Happy Thanksgiving! Thanksgiving for many means Turkey, stuffing, pumpkin pies and food comas. Not for my family and myself — well except for maybe the food coma part. I like being vegetarian with my family during Thanksgiving, because since we are not traditionalists it allows me to make traditional Thanksgiving items in an nontraditional manner. Did I use traditional enough that sentence? This Thanksgiving was no different (except maybe the cornbread because my family just wanted cornbread).
Cranberry Fritters
- 1 can gelled cranberry sauce
- all purpose flour
- 3/4 cup pancake mix
- water
- powdered sugar (optional)
- vegetable oil
Heat a pot with 1 cup of vegetable oil on medium-high heat. Carefully take out gelled cranberry by turning can over and running warm water on the bottom. The gel should slide out as a cylinder. Turn it to its side and cut about 1/2″ discs. You want to make sure they’re thick enough for you to handle. Put flour in one bowl and in another bowl mix water and pancake mix together to form a thick batter. Your batter MUST be thick otherwise it will not cook properly in the oil.
To test the oil take a tiny dollop of pancake batter and put in the oil. If it immediately starts fizzing and floats to the top then it’s ready. If it doesn’t wait a little bit longer. Once the oil is ready, take each cranberry disc, cover in flour on all sides, dip in pancake batter, dip again in flour, and again in pancake batter (double battering will ensure the batter stays on the gel). Slowly place in oil and allow to fry until the outside is a golden color. Using a slotted spoon, remove from oil and place on paper-towel lined plate. Sprinkle powder sugar on top. Eat once cooled. Repeat with remaining discs. If the batter slips off in the oil try drying the discs with a paper towel to make it less slippery.
Jalapeno Cornbread
- 1 box cornbread mix
- water (per mix instructions)
- 1 small jalapeno
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a bowl combine corn bread mix and water to create batter. Using a grater, grate one small jalapeno directly into batter. If you prefer less heat, grate the jalapeno in a separate bowl first and remove seeds. Spray a 9 x 13 baking pan with non-stick spray. Pour batter directly into pan. Place pan in oven and bake for 30-35 minutes or until corn bread passes the toothpick test. Once cornbread is done remove from oven an allow to cool. Cut into slices and serve.
Alton Brown’s Not-Your-Mom’s Green Bean Casserole
So as it should be noted, I can not take credit for this particular recipe as I came across it while perusing the Food Network’s site. The truth is I’ve never made green bean casserole before, in years past I just always omitted any green bean dishes. So I decided to try this out made a couple slight tweaks to it and it was by far my favorite item to eat at the Thanksgiving table
Onion Topping:
- 1 small onion thinly sliced
- 1/2 cup garbanzo bean flour
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 2 cups vegetable oil for frying
- water
For beans:
- 1/2 pound fresh green beans, rinsed and ends trimmed
- water
- salt
- 1 bowl of ice water
For sauce:
- 2 tbsp unsalted butter or margarine
- 1 1/2 cup white mushrooms cleaned, stems removed and sliced
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 1/4 tsp all-spice
- 2 tbsp all-purpose flour
- 1 cup vegetable broth
- 1/2 cup cream or half and half
- salt and pepper
Add oil to a frying pan and heat on medium-high heat. In a bowl add garbanzo bean flour, water and salt (I use garbanzo bean flour as an alternative to the traditional method of dipping things you’re planning on frying in egg. I’ve gotten a lot of the same results using garbanzo bean flour. You can usually find it at any middle-Eastern or Asian food stores. If you can’t find any there you can also buy dried chick-peas and grind it to create the flour and add water and spices accordingly). Mix to create a smooth batter. To see if oil is ready for frying gently place a small dollop of batter into oil. If it immediately floats to the top then it’s ready. If it sinks to the bottom of the pan or takes a while to come up then give the oil a few more minutes to heat. Once oil is ready dip onions in batter and gently drop into oil. Fry battered onions for 1-2 minutes or until the outside coating is a nice honey brown color. Using a slotted spoon, remove fried onions from pan and place in a paper towel lined bowl to allow any excess oil to drop off. Put onions to the side to use when ready.
Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
Bring a pot of water to boil. Add salt to water. Once water is boiling, add green beans and blanch for 5 minutes. After 5 minutes remove the beans and immediately put them into a large bowl of ice water to stop the cooking. Drain and set aside.
Heat a pan on medium-high heat. Melt butter or margarine. Add mushrooms, salt and pepper and cook for about 5 minutes. Add garlic and allspice and continue to cook for another 1 to 2 minutes. Add flour stir to combine. The liquid from the mushrooms coupled with the melted butter and flour will create a gravy-like consistency in the pan. Cook for about 1 minute. Add the broth and simmer for 1 minute. Add cream and cook until the mixture thickens, approximately 6 to 8 minutes.
One it’s finished cooking, in a casserole dish add green beans. Pour mushroom sauce over beans. Then top with fried onions. Place into the oven and bake until bubbly, approximately 15 minutes. Remove and serve immediately.
