Thanksgiving Favorites
Lara: Roasted Turkey Stock
If you don't make your own stock, Thanksgiving is a great time to start. The only prep this requires is saving all your vegetable scraps from Thanksgiving. I like to store vegetable scraps in gallon bags in the freezer for the next time I'm making stock.
Ingredients
Roasted turkey carcass
Thanksgiving vegetable scraps (carrot peels, onion tops, potato peels, celery bottoms, all the little odds and ends you might normally throw out)
1 Onion, quartered (no need to peel)
2 Bay leaves
Black peppercorns
Cumin seeds
Coriander seeds
Thyme (fresh or dried)
Kosher salt
Optional
Sliced ginger root
Star anise
Cardamom pods
Cinnamon stick
Throw it all in a crockpot and add enough water to cover the turkey carcass. Slow cook for 5-18 hours.
After slow-cooking, discard the solids and store the stock in glass jars. Keep these in your freezer or your fridge for the next time you're making soup, stew, ramen, etc.
Hannah: Momma Schneider’s Cranberry Sauce
This recipe is my sweet mother-in-law’s, passed down to me when I got married. I made my first batch in an effort to partake in my new family’s traditions, but have since declared it a personal favorite for its own sake. It’s ridiculously simple, delightfully tart, and perfectly nostalgic: the perfect balance for a rich Thanksgiving table.
Ingredients
12 oz. Cranberries (fresh, about 1 bag)
1 C. Orange juice (fresh-squeezed is the best)
1 C. Maple syrup (not pancake syrup!)
Zest from one orange
Wash the cranberries under cool water, then dump them into a medium saucepan. Add the juice and maple syrup, then stir. Turn the burner on high until it reaches a boil.
Once the mixture has reached a rolling boil, turn the heat down to medium low and continue cooking for at least 10 more minutes, stirring occasionally, until the juice is thick. To check that it’s done, dip a spoon into the sauce, then draw a finger across the coated spoon. It’s ready if the line remains visible and the sauce doesn’t run back together.
Cool in the refrigerator before serving; store covered. You can make this the day before to reduce your cooking load day-of!
Jared: Cast-Iron Pie Crust
Are you frustrated that the perfectly flaky pie crust remains ever out of reach? Do find that no matter how long you proof bake your pastry in glass pie pans it still gets soggy? So did I—until I learned that the secret to making the perfect crust is a cast iron pan. To date, this is the best recipe I've found (a slightly modified version of a Samin Nostrat recipe), and a 10” cast iron pan makes it perfect.
Ingredients
1 ⅔ C. All-purpose flour (8 ½ ounces)
2 Tbsp. Sugar (1 ounce)
¼ Tsp. Baking powder
1 Tsp. Kosher salt
8 Tbsp. (1 stick) Unsalted butter, cubed and chilled
6 Tbsp. Heavy cream, half and half, or milk (3 ounces)
Whisk dry ingredients together.
Add butter and mix in with fork, pastry cutter, or hands.
Cut in the butter until the butter is reduced to small, pebble sized pieces
Add the cream and mix, until the pastry just holds together when you take handful and it holds together or breaks into a few chunks. If it’s too dry or crumbly add a tablespoon or two of water until it starts to come together.
Gently form the dough until it begins to form a ball (some crumbs are okay), touching the dough as little as possible to keep the butter from beginning to melt. (Pro tip: Putting the crumbly dough on plastic wrap, and pulling and twisting the plastic wrap to form a ball is an excellent way to do this.)
Chill the dough for 1-2 hours, up to overnight. If you’re crunched for time, give it at least 30 minutes.
Bring the dough out and roll it out on a floured surface, moving quickly to keep the butter from beginning to melt.
Once you’ve rolled a piece wide enough to fit into your cast iron, transfer it to the pan and gently press the dough into the pan.
Freeze the pan with the fitted dough for 1 hour up to overnight.
Make your favorite pie filling/recipe and add it to the frozen crust, just before placing it in the preheated-oven.