Homemade stock is so much better than canned and wonderful to have on hand to throw together a quick bowl of soup. Your frugal side will enjoy using every last little bit of the bird. I keep a plastic bag in my freezer where I collect onion, celery and carrot trimmings (cleaned) to add to the stock pot next time I have a carcass on hand.
   
16  C water 
1  turkey carcass, bones, skin 
 leftover prepared stuffing 
1  large onion, in chunks 
2  stalks celery, in chunks 
2  carrots, in chunks 
2  bay leaves 
10  peppercorns 
4  T salt, to taste 
1/2  tsp dried thyme 
1  garlic clove, sliced 

• Break the carcass into pieces in a large stock pot. Add water, dressing, vegetables and peppercorns. Heat to boiling, skim off any foam on the surface, reduce heat to low, cover and simmer for 4 hours. Stir from time to time to make sure there aren’t any ‘hot spots’ scorching on the bottom.
• Add salt to taste as you go along, not all at once. After four hours, remove large chunks to a bowl and discard.
• Carefully drain stock through a colander lined with cheesecloth into a large mixing bowl.
• Ladle into freezer containers, cover and set in the fridge overnight.
• On the following day, skim off the fat that has congealed on top.   Cover the containers, label and date and freeze until needed.

My friend Pat and I enjoyed a girls afternoon out of day-after-Thanksgiving shopping in Apalach yesterday and we had lunch at my favorite restaurant over there, The Owl Cafe.  I’ve never ordered anything that wasn’t perfectly done, and the clam chowder they served was no exception.  I tracked down the recipe, picked up a sack of fresh clams at Seafood-2-Go and made a batch this morning. Every bit as good as the original.  

If you can find clams still in the shell by all means use them as they really add so much to the flavor of the broth, and since they pop wide open while simmering it’s no trouble at all separating the clam meat.   

3 1/2 C water
5 dozen cherrystone clams, scrubbed and rinsed
4 T unsalted butter
1/4 C all-purpose flour
2 to 3 slices bacon, cut into 1/2 inch pieces
2 carrots coarsely chopped
1/2 C coarsely chopped onion
2 small celery ribs, coarsely chopped
2 medium red-skinned potatoes, cut into 1/2 inch dice
1 1/2 C heavy cream or half and half
1 1/2 C milk
1 t freshly ground black pepper
1/4 t dried thyme

• Bring 2 cups of the water to a boil in a large soup pot.  Add half of the clams, cover and cook just until they open, 5 to 8 minutes; remove the clams to a platter as they open.  Return the water to a boil and repeat with the remaining clams.  Strain the clam broth through 4 layers of dampened cheesecloth to remove any sand or grit (or a strainer lined with a coffee filter; slow, but it works in a pinch if you’re out of cheesecloth); reserve 4 cups of the broth.  Remove the clams from the shells and coarsely chop them.
• In a skillet, melt the butter until foamy.  Add the flour and cook over moderately low heat, stirring frequently, until the roux is lightly golden, about 15 minutes.
• Meanwhile, wipe out the soup pot.  Add the bacon and cook over moderate heat, stirring occasionally, until slightly brown and crisp, about 6 minutes.  Pour off all but 1 tablespoon of the bacon fat.  Add the carrots, onion and celery and cook, stirring occasionally, until softened, about 12 minutes.  Add the potatoes, raise the heat to moderate and cook, stirring, until crisp-tender, about 5 minutes.
• Add the remaining 1 1/2 cups of water to the pot along with the reserved clam broth, the cream, milk, pepper and thyme. Simmer over low heat until the potatoes are just tender, about 5 minutes.  Add the roux and cook over moderately low heat, stirring, until thickened, about 10 minutes.  Add the clams and cook until heated through, about 3 minutes.  Laddle the clam chowder into soup bowls and serve piping hot.

Serve 8

If you just can’t wait until Thanksgiving for a taste of turkey, this quick and tasty recipe should tide you over.  Simple and satisfying; serve over either cooked noodles or rice.

