Cranberry Relish

1 bag (12 oz) fresh whole Cranberries, sorted through, washed and drained well
1 large Navel Orange - sliced into wedges, skin and all
1 large Red Delicious Apple - sliced into wedges, barely cored, mostly to remove seeds
1/2 - 1 C granulated sugar - matter of taste, tradition calls for 1 C but I experiment with going lower

This is my Grandma McLellan's recipe - not sure where she got it from, but this is a recipe she always made for the holidays and I always made with her using her white KitchenAid stand mixer that she bought on the day that the plane flew into the Empire State Building in the 1940's (need to look that up and link it ...)  My mom still has the grinder attachment for it that we used - the mixer finally gave up its last a few years ago so the relish making fell to me and my setup.

Traditionally this is a 1-1-1-1 recipe: 1 bag of cranberry, 1 navel orange, 1 apple (my grandmother always used red delicious - I have never tried another variety - its purpose is to blend into the background and add to the sweetness to balance the orange and cranberry) and 1 cup of sugar.  I have experimented with lowering the sugar and have been happy with the results I get anywhere from 1/2 cup for a nice tart condiment where you can really taste the orange and cranberry to the full 1 cup that is just sweet and tangy and wonderful and works so well with turkey or ice cream or ... so many things.

Just slice the apple and orange into wedges that will fit well into your grinder of choice - I use a KitchenAid stand mixer with their sold-separately grinder attachment - and run those and the cranberries that you have sorted through to remove bad ones, washed and dried through the grinder into a bowl,  Once everything is ground, add the sugar.  I would suggest adding 3/4C of sugar to start (unless you really like straight up cranberry and orange flavor - start at 1/2 C!) - mix well with the ground fruit, store in fridge, give it a mix the next day as the flavors will have continued to blend.  If you want it sweeter, add more sugar at this point, mix well and come back in a few hours, mix and taste again.  But before adding more sugar than you started with, give it a chance to meld together.

gravy w/o drippings

 ganked from:

https://thetoastykitchen.com/how-to-make-gravy-without-drippings/

Ingredients

Basic gravy

• ¼ cup (56 g) unsalted butter
• ¼ cup (30 g) all-purpose flour
• 16 ounces (453 g) broth, chicken, turkey, or vegetable
• ¼ teaspoon pepper
• ½ teaspoon salt, to taste

Thanksgiving gravy (optional additions)

• ½ small onion, minced
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 teaspoon poultry seasoning

Instructions

Basic gravy

• In a saucepan over medium heat, melt butter.
• Whisk in flour until no lumps remain. Cook for one minute.
• Slowly add broth to pan, whisking to incorporate. Add pepper and whisk to incorporate. Bring to a simmer and cook, whisking frequently, for about 5-7 minutes, or until desired thickness is achieved.
• Remove pan from heat and season with salt to taste.

Thanksgiving gravy

• In a saucepan over medium heat, melt butter. Add minced onion and cook until softened and lightly browned, about 2-3 minutes. Add garlic and cook an additional 30 seconds.
• Whisk in flour until no lumps remain. Cook for one minute.
• Slowly add broth to pan, whisking continuously. Add poultry seasoning and pepper, whisking to incorporate. Bring to a simmer and cook, whisking frequently, for about 5-7 minutes, or until desired thickness is achieved.
• Remove pan from heat and season with salt to taste.

Notes

• Gravy can be made up to 3 days ahead of time and stored in the refrigerator, or frozen for up to 3 months. 
• If frozen, transfer your gravy from the freezer to the refrigerator the night before serving to thaw.
• Reheating gravy: Pour gravy into a saucepan and warm over medium heat. Whisk until warmed through. Add water as needed if gravy is too thick. 
• Don't have poultry seasoning? Try adding a combination of thyme, rosemary, and sage instead. 
• Chicken broth can be substituted with any type of broth you have on hand, like turkey, beef, pork, or vegetable broth.
• How much gravy do you need per person? Plan to prepare between ⅓ to ½ cup of gravy per person, erring on the higher end for holidays like Thanksgiving.
• If doubling or tripling this recipe, gravy will take longer to cook and thicken

David Chang's Ginger Scallion sauce

From Momofuku: Ginger Scallion Noodles and Ginger Scallion Sauce 

Our ginger scallion noodles are an homage to/out-and-out rip-off of one of the greatest dishes in New York City: the $4.95 plate of ginger scallion noodles at Great New York Noodletown down on the Bowery in Chinatown.

Ginger scallion sauce is one of the greatest sauces or condiments ever. Ever. It’s definitely a mother sauce at Momofuku, something that we use over and over and over again. If you have ginger scallion sauce in the fridge, you will never go hungry: stir 6 tablespoons into a bowl of hot noodles--lo mein, rice noodles, Shanghai thick noodles--and you’re in business. Or serve over a bowl of rice topped with a fried egg. Or with grilled meat or any kind of seafood. Or almost anything.

At Noodle Bar, we add a few vegetables to the Noodletown dish to appease the vegetarians, add a little sherry vinegar to the sauce to cut the fat, and leave off the squirt of hoisin sauce that Noodletown finishes the noodles with. (Not because it’s a bad idea or anything, just that we’ve got hoisin in our pork buns, and too much hoisin in a meal can be too much of a good thing. Feel free to add it back.)

