Thanksgiving Appetizers - or "Delayers"

Appetizers, hors d'oeuvres, starters, antipasto, gustus, tapas, maza, mezze, zakuski, dim sum, smorgasbord...small foods served before meals to whet the appetite play integral roles in many cultures and cuisine. The traditions that developed these customs vary – it may have been to stretch the social time, aid digestion, or offer a tease of the meal to come.

In our family, appetizers are often offered to keep extra fingers (and mouths) out of the food prep until it is time to eat. Last week we celebrated our family’s Thanksgiving in Texas with Daughter & Son-in-Law, and Son from Iowa. We had decided that an early evening dinner would give us more time to cook and we’d start the day with a hardy brunch. With our early morning family, brunch had to happen before 8:00! That left a long stretch of time for the munchies to happen. So we served appetizers to hold the hungry guys over.

Here’s Daughter S’s favorite:

Prosciutto Wrapped Pear

1 – 2 ripe (but not soft) green pears (like Bartlett)

1 small package of plain goat cheese (or flavored cream cheese)

6–8 slices prosciutto (an Italian ham) or deli ham,very thinly sliced

Honey

Fresh cracked pepper

         Wash, slice and cut pears into thin wedges. Scoop cheese into the core indentation. Wrap cheese/pear tightly with thin piece of prosciutto/ham. Arrange the wrapped pear wedges on a serving plate. Drizzle with honey and dust the top with freshly cracked black pepper.  It’s a wonderful combination of sweet, tangy and salty tastes.

Another appetizer that is tasty is from Bonnie Aeschliman’s collection “Farm to France” (see the last blog of Nov. 18). She demonstrated and shared samples of this at the class I attended in October.

Zucchini and Sun-Dried Tomato Tart

1 sheet frozen puff pastry (half of 17.3-oz package), thawed but keep cool

1 ¾ cups shredded mozzarella cheese

⅔ cup grated Parmesan cheese, divided

½ cup drained oil-packed sun-dried tomatoes, thinly sliced

⅓ cup basic chiffonade (that’s chopped into thin slivers)

2 green onions, thinly sliced

1 teaspoon dried oregano

1 small zucchini, unpeeled, cut into thin rounds

2 large eggs

1 cup half-and-half

¼ teaspoon salt

⅛ teaspoon ground red pepper

         Roll puff pastry on a lightly floured surface to a 13-inch square. With a pizza wheel trim pastry edges to form a 13-inch circle. Place the pastry in an 11-inch tart pan with removable bottom. Tuck in overhang to form double-thick sides. Pierce with fork to allow steam to escape. Cover; chill at least 1 hour.

         Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Shape foil inside the pastry and fill with beans or rice or pie weights. Bake on a baking sheet until sides are set, about 20 minutes. Carefully remove foil and beans. Return crust to oven and bake until bottom is golden brown, puncturing crust with fork if bubbles form, about 8 minutes. Remove from oven and cool 5 minutes.

         Reduce oven temperature to 400 degrees. Sprinkle mozzarella over bottom of crust. Top with one-third cup of Parmesan. Layer sun-dried tomatoes, basil, green onions, and oregano on top of cheese layer. Arrange zucchini rounds in overlapping circles to cover top of tart.

         Whisk eggs, half-and-half, salt, and ground red pepper in medium bowl. Pour mixture into tart. Sprinkle with remaining Parmesan cheese.

         Bake tart until custard is set and crust is golden brown, about 35 minutes. Serve warm or at room temperature. Makes 8 servings. 

Cranberry Craze

Cranberries just say Holiday Foods to me! Their bright color and tart taste go well with all the favorites from Thanksgiving through January.  History stories tell us that the Indians mixed cranberries with animal fat to make pemmican, a stable in their meals. Supposedly, they shared this with the Pilgrims on the first Thanksgiving. We do know that cranberries are native to New England and are grown in fields surrounded by raised edges to allow flooding to float the cranberries for harvest. Later, in the Civil War, General Grant ordered cranberry sauce for his troops.
Maybe these native and early Americans were taking advantage of the foods that were plentiful and available, but maybe they also realized the health benefits of cranberries. Besides being high in vitamin C (good for those Pilgrims who had been at sea for months) and fiber; we now know that cranberries are a good source of anthocyanins that help protect the cardiovascular system, and antioxidants which have anti-inflammatory and anti-cancer benefits.
Cranberries are naturally low in calories, but many of the recipes (including the one I'll share) have added sugar and butter, increasing their calories and making them a bit less healthy. Take comfort in enjoying some health benefits while watching the portion size!
We had an early Thanksgiving dinner this weekend, and one of the dishes I took to my sister-in-law and brother-in-law's was this Cranberry Bar dessert. It is from Bonnie Aeschliman's collection. She reports serving these at her store's Open House "Cooking With Bonnie" in Wichita, and it has been featured in the Wichita Eagle which she also writes for. I took a class from Bonnie at her shop recently and greatly enjoyed it. The recipes she demonstrated were from her book "Farm to France",  I can't wait to try more of them.

