The Bitten Word

Thanksgiving 2016: Earl Grey–Bourbon Punch

Bon Appétit (November 2016)

Things to Talk About This Thanksgiving Other Than Politics:

• A December 2016 Bucket List: What do you really want to accomplish before the end of the year?
  
  
• The best book you read this year. (For Zach it was the new Maria Semple: Today Will Be Different. For Clay, it was Modern Lovers.) 
  
  
• Things you and yours might do instead of exchanging a bunch of gifts at Christmas this year. 
  
  
• Fantasy punch recipes. Use this framework: One part sour, two parts sweet, three parts strong, four parts weak
  
  
• What's happening on Westworld (Seriously: what IS happening on Westworld? We're not really sure. And the punch will not help this particular problem.)
   
• How delicious this punch is. Seriously, isn't it good? It's smooth and sweet and tart all at once. (Just don't serve too much of it. Your guests might start talking about politics.) 

 

Rosé Vermouth

Food & Wine (April 2016) 

We first wrote about vermouth after our trip to Spain last year. It was the first time we'd ever seen people drinking it as a standalone beverage rather than as an ingredient in a more complicated cocktail.

We loved the vermouth we drank in Spain: Bitter and herbal and slightly sweet, it was incredibly refreshing served alone, over ice.

Back then, we predicted that vermouth might become our drink of the summer. And it sort of did: We found a D.C.-made vermouth that we really enjoy. It's called Capitoline -- we fell in love first with the label and then, in short order, with the drink itself. 

When we saw a recipe in the latest Food & Wine for a make-at-home vermouth, we wanted to try it for ourselves. 

First things first: Where were we going to find wormwood root?

Thanksgiving 2015: Sparkling Celery Gimlets

Martha Stewart Living (November 2015)

Each year we've had a Fakesgiving, we've kicked off the festivities with a cocktail. Typically, we go for a punch. Our reasoning is this: When guests are arrived, we are typically frantic with last minute cooking. After all, cooking 20 dishes for more than 20 guests is no easy task, and there are only so many things that one can do ahead. Serving a special cocktail is a way to keep everybody happy while the two of us run around like crazy people finishing the meal.

But this year, things were different. We were calm. We were cool. We were collected. And by the time guests arrived, we were largely done with the cooking. A Fakesgiving miracle! (Well, a Fakesgiving miracle made possible by Zach's sister Cassidy, who played sous chef again this year.) 

So rather than sweating it out in the kitchen, we were standing in our living room, talking to guests like we didn't have a care in the world. 

And we were sipping Sparkling Celery Gimlets. 

The 2015 Thanksgiving Index: All This Year's Food Magazine Recipes in One Handy Place

220 Thanksgiving Recipes from 10 Leading Food Magazines

Yesterday, we were all about the trends, sharing what's in and what's out for this year's Thanksgiving feast.

Today, it's all about the recipes. Below, we've categorized all 220 recipes from the 10 magazines we're tracking this year.

Of course, the November issues of these magazines feature many more recipes than this -- in order to make this list, the recipe had to be part of an explicit feature about Thanksgiving. (If a recipe doesn't have a hyperlink, it means it isn't yet available online.) 

Explore the list and share your thoughts: What sounds amazing? What sounds too wacky for your table? What might you try for this year's feast? Let us know in the comments -- and happy cooking! 

 

TURKEYS

Porchetta-Style Roast Turkey Breast (Bon Appétit)
Barbecue Spice–Brined Grilled Turkey (Bon Appétit)
Glazed and Lacquered Roast Turkey (Bon Appétit)
Two-Hour Turkey with Gravy (Cook's Country)
Applewood-Smoked Turkey  (Cooking Light)
Brown Sugar–Cured Turkey with Apple-Bourbon Gravy  (Cooking Light)
Rosemary-Orange Roast Turkey  (Cooking Light)
Citrus-Herb Roast Turkey & Gravy (Fine Cooking)
Chipotle-Butter Turkey (Food & Wine)
Citrus-and-Butter Turkey (Food & Wine)
Porchetta-Spiced Turkey with Pan Gravy (Food & Wine)
Roast Turkey with Polenta Stuffing (Food & Wine)
Soy-and-Sesame Turkey (Food & Wine)
Maple-Whiskey Turkey (Food Network)
Classic Roast Turkey (Food Network)
Lemon-Pepper Turkey with Bacon Gravy (Food Network)
Southwestern Turkey with Chipotle Gravy (Food Network) 
Herbed Turkey (Martha Stewart Living)
Molasses-and-Cider-Glazed Turkey (Martha Stewart Living)
Tamarind-Glazed Roast Turkey (Saveur)
Slow Smoked and Spice-Brined Turkey (Saveur)
Dry-Brined-and-Marinated Smoked Turkey (Southern Living) 

