The Bayonet

I don't remember where I found this, but it turned out very well last Christmas. I used some hard, dry bread which I was worried about hurting the texture, but it came out great! I did add some fresh chopped up cherries for a little color, which worked out VERY well.  The whiskey sauce did NOT turn out well, though... I think I rushed it, and it failed to thicken.

 

Bread Pudding

• 12 to 14 cups 1-inch cubes day-old white bread, such as French or Italian
• 7 tablespoons unsalted butter
• 2 cups heavy cream
• 4 cups whole milk
• 6 large eggs
• 1 3/4 cups plus 2 tablespoons light brown sugar
• 4 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
• 1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup raisins
• Confectioners' sugar, for garnish

Preheat the oven to 350°F.

Place the bread in a large bowl. In a small saucepan, melt 6 tablespoons butter and pour over the bread cubes. Use a rubber spatula to toss the bread and evenly distribute the butter. Grease a 9 x 13-inch casserole dish with the remaining tablespoon of butter and set aside.

Combine the heavy cream, milk, eggs, brown sugar, vanilla, cinnamon, nutmeg, salt, and raisins in a large bowl. Whisk to mix. Pour the cream mixture over the bread, and stir to combine. Allow the mixture to sit at room temperature for 30 to 45 minutes.

Transfer the bread mixture to the casserole dish and bake until the center of the bread pudding is set, 50 to 60 minutes. Garnish the bread pudding with confectioners' sugar and serve warm with warm Whiskey Sauce. (Makes 10 to 12 servings)

Whiskey Sauce

• 2 cups half-and-half
• 1/3 cup sugar
• 2 tablespoons cornstarch
• Whiskey

In a small saucepan slowly heat half-and-half and sugar. In a small bowl whisk cornstarch with 1/4 cup water. Slowly stream cornstarch into hot mixture, stirring constantly. Cook 2 minutes, stirring constantly. Sauce will thicken; thin slightly, if necessary. Add whiskey, to taste. Keep warm until ready to serve. (Yield: 2 cups)

Adapted from Apple Pie Perfect, by Ken Haedrich (The Harvard Common Press, 2002). I tried this last Thanksgiving, and it came out almost perfectly! I blame my own inexperience at baking for any inadequacies.

 

Brown Sugar Apple Pie

Filling:

• 1 recipe double crust, refrigerated
• 8 cups peeled, cored, and sliced apples
• 1/2 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
• 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 2 tablespoons cold unsalted butter, cut into little pieces

Glaze:

• Milk
• Granulated sugar

1. If you haven't already, prepare the pastry and refrigerate for at least 1 hour, until firm enough to roll.

2. On a sheet of lightly floured wax paper, roll the larger portion of pastry into a 13 1/2-inch circle with a floured rolling pin. Invert the pastry over a 9-inch deep-dish pie pan. Center it, then peel off the paper. Gently tuck the pastry into the pan, without stretching it, and let the overhang drape over the edge of the pan. Refrigerate. Preheat the oven to 400 F.

3. While the pie shell chills, make the filling. Combine the apples, brown sugar, lemon juice, cinnamon, and nutmeg in a large mixing bowl; toss well to mix. Set aside while your roll the top pastry.

4. On another sheet of lightly floured wax paper, roll the other half of the pastry into an 11 1/2-inch circle. Turn the filling into the refrigerated pie shell, smoothing the apples with your hands. Dot the top of the pie with butter, dropping the pieces here and there over the apples.

5. Lightly moisten the rim of the pie shell with a wet finger or pastry brush. Invert the top pastry over the filling, center it, then peel off the paper. Press the top and bottom pastries together along the dampened edge. Trim the pastry with scissors or a paring knife, leaving a 1/2-inch overhang all around, then sculpt the overhang into an upstanding ridge. Make several 2-inch-long slits in the top pastry, at the 12, 3, 6, and 9 o'clock positions; the bottom of each slit should just reach the edge of the pie. Lightly brush the top pastry with milk and sprinkle with granulated sugar.

6. Place the pie directly on the center oven rack and bake for 30 minutes. Remove the pie from the oven and place it on a large, dark baking sheet covered with aluminum foil. Reduce the oven temperature to 375 F. Put the pie on the baking sheet back in the oven and bake for an additional 30 minutes; when the pie is done, you should be able to see the juices bubbling up onto the crust. Cool at least one hour.

