The Bitten Word

Thanksgiving 2016: French Onion Turkey Breast with Onion Gravy

Cooking Light (November 2016)

"I want to eat this gravy on everything." 

During our Fakesgiving dinner, our friend Will uttered those words to Zach as he dug in to this French Onion Turkey Breast with its delectable onion gravy. 

"Seriously," Will said. "On meat, on toast, on oatmeal. On everything short of, like, a peanut-butter sandwich. No, actually that would also be delicious."

Will is 100 percent right. The onion gravy in this dish -- which isn't even mentioned in the recipe name! -- is one of the most addictively delicious things we've eaten in a long time.

They gravy is phenomenal. It's fabulous.

And p.s.? This may also be the best Thanksgiving turkey we've ever made.

Thanksgiving 2016: Cranberry Chutney with Orange, Figs, and Mustard

Bon Appétit (November 2016)

We had planned to write about this cranberry sauce yesterday. But then election happened and the Internet exploded and cranberry sauce seemed wholly inconsequential and, well, it still does today, but here we are, because life goes on and Thanksgiving approaches and perhaps you need something else to think about.

So here we are: distraction. 

Perhaps you don't care about cranberry sauce this morning. That's fine. The food magazines didn't care about cranberry sauce this year, either. It was a short, and fairly boring list of cranberry sauce options. So we picked out what seemed the most interesting of the lot: this Cranberry Chutney with Orange, Figs, and Mustard.

If you're looking to step up your cranberry sauce game, this is a good option.  

Apple and Sweet-Onion Vinaigrette

adapted from Gourmet (May 2008) 

Novelists steal stories from their friends. Food bloggers steal recipes.

Not too long ago, we had dinner at the home of our friends Shane and Joe. Joe mixes phenomenal cocktails. Shane is an incredibly talented cook. Shane had made an array of Indian dishes, but to start the meal, he served an amazing salad featuring the most wonderfully balanced salad dressing. It was salty and sweet, with an unusual flavor we couldn't quite put our finger on. We loved it, so of course we asked for the recipe. Turns out it's one of Shane's favorite recipes, clipped from a 2008 issue of Gourmet (look it up, kids). Shane graciously shared the recipe with us. And now here we are, sharing it with you.

It's good timing: If you're following us on Instagram, you may know that we're freshly back from Japan (as in we landed a few hours ago, can't sleep, and are writing this post in the wee hours of the morning). And this recipe is based on a famous salad from Natori, a now-defunct Japanese restaurant in New York City's East Village. 

We have loads of things to share with you from Japan. (And so much great food!)

But right now, we're going to go make a batch of this dressing and have a much needed salad. 

Six-Hour Caramelized Onions

When you're letting onions cook for six hours, you think about a lot of stuff.

 

HOUR 1

"Six pounds of onions is a lot. Our dutch oven is nearly full. Will they ever cook down?"

"Broad City can't start soon enough. Less than a month!"

"Could Donald Trump really be the GOP nominee?"

 

HOUR 2

"Tokyo: We're going this spring, towards the end of April. We have to start planning our time there. Do The Bittens have any recommendations?"

"How's Downton Abbey going to end? Will there be a flash-forward? Will we finally learn that Cora is a vampire?"

"Is Transparent our new favorite TV show? Yes." 

 

 

HOUR 3

"We've got to get to New York City for a weekend this spring."

"Good god, these onions smell amazing."

"Will it be 2017 before we see Hamilton? From the look of available tickets, the answer is yes."

"Zach's stepdad is having knee surgery on Monday. Need to call and wish him well!"

 

 

HOUR 4

"This stack of New Yorker magazines isn't going to read itself." 

"Wonder what's getting past its prime in our fridge right now? We've really got to cook some cauliflower."

"Wow there's still a lot of snow on the ground here. And our street hasn't even been plowed." 

"What are we going to do with all these onions? Part of them are for a recipe, but we're going to have a lot left over. Should we make a soup?"

 

 

HOUR 5

"Once the snow is cleared, we should really go see The Revenant. But it sounds like such a chore..."

"You know what was a really good read? Fates and Furies."

"What to read next? When Breath Becomes Air?"

"Wow: Six hours is a really long time."

 

 

HOUR 6

"Should we bake a chocolate cake today?"

"Death, Sex & Money and The Mystery Show are such great podcasts." 

"Why don't we make caramelized onions more often?" 

"Wow, these onions taste incredible!" 

Thanksgiving 2015: Cran-Blueberry Sauce with Candied Ginger

Cooking Light (November 2015)

We all know the traditional story of the first Thanksgiving: The Pilgrims, battered by hardships in the New World, gathered together with their new friends, the proud and noble Native Americans, to share a feast of harvest bounty. They joined hands in spirit of kinship and surveyed the cornucopia laid out before them -- the roast turkey, the plentiful vegetables, the maize.

