Thanksgiving is less than 30 days away. In my world, that means planning the menu now, and sharing it with my sous chef (my brother).

Serious negotiations will commence about what we can and cannot accomplish given our busy schedules and travel plans.

Two things are a given: we will have pumpkin pie and we will have cranberry orange compote.

So I’m sharing links to two recipes that will be on our Thanksgiving table, in case you’re new to the blog. If you’ve been reading all along, maybe you’ll remember these.

Pumpkin Pie

The first is pumpkin pie, and I did a little experiment to determine if roasting a pumpkin was better than using canned pumpkin for our pie. You can see the results here:

Fresh v. Canned: Pumpkin Pie

Which is better? Read the post to find out, but here’s a hint: it depends…

A word about the sugared sage garnish: brush a sprig of fresh sage leaves with a beaten egg white and roll in granulated sugar. Set aside to dry. Really, it’s that easy.

Cranberry Orange Compote

For years (who am I kidding… still …) the canned jellied cranberry sauce landed on our table at Thanksgiving. As long as my dad sits at the head of the table, it always will.

But that doesn’t mean I have to eat it. Instead, I make a wonderfully tart and decidedly grown-up cranberry compote with a healthy dose of ruby port and Grand Marnier.

Now you can too:

Cranberry Orange Compote

Now that we have these two in the “yes” column, all we need to do is decide which sides will accompany our citrus & herb turkey.

For the past few years, we’ve been using a modified dry brine recipe from Rick Rodgers we found in Bon Appetit years ago.

Mom’s corn bread dressing is a given, but I’ve never written a recipe for it. Truth is, we’re still working on it. Every year we think we’re getting closer, but it never is as good as Mom’s was.

But we will try again this year, like we always do.

Happy Thanksgiving planning to you.

Tags: bon appetit, canned pumpkin, cranberries, cranberry orange compote, fresh pumpkin, pumpkin pie, Rick Rodgers, Thanksgiving
Posted in Desserts, Recipes, Sauces, Salsas & Dressings | 2 Comments »

The difference between caramel sauce and butterscotch sauce? Butter. Lots of it for the latter.

And generally, butterscotch sauce calls for brown sugar while caramel sauce begins with white sugar.

This sauce is almost too easy. No caramelizing sugar first (bonus) yet it tastes rich, sweet, buttery and of course — boozy.

I developed the recipe for the brioche and chocolate bread pudding, but honestly, I love it drizzled over vanilla ice cream. Or straight from a spoon.

Butter “Scotch” Sauce

[printable recipe]

Makes 2 cups

Ingredients
1 1/4 cups firmly packed dark brown sugar
6 tablespoons unsalted butter
3/4 cup heavy cream
2-3 tablespoons Scotch whisky
Pinch salt

Method
1. Melt brown sugar and butter in a medium saucepan over medium heat, stirring occasionally until the butter is melted.

2. Stir in cream and continue cooking, stirring occasionally until sugar dissolves, about 5 minutes.

3. Remove from heat and stir in Scotch and salt. Cool slightly before serving.

Tags: butterscotch, dessert, recipe, sauce
Posted in Recipes, Sauces, Salsas & Dressings | No Comments »

Generally I’m not one to shy away from fat and calories. I did, after all, polish off a Pine State Reggie biscuit with no problem.

But it’s January and a chocolate-filled Valentine’s Day is sure to follow, so I don’t mind cutting back on calories and fat as long as I don’t have to give up on taste.

One way I’m doing that is with this Spa Caesar Dressing, a recipe from my Cool Mountain Cookbook. The first time I tasted this dressing, from Vermont’s most luxurious spa, Topnotch, I knew it had potential beyond just dressing salads.

A serving (2 tablespoons) is only 120 calories and 4 grams of fat, compared to 200 calories and 16 grams of fat of some traditional Caesar dressings.

This “mock” version has the taste characteristics of the real thing — thanks to anchovies, garlic and lemon juice — and it has great mouth feel thanks to the cottage cheese.

But don’t just toss your salads with this dressing. Use it as a dip for a plateful of healthy vegetables, too.

It also makes a nice sauce for fish, too. Just gently heat the dressing, spoon it over your fish and garnish it with some fresh chopped chives.