Ultimate Cranberry Bars

Base:

2 cups all-purpose flour

½ cup packed light brown sugar

¾ cup cold butter, cut into 1/2 –inch cubes

Topping:

1 cup butter

1 ⅔cups granulated sugar

¼ cup light corn syrup

½ teaspoon salt

2 ½ cups fresh or frozen cranberries, coarsely chopped

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 ½ cups pecans, toasted and cooled, then coarsely chopped

Garnish: 2 ounces white chocolate, finely chopped

Special equipment: candy thermometer

1.     For the Base: Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a 10 x 15-inch shallow baking pan with foil, leaving a 2-inch overhang on the two short sides. Butter foil sides, but not the bottom.

2.     Blend flour, brown sugar, and salt in a food processor, then add butter and pulse until mixture begins to form small (roughly pea-size) lumps. Sprinkle into baking pan, then press down firmly all over to form an even layer. Bake in middle of oven until golden and firm to the touch, 15 – 17 minutes, then cool in pan on a rack.

3.     For the Topping: Melt butter in a 3-quart heavy saucepan over moderate heat and stir in sugar, corn syrup, and salt. Boil over moderately high heat, stirring occasionally, until caramel registers 245 degrees on candy thermometer, about 8 minutes. Carefully stir in cranberries, then boil until caramel returns to 245 degrees. Remove from heat and stir in vanilla, then stir in pecans until well coated. Working quickly, spread caramel topping over base using a fork to distribute nuts and berries evenly. Cool completely.

4.     Lift bars in foil from pan and transfer to a cutting board.

5.     Place white chocolate in microwave-safe container and microwave on medium-high for 30 seconds, stirring every 10 seconds until melted. Transfer chocolate to a small disposable pastry bag (or plastic bag). Snip off a small opening at the end. Pipe chocolate decoratively over top. Let stand at room temperature until chocolate sets, about 1 hour. Cut into small squares or bars.

Peanut Butter - Spread it Thick

This month (November) is National Peanut Butter Lovers’ Month, what a good time for those tasty holiday recipes, nutty treats, and smooth gooey sandwiches.

The definition of peanut butter is “food paste made primarily from a ground nut of the legume family”. That doesn’t sound appetizing at all! But people have liked the taste of peanut butter for centuries. Peanuts were primarily grown in the Americas where they are native, and were used by Indians in South America as early as 950 B.C. Since then, peanut butter has been invented and reinvented several times.  I always thought the credit went to George Washington Carver, and with his background of living in Missouri and Kansas and attending Iowa State University in the late 1800’s, he seemed almost like a local we could be proud of for developing such a well-liked food.
Even though Mr. Carver did find over 300 uses for the peanut, he didn’t patent any of the methods or recipes, believing that food products were all gifts of God.

In the early 1900’s others weren’t so shy about making a profit from their inventions to process the food. Many companies were producing peanut butter in 1914; and in 1928 Peter Pan Company received a license for a churning process to create a smooth peanut butter. Not to be outdone, the Skippy Company soon developed and marketed chunky peanut butter.

Recently another nut spread – hazelnut – has been gaining popularity. We usually know it as Nutella, but that’s a brand name. It is a chocolate flavored spread of hazelnuts, originally developed in WWII because of the cocoa shortage. We’ll soon see other companies marketing this tasty spread too; Jif Company has introduced a Chocolate Flavored Hazelnut Spread and a Mocha Cappuccino Flavored Hazelnut Spread. Not in my local store yet, but something to look for when I go to the big store in the city. The hazelnut spread is especially yummy with peanut butter – for a triple treat add a smear of Marshmallow Fluff on the graham crackers! Eat slowly, its not a diet food.

Besides eating Peanut Butter on graham crackers, jelly sandwiches, or just out of the jar (doesn’t that happen at your house?), there are lots of tasty recipes. After the pie day for Fall Festival at church I vowed to try Peanut Butter Pie. So how lucky was it that my Good Housekeeping magazine had a recipe in the current issue? It was as good and as rich as you might expect. Again, cut small pieces and eat slowly!

Peanut Butter Pie

1 9-inch refrigerated ready-to-use piecrust

¾ c. sugar

1/3  c. cornstarch

1 tsp. salt

4 cups whole milk

4 lg. egg yolks, lightly beaten

1 cup peanut butter

3 Tbsp. butter, at room temperature

1 Tbsp. vanilla extract

Prepare piecrust as for one-shell baked crust/custard pie.

In large saucepan, stir together sugar, cornstarch, and salt. In large bowl, whisk milk and egg yolks until blended; gradually whisk into sugar mixture. Heat o medium 6 – 7 minutes, or until mixture thickens and boils, stirring constantly. Boil 1 minute, stirring. Remove from heat; stir in peanut butter, butter, and vanilla until well blended.

Immediately pour peanut butter mixture into baked pie shell; press plastic wrap onto surface of filling. Refrigerate pie at least 4 hours or until well chilled and set.

To serve, top with whipped cream (or Cool Whip) and garnish with chopped peanuts.