2 t EVOO
4 turkey cutlets
1 shallot, chopped fine
8 fresh mushrooms, sliced
1/3 C dry white wine i.e. Chardonnay
1 can  cream of mushroom soup
1 t dried thyme
salt & pepper to taste
1/3 C water
several dashes of Worcestershire sauce

• In a large skillet, heat EVOO over medium heat.   Add cutlets and cook briefly, only 2 to 3 minutes per  side, or just until they lose their pink color.  Be careful not to over cook!
• Add shallot and mushrooms to skillet and cook about 5 minutes until tender. Add wine, stir and simmmer for an additional minute. Stir in soup, thyme, salt & pepper, water and several dashes of Worcestershire sauce. 
• Return the cutlets to the pan along with any accumulated juices. Turn cutlets over to coat, heat briefly just until heated through.  Remove from heat and serve over either cooked egg noodles or rice.

I’m always looking for little “tapas” to make ahead and have on hand for something quick to serve when friends stop in. These are awesome after a few days in the fridge when the flavors have really gotten to know each other.  Keep some on hand for superior snacking during the holidays.

3 T EVOO
1 clove garlic, minced
1/2 t dried oregano
1 lb. good olives, i.e. pitted kalamatas (Publix has a terrific variety in their deli section - try a blend of several different types)

• In a small bowl, stir together EVOO, garlic and oregano.
• Add olives and toss to coat.  Cover and chill at least 4 hours or as long as two weeks.

My husband Rod loves homemade everything except when it comes to coleslaw - then he wants “storebought”. We live 17 miles from the nearest grocery store so this doesn’t always work for me. Deep down inside who doesn’t love KFC coleslaw?  I found this recipe online, tried it on him and he absolutely loves it.  Truly tastes like “the real thing”.  

8 C shredded cabbage
1/4 C shredded carrots
2 T minced onion
1/3 C sugar
salt & pepper to taste
1/4 C milk
1/2 C mayonnaise
1/4 C butter milk
1 1/2 T white vinegar (I use white Balsamic for its sweetness but any white vinegar will work)
2 T fresh lemon juice

• Shred the cabbage and carrots in a food processor and then empty them into a large mixing bowl.  Stir in minced onion.
• Put the remaining ingredients in either the bowl of a processor or blender and blend until smooth.  Pour over cabbage and carrots and mix thoroughly.
• Cover and chill several hours before serving for best flavor.

I found this recipe on the Ocean Spray website and tried it today.  It is absolutely delicious - moist and lighter than most quick breads. The cranberries and walnuts provide a nice crunch.  This could become a new holiday season standard around our home.

1 cup sugar
1/2 cup butter or margarine, softened
1 cup mashed banana
1/4 cup milk
2 eggs
2 cups flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 cup chopped walnuts
1 1/2 cups coarsely chopped Ocean Spray® Fresh or Frozen Cranberries

• Preheat oven to 350ºF. Grease an 8 1/2 x 4 1/2 x 2 1/2 -inch loaf pan.
• Mix sugar and butter together in a medium mixing bowl until completely blended.
• Add banana, milk and eggs, mixing well. Add dry ingredients, mixing just until moist. Stir in nuts and cranberries. Spread batter evenly in a loaf pan.
• Bake for 1 hour and 10 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the bread comes out clean. Remove from pan and cool. Makes 1 loaf.

My favorite food on the holiday menu is cranberry sauce, and I kept trying to find the perfect blend.  I put together this recipe back in 1989 and have used it ever since.

1 12-oz. pkg. cranberries
1 1/2 C orange juice
3/4 C sugar
1/2 C chopped walnuts
zest of 1 orange (be careful to avoid getting any white part in)
1/4 t ground ginger

• Bring orange juice to a boil.  Add washed cranberries and sugar. Cover, reduce heat, and let simmer for 10 to 15 minutes.
• Remove from heat. Mash berries to desired consistency with a potato masher. Stir in remaining ingredients.  Chill for several hours and serve.

This soup is reason enough to head for New Orleans.  I can never get enough of it or gumbo when I’m there.

