Turkey Rice Chowder

I decided this year that I'm not really enamored of turkey. It always tastes the same, no matter whether you brine it, slather it with butter (under or over its skin), rub garlic and herb butter beneath its skin, stuff it or leave it unstuffed. However, it sure makes a delicious soup or chowder. You can use up a lot of leftovers in this soup including any uneaten veggies. This year I even stirred in some leftover gravy.

Turkey Rice Chowder

Start by Making Broth: Toss the roast turkey carcass into a pot. Cover it with cold water (about 8 cups). Add 2 onions, quartered; 2 stalks celery, chopped; 2 carrots, chopped; 3 cloves of garlic; 1 bay leaf; salt and pepper. Bring to boiling; reduce heat and simmer for 2 hours. Strain, saving broth.

Turkey Rice Chowder

2 1/2 cups water
3/4 cup wild rice (I used a wild rice blend), rinsed, drained
1/4 teaspoon salt
3 oz. sliced pancetta or bacon, chopped (about 1/2 cup after cooking)
1/2 oz. dried mushrooms (I'm in the Midwest, so I used a combo called Northern Blend) reconstituted in 2 cups boiling water or 8 oz fresh mushrooms, sliced
2 cups diced carrots and celery (2 stalks celery, 2 carrots)
1 medium onion, chopped
1/3 cup flour
10 cups Turkey Stock (I used turkey broth, plus water from soaking mushrooms; add chicken broth, if necessary to make 10 cups)
2 to 4 cups chopped cooked turkey meat
1 teaspoon dried crushed rosemary
1/4 cup leftover gravy, if desired
Salt and pepper

1. To cook rice: Bring water, rice, and salt to boil in medium saucepan. Reduce heat, cover, and simmer for 45 minutes. Drain; set aside.

2. In a large pot or Dutch oven, cook pancetta for 5 to 8 minutes or until crisp and brown, stirring occasionally. Remove pancetta and drain on paper towels. Add mushrooms to pot and cook for 5 minutes. Remove from pot. (Add a splash of olive oil, if necessary.) Add carrots and celery; cover. Cook for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add onion; cook and stir for 2 minutes. Stir in flour and cook for 1 or 2 minutes more. Sir in mushrooms

3. Carefully add turkey broth, turkey, rice, pancetta, and rosemary. Bring to boiling, reduce heat, cover and simmer for 20 minutes. Stir in gravy, if desired. Heat through. Add salt and pepper to taste.

Thanksgiving Dinner, Dorm Style

Ever wonder what Thanksgiving in a dorm room looks like? Here's a shoutout to the gals and guys at NYU's Third North for this delicious glimpse. Daughter Madeline's contribution was a first for her - the turkey gravy. My heart was in my throat for her. It has taken me years to get the hang of the process. There must be 50 ways to glop it up, and I should know, speaking from experience.

The NYU gang had the Macy's Parade in the morning, so in Texas, I was calmly stirring my gravy hours before Madeline would step up to the pan. This was good; I could time certain steps (how long should you cook the drippings and flour paste before adding milk?) and send her tips. My version was an especially good batch this year - practice does help. I wished Madeline was home to taste it, but I was glad she sampled her first Macy's Parade from the actual event, not the TV. I sent her a long, incoherent text message that probably read like a tearful mom being a sap.

In my head, I thought I'd just make another batch of gravy when it was time for her to start, so we could stir it up together. Well, it didn't work out that way. Madeline got started on her own, and that's how it should be - what time in the kitchen is all about. She did call mid-process, and it felt good to be on the other end of the line, like a Butterball Hotline counselor imparting the wisdom of the ages.

She took her lumps; I kept mine in my throat. She had to get off the phone; I couldn't expect her to listen to me while pouring and stirring - if you're the gravy maker you know what I mean. It is a delicate process.

I trudged outdoors for some firewood and kept telling myself "it's just gravy, it's not a college essay. Get the salt and pepper right, and what's not to like? Hungry people will eat it." I give her snaps for even attempting it.

Later as I was stirring the fire, she called to say that everything was fine.

Good gravy. Everything was fine.

So Thankful

Jeanne and Mamma Mia are in our kitchens today,

wishing you a Happy Thanksgiving

with all the trimmings and carefree gravy.