 

GRAVY

Gravy-Braised Turkey Legs with Cipolline Onions (Bon Appétit)
Classic Turkey Gravy with Thyme (Bon Appétit)
Maple-Whiskey Gravy (Food Network)
Classic Gravy (Food Network) 
Make-Ahead Turkey Gravy  (Cooking Light)
Make-Ahead Gravy (Southern Living) 

 

 

Switchel

Cook's Country (August/September 2015)

We're not sure if #TBT (Throw Back Thursday) is still a thing, but it's Thursday, and we're here to continue our old-timey drink kick.

It started with the Concord Grape Shrub we tried from Bon Appétit, a sharp but sweet concoction that we turned into a cocktail. 

Then we were leafing through Cook's Country, and way in the back of the magazine, where readers share Heirloom Recipes (share yours!), we saw Harriet's submission for a Switchel, a recipe she got from her grandfather. 

They're both equally fun to say, but what's the difference between a shrub and a switchel? Based on what we've read, it seems that both drinks have similar ingredients -- including vinegar -- shrubs incorporate fruit for flavor. Switchels, on the other hand, use a sweetener -- in this case, maple syrup -- in place of fruit to balance out their flavors. 

But there was one more ingredient in this switchel that made us do a double-take: oats. 

Concord Grape Shrub

Bon Appétit (September 2015) 

 

Grape soda.

Do you have fond memories of it as a kid? Neither of us drank it all that much, but it still strikes a nostalgic chord. All of those candy-colored, sugary-sweet soft drinks -- grape, orange, cherry, lemon-lime -- take us back to slip-n-slides, Blockbuster nights at home, and grade-school pizza parties.

In absolutely the best way.

So there was a hint of childhood memories as we made the base for this sweet, grapey cocktail.

But there are a couple things about this drink that make it decidedly not for kids. The vodka, obviously.

But also? Vinegar.

The Best Things We Drank in Spain

What, you thought we drank water with all of that great food?

  

 

Vermouth

We've never given much thought to vermouth. For us, it's mostly just that thing you put in a Manhattan. The idea of actually drinking vermouth just never really occurred to us.

But we became obsessed with it in Spain. On our first full day in Barcelona, we strolled through an outdoor food market, and there was a vendor selling 2-euro glasses of it. Several Spaniards were lined up for it, so we did the only culturally sensitive thing possible: We got ourselves a glass. 

Many other glasses followed over the next 10 days. A few things we learned: Vermouth is a very traditional drink in Spain, usually as an afternoon apertif, and it's currently experiencing a renaissance. (Another fun fact: It's from the same German word as "wormwood," which was a common ingredient in vermouth a century ago.)

It's typically served over ice, with a tiny splash of soda and a twist of lemon. In older bars in Spain, you'll see huge barrels behind the bar marked "Vermut," with metal spigots for the bartenders to fill your glass.

It's delightful. Cool, refreshing, slightly bitter. We just might make it our drink of the summer.

Clay samples the goods.

 

The 10 Best Food Magazine Recipes We Made in 2014 -- Plus Our 5 Other Favorite Dishes

   

    

   

Happy New Year, Bittens!

We are so excited to start cooking in 2015!  But first let's take a quick look back at 2014.

In our ongoing quest to test-drive food magazine recipes, we tried out a lot of dishes last year. Some were good; some were duds. Here are the best things we made all year long, in chronological order. First up are our favorite food magazine recipes, followed by a few other favorites from last year.

 

The 10 Best Food Magazine Recipes from 2014...