The dish goes something like this: boil 6 ounces of ramen noodles, drain, toss with 6 tablespoons Ginger Scallion Sauce (below); top the bowl with 1/4 cup each of Bamboo Shoots (page 54 of Momofuku); Quick-Pickled Cucumbers (page 65 of Momofuku); pan-roasted cauliflower (a little oil in a hot wide pan, 8 or so minutes over high heat, stirring occasionally, until the florets are dotted with brown and tender all the way through; season with salt); a pile of sliced scallions; and a sheet of toasted nori. But that’s because we’ve always got all that stuff on hand. Improvise to your needs, but know that you need ginger scallion sauce on your noodles, in your fridge, and in your life. For real.-- David Chang

Ingredients

• 2 1/2 cups thinly sliced scallions (greens and whites; from 1 to 2 large bunches)
• 1/2 cup finely minced peeled fresh ginger
• 1/4 cup grapeseed or other neutral oil
• 1 1/2 teaspoons usukuchi (light soy sauce)
• 3/4 teaspoon sherry vinegar
• 3/4 teaspoon kosher salt, or more to taste

(Makes about three cups)

Directions

Mix together the scallions, ginger, oil, soy, vinegar, and salt in a bowl. Taste and check for salt, adding more if needed. Though it’s best after 15 or 20 minutes of sitting, ginger scallion sauce is good from the minute it’s stirred together up to a day or two in the fridge. Use as directed, or apply as needed.

Onion Confit

Shamelessly stolen from Tom Colicchio with slight adjustments to volume

4 large Vidalia onions, sliced thin (Tom says to use Vidalia, I respectfully disagree - Vidalia really aren't designed to be cooked. I use ye olde 3lb bag of yellow onions and they come out sweet as candy and, IMO, far tastier than the time I actually used the Vidalia.)
2 T olive oil

Heat olive oil in a large skillet over medium, then add onions and reduce heat to medium low. Stir frequently and add kosher salt and freshly ground pepper to taste. Cook until onions are soft, but not carmelized - about 30 minutes. Then add:

1 C chicken stock
2 T white wine vinegar

Continue stirring frequently until pan is mostly dry - about 30 minutes. If using dried herbs, add them during this last half hour, add fresh herbs after you are done cooking and toss to combine.

Can be refrigerated for 1 week.

Sushi Vinegar

• 1/4 C Rice Vinegar
• 1 T sugar
• 1/2 T mirin
• 1/2 T salt

Heat over low in small saucepan until sugar and salt is dissolved

Enough to flavor 4 cups of rice.

(Use extra salt and sugar when making filling for Inarizushi)

Miso Salmon

Salmon fillet is coated in combo of" 2 T shiro miso, 2 T Mirin, 2 T, soy sauce, 1/4 C packed brown sugar and sesame seeds, ten put under a broiler for 10 min or until done.

Mayo

1 egg
1 tsp dry mustard
1 tsp salt
Dash Tabasco
1-1/2 Tbsp vinegar
1-1/2 Tbsp lemon juice
1/2 to 2/3 cup canola oil


I put all ingredients except the oil in a tall sided container and hit them with my immersion blender (at a med/low sped). I drizzled the oil in (the stream should be the size of a pencil lead – go slow!) and continued drizzling and blending until the oil started to pool on the top. It’s a bit looser than store-bought mayo, but seemed to set up a little more (very little) after it sat in the fridge. It has good flavor (especially for mixing with chunk light tuna – the acid works really well in this!) but I might back off a little on the lemon juice next time I make it.

Baked Honey Mustard Chicken Breasts

Honey mustard is easy – equal parts honey and mustard, stir to combine, done. I preheated the oven to the high side of 350, line a brownie pan (8 x 8” square) with foil, place boneless skinless chicken breasts in the pan and drizzle with the honey mustard, cook for 30 minutes (or until done – check with thermometer!!!)

Mustard Marinade for FGrilled Pork Tenderloin

2 Tablespoons of Nasturtium vinegar (Fred's mom makes it! I guess a light red wine vinegar would work too)
2 Tablespoons olive oil
salt and white pepper to taste
2 Tablespoons Grey Poupon mustard
1 Tablespoon Molasses

I mixed well and then spread it on both tenderloins then left them to marinate in the fridge in a bowl. I had already removed the excess fat and silver skin from the tenderloins - this is a very important step and should not be skipped - the end result is so worth the effort. After about 20 minutes it was time to put the tenderloins on the grill - Al told, the tenderloins were on for about 15 minutes, turned 3-4 times.

Fake'n Bake

• 1/2 Cup + 1 Tbsp Corn Flake Crumbs
• 2 tsps All-Purpose Flour
• 1 tsp salt (I use kosher)
• 1/4 tsp paprika
• 1/4 tsp sugar
• 1/4 tsp garlic powder
• 1/4 tsp onion powder

Combine all ingredients in a plastic bag - makes 1/2 Cup, enough for about 2 chops. Cook pork chops in 425 oven for 20-25 minutes.