(Photo of Grandmother Daisy's matches from the Manor House in Moorestown, New Jersey in 1959, "Where Cooking is an Art . . . and Eating a Pleasure." Repurposed by John H. Ostdick)

The Great Croissant Tryout

Turkey and gravy are the stars of Thanksgiving, but oh, the look and feel of fresh homemade bread. Maybe you like rolls, cornbread, croissants, pumpkin bread, the options are endless. Sometimes I just make them all so everybody finds something they love.

This year I was thrilled to get the rare opportunity to make bread for someone else's table in a land far away. The Rules of Hoyle and a respect for privacy prevent me from saying who the bread is for, but know this - it was important enough that I needed to hold tryouts.

I knew the form would be croissants, but which ones? I usually make this showoff bread with a sourdough starter, and the results are deeply flavorful because sourdough starters involve long fermentation times, which give the flavor enough time to develop. For some reason the sourdough also makes a softer dough; it's easier to roll out and gives a nicer risen shape than a straight yeast dough, the results of which look more rustic. No idea why the chemistry works that way.

So which version would be good enough to produce bread that could be shipped overnight?

For the tryout, I practiced with a straight yeast method using active dry yeast, and I learned an important lesson. Good thing it was a practice run. I followed the croissant recipe exactly as given save for one key difference. If you substitute active dry yeast in a recipe calling for fresh yeast, you must proof the yeast first in warm water. You can't mix the dry yeast in with other ingredients, as the recipe states. I knew this; I knew it was wrong when I started. But I swear I'd seen bakers add dry yeast into other ingredients without proofing first. And here's why. Instant dry yeast (also known as "Rapid") can be added this way. Active can't. So my first batch of croissant dough never rose. You know it won't rise in the baking, either, because it feels like a wet book of pages. A dough that's alive has an energy you can feel in your hands; it's springy to the touch and much lighter.

I repeated the recipe using Rapid dry yeast (no proofing), and while that was underway, mixed a batch using the sourdough starter. The bakeoff was on - and the winner is shown above - the sourdough version.

I learned something else, too. I had a few croissants from the yeast batch and a few from the sourdough batch, so I placed them on the same baking sheet. The yeast recipe calls for baking at 350. The sourdough calls for 400. Could it make that much of a difference if they both cooked at the higher temp? As it turns out, it does. The sourdough was golden and swelled beautifully. The yeast croissants were charred and weathered. There's likely an explanation of why this happens in Peter Reinhart's definitive book The Bread Baker's Apprentice (Ten Speed Press, 2001). No croissant methods in there, but loads of "this is why" background that enrichs every baker's understanding of extraordinary bread. That's where I read about the differences in behavior for active, rapid and fresh yeast.

Now if I could just test out the effects of "cold in the hold" as a box of croissants flies north for the holidays.

Oh sure, I hedged my bets. Made a batch of flatbreads for the shipment, too.

No rising to the occasion.

(Photo: Pepper Croissants on Parchment. By John H. Ostdick in the Singing Wheat Kitchen)

Turkey Gravy

It's just gravy. But it's a requirement for Thanksgiving dinner. This is one of my go-to recipes. You can make it in less time than it takes to go to the grocery store and study the offerings of gloppy gravy in jars (usually laden with sodium and pretty flavorless.)

Admittedly this gravy recipe is from Better Homes and Gardens website. Again. Can't help myself. Used to be a food editor there and I know the amount of testing that is done in the Test Kitchen before a recipe is ready for public consumption. This one's a winner. I've never added the extra butter. And sometimes I skip the milk and just use broth.

http://www.bhg.com/recipe/sauces/rich-pan-gravy-for-turkey/

My Friend Pumpkin Bread

Let's get into pumpkin bread. It's one of my earliest memories of my Grandmother Mimi's cooking, rich, dense, good for the soul and great with a cream cheese icing. Mimi used to make it inside of coffee cans, so it came out round, like the shape of canned cranberry sauce. How I do miss the round shape - who saves coffee cans anymore?

There are many variations of the classic recipe that uses canned pumpkin. Dallas super chef Stephan Pyles makes a cross between a pumpkin bread and a gingerbread using candied ginger, molasses, oranges and dark corn syrup in his book The New Texas Cuisine. It's very good but Mimi's gingerbread is another classic recipe I've preserved; I like to keep the two separate.