Spa Caesar Dressing

(from The Cool Mountain Cookbook)

Makes 2 1/4 cups

Ingredients
2 cups lowfat cottage cheese
1/4 cup lowfat buttermilk
1 tablespoon champagne or white wine vinegar
2 teaspoons lemon juice
1 teaspoon finely chopped garlic
3 anchovies, rinsed in warm water, dried and finely chopped
1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1/2 teaspoon dry mustard
1/2 teaspoon Kosher salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

Method
1. Place all ingredients in a food processor and process until smooth, stopping to scrape the bowl once or twice.

2. Chill before serving.

3. Dressing may be refrigerated for up to 2 weeks.

Tags: lowfat dressing, mock Caesar dressing, recipe, Topnotch Spa & Resort
Posted in Recipes, Sauces, Salsas & Dressings | 4 Comments »

My cranberry sauce doesn’t come out of a can. (although it did for a number of years).

Now it comes with a little booze (shhh!) Just a little port and a splash of the most syrupy, orangey liqueur, Grand Marnier.

And some brown sugar. (or white sugar, really, it doesn’t matter).

Bring the berries, port and sugar to a boil. (Save the Grand Marnier for later.)

While the berries are coming to a boil, chop a quarter of an orange, peel and all. Really fine.

Really, really fine.

The orange makes the compote thicken. I’ve see recipes calling for even more orange but a quarter seems to be the right balance. Well, that and the Grand Marnier.

After the compote thickens, take it off the heat and add dried cherries. Or dried cranberries. Or dried chopped figs. Or dried fill-in-the-blank fruit.

And throw in some toasted walnuts. But don’t add them until you’re ready to serve it so they stay crunchy.

You can just sprinkle them on top if you like. Or mix them in. Your call.

Serve it in a pretty bowl. Or an ugly one, if that’s what your mother-in-law gave you and she’s coming to dinner.

Cranberry Orange Compote

Makes 3 cups

Ingredients
1 (12-ounce) package of fresh or frozen cranberries
1 cup dark brown sugar (or light brown, or white, we don’t discriminate)
1/2 cup ruby Port wine
1/4 large navel orange, finely chopped
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/8 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup dried cherries, or cranberries or other dried fruit
1 generous tablespoon Grand Marnier
1/2 cup chopped, toasted walnuts or pecans

Method
1. Stir cranberries, sugar and Port together in a heavy saucepan and place over medium-high heat. Bring to a boil. Stir in chopped orange, cinnamon, nutmeg and salt and reduce heat to a simmer.

2. Simmer until cranberries burst and mixture thickens, about 12 minutes.

3. Remove from heat and stir in dried fruit and Grand Marnier. Cool to room temperature. Stir in nuts just before serving.

Tags: cranberries, cranberry relish, cranberry sauce, Grand Marnier, oranges, walnuts
Posted in Recipes, Sauces, Salsas & Dressings | 7 Comments »

Summer Fest 2009.

Sounds like a groovy 60′s, peace-love kind of thing, doesn’t it?

Oh, it’s groovy, alright. Summer Fest is a blogging project masterminded by a group of talented food and garden bloggers with the sole purpose of sharing, so it does have something in common with the free-spirit decade.

Matt Armendariz illustration

I found out about it on Margaret Roach’s lovely blog, Away To Garden. You can also read about it, if you haven’t already, on one of the other co-creator blogs:

Mattbites
Steamy Kitchen
White on Rice Couple

And, look for “special appearances” by:

Shauna James Ahern, aka the Gluten-Free Girl, the lovely and talented Marilyn Pollack Naron from Simmer Till Done and writer-cook-mom-multitasker Paige Orloff from The Sister Project.

The whole point of Summer Fest 2009 is to share.

Share tips, recipes, anecdotes, sad-but-true mishaps, brilliant successes, not-so-brilliant successes — anything. How? Leave a comment. Here and on the co-creators’ blogs.

Each week will feature a different theme. This week is all about herbs. Next week is stone fruits (not stoned fruits, mind you), followed by beans & greens and a glorious finale week celebrating that special Queen of summer fruits: the tomato.

Of course I want to join in on the fun, so I’m talking about two of my very favorite herbs, cilantro and mint, using them together in a bright, kicky citrus salsa. I really shouldn’t say favorite, because truth be told, I love ALL herbs. Never met an herb I didn’t like. Can’t say that about all edible plants (ahem, Brussels sprouts?)

