What is a turkey without sides? A flat turkey.
Ha ha ha. Just kidding. But it IS pretty boring.
The storehouse provides cranberry sauce, olives, and pumpkin for the gluten free among us. Cranberry sauce and olives are self-explanatory (I think... I hope!). The pumpkin can be used with other storehouse ingredients to make a wonderful pumpkin custard, which is what you would put in a pie shell. I will admit that my family splurges a little on this holiday and gets some all-purpose gluten-free flour for pie crusts, rolls, and stuffing. And cornstarch for gravy. It IS a holiday after all. But whether you can splurge or not, you can still have a wonderful feast!
Here are a few recipes for my favorite sides on a storehouse budget.
Mashed Potatoes
2-3 medium russet or large red potatoes per person
Salt
Butter (at least 1/2 cup)
Milk
Sour cream (optional)
Cut the potatoes into chunks, quarters or sixths should be fine. You can peel if you want. I don't usually, because it is more work (I don't have time for that!) and the peel has nutrition in it. But for special occasions, I often will peel them. Bring to a boil in an appropriately sized pot with about 1/2-1 tsp salt per person. Boil for 10-15 minutes, or until the chunks break apart when you poke them with a fork. Drain.
Put the pot back on the burner on the lowest setting. Add back the chunks, top with butter. Start mashing. If it is a particularly large batch (like I have to do ALL the time, ha!), it helps to start mashing half, and then add the rest when you've got the first half mostly mashed.
One fun way to mash potatoes is with a mixer. A stand mixer works best, as it has the most power, but I've used electric beaters with success as well. To do it this way, put the hot potatoes in your mixer bowl or a large mixing bowl and start the machine on low speed. When they break apart, add the butter. When that seems well incorporated, add milk to your desired consistency. This is hard to quantify because it depends on the potatoes and how much butter you use and lots of other things. But just add a couple tablespoonfuls at a time. When everything is added, turn up the speed to the highest you can manage without either killing your machine or splattering the taters everywhere. Voila! Creamy, smooth mashed potatoes. Salt to taste, or leave the salting to the diner.
Au Jus
Meat drippings
Salt to taste
If you can't get any gluten free thickener, you can make a concentrated juice that is also delicious.
Strain the juice and meat drippings through a fine mesh sieve if you can. Pour into saucepan. Bring to a boil. Let boil until the volume is about half of what you had to start. Season to taste, and serve with your meat and potatoes and anything else you want to put it on. He he he.
Pumpkin Custard
I cheat and use the recipe on the can! I did, however, lose the label once, so for good measure, I'll type it up here. All credit goes to the brand on the can. *Non-storehouse ingredient, and quite optional
4 eggs, beaten
1 29 oz can pumpkin
1 1/2 cups sugar
1/2 tsp salt
2 tsps ground cinnamon
1 tsp ginger *
1/2 tsp cloves *
2 12 oz cans evaporated milk
2 pie shells *
Preheat oven to 425 degrees F. Mix ingredients in order given and pour into pie shells (*or any baking dish you desire without a crust). Bake 15 minutes. Reduce heat to 350 degrees F and bake 45 minutes or until knife inserted in center comes out clean. *Another recipe I've used just has you bake it at 375 degrees F for an hour. This might be better for the busier crowd. Do what works for you.
Yummy with ice cream!!!
Bon appetit! And happy Thanksgiving! Tune in Friday for some great ideas for leftovers.
No comments:
Post a Comment