Thanksgiving 2011 New Recipes

[bikingandbaking]

Based on Chestnut-Mushroom Stuffing.

• 1 loaf of Italian bread, ripped or cut into 1 inch pieces
• 8 oz of oyster mushrooms and ~8 oz shitake mushrooms, chopped into bite-sized pieces
• 3 cups mushroom stock (will reduce to 2-2.5 in future)
• 4 celery stalks, finely chopped
• 1 leek, finely chopped (did not add much and is annoying to chop)
• 1 cup of dried cranberries
• 1 15 oz jar of chestnuts, cut into 1/2 inch pieces
• 1 small onion, finely chopped (increase to one large and delete leek)
• 2 shallots, finely chopped
• 2 Tbsp of fresh sage, finely chopped
• 1 Tbsp of finely chopped fresh thyme
• 1 Tbsp of finely chopped fresh rosemary
• salt and pepper
• small cube of butter, plus extra for greasing

Stale the bread. Sautee onion, leek, shallot, fresh herbs, celery, mushrooms until onions are soft and mushrooms have released liquid. Add broth, salt and pepper to taste. Grease a 9x13 pan, mix everything together. Bake at 350 for 35-40 minutes. Can chop everything ahead of time, sautee-and-mix just before putting in oven.

I've been looking for a good nut-mushroom stuffing recipe for a while -- this was the best so far, and I think I'm keeping it. [Edit, 2014: I've made this every year since, although I might skip it this year due to a smaller crowd.]

The next can be made with an almond crust for Passover as well. Use potato starch in place of the flour.
Based on Goat Cheese Cheesecake.

• 11 oz mild goat cheese
• 3/4 cup granulated sugar
• 1/2 lemon juiced
• 1 lemon zested
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 6 large eggs, separated
• 3 tablespoons all-purpose flour

Prepare crust (see below) in greased 9-inch springform. Beat goat cheese, sugar, lemon juice, lemon zest, vanilla until smooth. Beat in egg yolks 1 or 2 at a time. In perfectly clean pan with clean beater, beat egg whites to the soft peak stage. Fold a third of whites into batter, then fold batter into remaining whites. Pour into crust and smooth top. Bake at 350 for 40 minutes or until knife comes out clean. (Knife will leave mark behind -- be prepared to put something on top.)
Crust:

• 10 oz bag lemon snaps
• 3/4 stick salted butter (6 Tbsp), melted (or unsalted butter and pinch salt
• 2 Tbsp granulated sugar

Crush cookies in food processor or with rolling pin. Pour in butter and sugar, mix, press into greased springform pan.

Served with berries on top and lemon simple syrup (heat 1 cup water and 1 cup sugar together with strips of lemon zest from enough lemons for 1 cup juice, let cool, strain, add lemon juice.)
Cranberry sauce Cranberry sauce was simple and an amalgam of recipes: the only note is that 2 12oz bags of cranberries took way longer to deal with 2 cups of liquid than the recipes state; use less or cook longer. Spicing was about right -- 10 cardamom pods, 20 cloves, 1 long cinnamon stick, 20 peppercorns, 5 allspice berries or so, in a tea bell.