Using Julia Child's Blanched Green Beans as a base, this classic side dish is fabulous for entertaining.

 

Buttered Green Beans 

• 3 pounds hot, Blanched Green Beans
• Salt and pepper
• 4 to 8 tablespoons of butter, cut into pieces

Toss the hot beans in the saucepan or skillet over moderately high heat to evaporate their moisture. Toss briefly again with salt and pepper to taste. Turn them into the serving dish, distribute the butter over them, and serve at once.

Blanching rules! This simple method produces fantastic veggies with wonderful color. Just be careful not to over-cook! Works for lots of other veggies, such as carrots, broccoli, and cauliflower.

Blanching is a very common method, but I read about it from a Julia Child cookbook. This is adapted from her instructions, but I don't remember where exactly it came from.

 

Blanched Green Beans

• 3 pounds green beans, trimmed and washed
• A large kettle containing at least 7 to 8 quarts of rapidly boiling water
• 1/2 tsp salt per quart of water
• 4-8 Tbs of butter
• salt and pepper to taste

A handful at a time, drop the beans into the rapidly boiling salted water. Bring the water back to the boil as quickly as possible, and boil the beans slowly, uncovered, for 10 to 15 minutes; test the beans frequently after 8 minutes by eating one. A well-cooked bean should be tender, but still retain the slightest suggestion of crunchiness. Drain the beans as soon as they are done. For Immediate Serving Turn the beans into a large, heavy-bottomed saucepan and toss them gently over moderately high heat by flipping the pan, not by stirring them. This will evaporate their moisture in 2 to 3 minutes.

For Later Serving or to Serve Cold:

Run cold water over the beans for 3 to 4 minutes. This will stop the cooking immediately and the beans will retain color, taste, and texture. Drain, spread them out on a clean towel, and pat dry. The beans may then be set aside in a colander, or put in a covered bowl in the refrigerator where they will keep perfectly for 24 hours.

Super-simple glaze, turned out perfect. Although this created a little too much glaze--next time I will try to add just enough glaze to coat all the carrots.

 

Carrot Glaze

• 1/4 cup lemon juice
• 1/4 cup butter
• 1/4 cup brown sugar

In sauce pan bring lemon juice and butter to a soft boil, and slowly stir in brown sugar until absorbed. Pour over carrots and serve.

Found recipe here. Traditionally we have never used sour cream in our holiday mashed potatoes, so I replaced it wil half and half. Do want to try out the sour cream version sometime. The herbs were pretty, but did not really stand out in the flavor--could have used parsley for the same effect.

 

Country-Style Mashed Potatoes

• 4 pounds baking potatoes, unpeeled and cut into 1-inch pieces
• 6 large cloves garlic, peeled
• 1/2 cup half and half
• 1/4 cup turkey broth
• 4 tablespoons margarine
• 2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh rosemary or 1 teaspoon dried
• rosemary
• 2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh thyme or 1/2 teaspoon dried
• thyme leaves
• 2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh parsley

1. Place potatoes and garlic in medium saucepan; cover with water. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer, covered, about 15 minutes or until potatoes are fork-tender. Drain well.

2. Place potatoes and garlic in large bowl. Beat with electric mixer just until mashed. Beat in sour cream, milk and margarine until almost smooth. Mix in rosemary, thyme and parsley.

I found this recipe on Food Network and tried it out last Thanksgiving. Mostly successful, although the cornbread I used may not have been quite right.

 

Cornbread Stuffing with Sausage and Apples

• 1 pound bulk Italian sausage, sweet or hot
• 1/2 cup butter
• 1 large Spanish onion, chopped
• 4 ribs celery, chopped
• 2 Granny Smith apples, peeled, cored and diced into 1/2 inch cubes
• 1 tablespoon rubbed sage, crumbled
• 1 teaspoon thyme leaves, chopped
• 4 cups cornbread croutons
• 4 cups white bread croutons
• 2 1/2 cups chicken broth

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.

Brown sausage in an ovenproof saucepot that has a lid. With a slotted spoon, remove sausage from the pot and pour out the drippings. Add the butter to the pot and melt over medium heat. Add onion and celery and cook, until softened. Add apple and cook, until softened. Add herbs and stir. Return sausage to pot. Add croutons and chicken broth and bake stuffing in the oven at 375F for 30 to 40 minutes.