The Bitten Word

Cinnamon Polenta Pancakes

Food & Wine (December 2009)

Well, we're done with all our Thanksgiving cooking, and we've cleaned out all the leftovers. Our Christmas tree is trimmed. We've hauled out the holly and decked the halls.

In short, we're in full-tilt holiday mode around here.

Which is why we thought these pancakes sounded so delicious. Hearty cornmeal hotcakes warmed by the comforting taste of cinnamon seemed like the perfect, homey indulgence on a gray wintry morning.

We wanted these pancakes to be really special. Unfortunately, we got a big ol' plate of "meh."

The Bitten Word's Day-After-Thanksgiving Kentucky Hot Brown

A Bitten Word Recipe

Washingtonian magazine contacted us a few weeks ago, asking for ideas about what to do with Thanksgiving day leftovers.  Go over to their site to check out our contribution and see recipes from other Washington, DC food bloggers. 

As proud Southerners, we both anticipate the day after Thanksgiving as much as the big feast itself. Why? Kentucky Hot Browns. Clay grew up in Kentucky, and hot browns were a post-Thanksgiving staple in Zach's Tennessee family, as well. This open-faced sandwich takes the Thanksgiving turkey, tops it with bacon and tomatoes, and drenches the whole thing in a warm, gooey, cheesy Mornay sauce. It's not only a great way to transform leftover turkey, it might actually be better than the whole Thanksgiving dinner!

Send Us Your Thanksgiving Photos! Plus: Our Last-Minute Tips

If you're making a dish out of a food magazine this year, we'd love to hear about it! Send us a picture of your dish and a few sentences about how it turned out and we'll feature a collection of reader submissions here on the blog. 

With the big day upon us, there's no shortage of Thanksgiving advice.  Magazines are giving it, your coworkers are giving it, and your mother-in-law is definitely giving it.

Regardless, here are a few things we find useful in putting together a big meal that hopefully can be of help to you, too.

Thanksgiving 2009: Spatchcocked Turkey Video Demo

Lots of people have written us about our recent post on spatchcocking a turkey for Thanksgiving. They've told us they love the idea, but they're not sure exactly how to cut the bird so that it will lie flat.

So we thought we'd show you. Ladies and gentlemen, the first-ever Bitten Word video!

Thanksgiving 2009: Steamed Persimmon Pudding with Cinnamon Crème Anglaise

Bon Appétit (November 2009)

In selecting recipes to try out prior to Thanksgiving, we definitely wanted to choose some dishes that were outside our comfort zone. These could be either things we wouldn't typically make for a Thanksgiving meal, like an Oyster Casserole, or dishes that seemed challenging.

Well, we met our match with this recipe for Steamed Persimmon Pudding.

Truly, this may be a recipe worthy of MacGyver.

Thanksgiving 2009: Beet Chutney

Bon Appétit (November 2009)

 

If our Jellied Cranberry Sauce was a country club debutante, and our Nutty Cranberry Relish was the same girl with messy hair and artsy jewelry, then this Beet Chutney is that girl's wild and worldly best friend, the one who used to get drunk and dance on tables but now has shaved her head and joined an ashram.

Thanksgiving 2009: Oyster Casserole

Gourmet (November 2009)

 
We've always been curious about the idea of a classic oyster stuffing for Thanksgiving. We'd always heard of it, but neither of us had ever eaten one.

Technically, we supposed we still haven't. This Oyster Casserole, from Gourmet magazine's final issue, is a richer, creamier, more custard-like take on traditional oyster dressing. But who are we to nitpick?

To be honest, we were a little unsure about this Oyster Casserole. Like olives, cod and wasabi, oysters seem a bit out of place at the Thanksgiving table.

Thanksgiving 2009: Green Beans and Walnuts with Lemon Vinaigrette

Bon Appétit (November 2009)

If you're like us, your Thanksgiving menu may start to look heavy on the stuffings, puddings and potato dishes, and light on the greens.

It's a predicament we run into year after year. The Thanksgiving dishes we're most drawn to are often the most starchy, and it's not because we don't love vegetables. We adore them!  But Thanksgiving memories are made of corn pudding and delicious stuffing. 

Though green vegetables may seem like a Thanksgiving afterthought, these Green Beans and Walnuts with Lemon Vinaigrette are one of the best afterthoughts you can have, and they couldn't be simpler.

Thanksgiving 2009: Nutty Cranberry Relish

Food Network Magazine (November 2009)

As we said before, we just love cranberry sauces. And we really liked the Jellied Cranberry Sauce we tried out earlier. Simple, basic and delicious, it's the sort of polite, restrained gelatin you'd serve at a country-club luncheon.

But we wanted to try something with a little more texture, a little more edge.

If our earlier Jellied Cranberry Sauce was a country-club society girl, this Nutty Cranberry Relish is the society girl who's started mussing up her hair and ditching school to make her own jewelry.

Thanksgiving 2009: Squash Bread Pudding with Rum Sauce

Saveur (November 2009)

One of the more unusual features in this year's crop of Thanksgiving magazines comes from Saveur. In it, Chef Susan Trilling, author of the cookbook Seasons of My Heart, tells about an annual Thanksgiving dinner she throws at her cooking school in Oaxaca, Mexico. 

Last year, 60 people attended the dinner and Trilling asked them to bring dishes that used ingredients native to the New World. It's not your typical holiday fare. The recipes that accompany the article are interesting spins on classic Thanksgiving dishes.

There's a Oaxacan stuffing with chiles, fennel, cumin and prunes, along with sweet potatoes in syrup with guava. We loved idea of these dishes, but the one that really caught our eye was this new spin on bread pudding that incorporates squash.