This Mostarda Style Cranberry Orange is something different that you might want to try for your Thanksgiving Turkey. It’s not too sweet and is sort of light and refreshing. True Fruit Mostarda is made from candied fruit and mustard syrup since I didn’t use candied fruit or mustard syrup I called the recipe “Mostarda Style.” Serving size is hard to determine. My guess is up to ten servings.
Ingredients
1 12oz bag of cranberries
2 oranges – use all the zest and put to the side and remove the rest of the skin and chop the fruit into small pieces
1 cup dark brown sugar
1/4 cup dry white wine
1/2 cup water
1 Tablespoon dry mustard
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon\
1/4 teaspoon ground star anise
1/4 teaspoon course sea salt
Directions
Everything except for the zest goes in a medium sized pot on high heat. Stir and turn down to medium when it starts to boil. Stir occasionally and continue to cook until the berries burst. When it’s done stir in the orange zest.
It’s fun for me to come up with a new cranberry sauce every Thanksgiving. I’m sorry that I didn’t get to publish this in time for your Thanksgiving celebration but maybe you can use it soon anyway. This year I came up with two new cranberry recipes. Next week I will publish an Italian inspired Cranberry sauce that is Mostarda Inspired. This week I’m doing something very different for me…….I already have at least eight cranberry sauce recipes published so I know something about making cranberry sauce but this is the first one that is more traditional and plain. Serving size is almost impossible to determine. I don’t know if you like a spoonful or a quarter cup serving. Since a one pound bag of cranberries is considered to be 7 servings I will guesstimate this recipe to be 14 servings. Leftovers can be frozen.
Ingredients for about 14 servings
32 ounces of cranberries (or 8 cups)
2/3 cup apple cider vinegar
2 + 2/3 cup dark brown sugar
2 cups filtered or spring water
1/2 teaspoon course sea salt
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground star anise
Directions
Everything goes in a sauce pot on high heat. Stir occasionally. When it starts boiling turn heat down to medium. Stir occasionally. When the boiling bubbles get fast again turn heat down again to medium-low. Break down berries you see that are whole with your spoon or another utensil. Cook until most berries are broken.
Here’s a sampling in no partial order of recipes that would be FORKING GREAT for Thanksgiving. Up above is Milk Street’s version of Vivian Howard’s Sweet Fresh Corn Pudding. This is really incredible……….I really mean it!
Parmesan and Potato Mousse with Parmesan Crisps Potato Cannoli Potatoes Anna StyleDuchess Potatoes (The Special Occasion Potato)Sous Vide Turkey Breast
(By the way – I insist that you must brine your turkey…..or do what I do for Thanksgiving…CHEAT and buy an already brined turkey from Trader Joes either wet brined or kosher dry brined…It’s really worth it!) (Who has room to brine at Thanksgiving time?) I FORKING KNOW WHAT I’M TALKING ABOUT….after all I did get paid to cook Thanksgiving for 500 people back in the day…..I did the turkeys, potatoes, sauce, and vegetables all by myself too…..This sous vide turkey is perfection……..nuff said.
Forking EZ Oven Fried Turkey Wings
So tasty it could be favorite part of the turkey.
Crispy Turkey SkinTurkey Stock
Turkey legs with thighs – I normally just stew them…….till they fall apart. Then I pull the meat.
This is a masterpiece….The turkey is glistening full of turkey juice…..I don’t mean to brag but this is masterfully incredible.
It really is this juicy cold.