And then the Puritan Governor William Bradford turned to his newfound brother, Massasoit, the leader of the Wampanoag people, and was like, "You guys think this cranberry sauce could use some blueberries?"

Yes, this cranberry sauce from Cooking Light strives to answer that age-old question, a query that Americans have been pondering since all the way back in 1621: Do blueberries belong on the Thanksgiving table?

We're here to tell you: They don't.

Thanksgiving 2015: Bourbon-Mint Cranberry Sauce

Fine Cooking (October/November 2015)

As you may know, Clay was born and raised in Kentucky. And Kentuckians only need one reason to drink a mint julep: Anything.

Literally, any reason.

On various visits to Kentucky, we've been offered mint juleps at breakfast, or while boarding a bus, or while holding a two-day-old newborn baby.

Seriously, any excuse.

So when we saw that Fine Cooking had taken a traditional cranberry sauce and given it a Derby-day spin, we flagged it immediately.

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) 

 

 

Steak Sauces: Tomato Nam Prik

from The New York Times 

When we were eating our way through Thailand a little while back, we'd find all sorts of things on our plate: raw beef, shaved papaya, sizzling shrimp, spicy noodles.

But there's one thing you can almost bank on seeing every single meal in Thailand, no matter what you order: nam prik.

It literally means "fluid chile," and that's exactly what it is -- a fiery hot chile sauce that's as ubiquitous on Thai tables as salsa at a Mexican restaurant. 

Like salsa verde, nam prik is kind of a catchall term. The sauce can be thick and chunky or thin and pureed. Nam prik can even be a paste or almost dry, like a powder. It can include any number of ingredients -- garlic, lime, onion and, of course, hot chiles. 

What really distinguishes nam prik, though, is that it usually includes dried shrimp or shrimp paste or some other preserved fish. That -- along with fish sauce, which is also a fairly universal ingredient in nam prik -- gives the sauce its telltale funky undertones. (If you're making nam prik, and at some point you recoil from the fermented, fetid odor, congratulations! You're doing it right!)

We're probably making nam prik sound more out there than it really is. Really, it's just a zesty chile salsa with an umami undertone.

And turns out? It's delicious on a steak.

Steak Sauces: Blue Butter

from The New York Times

As much as we enjoyed that Creamed Spinach Sauce, it actually wasn't the first thing we gravitated toward when we initially read Mark Bittman's piece on making steakhouse steak at home. 

This was.

Bittman wrote that of the five steak sauces he came up with for this feature, this was the one he liked the most:

My favorite is what I call ‘‘blue butter,’’ a blend of blue cheese and butter, about which one of my friends said with a sigh, ‘‘I wish I didn’t know about this.’’ 

We really liked the flavor of this blue butter. How could you not? As Bittman said, it's literally a blend of blue cheese and butter, of fat on fat. Those (and salt and pepper) are the only ingredients.

But while we loved the taste, we have to say we found this a little overwhelming in its richness. A couple bites and we were done. It seemed like the kind of thing you would slather on a subpar piece of steak. But we'd painstakingly prepared a (pricey) ribeye, and we wanted a sauce that would complement the taste of the meat, not overpower it.

If you do make this, know that a little goes a very long way. It's heavy and rich and creamy and sharp -- all things we love, for sure. We just weren't in the mood for it.

Maybe it was a seasonal thing? It seemed awfully heavy for a steak in August. Check back with us in January -- we'll probably be slathering this blue butter on everything we can find.

 

Steak Sauces: Creamed Spinach Sauce

from The New York Times

Bittens, we have done you a great disservice.

How in the world -- how in the world?? -- is it possible that we've never talked to you about Keens?

Keens is a steakhouse in New York City. But if you ask us, it's not just a steakhouse, it's the steakhouse. Open since 1885, Keens is housed in a gorgeous series of wood-paneled rooms on West 36th St. in midtown Manhattan. The neighborhood around it has changed, as all neighborhoods do -- most of the restaurants around Keens today are Korean BBQ joints.

Back in the day, Keens was a gentlemen's-only restaurant and bar. Men who frequently ate there could store their tobacco pipes there. More than 90,000 people ultimately were on the roster of the Pipe Club -- men like Teddy Roosevelt, Babe Ruth, Albert Einstein and J.P. Morgan -- and today all of the walls and ceiling of the restaurant are covered with pipes.

The ceiling at Keens (photo from Keens)

 

Anyway, it's the food at Keens that's truly outstanding. There's nothing in the world quite like a rare Keens porterhouse -- perfectly red in the middle and sizzling and crisp on the outside -- with an icy dry martini.

Oh, and some creamed spinach.

You have to get the creamed spinach.