Thanksgiving on Dan Tasse dot com

Mashed potatoes with roasted garlic

Fri, 27 Jun 2008 19:29:00 +0000

A bunch of potatoes
Some garlic
Butter
Milk/cream
Salt and pepper

Roast garlic at 350 for 20 minutes.
Start potatoes in cool salted water, boil them, drain water well. Put through food mill, meat grinder, ricer, masher, or mixer with roasted garlic. Don’t over-whip or they’ll get gluey and shiny. Mix them as little as possible. Add butter and milk or cream, ratio 1:3. Salt and pepper to taste.

Source: Thanksgiving Dinner class, PA Culinary Institute, Chef Don Hutchins, 11/12/06

Thanksgiving ideas

Fri, 27 Jun 2008 19:25:00 +0000

Roast turkey
Mixed field greens with cranberry-walnut vinaigrette, pecans, blue cheese
Cranberry sauce
Sage sausage stuffing
Mashed potatoes with roasted garlic
Sweet potatoes
Roast cauliflower (cauliflower + seasoned salt + olive oil, roast 20-30 min, turning once)
Brussels sprouts (boil until tender, put in ice water, cut in half, saute with bacon and onions)
Carrots with dill (boil carrots, put in bowl, add butter and dill)
Green beans almondine (parboil beans, saute almonds in butter on low, remove almonds and saute beans, then add almonds)
Spaghetti squash (roast in water 30 min, then cook like pasta)
Broccoli (put in boiling salted water for 1 minute, dip in ice water)
Rolls
Pumpkin pie
Pecan pie

Source: Thanksgiving Dinner class, PA Culinary Institute, Chef Don Hutchins, 11/12/06

Pumpkin Pie filling

Fri, 27 Jun 2008 19:21:00 +0000

10 oz. sugar (about 1 1/4 c.)
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground ginger
1/8 tsp ground cloves
2 eggs
6 oz. evaporated milk
5 oz. heavy cream
1 lb. pumpkin puree

Combine all ingredients except pumpkin puree, mix until smooth, strain. Add pumpkin, mix until smooth. Fill two pie shells 1/4" from the top. Bake at 425 for 15 minutes then at 350 until set.
Variations: substitute cooked and sieved sweet potatoes for pumpkin puree, or substitute half brown sugar for the sugar, or omit cloves, or use just evaporated milk instead of cream.

Source: Thanksgiving Dinner class, PA Culinary Institute, Chef Don Hutchins, 11/12/06

Pecan pie filling

Fri, 27 Jun 2008 19:18:00 +0000

About 1/4 cup pastry flour
About 1 1/2 cup brown sugar
20 oz. light corn syrup (like karo)
10 fl. oz. eggs
1 tsp vanilla
1/4 oz. salt
4 oz. melted butter (1 stick)
8 oz. pecans

Combine all ingredients except pecans. Pour pecans evenly over two unbaked pie crusts. Pour filling until 1/4" from top. Bake at 425 for 15 minutes, then 325 until set. Can add 2 oz. chocolate chips or 1 oz. coconut per pie.

Source: Thanksgiving Dinner class, PA Culinary Institute, Chef Don Hutchins, 11/12/06

Sage sausage stuffing

Fri, 27 Jun 2008 19:01:00 +0000

2 lb dry bread, as dry as possible, in 1 inch cubes. Can add a little pumpernickel or rye, but not too much.
8 oz. sausage (best quality possible)
1 c. onion, small diced
3/4 c. celery, small diced
1 c. mushrooms, sliced (optional)
1/2 tbsp sage, dried
1 tsp fresh thyme
fresh rosemary (not dried), optional
2-3 c. chicken stock (ideally organic. well, ideally homemade.)

Cook sausage, break into small pieces, remove from pan. Cook vegetables in remaining rendered fat. Add seasonings, cook 3 more minutes. Add to bread cubes. Add a little stock, mix completely, check consistency, and keep adding stock in small amounts until achieving desired consistency. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Put in buttered baking dish, pressing into edges. Cover with foil, bake at 350 for 20-30 minutes. (if you want a crust, remove foil for the last 5-10 minutes)

Source: Thanksgiving Dinner class, PA Culinary Institute, Chef Don Hutchins, 11/12/06

Glazed Sweet Potatoes

Fri, 27 Jun 2008 18:58:00 +0000

2 - 2 1/2 lb. sweet potatoes/yams (the orange ones)
8 oz. canned pineapple, small diced
2 oz. lemon juice
8 oz. brown sugar
1 tsp cinnamon
2 oz. butter

Peel and cut sweet potatoes into 1 inch cubes, boil in salted water until 3/4 cooked. Combine the other ingredients in small stainless steel pan, bring to simmer and turn off. Pour mixture over sweet potatoes in wide stainless steel saucepan, gently simmer while turning potatoes until thick syrup forms.
Source: Thanksgiving Dinner class, PA Culinary Institute, Chef Don Hutchins, 11/12/06
Dan’s notes: can use crushed pineapple instead.

Cranberry Sauce

Fri, 27 Jun 2008 18:55:00 +0000

12 oz. fresh cranberries
1 c. water
1 c. sugar
2 cinnamon sticks
3 cloves
1/2 orange peel
1 orange’s juice

Combine ingredients in small saucepan. Simmer until most cranberries split, about 4 minutes. Allow to cool, then remove orange peel, cinnamon sticks, and cloves.

Source: Thanksgiving Dinner class, PA Culinary Institute, Chef Don Hutchins, 11/12/06