Balsamic Cipollini Onion and Cranberry Gravy (this is cold in the picture)Acorn Squash with Cranberry Mango Habanero Sauce and Blue CheeseSpiced Custard Filled Acorn Squash with Maple Bourbon WalnutsCranberry Mango Habanero SauceCranberry Sauce with Hibiscus Moist Fresh Herb Turkey StuffingZippy but Delicious Corn Bread StuffingMushroom Chestnut and Fig Bread StuffingChanterelle Bread StuffingGochujang Roast Chicken with Kimchi Rice Stuffing and Crispy Skin (The same can be done with turkey)Brussels Sprouts Baba GanoushMomofuku STYLE Brussels Sprouts with Fish Sauce Vinaigrette and Shivhimi Togatashi Pop Corn Five-Spice Butternut Squash in Cheesy Custard Butternut Squash and Fondue Pie with Pickled Peppers Roasted Sweet Potatoes, Green Onions, Calabrian Chili, Figs with Reduced Balsamic Sweet Potato Ravioli with Beet Puree Kabocha Squash Cake with Chocolate Drizzle and ChestnutsOnion RollsFour Ingredient RollsButternut Squash Cinnamon RollsPurple Sweet Potato Blackberry Pie with Coconut/Almond Crust
I wanted to do something with sweet potatoes that wasn’t all mashed up or sweet. I got a recipe sent to me from Milk Street Magazine that sounded good but when I clicked the recipe they wanted a $1.00 from me. I buy all their magazines so I don’t want to spend the dollar. Anyways- I could see the first three ingredients so I got started that way and winged the rest. Somehow I came up with something FORKING DELICIOUS! If you want to find the Milk Street Recipe it is called Spiced Sweet Potato Tian (fancy French word for casserole). I am guesstamating the size of the sweet potato I used. I was one extra large potato that looked like a small baby. I’m guessing that it was over two pounds. This recipe makes around 4 smaller servings.
Ingredients for around 4 servings
2 1/2 lbs sweet potato – peeled – sliced thin on mandolin ( If you got a really fat potato you might need to half or quarter it. You want small lemon or big lime sized slices)
4 Tablespoons sweet butter
2 Tablespoons canola oil
1 Tablespoon apple cider vinegar
1/2 teaspoon ground coriander
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
1/4 cup sherry vinegar
1 orange – just the fresh squeezed juice (before you squeeze you can save the zest and use it at the end for finishing))
1 + 1/2 teaspoon Aleppo pepper ( or 1/2 or less the amount any red pepper flakes)
3 small shallots sliced thin
1/4 cup fresh rosemary
2 Tablespoons fresh thyme
1/4 cup pickled baby bells – thin slices (I marinate them in my home made jalapeño brine but for this recipe it would be easier to just marinate them in around 1/2 cup apple cider vinegar.)
1/2 cup apple cider vinegar
crushed sea salt to taste
ground black pepper to taste
Non stick spray
Directions
In a small bowl or dish marinate the pepper rings. Leave them on the counter at least one hour or make them the day before and refrigerate.
An hour later or the next day.
Set the oven to 350 degrees F.
Melt the butter in a pan or in a dish in the microwave. Add the oil, cider vinegar (1 Tablespoon), coriander, cumin, Aleppo pepper, shallots, rosemary, thyme, sherry vinegar, orange juice, and pickled peppers. Mix well. Add potato slices and mix carefully. Add salt and pepper to taste.
Spray a shallow dish with non stick spray and cover dish with foil.
Leave in oven 60 minutes.
Turn oven up to 425 degrees F.
Remove foil and let brown (around 25-30 minutes)
Forking Delicious Sliced Spiced Sweet Potatoes with Pickled Peppers and Shallots
The gravy or sauce is cold in my photo and does look better warm. Just before Thanksgiving I got this beautiful bag of cipolini onions. In case you don’t know cipolini onions are small flat onions that you have to boil to peel. They are very special and are usually served with balsamic vinegar…..So I got the idea in my head that they would be great with cranberries and they are. My husband usually hates cranberry sauce but when he tasted this he said it was very good. This might be my usual cranberry sauce now. My idea of serving size might differ from your idea of serving size. Leftovers can be frozen.
Ingredients for around 12 servings
1 cup sugar
2 Tablespoons water
4 Tablespoons turkey or chicken fat (or butter)
1/2 cup balsamic vinegar
2 lbs cipollini onions (boiled 2 minutes, cool, peel. Small ones I leave whole and bigger ones I chop)
1 orange (just the grated zest)
18 oz cranberries
4 bay leaves
3 cups turkey stock – preferably home made (or vegetable stock)
2 teaspoons fresh thyme leaves
sea salt – to taste
ground black peppers – to taste
balsamic vinegar – to taste
Directions
The sugar and water go in a pot on medium heat. Do not stir. You take its off the heat in about 5 minutes when it starts to turn brown. Then stir in the fat till melted and then the vinegar.
