Our Traditional Thanksgiving

James doesn't really like turkey. He figures 50 (or so or more over the years) is all any person needs to eat and so we've decided to move onto our own favorites. Okay -- if we have guests we still pull out all the stops and make turkey with all the trimmings (and I love doing it) -- a spread that could make a pilgrim blush. But, when it's just the two of us, as it is this year, we have our own tradition.

November marks the start of Dungeness crab season in Northern California. Though I grew up on summers filled with Eastern blue crab, as a Californian now I think my heart belongs to the winter crab. 

Our homemade Thanksgiving tradition is roasted Dungeness crab, crusty bread, roasted red potatoes, and because James loves it (if we can find it) corn on the cob.

To make the crab marinade, in the food processor  I blend together toasted, crushed fennels seeds (2tsp), parsley (1 bunch), thyme (3-4 sprigs), garlic (2 cloves), red pepper flakes (1 tsp), and plenty of olive oil (2/3 cup). Tossed in the flavorful mixture our crab sits in the fridge for a couple hours waiting to be roasted for just 20 minutes at 400º. I half-bake the potatoes so I can just toss them on the baking tray with the crab to soak up a little extra flavor.

To be honest I miss the big day of cooking. So this year, instead of buying our favorite bread from MH Bread and Butter in San Anselmo I added a little fun project for me and whipped up a couple toasty baguettes. Lately I've been using a simple recipe based on one from Daniel Leader's Bread Alone, at least as reported by Farmgirl Fare. Pretty easy, pretty foolproof, and still impressive.

 For dessert, though it's kind of a joke for us, sweet potato pie. James used to call me sweet potato pie and I hang onto the pie tradition I guess as a nod to the old days -- oh, and because it's delicious. Yes I know, it's uber-pinteresty and too cute for words but I still love the mason jar pie. These little jars make a perfect single serving, store easily, and can be ready in a flash when James just needs a little pie.
Pie crust? I've been making the same one for years. It's flaky, rich, and it never fails. 2 cups flour, 12 TB butter, 3 TB lard, 1 TB sugar, 1/2 tsp salt pulsed together in the food processor until -- as they say -- it resembles coarse sand. Then I sprinkle in 3-3 1/2 TB ice water and pulse till the dough just starts to pull away from the sides of the container. The dough chills, wrapped in wax paper and plastic for at least an hour.
I blind bake the little crusts in my jars for 15 minutes at 375º and then add my filling -- 3 cups mashed roasted sweet potato (I pop them in the oven the night before then peel and mash when it's time for pie). 3 eggs, 1/2 cup sweetened condensed milk (the extra is awesome in morning coffee),  1 cup sugar, 2 tsp cinnamon, 1/2 tsp nutmeg, a splash of vanilla extract, a pinch of salt and 2 TB melted butter all mixed together, spooned into the waiting crusts and baked for about 25 minutes at 375º.
James may forget why I make them, but he loves that I make them.
Happy Thanksgiving 2016. Another traditional untraditional year.

Simple and Summery

 Part of our seasonal effort to eat more vegetables, a dinner of roasted sweet potatoes and harissa kissed greens with poached eggs.
Most nights I either sauté greens (today we had a mix of collards, chard and radish tops) in olive oil and garlic or slow cook them in broth flavored with smoked pork. Tonight I veered a little by making a warm salad of sorts with our sautéed greens by adding paprika, cumin and a generous amount of harissa towards the end of cooking. With the spices stirred through I cracked two eggs on top and covered the pan just long enough for the eggs to steam through so at the table the runny yolks mixed with our bitter greens.

Meat Free Tuesday

I can hardly call this cooking. Baked sweet potatoes topped with goat cheese, thyme and crushed red peppers. I even forgot the drizzle of honey I meant to finish with. Barely a dinner and not cooking at all.

Kind Of An American Classic

Not quite the way grandma made but still an all-american chicken dinner. I roasted the chicken whole at high heat, 50 minutes at 450º, seasoned simply with olive oil and S&P. The cavity stuffed with lemon halves, garlic cloves, and parsley stems. Alongside the chicken I baked whole sweet potatoes. Beautiful yellow, super sweet, tubers. For a vegetable I sautéed chard and mushrooms in a light cream sauce. I thought that would be a big winner with James but he seemed to miss the chard's bitter edge. So much for dressing up the greens, my boy likes 'em straight.

