Holiday Bread Sauce

Preparing for Thanksgiving!?

And now, finally, a guilty pleasure for the coming Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Years holidays. At Thanksgiving a couple of years ago, Sarah and Wendy made their (in)famous(ly) caloric bread sauce. It’s a gorgeous white sauce for roasted meats. And it rates a giant “Wow” on the Wow-o-meter.

Dry Bread into Bread Crumbs

It’s a strange concoction, indeed. Gravy made of bread. I mean really, check these pictures out!

When you wake in the morning, the kitchen counter, should look like this:First, dry your white bread out, this should done overnight with bread that’s getting old or is fresh that you need to get dry quickly.

Trundle off to the cutting board and cut off the crusts. Run through the Cuisinart and then set aside the breadcrumbs.

Separately, heat milk with at least one onion sliced in half and pitted with cloves. Add salt and pepper to the milk. Turn off when the milk comes to a boil and let the onion and cloves steep.

Readying the Milk

The details of the making of the sauce can be found here, and while the final product may not look tantalizing in the lousy pics my non-SLR camera can take, you should make a pork or beef roast soon and give this a try. Or save up the energy for this year’s Christmas.Delia Smith is the genesis of this particular treat–although Sarah and Wendy have really made it there own. As I say in previous posts, Thanksgiving is a wonder of gorging, but this sauce is a unique experience and Deliais the place to find this recipe. The kids will worship it, the adults will shy away from the fat and calories, but everyone will enjoy the sinful goodness that a British holiday tradition can bring.

Bread Sauce in all it's Glory!

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Cooki's Cranberry Relish

Cranberry Citrus Relish

Let me be honest here. I hate cranberries generally. Dried cranberries in particular. However, it appears to clearly be because some truly terrible commercially produced berries. The CSA delivery service I used to use called Arganica Farm Club make a dried version of cranberries that–like Cooki’s relish, the recipe which appears below–are a relevation. Out of Ruckersville, Va., Arganica has a lot of flaws, but wow, when they hit the sweet spot, they can change your taste in food.

Cooki’s Cranberry Relish is a side treat from Thanksgiving and Christmas meals that could be used as an accompaniment to a zillion things: my suggestion is cold meats like a sandwich you don’t want to gussie up with mayonnaise. Use Cooki’s cranberry relish, and you’ll not go wrong–impress your friends with the savory, tangy zip of this easy-to-make party favorite. Also handy to have at the office, to use with meals there.

Cranberry Citrus Relish

1 bag of cranberries from your average supermarket

1 entire navel orange skin, pith and all (My suggestion would be to zest first, then scrap/peel off the pith and limit the amount of pith you use. But then, this wouldn’t be Cooki’s Cranberry Relish anymore…)

3/4 c white sugar

2″ knob of ginger

Blend in a Cuisinart, and you are done.

Serve with various foods, hot and cold.

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Radish Greens Pesto

Radish Greens? Yech! I just couldn’t imagine. I’d come home from the Farmers’ market and just shoved the radishes in the drawer in the fridge. A couple of days later, I knew it was time…run to the Google and search.

Up comes a recipe for RADISH GREENS PESTO. Thank goodness. It was cold and rainy out, and I just couldn’t bring myself to drag myself to the supermarket for greens to eat with dinner. This discovery set me on a journey to make the most of what was left in my fridge:

• A bit of parm more than ready for grating,
• Unsalted and unroasted nuts sitting in a bag in the cupboard,
• Some olive oil,
• Some salt and pepper
  …I had the base of a meal. Some pasta and it’d all be alright.

Two Zests of Lemon

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Radish Leaf Pesto

Ingredients

2 large handfuls of good-looking radish leaves, stems removed

1 oz. pecorino or Parmesan, grated or shaved

1 oz. walnuts chopped

1 clove garlic, germ removed, cut in four

1 short ribbon of lemon zest

2 T olive oil, plus more to get the consistency you like

salt, pepper, ground chili pepper

In a food processor blend all ingredients. The greens may make it so you have to process in short pulses until smooth. You will likely have to scrape down the sides of the bowl once or twice. Processing produces a thick pesto; add more oil and pulse again to get the consistency you prefer.

Taste, adjust the seasoning, and pack into Tupperware. Use within a few days (it will keep longer if you pour a thin layer of oil on the surface) or freeze.

If I may make a suggestion: be certain to serve as a side dish only. The radish greens are pungent and the flavor striking. It could turn a dinner into a one-note meal. I serve this pesto as a side pasta dish later this week; so be sure to tune in this Friday for details on how to make this work for you and your guests.

- See more at: http://www.alunchboxblog.com/radish-greens-pesto/?preview=true&preview_id=2097&preview_nonce=9e2ae6ff68#sthash.ntsFCAj9.dpuf