Add onions, cranberries, bay leaves and stock and bring to a boil and then reduce to simmer.
Reduce to desired consistency and add thyme. (I reduced to around half…this took a long time)
Add salt, pepper, balsamic to taste.
Balsamic Cipollini Onion and Cranberry Gravy Sauce
Turkey legs always come out crazy great when you stew them. This is a two for one because you also get a great stew too. You need to make my home made stock for this stew. My home made stock is also used for many of my stuffing recipes and my gravy recipe. Two large leg quarters made me 25 ounces of meat and two large bowls of stew.
Ingredients for around 6 servings
2 turkey leg quarters
1 lb parsnips – peeled, diced
1/2 large sweet onion – peeled diced
2 carrots – peeled diced
2 celery ribs – diced
13 cloves garlic – fine chopped
1 cup turkey stock
1 heaping teaspoon bomba (Italian hot pepper paste) ( I used Coluccio Brand Stuzzichino Hot Pepper Paste this has really great flavors to it)
2 bay leaves
3 good branches of parsley (hard ends cut off)
12 small sprigs thyme
6 sprigs rosemary
3 branches of sage
kosher salt – sprinkle legs well
granulated garlic – sprinkle legs well
ground black pepper – sprinkle legs well
paprika – sprinkle legs well
Directions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F and have a rack in the middle of the oven for the pan.
Fill the pan with the stock, onions, garlic, celery, carrots, bay leaves, parsley, rosemary, sage and thyme.
Add the leg quarters and season the tops well with kosher salt, granulated garlic, black pepper and paprika. (I used to season all over and found that the stew got too salty…but it comes out just right if I only do the top)
This gets wrapped tight with foil and goes on the middle rack of a preheated 350 degree F oven. Ovens do differ…..so timing will differ some……In my oven this was perfect in 2 1/2 hours.
Turkey Leg Stew
You need to remove the legs and let them cool an hour. Remove the skin and clean the meat off the bones. The stock cools on the counter till room temperature and then can go in the refrigerator to chill over night. The next day you came scrap off the fat that floats to the top. Use this flavorful fat to make your gravy.
Thanksgiving 2020 was a feast for two (plus two dogs) all week long. It started on Sunday. My sous chef (my husband) broke down the already brined turkeys (you always need at least two for all the stock you need) and cleaned remaining feathers for me.
He then made the turkey stock with two rib cages and the basics. (had two pots going)
The stock was the liquid gold for many of the dishes.
The first thing I used some stock in was the stewed turkey legs.
Turkey Leg Stew
We got two big delicious bowls of stew and LOTS of flavorful tender falling off the bone dark meat.
The stew got chilled over night and the next day I scrapped off the fat to use in my home made gravy.
I used more stock in my mushroom, chestnut and fig stuffing.
Mushroom Chestnut and Fig Bread Stuffing
One night I used the meat pulled from the rib cage to make Thai basil turkey (not photoed)
Made some Brussels sprouts with olive oil, salt, pepper, and lemon zest.
For one meal I made oven fried crispy turkey wings.
Forking EZ Oven Fried Turkey Wings
For one meal I made Turkey tostadas with orange guajillo sauce (didn’t photo or publish this one yet.
Made a few maple bourbon sweet potatoes with pickled sweet peppers. (it’s just sweet potatoes with butter and maple bourbon salt)
Made balsamic cippolini onions with cranberries that was made with some of the stock. (not photoed or published yet)
Crisped up some turkey skin.
Will make my potatoes soon.
Parmesan and Potato Mousse with Parmesan Crisps
Use my SousVide water oven to make turkey breast to perfection.
