Thanksgiving

Fall Salad from Barbrix

Beet Salad

Turkey on Rotisserie

Perfection!

Turkey Surved Over Orange Flavored Noodles

Robert & Darryl's Green Been Casserole

Dressing from Cook's County

Pear Pie

Persimmon Pudding

Pumpkin Flan

Chocolate Pie

Great Wines

We decided to have a Thanksgiving Dinner, but we would only make the Turkey. This is a dinner that usually doesn’t make a lot of sense to make, it is time consuming and many restaurants serve the dinner, making it easy to go out and get a traditional dinner. The downside, of course, it is great to have leftovers!

We had used our new rotisserie several times, and I was feeling more and more confident that we could do the turkey on it. The difficulty was making sure that the spit was balanced and that the dark meat and white meat were equally done.

Bottom line, as you can see from the pictures, it turned out perfectly.

We started with a wonderful appetizer: Pureed Beets with Yogurt & Za’atar from Jerusalem by Ottolenghi & Tamimi. We first had this dish at Mozza. Ottolenghi was in town promoting his new cookbook: Jerusalem, and they had a special dinner for him. The cookbook is beautiful. 

What was amazing, however, was the recipe we used. Cathy found a recipe in TheSplendid Table by Lynne Rossetto Kasper for Christmas Capon (Cappone Natalizio). This recipe was for a spit roasted capon, we substituted a Heritage Turkey from McCall’s Meat and Fish. What made the dish so incredible was another recipe from the same cookbook for: Tagliatelle with Caramelized Oranges and Almonds, a medieval preparation of pasta that the sliced turkey was to be served over. Everyone loved it! This is a new go to Turkey recipe for us!

We started the dinner with an Autumn Salad from Barbrix. It is a great salad and perfect for this dinner. Robert and Darryl brought a home made green been casserole. They even fried their own onion for the topping.

We purchased a fantastic Wild Mushroom Bread Pudding from Cook’s County to serve alongside of the Turkey. They also provided us with a Chocolate Pie.

Tom and Scott brought a Persimmon Pudding. Barbara brought 3 desserts! I especially loved the Buttermilk Pie. She also brought a wonderful Pumpkin Flan and Pear Tart. Oh my god! We were having a sugar rush, because we each had to try a small piece of each.

Bea brought Great Wines.

This was a Thanksgiving to be thankful for!

Christmas Capon (Cappone Natalizio)

The Splendid Table

Lynne Rossetto Kasper

Since capon replaced swan and peacock as a favorite on 16th-century banquet tables, it gradually became the meat of holidays, especially Christmas. The original version of this dish from 19th-century Reggio had the capon turning on a spit over an open fire. In my version, the fire becomes an oven. I have remained true to the rest of the recipe, however, including flavoring the capon with sweet wine and prosciutto. Tucking a piece of prosciutto into the bird's cavity has been common practice since at least the days of Lucrezia Borgia. To eat the kind of roast capon gracing the table today in the region, substitute another 1/2 cup white wine for the Marsala.

[Serves 6 to 8]

6-to-7         pound capon (organic free-range preferred)

½         lemon

Salt and freshly black ground pepper

1/8         teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg

3-ounce piece of Prosciutto di Parma, coarsely chopped

½         cup dry white wine

½         cup dry Marsala wine

Method

Working Ahead: Season the capon 24 hours before roasting.

Seasoning the Capon: Rinse the bird under cold running water. Pat it dry and trim away all visible fat. Rub it inside and out with the lemon half, gradually squeezing out the juice. Then sprinkle the cavity and all of the bird's skin with the salt, pepper, and nutmeg. Tuck the prosciutto into the cavity. Set the bird on a platter, lightly cover with plastic wrap, and refrigerate overnight.

Roasting the Capon: Preheat the oven to 325°F. Truss the capon if desired. Lay the bird, breast side down, in a shallow roasting pan just large enough to accommodate it. Roast 25 minutes to the pound (2-1/2 to 3 hours), or until an instant-reading thermometer tucked into the thickest part of the thigh reads 170°F.

After the first hour, begin basting the capon with a third of the white wine. After 20 minutes, add another third. Wait another 20 minutes and baste the capon with the last of the white wine. Then begin basting with the Marsala, using a third at a time. Baste the capon every 20 minutes with the Marsala and spoonfuls of its own pan juices. If the juices threaten to dry or burn, add a little water to the pan. During the last 30 minutes of roasting, turn the bird over to brown the breast area.

Serving: Warm a serving platter in a low oven. Carve the capon by slicing the breast meat into thick pieces and dividing the leg meat into three or four pieces. Arrange the pieces on the platter. Skim the fat from the pan juices and pour the juices over the capon. Scatter the prosciutto pieces from the cavity over the sliced meat, and serve hot.

Cook's Notes Substituting Turkey: Leaner turkey is a fine stand-in for capon. The cooking time is shortened to 15 to 18 minutes to the pound.

Tagliatelle with Caramelized Oranges and Almonds

Tagliatelle con Arance e Mandorle

The Splendid Table

Lynne Rossetto Kasper

At 16th-century banquets this pasta accompanied poultry and meats. Try the combination with Christmas Capon for an important dinner. The sweet pasta makes an unexpected and very good dessert.