The great thing about cilantro, other than the lemony flavor, is that you can use the whole herb, leaf to stem. And you certainly can’t say that about rosemary, can you? Oh, wait, actually, you can.

You can use rosemary stems to flavor stocks, soups and sauces, and if they’re woody enough, you can even use them as spears for grilled shrimp, but with cilantro, you can eat the whole sprig.

About mint. Mint is a greedy little herb, I learned after the first planting. It will take over a garden before you know it. Consequently, I’ve banished it to a pot, where it grows nice and contained, and frankly seems happier with boundaries (kind of like my dogs, and children so I hear, and in no way am I condoning the planting of children in pots.)

I’m always making salsas around here (living in the southwest, salsa-eating is state law…kidding…sort of).

Earlier this summer, I posted a recipe for fresh cherry salsa but today, I’m making a cranberry grapefruit salsa. This recipe is really more of a holiday salsa. Citrus is a winter season fruit and even though it’s available year-round.

Top grilled fish (halibut and tuna come to mind) with this mouth-puckering salsa, or serve it with blue corn chips. It’s even fun to serve with cheese quesadillas instead of traditional tomato salsa.

So, welcome to Summer Fest 2009. What do you think?

Cranberry Grapefruit Salsa

Makes 3 cups

Ingredients
2 large navel oranges
1 pink grapefruit
1/2 cup dried cranberries
1/2 large red bell pepper, finely chopped
1/4 cup finely chopped red onion
1 jalapeno (remove the seeds if you must)
2-3 tablespoons roughly chopped cilantro
2-3 tablespoons chopped mint
1/2 lime, juice only
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
*1-2 teaspoons Agave nectar or sugar (optional)

Method
1. Cut peel and white pith from oranges and grapefruit. Cut between the membranes to remove the citrus sections, then cut the sections into small chunks.

2. Place the citrus in a large bowl with the remaining ingredients (cranberries through lime juice). Season with salt and pepper to taste.

3. Rest the salsa about 1/2 hour, give or take, before serving. Will keep about a day, maybe 2, although it looks best the day it’s made.

*Sometimes, you just want a little sweeter taste than what some citrus offer. If your lips purse together and you shake your head after the first taste, add a teaspoon or two of agave nectar or sugar to tame the tartness.

Tags: cilantro, cranberries, cranberry grapefruit salsa, grapefruit, lime, mint, recipe, salsa, Summer Fest 2009
Posted in Recipes, Sauces, Salsas & Dressings | 10 Comments »

Back in the day, my girlfriends and I would cruise to Sonic, order a cherry limeade and wait for the boys to show up. Not too long ago, I pulled into a Sonic drive-in and ordered one, just because I was feeling nostalgic. Funny how things that tasted fantastic when you were a kid somehow lose their luster when you’re an adult. The taste memory I have of cherry limeade is so much sweeter than the artificially flavored sugar water I tasted that recent day.

Still in love with the idea of the combination of sweet cherries and tart lime (and because I still have boocoos of cherries left over from the last cherry post) I whipped up a cherry lime vinaigrette.

Why vinaigrette? We eat a lot of salads in this house, year round, but especially in the summer. Coming up with new, creative vinaigrettes helps keep boredom at bay. If you want a dessert recipe using fresh Bing cherries, check out Smitten Kitchen’s recipe for sweet cherry pie (although, be forewarned, the first picture kinda hurts your eyes, even if it’s striking.)

Before you sit down to gobble up a slice pie, you might want to have a salad.

This vinaigrette doesn’t use that many cherries, but pit some extra ones (if you’re going to all the trouble of pitting anyway) to serve with the salad.

Mint is a key ingredient, along with – obviously – lime and cherries.

Mint always seems to bring out the best in fruit dishes. And, as Seattle-based @hungrygrrl says, “Mint is the new cilantro.” Although, I’m still a big fan of cilantro. Mint and cilantro? Well, whew! Mind-blowing.

Avoid extra virgin olive oil in this vinaigrette because the strong flavor of EVOO interferes with the other flavors. Pick a neutral flavored oil, like canola or use grape seed oil if you have that specialty oil. Or even an olive oil, just not extra virgin.

