Tag Archives: Thanksgiving

Pumpkin Roll

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pumpkin roll sliced into pinwheels and arranged in a row in a white platter

This roulade-style dessert is reminiscent of fall’s most classic flavors. It can be made with regular cream cheese or pumpkin. Both ways are equally delicious and I alternate on the cream cheese as my husband prefers the pumpkin and my daughter prefers the regular cream cheese. My own personal favorite uses hazelnuts.

Serves 16

Ingredients:

For the Cake

¾ cup all purpose flour

1 tsp baking powder

1 tsp pumpkin pie spice

1 tsp cinnamon

½ tsp ground ginger

¾ cup sugar

¼ tsp salt

For the filling

¾ cup pumpkin puree

3 large eggs

½ tsp orange extract

1½ cups finely chopped walnuts (or roasted hazelnuts)

¾ cup confectioners sugar, plus more for dusting

8-oz whipped cream cheese (or pumpkin spice cream cheese)

3 TB unsalted butter, softened

 

pumpkin roll sliced into pinwheels and arranged in a row in a white platter

 

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350°.

2. Great a 16 x 12 inch nonstick jelly roll pan and dust with flour. Set aside.

3. In a medium mixing bowl beat eggs, sugar, pumpkin, and orange extract with electric mixer until smooth.

4. In a separate bowl sift the flour, baking powder, salt, ginger, cinnamon, and pumpkin pie spice. Slowly add the dry ingredient mixture into the wet and mix until well combined and smooth.

5. Pour the batter into the jelly roll man and level with spatula. Sprinkle with chopped nuts.

6. Bake for 15 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean when inserted. Let cake stand until cool.

7. Dust a large, clean dish towel with confectioners sugar and carefully invert cake onto towel.

8. Gently roll cake into a log and chill in refrigerator for 30 minutes.

9. Make the filling by combining cream cheese, confectioners sugar, and butter with electric mixer and beat until smooth.

10. Remove cake from refrigerator and carefully unroll. Spread filling evenly onto cake. Re-roll cake into log shape and refrigerate.

11. When ready to serve, cut into wheels and dust with a little more confectioners sugar.

 

Happy Thanksgiving!
The Petite Gourmande
© 2018 by Ruth Barnes, all rights reserved
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Holiday Roasted Turkey

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Holiday Roasted Turkey on platter with mandarins, grapes, and baby pears

 

No Thanksgiving holiday is complete without a golden brown turkey as the main dish and centerpiece of the table. This recipe uses turkey stock to keep the bird moist during cooking and serves as the base for the most flavorful gravy as well. To make it even more special, my version has a fruit and vegetable stuffing instead of bread-based stuffing. It’s perfect for Thanksgiving, but my family loves it so much that we enjoy it all year long! I hope your family enjoys it, too.

 

Holiday Roasted Turkey on platter with mandarins, grapes, and baby pears

 

Ingredients

12-14 lb turkey (thawed if frozen)

1 tsp ground black pepper

1 tsp kosher salt

1 tsp sweet paprika

1 tsp garlic powder

5 TB unsalted butter, melted

1 bouquet garni of fresh herbs (one sprig each: rosemary, thyme, mint, and tarragon)

1 medium sweet onion (like Vidalia)

1 large mandarin orange

2 cups turkey stock

Baby pears, mandarins, champagne grapes, and other fruits of your choice

¼ cup white flour

 

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350°.

2. Combine salt, pepper, paprika, garlic, and melted butter.

3. Remove neck and giblets from the cavity. Brush outside and inside of turkey with butter mixture.

4. Peel onion and cut in half. Cut mandarin in half. Place onion and mandarin inside the cavity with bouquet garni.

5. Tie turkey legs together with cooking twine.

6. Pour the stock into roasting pan and place turkey on rack. Tent with aluminum foil and roast for 90 minutes.

7. Remove foil tent, baste turkey with juices from bottom of pan, and roast for additional 60 minutes or until golden brown. (Check temperature by inserting thermometer into thigh. Temperature will be 170° when finished.)

8. Remove onion, mandarin and herbs from cavity before placing turkey onto serving platter.

9. Decorate platter with harvest fruit such as baby pears, mandarins, champagne grapes, or fruit of your choice. Be creative!

10. To make the gravy, strain drippings from the roasting pan into a saucepan. On low heat slowly add flour and whisk until mixture thickens and is smooth. Pour into gravy boat and serve.

 

Happy Thanksgiving!
The Petite Gourmande
© 2016 by Ruth Barnes, all rights reserved

 

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Cranberry Tips and Tricks

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Close up photo of shiny, red Cranberries

Cranberries are a big part of the Thanksgiving tradition, yet so many people don’t know how to prepare them. As people are learning to experiment with fresh ingredients, we’re seeing more creative cranberry dishes on the table. If you’re looking for a change of pace from the classic canned cranberry sauce you’re in the right place.

 

Close up photo of shiny, red Cranberries

  • Fresh and frozen cranberries can be used interchangeably, so choose whichever is available to you.
  • Rinse cranberries right before using, but not earlier. Wetting them speeds up the decomposition process of the fruit.
  • Cook fresh berries by covering them with water and boiling gently until they burst.
  • Cranberries are versatile, and can be incorporated into muffins, breads, pies, and sauces. They can even mixed into stuffing for a sweet and slightly tart bite.
  • Because of their tart nature, most recipes use sugar or fruit juice to help balance out the flavors. You can also add some citrus peel and spices like cinnamon and nutmeg to enhance the flavors.
  • To incorporate cranberry flavor without the hassle of turning on the oven, dried cranberries tossed into salad or stuffing are delicious, colorful, easy, and unexpected!
Dried Cranberries

 

Will you be cooking cranberries for Thanksgiving? Let me know in the comments. And tell me about your favorite recipes, and don’t forget to be creative!

 

Happy cooking!
The Petite Gourmande

 

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Thanksgiving Leftovers

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It’s the morning after and your fridge is full of Thanksgiving’s festivities. What should you do with all those leftovers? You can heat them up and enjoy as is (and that’s certainly a tasty, easy option) or you can get a little creative. For those looking to make their leftovers interesting, here are a few ideas:

  • Stuffing waffles. Place stuffing in a waffle iron and heat through until firm. Use leftover gravy as your “syrup” and enjoy. This one is a hit with kids!
  • Turkey Soup is a classic. If you can’t live without your turkey soup each year, why not give it a Southwest twist? Simply add tomatoes, cilantro, avocado, black beans, Mexican spices and a squeeze of fresh lime.
  • Mashed potatoes get a makeover by flattening and frying to make potato pancakes. Or stir in cheese, green onions, and bake in muffin tins until golden, melty, and irresistible!
  • Sweet potatoes are a great canvas (if originally served fairly plain) and a really unique thing to do with the leftovers is to puree them smooth and turn them into hummus. Just mix the pureed potatoes with tahini, garlic, lemon juice, cinnamon and cayenne pepper to taste.
  • Cranberry sauce makes a great glaze for meats or as a warm sauce for sweets. Sometimes I like to spread it on a bagel with cream cheese like it’s jam.

What do you like to do with your Thanksgiving leftovers?

Carved Turkey

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