Veggie Gravy
– 3/4 cup white or brown mushrooms chopped – 1/2 yellow or white onion minced
- 1/4 cup unsalted butter (unsalted margarine or vegan margarine)
- 2 1/2 cups vegetable broth
- 2 tbsp soy sauce
- 1/4 cup all purpose flour
- 1 1/2 tbsp poultry seasoning
Heat a pan on high heat and melt the butter or margarine and add onion and mushrooms. Sautee the onions and mushrooms until the onions start to become translucent about 2-3 minutes. Lower heat to medium and add vegetable broth and soy sauce. Add flour and stir to combine. Make sure there are no lumps. Reduce the heat to low and all seasonings. Allow to cook for another 8-10 minutes stirring every 30 seconds or so until gravy thickens. Remove from heat into a gravy boat and serve
Chipotle-Orange Sweet Potatoes in Orange Cups
- 2 large oranges cut in half
- 2 sweet potatoes
- 1 chipotle pepper from canned chipotle chopped
- 2 tbsp unsalted butter or margarine
- 1/4 cup milk (soymilk)
- 1/2 banana mashed
- 1/4 cup pecans chopped
- fresh orange juice (that will come from the oranges you’ve cut)
Boil sweet potatoes in a pot until they are soft to the touch. In the meantime, take your orange halves and scoop out the center with a spoon. Keep a bowl underneath to catch all the juice. Once the flesh of the orange has been removed scrape out any excess orange bits. If it’s not 100% clean inside don’t worry about it. Squeeze juice from oranges into a bowl. Repeat with each half. My recipe only serves 4 if you plan on serving to more people just increase the quantities. Place hulled oranges into a dish
Once potatoes are done peel and set aside in a large bowl. Using a masher (or your hands, whatever other tools you may have on hand) while it is still warm. Add butter and whisk mashed sweet potatoes. Add milk and continue to whisk. Add chipotle pepper, mashed bananas and orange juice and fold into potatoes. Once everything is completely folded in scoop into orange halves and place on a dish. Top with chopped pecans or walnuts.
Spanish Mac & Cheese
- 1/2 bag elbow macaroni
- 2 1/2 cups manchego cheese grated
- 2 1/2 tbsp fennel seeds
- 1/4 cup milk
- 2 tbsp unsalted butter or margarine
- 1 cup grated onions
Bring a pot of water to boil. Add salt to the water. Drop in elbow macaroni and cook for 7-9 minutes or until the macaroni is al dente. Once macaroni is finished cooking, drain and set aside.
In a sauce pan begin making your cheese sauce. Heat pan on medium-high heat. Add margarine or butter and allow to melt fully before adding flour. Once you add flour, use a whisk to make sure all flour is incorporated with the melted butter. Add milk and whisk in with the roux mixture. Allow to sit for about a minute or so. Add cheese and whisk until it is melted and there are no lumps. Add grated onions and fennel seeds. Cook for about another 1-2 minutes stirring intermittently. Add macaroni directly to cheese. Fold macaroni in until it looks like everything is coated. Serve immediately.
Not pictured: Pumpkin Pie Pops
Why are these are not pictured? Because 1. I only made a couple of them and 2. by the time I set them out to cool and came back they were already in my brother’s belly. But here’s the recipe to make your own:
- 1 round of frozen pie crust thawed
- 1/2 can of pumpkin
- pumpkin pie seasoning (or you can use cinnamon, nutmeg separately)
- 1/2 tbsp sugar
- lollipop sticks
Preheat oven to 300 degrees. Spray a baking sheet with non-stick spray or you can use parchment/wax paper to line the tray.
Lay out thawed pie crust dough. Using a biscuit cutter or something that is small and round and can cut, to cut circles in the dough. Don’t cut them too large because the will have to be supported by the lollipop sticks. In a bowl combine canned pumpkin with sugar and pumpkin pie seasoning. Scoop a small amount of pumpkin pie and place in the center of a circle. Place a lollipop stick, about a thumbnail’s length on one side of the dough circle and press down firmly. Place another dough circle on top of it. To seal the edges, take another lollipop stick and roll creases around the edges like an actual pie crust. Place pops on baking sheet and gently sweep on some melted butter on the outsides just so it’ll get nice and brown when it comes out of the oven. Repeat for any additional pops.
Once you are finished place pops in oven and bake for about 20 minutes or until you get the brown color on the outsides. Remove from oven and allow to cool before consuming
Not pictured: Mashed Potato Croquettes
Why is this not pictured? Um…quite frankly I think I just forgot to take a photo..recipe below. Because of the nature of this dish you can make the mashed potatoes a day in advance:
- 3 large potatoes
- 1/4 cup green onions chopped
- 1/4 cup chopped Morningstar bacon (or real bacon for you meaties out there)
- 1 1/2 cup shredded Cheddar Cheese (soy cheese)
- 1 tbsp unsalted butter or margarine
- milk (plain soymilk)
- salt and pepper
- 1/4 cup flour
- 1/4 cup panko bread crumbs
- oil for frying
Boil potatoes in a pot with water until they are tender and you can pierce them with a fork. Peel and place in a large bowl. Begin mashing potatoes with a masher (or your hand). Add butter and milk and whip potatoes with a wooden spoon if you have one otherwise a spatula or any long spoon will do. Add green onions and shredded cheese and fold in together. If the potatoes are still warm the cheese will nicely melt into it. Hit it with some salt and pepper. Place potatoes in the fridge to settle about an hour or can be left overnight.
Once you’re ready to fry scoop potatoes out and mold them either into patties or balls. Heat a pan on medium-high heat with oil. Roll them around in a plate of all purpose flour. Then roll them in a plate of panko bread crumbs. Slowly add them to the frying pan and fry until each side is nicely browned. Repeat with as many croquettes you wish to make.
Not pictured: Tofu Turkey
Why is this not pictured? Well to tell you the truth, it was because it was a bit of a disaster. You see, I hate the taste of an actual Tofurky. I’ve tried it before a couple of times and it’s just not something I can physically consume. I had an interest to make my own tofu turkey because I wanted the family to have a main course “meat” dish, and since I hadn’t the slightest idea on where to start, I went searching for some recipes and I found a few that looked pretty simple to make. Of course once I followed all the steps and did what i needed to it, it turned out nothing as what I was going for and tasted even more terrible. So in the end, we had to ditch the Tofu Turkey. Tofu Turkey FAIL.
Hope you and you families had a wonderful Thanksgiving.