Midwestern Appeal . . . Almost

It started with baked ham. I had a big beautiful piece of baked ham in the freezer that, try though I may, I could never get James to defrost and eat when I am out of town. So it was up to me to put it to use. I sliced the ham and covered it with a glaze of 3/4 cup of brown sugar heated with a splash of hot sauce and 3 TBs of dijon mustard. On the side, the classic: A potato gratin . . . with a twist. My gratin was built with layers of thinly sliced (peeled) sweet potatoes and celery root mixed with crisp, diced bacon, fresh thyme, chopped leeks, and S&P. Once the layers were in place I poured in pure, rich cream and topped the dish with grated Gruyère cheese and a layer of breadcrumbs. The gratin baked for about an hour and ten minutes (the last 20 uncovered), the ham for 25. James had seconds, on everything.

Sweet Potato Risotto

I don't remember ever seeing a sweet potato in Italy --pumpkin and squash yes but never a sweet potato that I recall. None the less I had a bowl full of sweets and needed a dinner idea. Tomorrow is my farmer's market day so the cupboard was a little bare. I spied arborio rice, cheese, butter and wine -- tonight's sweet potato risotto was born. I roasted the un-peeled potatoes in the oven for about an hour until the orange flesh was soft and tender. Then I started my usual risotto. In a pan with a mix of olive oil and butter went one chopped onion, 2 finely chopped cloves of garlic, a pinch of dried chiles, and some rubbed sage (I didn't have any fresh on hand). I stirred those around for 5 minutes or so and added in 1 1/2 cups of rice. When the rice was all coated with the butter and oil I added in about 1/2 cup of white wine. Then I started adding the simmering chicken broth in 1/2 cup ladles -- stirring after each addition and cooking until the liquid was nearly gone before adding the next. I kept that up for not quite 20 minutes until the rice was creamy and still a bit al dente. To finish I stirred in the flesh of two sweet potatoes, a bit more butter, a handful of grated parmesan, and some chopped parsley and cooked for another minute until the rice was tender.

American risotto.

Ham Steaks and Sweet Potatoes

A while back, sauntering through the grocery store I plopped a thick Niman Ranch ham steak in my cart, thinking one night that will make a good quick dinner. Tonight was the night. I wasn't actually late getting home or in a particular hurry but it just sounded good. Something unusual for us, a little more "midwestern covered dish" or "meat and three" than I usually go in for but it just sounded good.

First things first. I peeled and, on my mandolin, cut a combination of sweet potatoes, yellow potatoes, and purple Japanese sweet potatoes in 1/4 slices. I layered those in a baking dish adding salt, pepper, (chili flakes on one layer) and little pats of butter between the layers. I poured milk over the potatoes (use cream if you have it -- the milk will separate in the oven and taste fine but not look so pretty). I covered the dish with tin foil and set it to bake for 45 minutes at 350º. I uncovered the potatoes and let them bake or another half hour.

For the ham I mixed up a glaze based on a recipe by that ketchup loving French chef Jacques Pepin -- 2 TB of ketchup, 1 1/2 TB of brown sugar (I went a little heavier than Jacques), a drop of hot sauce to taste and a 1/4 tsp dry mustard. I brushed the glaze on the room temperature steak and put it under the broiler for about five minutes, to caramelize the glaze. Steamed buttered cauliflower sat on the side.

Cozy Americana suggested by the French.

Pantry Soup Special

James had a little sniffle and a sore throat today so I thought it was a perfect day for soup and to use up some produce. First I sauteed some Pancetta in olive oil to use as garnish. I removed the pancetta and added in 2 chopped onions and 1 shallot (no particular plan there it's just what I had around) and a couple cloves of garlic. I sautéed those (with a pinch of dried rosemary and sage -- too lazy to walk downstairs for the herbs -- and a little bit of thyme) then added chopped, peeled sweet potatoes and apples, covered everything in chicken stock and brought it to a boil. I sprinkled in a little S&P and crushed red pepper and allowed the pot to simmer for about an hour until the potatoes and apples were nice and soft. Meanwhile I baked some cubes of rosemary bread (tossed in a little olive oil) for croutons (12 minutes in a 375º oven). When the vegetables were soft I puréed everything in the blender (I LOVE that Vitamix), returned to the pot to heat through, tasted for seasonings, stirred in a bit of cream to finish and served sprinkled with the reserved pancetta and rosemary croutons.

Sweet Potato Apple Soup with Crispy Pancetta and Rosemary Croutons.