I make this recipe in a Vita-Mix (a blender on steroids and a toy every serious cook would love to have. Expensive? Yep, worth it? Yep.) Besides dressing your salad, you can use this vinaigrette as a marinade for chicken, too.

Cherry Lime Vinaigrette

Ingredients
10 fresh cherries, pitted
6 tablespoons fresh lime juice (about 3 large limes)
2 tablespoons agave nectar or honey
2 tablespoons fresh chopped mint
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
1/8 teaspoon freshly ground white pepper (or black if you don’t have any white pepper)
1/2 cup canola or other neutral flavored oil

Method
Place the first 6 ingredients (cherries through pepper) in a blender and puree until smooth. With the motor running, slowly drizzle in the oil. Taste (I add a pinch more salt) and adjust seasonings.

Makes 1-1/4 cups

(NOTE: You can use 1/4 cup dried sweet or tart cherries in place of the fresh cherries. But instead of a pretty pink vinaigrette, you’ll get a mucky brown one. Tastes good, just looks drab.)

Tags: cherries, cherry vinaigrette, lime, mint, recipe, vinaigrette
Posted in Recipes, Sauces, Salsas & Dressings | 3 Comments »

Pretty please! With a cherry on top?

Does anyone know how or why that saying came about?After an exhaustive, 5 minute search on Google, I gave up.

I’m not giving up on getting my fill of cherries this season. And it is just about peak season for fresh, sweet cherries.

Curl up on the couch with a big bowl of just washed cherries, pick one up by the stem, balance it between your front teeth. Yank off the stem. Bite the cherry — burst of sweet juice. Wiggle out the pit and gracefully (or not?) spit out the pit. Is there anything better than juicy, sweet cherry noshing?

Fresh cherries won’t be here long, so enjoy them while you can. At the height of the season (now through end of July) the prices come down and it’s the perfect time to stock up on cherries to freeze for dreary winter days.

To freeze cherries, first you need to pit them. And the easiest way to do that is with a cherry pitter (also called an olive pitter, for self-explanatory reasons).

What? You don’t have a cherry pitter? Why not? David Lebovitz has two (one for him and one for a friend because pitting cherries is time consuming and four hands are better than two).

It’s best to pit the cherries over a bowl (actually inside a deep bowl) because the magenta juice will splatter everywhere.

Once all your cherries are pitted, place them in a single layer on a baking sheet that will fit in your freezer. Freeze the cherries for about an hour. Remove and pop them into a freezer bag, squish out the air and seal. Label the bag with the date, and put back into the freezer.

The sex appeal of eating them out of hand on a hot summer evening can’t be beat, but every time I pull a cherry from the freezer in December, I smile, thinking about the simple pleasure enjoyed for a fleeting moment last summer.

But for now, make the most of fresh cherries, like whipping up this cherry salsa. Serve it as a topping for grilled fish or chicken, or eat straight out of the bowl with pita chips.

Fresh Cherry Salsa

Makes 2 cups

Ingredients
1 cup fresh cherries, pitted and cut into quarters
1/2 cup finely chopped yellow bell pepper
1/4 cup finely chopped red onion
1/4 cup dried tart cherries
1 jalapeno, minced (remove seeds if you’re a sissy)
2 tablespoons chopped cilantro
1 tablespoon fresh mint, chopped
Juice of 1/2 lime
Salt and pepper to taste

Method
Place all ingredients in a bowl and stir. Taste and adjust seasonings. Let rest half an hour before serving. Best to consume the day it is made, although it will keep 1 day (just not as pretty, yet still tasty).

Tags: cherries, cherry pitter, cherry salsa, David Lebovitz, Recipes, salsas
Posted in Kitchen Tools, Recipes, Sauces, Salsas & Dressings, Tips & Tutorials | 8 Comments »

Not that there’s anything wrong with cranberry sauce in a can (it will grace our Thanksgiving table as it always has), but sometimes you want something a little more fancy. I normally make an orange infused cranberry sauce but this year, I’m taking inspiration from the garden.

This rosemary scented cranberry sauce is tart and lemony, too, from the addition of a little lemon zest. A splash of gin never hurt anyone either, and it picks up on the pine notes from the rosemary.