1/2 C butter
2 bunches scallions, sliced thin
3 ribs celery, diced
3 cloves garlic, minced
3 9-oz. pkgs. frozen artichoke hearts, defrosted and quartered
  OR 2 14-oz. cans artichoke hearts, washed, drained and quartered
3 T flour
1 1/2 qts. chicken stock or broth (4 cans Swanson workd fine)
cayenne to taste
1 t salt
1 T Worcestershire sauce
1/2 t dried thyme
1 qt. oysters, drained and chopped (liquor reserved)
1/3 C dry sherry
1 C half and half
1 C milk

• In a heavy 4 or 5 quart pot melt the butter over medium heat.  Add the scallions, celery and garlic and saute until soft taking care not to let them brown.  Add the artichokes.  Sprinkle the mixture with the flour and stir to coat the vegetables well, but do not let it brown.
• Gradually add the stock, stirring occasionally.  Add the cayenne, salt, Worcestershire sauce, and thyme.  Simmer the mixture, covered, for 1 hour.
• Add the oysters, oyster liquor, and sherry and simmer for 10 minutes.  Do NOT allow the soup to boil.
• Stir in the cream and milk. Cool and refrigerate for at least 8 hours.
• Before serving, reheat the soup slowly over low heat.

Serves 8

OK.  So I started this as a recipe blog and not a general foodie blog but I’ve got to get this off my chest.  I am not into reality tv like Survivor or Americah Teen Idol, but I love Search for the Next Food Network Star and Search For the Next Iron Chef, the latter of which concluded this past Sunday night.  Did I say “concluded”?  Ended in a god awful train wreck would be more accurate.

What were the reigning Iron Chefs thinking when they cast thier votes?  Granted, we can’t taste the dishes, but this Michael Symon they chose as winner looks like a tatooed crack-crazed convenience store clerk and should be viewed as an embarrassment to his profession rather than being rewarded.

The second runner up, who should have won, was John Besh who comports himself with obvious pride in his profession.   He’s an ex-Marine who took his gun and a boat and a whole lot of beans around his hometown of New Orleans in the wake of Katrina and fed a lot of people.  Here’s a snippet from his bio on Food Network which totally eclipses Seymore’s:

Chef John Besh Acclaimed chef John grew up hunting and fishing in Southern Louisiana, learning at an early age the essentials of Louisiana’s rich culinary traditions. After graduating from The Culinary Institute of America, his talent and drive have earned John critical kudos from the outset of his career: in 1999, Food & Wine named him one of the “Top 10 Best New Chefs in America.” In 2003, Gourmet magazine included Restaurant August in its “Guide to America’s Best Restaurants,” and in 2006, it cited Restaurant August as one of America’s Top 50 Restaurants. In 2005, John received a nomination for a James Beard Award, and he won the Beard Award for Best Chef of the Southeast in 2006. Also that year, he defeated Chef Mario Batali on Iron Chef America on Food Network, scoring a victory in the andouille sausage battle. The 2007 Zagat Guide rates Restaurant August #1 in New Orleans for both Food and Service.

I was embarrassed for America by Symon when he showed up in cutoffs and a T-shirt at the American Ambassador to France’s residence to cook for the Ambassador’s guests.   Has he ever considered that maybe the reason Europeans supposedly disdain our culture is not so much our politics as our “culture”?  Symon is a poster child for The Ugly American.

I don’t know what Bobby Flay, Cat Cora and Morimoto were thinking - with as many near last place showings as Symon had during the competition they had to know he will be the easier one to defeat than John Besh.  One of the parting comments I heard regarding Besh made by Alton Brown was that at times he had been “cocky”.  Sorry. That’s a justifiable part of being a Marine.

I hope they clean Symon up as a condition of his contract and that his skills carry him on to provide genuinely good cooking shows for the Food Network, much as they pegged a winner in Guy Fieri, winner of the 2006 Search for the Next Food Network Star who has since spun off into several good shows. 

As for John Besh? He is a true American Chef, and in my eyes, a true American Iron Chef.

Back-to-back Mary Anne favorites today, one savory, one sweet.  She has been making these for years and said she is always being asked for the recipe but is embarrassed at how easy it is to throw together.  Sounds perfect to me.  Another plus?  The ingredients are staples almost always on hand.

1 box yellow cake mix
1 egg
1 stick of butter
1 box 10x confectioners sugar
3 eggs
8 oz. cream cheese, softened

• Mix and press the cake mix, 1 egg and stick of butter into a greased 9 x 13 pan.
• Mix and spread the sugar, 3 eggs and cream cheese and spread evenly over top of first layer.
• Bake at 350 for 30-40 minutes.  Cool and cut into squares.