I also made Milk Street’s adaptation of Vivian Howard’s Sweet Fresh Corn Pudding (soufflé’s)
I thought I’d make a different stuffing this year. This one is mushroom chestnut and fig bread stuffing. It’s laced with home made turkey stock. I didn’t have the turkey fat yet so I used chicken fat from the last chicken I roasted instead of using oil or butter like most people do. You take your Thanksgiving food up to the next level when you use bird fat instead of oil or butter. This stuffing comes out with a great depth of flavor. It’s also comes out moist, fluffy and a little crisp on the ends. It makes half a buffet pan of food. For me this is about 20 servings….but I try to make my stuffing portions very small. So I will guesstimate 10 – 20 servings. Mine came out like this.
Ingredients for around 15 portions
6 oz mushrooms – chopped or sliced thin
1 red onion – small diced
2 teaspoons fresh thyme leaves + plus extra to sprinkle on at serving
5 oz saved fat (This is the type of fat that you skim off a from a stew – I used chicken but would have preferred turkey.) (You can use butter but I didn’t)
1 Tablespoon sea salt
1 teaspoon ground black pepper
1/2 teaspoon ground white pepper
Optional – 4 Tablespoons mushroom powder (100% mushrooms) (I used from www.sunvalleyharvest.com from the local person known as the mushroom lady) (it depends on your mushrooms if you want to use mushroom powder)
5 oz dried figs – chopped
11 oz roasted chestnuts – chopped
4 cups home made turkey stock (I have a recipe here for turkey stock)
1 loaf dried sourdough bread (you buy the bread a week before you need it and place it in slices or all chopped up in a single layer on sheet pans to dry out in your oven. This takes a week. My loaf of sour dough weighed one pound three ounces when all dried out. – cubed
3 eggs – beaten
1/2 cup scallions – sliced thin
non stick spray
Directions
Set your oven to 350 degrees F and spray either a large baking dish or a half buffet pan with non stick cooking spray and set the pan to the side.
In a large fry pan melt one ounce of the fat. Add the mushrooms and onions and stir a little let it go about 5 minutes till it’s soft and add the thyme, salt, peppers, figs and chestnuts. Let that cook together about 5 more minutes and then add the stock. Let it go till it boils. Take off heat and let the remaining fat melt into it. Keep to the side.
In a big bowl add the stale bread that was cut into cubes. Add the scallions.
In a medium bowl beat your eggs. Add the mushroom powder to the eggs. Add a cup of the pan contents to mix into the eggs. Add this and the remaining pan contents to the big bowl of stuffing and mix it all up. Let this sit out for about 30 minutes so the bread can absorb the liquid and flavors. You will need to mix again.
After around 30 minutes when everything looks nice and absorbed put the mixture into the non stick sprayed pan. Cover the pan tightly with foil. Place in the pre-heated 350 degree F oven for 75 minutes. Uncover and put it back in the oven for no longer than 15 minutes to crisp it up a little.
Mushroom Chestnut and Fig Bread Stuffing
Sprinkle with some more fresh thyme. Serve with Turkey gravy.
Here are a bunch of recipes from The Forking Truth that you might want to try for Thanksgiving. Up above is for a Southwest Style Thanksgiving. It’s Guacamole Style Beets. (this recipe will go up Wednesday) Here are around 50 Forking recipes to inspire you.