(istock photo © Liza McCorkle)

Rosemary Scented Cranberry Sauce

Makes 3 cups

Ingredients
1 (12-ounce) package of fresh or frozen cranberries
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup ruby Port wine (inexpensive is OK)
2 (4-inch) whole sprigs of fresh rosemary
Zest of 1 large lemon
1 tablespoon gin (optional)
1/3 cup dried cranberries or dried cherries
Pinch ground cloves
Pinch freshly ground nutmeg
Pinch salt

Method
1. Stir cranberries, sugar, Port and rosemary springs in a heave saucepan and place over medium-high heat. Bring to a boil.

2. Reduce heat and simmer until thickened, about 10 minutes. Stir in lemon zest and gin. Simmer another 5 minutes or so and remove from heat.

3. Stir in cranberries, cloves, nutmeg and salt. Chill until ready to serve. Keeps 1 week, covered, in fridge.

Tags: cranberry sauce, recipe
Posted in Recipes, Sauces, Salsas & Dressings | No Comments »

It’s no secret that Mexican food is my favorite cuisine. I like gourmet Mex, Tex-Mex, and everything in between. I even tend to judge a Mexican restaurant first on it’s salsa offerings.

El Chubasco in Park City, Utah gets high marks for it’s salsa bar. Sitting smack dab in the middle of the dining room of this cheap eats (one of the very few inexpensive restaurants in Park City that isn’t a chain) is a salsa bar, featuring more than 15 different salsas, all made from scratch.

Each salsa is labeled with chiles to indicate the heat level, with one chile for mild and four chiles for set-your-pants-on-fire hot. Most are in the three chile range, and those were spicy enough for this gringo.

I felt like a kid in a candy store on my first visit, sampling nine of the 15 or so salsas. On subsequent trips, I showed only slightly more restraint by taking just four or five. My favorite was the arbol, a smoky roasted tomato and chile de arbol (a skinny – usually dried – chile similar to cayenne) salsa, but I also loved the fresh, pico de gallo, studded with enough fresh, minced serranos to wake up any slacker taste bud.

Pico de gallo is really a simple salsa to make. It’s best to make it in late summer, when tomatoes are at their peak, but I make it all year, substituting Roma tomatoes for regular ones. It’s a great accompaniment to grilled or baked fish.

Pico de Gallo

Makes 2 cups

Ingredients
1/2 of a large, white onion, finely chopped
2 pounds tomatoes, seeded and finely chopped
2-3 jalapenos or serranos, minced (remove seeds for less heat)
1/4 cup chopped cilantro
Juice of 1/2 or 1 lime (to your tastes)
Salt and pepper

Method
Toss all ingredients together and let rest 10 to 30 minutes before serving. Keeps 3 days, covered in the refrigerator.

Tags: Mexican, pico de gallo, recipe, salsa
Posted in Recipes, Sauces, Salsas & Dressings | No Comments »

©iStockphoto.com/Kelly Cline

Paul Prudhomme, possibly the first “celebrity chef,” created the famous Blackened Redfish dish, launching the blackening craze in the early 1980′s. Instead of resting on his laurels, he now oversees an international spice company, Chef Paul Prudhomme’s MAGIC Seasoning Blends®. His K-Paul’s restaurant in the heart of the French Quarter still attracts locals and tourists (read long lines during peak hours).

Here is my blackening spice mixture. It has a slight nod to the southwest, with the addition of chile powder and Mexican oregano. To make it even more spicy, cut the paprika back to either 1 or 2 tablespoons.

The key to blackening anything is to use a well seasoned cast iron pan and clarified butter. And of course, the blackening spice.

Chef Gwen’s Blackening Spice

3 tablespoons sweet paprika
1 tablespoon pure mild chile powder
1 tablespoon ground Mexican oregano
1 tablespoon garlic powder
1 tablespoon onion powder
1 teaspoon cayenne
1 teaspoon ground white pepper
1 teaspoon ground black pepper
1 teaspoon kosher salt

Mix all ingredients together in a small bowl. Store in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 6 months.

Tags: blackening spices
Posted in How To..., Recipes, Sauces, Salsas & Dressings, Tips & Tutorials | No Comments »

The Great Ranch Cookbook

Spirited Recipes & Rhetoric from America's Best Guest Ranches

Par Fork! The Golf Resort Cookbook

Culinary Expedition Through World Class Golf Resort Kitchens

The Cool Mountain Cookbook

A Gourmet Guide to Winter Retreats