Shabbat dinner

[magid]

The menu ended up being a bit different than I'd planned, due to a variety of of circumstances.

• grape juice
  
• oat challah
  Wheat-free (also rye-, spelt-, and barley-free) brought by guests, thankfully (since I have no experience with making bread without any wheat rise), and still warm!
  
• mostly vegetable soup
  This was a last-minute addition, as the turkey needed to have some of the fat taken out of the pan before it overflowed, and I had the intention of making soup with the turkey bones afterward. This meant I'd start the soup a bit early, and have some on a chilly night. I used the turkey fat to sautee onions, garlic, carrots, sweet potatoes, turnips, and daikon, then added the ends of two bottles of wine that had been hanging around too long (a Carmel Sauvignon Blanc 2005, and a Tishbi Chenin Blanc 2005). I found the bunch of rosemary from last week's farm share delivery that was starting to look sad, and added that on a whim (all the other veggies were from the farm share as well, except one of the onions). It wasn't an amazing soup, not having had enough time to coalesce as much as I'd like, and the leftovers are now being cooked with some turkey bits, to round out the flavor (and make it worth being fleishig for :-).
  
• turkey thighs topped with apricot chutney, baked over potato-celeriac stuffing
  I couldn't find rutabagas, not at the farmer's market, not at Trader Joe's (not unexpected there), nor at Whole Foods (they'd run out), so I cubed the celeriac from the farm share to use with the potato-onion-mushroom base, plus sage. The 'stuffing' didn't, in fact, hold together (I probably should have mashed the potatoes a bit), but was still tasty.
  As for the turkey, I hadn't gotten a kosher bird at Trader Joe's last Sunday, and of course they ran out by the time I returned. The Butcherie had fresh birds Friday morning, but the smallest they had was 14 pounds, which seemed just a bit overkill for 3-4 adults and 2 kids. So I got turkey thighs (knowing all the adults would be fine with this), which meant I could be more creative with their baking, hence the apricot chutney (which was mostly local ingredients, too).
  
• cranberry relish
  I made two bags' worth, and there's still not enough left for pie :-). Time to restock the cranberries, though!
  
• baked sweet potatoes
  Just mashed. There's a ton leftover of this, so this might become pie instead.
  
• jicama slaw
  I usually have a chipotle mustard-lime dressing, but that mustard wasn't an option, and I couldn't find the mustard powder I was sure I had, so I made a dressing with wasabi powder, lime juice, black pepper, olive oil, balsamic vinegar, and a bit of sugar. Good, but not what I really wanted. Also, the apple I used wasn't as crisp as I preferred.
  
• sauerkraut
  Definitely not so crispy, nor very salty, interestingly.
  
• pickled beets
  I found beets at the farmers' market, and Currentlee was kind enough to make pickles with me. I'd never had pickled beets before, and they're absolutely lovely. I'm pleased that the first grader liked them also :-).
  
• apple crisp
  I filled the covered casserole with apples mixed with cinnamon (a bit too much), cloves, and brown sugar (not quite enough), baking that for over an hour covered. I took it out, added layer of fresh apple, then a crumb topping made from chickpea flour (with brown sugar, cinnamon, cloves, and olive oil; again, not enough sugar, though the texture was good).
  
• honeydew melon
  A last-minute addition by my guests.

Comments

[lucretia-borgia.livejournal.com]

Smiling at the honeydew melon.

Nice getting to (re-re-re-)meet you in person Thursday; please pardon the puking kid.

[magid.livejournal.com]

I heard it was a contribution of yours. Thank you very much; it was perfectly ripe.

No pardon necessary; I didn't see it in progress, nor did anything land on me... I hope the stomach bug leaves your family soon!

[(Anonymous)]

Market Basket sells rutabagas, conventionally grown.

How did you all pickle the beets?

I heard the term "wintry mix" used for the first time this season yesterday and thought of you.

Shavua tov.

[magid.livejournal.com]

I haven't been to Market Basket in too long, obviously. And while I'm definitely not going to be dogmatic about organic, the most recent opinions have been about how worthwhile it is to get organic root veggies, because they absorb directly from the soil. YMMV, of course.

Currentlee has a canning book with lots of pickle recipes; I don't have the precise measurements here. The general process was to boil the veggies in a solution of vinegar and sugar and spices (different proportions for each batch), then can. The beets were boiled in advance, then peeled and cut, because they were too large otherwise. Had it been spring with little tiny beets, they would've been fine whole. The onions were sliced into half rings.

I am not ready for wintry mix!

Shavua tov.

[gingicat]

Sounds yummy. :)

[magid.livejournal.com]

:-)
Thanks.