Duchess ParnipsBlue Cheese Sriracha Butter Hasselback Mini Potatoes with RadishTimbaleTomato, Hibiscus, Onion and Roasted Lime SaladBread Leek PuddingFestive Holiday Cranberry SauceCabbage Salad with Balsamic Roasted Strawberries, Apples and Almond Dukkah Thomas Keller’s Chocolate Bouchon made by meBrown Sugar Cinnamon Chestnuts with Crisp SageMoroccan Inspired CarrotsDuchess Inspired Kabocha SquashBraised Leeks with Onions Appleand Carrots in Apple Cider VelouteGordon Ramsey’s Clafoutis Cranberry Sauce with Hibiscus Sweet Potatoes with Cherry peppers, Figs, Green Onions and Balsamic DrizzleMashed Sweet Potatoes with Pecans, Dates and some Brown SugarTraditional Stuffing and Rosemary Herb StuffingFennel Fava Radish and Walnut Salad in Lemon Dijon DressingItalian Style Beans
Baby Eggplants stuffed with spicy Indian spiced onions, tomatoes, sprouts and cashews
Oven fried crispy turkey wings
Classic BouleCitrus Salad with Honey Poppy Seed Dressing and Spiced AlmondsForking Great Blue-Cheese, Sriracha, Honey Radish AppetizerMelon Salad with Preserved Lemon, Lavender and Whipped Cream CheeseButternut Squash Cinnamon BunSpaghetti Squash with Harissa Vinaigrette inspired from FnB Restaurant of Scottsdale AZTwice Cooked Gilfeather Rutabaga inspired from FNB RestaurantCrispy Turkey SkinPear Almond CakeAcorn Squash with Cranberry Mango Habanero Sauce and Blue CheeseChanterelle Bread StuffingDuchess Style Stuffed Potatoes Kabocha Squash Coconut Crust PieHatch Chili and Roasted Red Pepper Challah BreadOnion RollsKobocha Squash Ice-CreamPurple Sweet Potato Blackberry Pie with Coconut/Almond CrustBrussels Sprouts Baba GanoushSweet Potato Surprise Pie …..surprise it’s purple!Duchess Potatoes (The Special Occasion Potato)Cranberry Roselle Lime SauceBouchon Bakery Mini Coffee CakeTwisted Date BreadYellow Mango Frozen ConfectionKabocha Squash Cake with Drizzle and ChestnutsTunisian Inspired CarrotsSummer Vegetable Stuffed PeppersBraised Beets, Pickled Golden Raisins, Spiced Walnuts and MintForking BEST Chocolate Chip Cookies ever!South West Style Hatch Chile Corn FrittersSriracha Apricot Glazed Acorn Squash with Nectarines, Cherries and AlmondsFancy Schmancy Deviled EggsOne Ingredient Frozen Banana Confection with added cinnamon and crushed chocolate chipsItalian Style Slightly Spicy CauliflowerPlum Pomegranate and Pine Nut CakeZippy but Delicious Corn Bread StuffingMoist Fresh Herb Turkey StuffingTurkey StockThanksgiving Turkey MeatballsSousVide 140 degrees F with herbs salt and pepper and garlic confit
Be a good guest and not a Forking Turkey at Thanksgiving.
It seems like some people have been raised by wolves and don’t know how to act like normal people at Thanksgiving. Here are are few things that some people might need to know.
Be a normal responsible person. If you Forking get sick or come down with a bug PLEASE be considerate and STAY THE FORK HOME. You might not give a dam if you make other people sick but nobody wants your germs……IT’S A FACT that you will make people sick….your germs aren’t special no matter what you think! Only a Forking Turkey would come to someone else’s home sick and make other people sick that are feeding you a feast.
Only a Turkey would let their children walk into someone else’e home like a zombie and not make any eye contact. Children should acknowledge the host just by slight eye contact and a smile. That is all that’s necessary.
Don’t be a Forking Turkey and start tampering with the washer and dryer that belong to your host and setting the alarms. Only an idiot would do this because when the host uses the washer in a dryer next they will know you did it.
When you see the offerings if there is something you don’t want to try keep it to yourself. Don’t be a Turkey and scream something like, “I HATE PROFITEROLES!” Did you know……only a Forking Turkey does that?
Did you know that you are a Forking Turkey when you bring some sort of food or drink to someone’s home that you already tasted that is trash to you. Why the heck would your host want your food or drink trash? Only someone with a screw loose would do such a thing.
If you make a mess or break something in someone else’s home you should tell the host. If you don’t you FORKING ARE A TURKEY. That is very rude.
Only a FORKING TURKEY would say something like that was a really great Thanksgiving dinner….Maybe the best I ever had…and I don’t know how to rate things but…., “I rate the Thanksgiving dinner at two stars.” Only a really BIG FORKING TURKEY does such a thing.
Don’t act like you are trying to be helpful and offer to clear the serving ware by throwing them in the trash………Only a Nut-Job Turkey would do such a thing.
Be a Good Guest and Not a Forking Turkey on Thanksgiving!
We hope the only Turkey at your Thanksgiving table is the one you eat.
