Mom’s Roast Turkey

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Mom’s Roast Turkey

When it comes to holiday cooking, my father and I spend weeks deciding who is making the various side dishes, but when it comes to roasting the turkey, there’s no discussion. Of course that task falls to my mother. Why? True, she has cooked our Thanksgiving turkey for over 50 years, so she knows what she’s doing. But the real reason is that her roast turkey is always perfectly done, the breast never dried out, but tender and full of flavor.

How does she do it? She cooks the turkey breast-side down. While the turkey roasts, the juices fall down towards the breast, resulting in the most succulent meat. The breast is also more protected from the heat, which helps keep it getting too dried out. She also uses a meat thermometer to take out any guess work of when the turkey is done.

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Turkey Chili (with Leftover Turkey)

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Turkey Chili (with Leftover Turkey)

Is there anything better than a hot bowl of chili on a cold day? Here’s a favorite recipe from the archives that I recently remade, in preparation for the turkey leftovers we expect to have after Thanksgiving. With kidney beans, tomato, bell pepper, garlic and loads of spices, this chili terrific with shredded turkey meat (especially the dark meat!)

You could also easily make it with cooked shredded chicken if no turkey leftovers are available. Serve it loaded high with shredded cheese and diced onions, and better still, cornbread.

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Pumpkin Cheesecake

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Pumpkin Cheesecake

Move over pumpkin pie, and say hello to pumpkin cheesecake! If you really truly want to impress your guests this holiday season, I recommend this cheesecake. Tall and proud like a classic New York style version, this one has a pumpkin cream cheese filling with a splash of bourbon, all sitting atop a pecan graham cracker crust.

And if that wasn’t enough, we bathe it with homemade caramel sauce and whipped cream.

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At The Studio: Dragonfruit Vodka Tonic

101 Cookbooks

At The Studio: Dragonfruit Vodka Tonic

We don't have an elaborate kitchen at the QUITOKEETO studio. There's a sink, a single induction burner, a huge silver champagne bucket (that floods brilliantly with water and ice-packs for "refrigeration"), a stack of cutting boards, and as you can imagine, no shortage of knives. Preparations there tend to be simple, and components are shuttled from home, more often than not, in Mason Jars. Correspondingly, I often find myself thinking that these are exactly the type of recipes that are helpful to people - silly simple, but interesting, and easy to pull together for work, picnics, potlucks, or when you're in a guest kitchen. For us, typically, it's some sort of lunch, but on occasion we'll mix a drink on a Friday, to close out the week. Like this stunner - a dragonfruit vodka tonic. I thought it might be interesting to drop dried dragon fruit into vodka in the morning, let it infuse throughout the day, and use it to mix vodka tonics - finishing with a splash of effervescent kombucha. Cheers! And to find dried dragonfruit, try your local natural foods store in the superfoods section, or poke around online. I posted the recipe here.

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Balsamic Roasted Brussels Sprouts and Shallots

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Balsamic Roasted Brussels Sprouts and Shallots

Every year I consider it my civic duty to create a brussels sprouts recipe that my father will actually eat. Every family has one, right? A sprouts-a-phobe?

No? Well consider yourself blessed. I guess we’re lucky that my dad is the only one who will roll his eyes when he sees the green orbs set before him. Oddly he claims to like the brussels sprouts recipes I’ve made for him, which makes his stated aversion seem even weirder.

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Chard and Prosciutto Stuffed Turkey Breast

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Chard and Prosciutto Stuffed Turkey Breast

Just because it’s Thanksgiving doesn’t mean you have to roast a whole turkey. If you are only hosting a few people for dinner and you don’t want weeks of leftovers, you can just roast a turkey breast! (You can also make it in less than half the time of a whole turkey.)

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Magic Ancho Chile Relish

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Magic Ancho Chile Relish

I have a couple of announcements before we dive into today's recipe. First! It feels a bit surreal, but there are only two weeks until Near & Far is released. And, related to the release, there are a number of events in the works. The first will be held on my home turf at CAMINO on 9/17 - there are a handful of seats left (and already so many of my favorite people in one room!) - can't wait to celebrate with each of you! For a full (evolving) list of events & signings you can check this page. On the recipe front, this chile relish has been a staple this summer. It's the sort of thing you can grab to slather on all sorts of simple, quick preparations to add a bit of magic and flavor. It adds depth, raisiny-chile flavor, color, and dimension. You can serve it as written, or separate the chile from the chile oil to serve. I'll list all the ways I've used it down below. Enjoy!

- Breakfast taco: I do something like the five-minute breakfast taco I wrote about on this page, but finished with a hit of the chile relish.

- Special beans: Heat a splash of olive oil in a saucepan, toss in a big handful of shredded kale, saute, stir in some cooked beans (I've been using Santa Maria Pinquito beans all week), and finish by stirring in a big dollop of the chile relish.

- Nori wrap: Had this for dinner last night. Spread some coconut brown rice across a sheet of nori, top with some cooked beans, add sliced avocado, some of the chile relish, and some crispy fried shallots, or toasted almonds (something crunchy).

- Tempeh: Steam some tempeh, and while that is happening, combine a big dollop of the chile relish with a with a splash of shoyu to slather on the tempeh. This was easy & tasty!

- Chile Creme Fraiche - simply swirl chile relish lazily into a small bowl of creme fraiche to use as a condiment or accent.

- And this is how I like to do beans & rice.

Hope this provides some inspiration. If you make the relish, let me know what you do with it - either in the comments, or tag it on Instagram (@heidijswanson or #101cookbooks) so I don't miss it. xo h

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