1. Pork and Squash Stew with Chiles 
Tender bites of pork in a savory broth with a warm, comforting heat. It's the perfect dish for winter -- and, as we wrote back in February, an ideal make-ahead dish. 

 

2. Herbed Faux-tisserie Chicken and Potatoes
We have roasted a LOT of chickens in our day. This one is absolutely one of the top three ever.

 

3. New Orleans–Style BBQ Shrimp
Spicy and buttery and delicious. The next-best thing to actually going to New Orleans.

 

4. Edamame-Miso Tuna Salad Sandwiches
This is probably the one dish we've made the most since posting about it last year. The mix of miso, hot chile oil and edamame is a great new spin on tuna salad. We've made this (especially for lunch to take to work) more times than we can count.

 

5. Ayam Jeruk (Grilled Chicken and Toasted Coconut Salad)
We debated whether to include this dish in our year-end roundup, because we'd made so many substitutions in the recipe. But who cares? This dish was to die for, and we're sure it's even better if you can find fresh galangal. And shaved coconut. And candelnuts. And Asian shallots. And Balinese long peppers...

 

6. Asian Marinated Tomatoes 
These tomatoes are really more of an accompaniment or a condiment than a stand-alone dish. But they're marvelous. If we may quote our own post from last summer: "Imagine if a bowl of salsa spent a semester abroad in Thailand, and got really into meditation and mystic Buddhism and lemongrass, and then came home and hopped up on your grilled chicken." Who doesn't want that??

 

7. Spiced Lamb Burgers
Nothing we made last year was as drool-worthy as these lamb burgers. As we said back in July, "The lamb is flavorful and full of wonderful spice from the coriander, cumin and cinnamon. The fat from the lamb melts into the pitas, soaking them with flavor and making them crispy and amazing." If you're not salivating at that, there may be something wrong with you.

 

8. Vietnamese Pork Chops with Pickled Watermelon
In August, we solidly declared this the "DISH. OF. THE. SUMMER."  We stand by that. This salty/savory/sour/sweet/pungent/crispy/juicy dish is everything you want in a grilled entree.

 

9. The Barefoot Contessa's Goat Cheese Mashed Potatoes
It's highly possible that no dish we've featured has ever elicited a greater response than these potatoes that we made for our Fakesgiving test-run of recipes. We heard from countless -- countless! -- friends and family and Bitten Word readers who made these for Thanksgiving. And just about everyone has told us these are the best mashed potatoes they've ever made.  

 

10. Maple Syrup Pie with Crème Fraîche
This delicious pie was the crowd favorite at our Fakesgiving meal this past year. We could eat it morning, noon and night. 

 

... Plus 5 More of Our Faves.

 

Thanksgiving 2014: 2 Birds 1 Stone Knockout Bourbon Punch

Garden & Gun (October/November 2014)

Earlier this week we shared one of our best Thanksgiving stalling-tactics to buy you some time while you get food on the table: serve a soup or a salad. 

That goes hand-in-hand with another tip for keeping a large crowd at bay: Have a beverage ready for guests as they arrive. We don't know about you, but we just aren't not the kind of hosts who invite a bunch of people over, and then make craft cocktails for each person. The stuffing is burning; the carrots are dry; the gravy needs a stir; and we need guests to be able to serve themselves a libation. 

That's why a punch is such a great way to kick off a party. Set out in a big punch bowl, a pre-dinner drink like this Knockout Bourbon Punch is not only beautiful, it's also festive. 

Just heed the warning of our friend Ed...

Iced Almond-Macadamia Milk Latte

Is This The Best Iced Latte in America? The New York Times Thinks So

"Have you tried it?!"

"Tried what?

"The Best Iced Latte in America! Have you tried it??"

We were at a friend's art gallery opening a couple weeks ago, and our friend Trevor grabbed us by the arm, eager to know if we had sampled this apparently life-changing beverage. 

What beverage was Trevor referring to? The Iced Almond-Macadamia Milk Latte that had recently been featured in the New York Times. We'd been vaguely aware of having seen it online, but we hadn't actually read the story.

"It sounds amazing," Trevor told us. "You guys should try it and report back."

So we tried it.

And we're reporting back.

And you know what? It is amazing!