Part of the attraction of using old recipes the way they were is to smell the air and remember how it used to feel standing by your grandmother's stove. Pumpkin bread this time of year is such a cheerful companion. It goes well beside a fire in the fireplace, or with a cup of tea in the afternoon as the light gently draws away. It never disappoints.

My wonderful friend Susie gave me an excellent loaf of pumpkin bread last year, and if memory serves, she wrapped it in a new dish towel, a grand idea that saves on wrapping paper and is reusable long after the loaf is gone. This loaf has the approval of both our college sons, and they both have good taste. I asked her to share it, and she did. Now that I see it, I realize it's nearly exactly the same as Mimi's.

The addition of chocolate makes it all Susie's.

Pumpkin Bread


31/2 cups sifted flour (tip from Mama Mia: If you don't have time to sift, use a whisk on it)

1 1/2 teaspoons salt

2 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon nutmeg

1/2 teaspoon cloves

1 teaspoon cinnamon

3 cups sugar

Sift together the ingredients above. Then add the following:

4 eggs

2/3 cup cold water

2 cups or 1 can pumpkin

1 cup oil (Mama Mia tip: use 1/4 cup oil and 3/4 cup applesauce)

Mix until blended. May add 1 cup chocolate Chips if desired. (Yes, yes!)

Pour into 2 loaf pans (9x5) that have been greased and floured. Bake at 350 degrees for 1 hour or until toothpick comes out clean.


Mama Mia Tip: Don't try to bake this in one loaf pan or your son will graduate college before it's fully baked. If you have coffee cans, go for it, but use more than one.

(Photo from Peter's Market at the Weston Center in Connecticut)

Taste This Angel Food Cake

Spouse and I have recently gone on a bender with the chocolate from Newman's Own Organics. He snapped up the Milk Chocolate; I've waltzed with the Orange Dark, which I whistled over in the One Sassy Tart post. Remember that our willingness to consume large quantities of choc is all for the sake of research -with the view that life is too short to waste on lifeless and heartless imitators.

If you've got a dozen eggs and a good orange, may I make a recommend? Try this at home: a chocolate version of an angel food cake that was considered a favorite of OSCAR-winner Paul Newman's.

Toothfully, we thank the Newman's Own Organics team for another wonderful way to use their product.

DAD'S FAVORITE CHOCOLATE ANGEL FOOD CAKE


This cake is light as air, low in fat, and very easy to make. The trick is to prepare all the ingredients in advance.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

1 cup all-purpose flour

11/4 cups sugar

12 egg whites

1/2 tsp. salt

1 Tbsp. lemon juice

3 tsp. vanilla

11/2 3-oz. dark orange chocolate bars or 3 1.2 oz. Newman's Own Organics Dark Orange Chocolate bars

1 Tbsp. orange rind


Grate 11/2 3-oz. or 3 1.2-oz. Newman's Own Organics' chocolate bars on a cheese grater.

Sift 1 cup all-purpose flour. Then sift flour three more times with 1/4 cup sugar and 1/2 tsp. salt. Sifting onto wax paper makes it easier. Separate 12 egg whites (easily done by cracking egg into hand and allowing whites to run through fingers). Allow egg whites to reach room temperature (15 minutes). Beat whites until frothy. Add 1 Tbsp. lemon juice. Beat until soft peaks form. Sprinkle sugar lightly onto whites 1/4 cup at a time and continue beating at medium speed. Sift 1/4 cup flour/sugar mixture over whites and gently fold in by hand. Add

3 tsp. vanilla and 1 Tbsp. grated orange rind. Alternate flour/sugar mixture and grated chocolate until incorporated. Make sure to fold in gently to avoid reducing volume of egg whites.

Tip: I find it best to use your hand with your fingers spead to fold in the ingredients. It's more effective than using a spatula.

Pour into clean, dry tube pan and bake for 45 minutes until lightly browned. Knife inserted into center should be clean when removed.

Remove from oven and invert pan. Allow to cool 1/2 hour to 45 minutes. Run knife around edges and center of tube to remove.

Serve with strawberries and lightly sweetened whipped cream or for real decadence serve with hot chocolate fudge sauce and ice cream.


Mama Mia adds: You can finely chop the chocolate if grating gets out of hand. Sometimes when you get down to those last little hunks of choc, well, you know, it can be hard to grate all the way. Keep going. The results are worth it!

(Photo taken with Cosmos from our yard, atop Grandmother Mimi's antique marble turtle table, by John H. Ostdick)