*You can also just bake the custard in ramekins set in a pan with water coming half way up the side of the ramekins, until the custard is set.
I swear by the Chez Pim pie crust technique and recipe (nothing but butter, flour and water). Give it a try if you’d like or use your favorite recipe/technique.
Unlike many others I do not blind bake my crust for pumpkin pie. Instead I bake it on a pizza stone in a very hot oven (for the first 15 minutes) and then reduce the temperature. This way my crust doesn’t burn and get brittle (which I find if I blind bake and then add the custard which needs a good 45 minutes to bake itself) and the bottom crust does just fine. You always get a little sogginess with a wet custard like this but I think it’s just perfect.
1 9-inch single crust Pie shell, chilled (not partially baked using ½ of above recipe or your favorite pie dough)
1 ¾ cups baked butternut squash (bake halved, seeded squash, cut side down at 400 degrees until very tender. Cool, peel and mash a bit)
2 large eggs, at room temperature
Scant 3/4 cup (lightly packed) light brown sugar
1 cup whole milk or cream
1/4 cup sour cream
or Greek yogurt (which is what I use)
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground ginger
Pinch of ground cloves
Pinch of freshly grated nutmeg
Pinch of salt
1 1/2 tablespoons dark rum (optional)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Lightly sweetened lightly whipped cream, for topping
Preheat oven to 425 degrees.
Center a rack in the oven and preheat the oven to 450°F. If you have a pizza stone, put it on the rack you’re going to use and then preheat. Setting the pie pan directly on the pizza stone helps the crust bake nicely and not get soggy, especially since we’re not pre-baking the crust.
Roll out your pie dough and place it in a pan, making sure to gently press the dough fully into the pan. Trim the overhanging dough with a sharp knife all around leaving at least a 1-inch overhang. Flour your fingers and crimp the dough by pushing your right pointer finger into a “v” shape created with the thumb and pointer of your left hand, holding the edge of dough. Repeat around the whole pie, re-flouring your fingers as needed, to make a pretty, crimped rim. Chill pie shell in the fridge while you make the filling.
Put all of the filling ingredients in a food processor and process for 1 minute or so, stopping to scrape down the sides of the bowl once or twice and pour the filling into the chilled pie shell. Alternatively whisk all the ingredients well in a bowl.
Bake for 15 minutes at 450, then reduce the oven temperature to 350°F and continue to bake for 35 to 45 minutes longer or until a knife inserted close to the center comes out clean. (If you don’t want to create a slash in your masterpiece, tap the pan gently—if the custard doesn’t jiggle, or only jiggles a teensy bit in the very center, it’s done.) Transfer the pie to a rack and cool to room temperature.
Serve the pie with lightly sweetened whipped cream