[Serves 10 to 12 as dessert or as a side dish with Christmas capon]

1      quart water

3      large Valencia or navel oranges

8      tablespoons (4 ounces) unsalted butter

1-1/2   cups orange juice

2/3      cup sugar Generous
1/8      teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

6         quarts salted water

1         pound imported dried tagliatelle

3 to 4  tablespoons sugar

1/2 to 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

2/3 cup (5 ounces) freshly grated Italian Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese

1      cup whole blanched almonds, toasted and coarsely chopped

Method

Working Ahead: The sauce can be made several hours ahead; cover and set it aside at room temperature. Reheat to bubbling before adding the pasta.

Preparing the Orange Zest: Bring the 1 quart water to a boil. Using a zester, remove the zest from the oranges in thin, long strips. Boil 3 minutes. Drain in a colander, rinse with cold water, and set aside.

Making the Sauce: Melt the butter in a large skillet over medium heat. Using a wooden spatula, stir in about 1/4 cup of the orange juice and the 2/3 cup sugar. Melt the sugar in the butter over medium heat, frequently stirring in more spoonfuls of orange juice to keep the sauce from crystallizing (reserve about 1/3 cup for finishing the sauce). Once the sugar has dissolved, turn the heat to medium-high and stir occasionally as the mixture slowly turns amber, about 2 minutes. Once it reaches deep golden amber, blend in the pepper and two thirds of the orange zest. Cook only a second or two, to protect the zest from burning. Step back from the skillet and, at arm's length, pour in the last 1/3 cup of orange juice. It will bubble up and possibly spatter, then will thin the sauce to the ideal consistency. Turn off the heat.

Cooking the Pasta: Have a large platter and dessert dishes warming in a low oven. (If you are serving this with the capon, the bird should be ready. Bring the salted water to a boil. Drop in the pasta, and cook until tender but still a little resistant to the bite. Drain in a colander. Reheat the sauce to a lively bubble. Add the pasta to the skillet, and toss to coat thoroughly. Turn it onto the heated platter, and sprinkle with the sugar, cinnamon, cheese, almonds, and lastly, the remaining orange zest. Mound small portions on heated dessert plates, and serve hot. Or place the capon atop the pasta, and serve.

Pureed Beets with Yogurt & Za’atar

Jerusalem

Ottolenghi & Tamimi

scant 2 lb medium beets (about 1 lb in total after cooking and peeling)

2         cloves garlic, crushed

1         small red chile, seeded and finely chopped rounded

1         cup Greek yogurt

1-1/2         tbsp date syrup

3         tbsp olive oil, plus extra to finish the dish

1         tbsp za'atar

salt

TO GARNISH

2         green onions, thinly sliced

2         tbsp toasted hazelnuts, coarsely crushed

2         oz soft goat's milk cheese, crumbled

The beet is one of very few vegetables with a strong presence in the cuisine of almost every group in Jerusalem: it colors pickling juices on the Arab table and is used in most meze selections; it is the base for Ashkenazic borscht and hamitsa, a refreshing cold version of the soup; and it forms the basis for another soup, of Iraqi Jewish and Kurdish origin, where the famous semolina kubbeh is served.

Beets also cross cultural lines with the flexibility of an acrobat. On Yotam's tour of the city while filming a documentary about Jerusalem food, he met Michal Baranes and Yakub Barhum. They are a mixed couple, she is Jewish with Moroccan ancestry and he is a Muslim from the Arab village of Ein Baffa, on the outskirts of the city. At their restaurant, Michal, the chef, does some cross-cultural fireworks with her food, featuring elements from her Moroccan heritage, alongside very current Israeli themes and many traditional Palestinian dishes she learns from her cooks, who are mostly local. One of Michal's most useful tools is chrein, the horseradish and beet relish used in practically every Ashkenazic household. She puts it in her prawn "falafel"—minced prawns and chrein, rolled in panko crumbs and deep-fried—making scrumptious fish cakes that look like falafel but taste nothing like it.

You will be surprised how well beet works with chile and za'atar. Its sweetness takes on a seriously savory edge that makes it one of the most popular salads among OttolenghVs customers. You can serve it as a dip or a starter, with bread, or as part of a meze. If the beet is watery and the dip ends up runny and doesn't hold its shape, consider adding a little mashed potato to help thicken it. Date syrup can be replaced with maple syrup.

Preheat the oven to 400°F / 200°C.

Wash the beets and place in a roasting pan. Put them in the oven and cook, uncovered, until a knife slides easily into the center, about 1 hour. Once they are cool enough to handle, peel the beets and cut each one into about 6 pieces. Allow to cool down.

Place the beets, garlic, chile, and yogurt in a food processor and blend to a smooth paste. Transfer to a large mixing bowl and stir in the date syrup, olive oil, za'atar, and 1 teaspoon salt. Taste and add more salt if you like.

Transfer the mixture to a flat serving plate and use the back of a spoon to spread it around the plate. Scatter the green onions, hazelnuts, and cheese on top and finally drizzle with a bit of oil.