Lake Lure Cottage Kitchen

With Thanksgiving approaching, I wanted to share a few dishes that have been on my table and on my blog in the past years.  These are recipes that have worked well for me and I am sure they will add a special punch to your usual menu.  Notice that I am not including a recipe for turkey.  I would not presume to tell you how to cook your turkey.  Everyone has their personal idea of the best way to do that.  Let’s start with appetizers.  Because there is a huge meal waiting in the kitchen, appetizers should be light.  These Candied Spiced Almonds require a little attention upfront, but can be made way in advance.

I always love homemade savory shortbread crackers and the addition of dried cranberries to these appetizer rounds make them perfect for the holidays.  The recipe for these Chipotle Cheddar Cranberry Nut Wafers can be found here.

If you prefer your sweet potatoes as a first course, this Creamy Sweet Potato Soup is sure to be a hit. It is easy too.  The sweet potatoes are cooked in the microwave and the mixture comes together smoothly with an immersion blender, although you could puree it in a blender or food processor.

Leek and Artichoke Bread Pudding makes a great dressing if you do not stuff your bird.  It is an Ina Garten recipe and you can make it ahead of time.  Bacon can be substituted for the pancetta or you can leave it out all together if you have vegetarians at the table.

This Cranberry-Lime Chutney is definitely a new take on cranberry sauce.  It is a combination of fresh cranberries, lime, apples, onion, raisins, pecans, and lots of spices.  It is best made ahead of time.

Instead of a green bean casserole, try these Green Beans Gremolata.  This dish is best made with the thin French Haricot Vert.  They have been readily available in several supermarkets that I visit.  They are usually found in a cellophane bag. The beans are cooked quickly and then tossed in a mixture of garlic, parsley, parmesan and pine nuts.

This Maple Glazed Acorn Squash with Sausage, Apple and Sage could almost be a meal on its own.  But it would certainly look pretty on the Thanksgiving table.

Instead of an apple pie you could make an Apple Bundt Cake.  This spice cake with a caramel frosting is a snap to make and there is a good tip on how to turn your cake out of the bundt pan easily.

If you are in a hurry you could make this Pumpkin Dump Cake.  For a while this cake was on my DIL’s family Thanksgiving table every year.  I first made it for Kristen for her birthday and she loved it so much that she shared it with her family.  They adopted it for Thanksgiving.

Instead of that apple pie you could make this free form Apple Crostata.  This is one of my favorite desserts.

Enjoy the preparations and fun of the Thanksgiving holiday.

I decided to make a dessert with what I had on hand.  I don’t often use canned pie filling, but at Christmas time I bought a can of raspberry pie filling to make a breakfast pastry.  I never got around to using that recipe; can’t even find it now.   The can of raspberry pie filling has been sitting in my pantry for a while now.  One of my favorite desserts is Ina Garten’s Apple Crostata.  Why couldn’t I substitute raspberry pie filling for the apples?     It sounded like a winner to me.

Just don’t expect it to look like this apple crostata above.  You see, I neglected to take into consideration that the apples were raw and not juicy when added to the pastry circle.  They released their juices while baking but never became runny.  The canned raspberry was juicy from the beginning.  It resulted in leakage and expansion.

Thank goodness I baked the tart on parchment paper.  It was easy to clean up the errant juices.  As a matter of fact, this tasted really good.  So here is my mistake in all of its messy glory.  I’ve had two pieces so far.  Next time I think I will bake it in a pie pan.  The canned raspberry pie filling has potential.

RASPBERRY TART

For the Pastry:
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/8 cup sugar
1/4 tsp salt
4 Tbls. cold butter
4 Tbls. vegetable shortening
2 Tbls. ice water

For the Filling and Topping:

1 18 ounce can of raspberry pie filling

1/4 cup flour
1/4 cup sugar
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp cinnamon
4 Tbls cold butter, diced
1/4 cup sliced or slivered almonds

Preheat oven to 450 degrees F.

For the pastry, place the flour, sugar, and salt in the bowl of a food processor fitted with a steel blade.  Pulse a few times to combine.  Add the butter and toss quickly with your fingers to coat each cube of butter with the flour.  Pulse 12 to 15 times, or until the butter is the size of peas.  With the motor running, add the 2 Tablespoons of ice water all at once through the feed tube.  Keep hitting the pulse button to combine, but stop the machine just before the dough comes together.  Turn the dough out onto a well-floured board and form into a disk.  Wrap with plastic and refrigerate for at least an hour.

Roll the pastry into an 11-inch circle on a lightly floured surface.  Transfer it to a baking sheet lined with parchment paper.  Alternately, place in a 9″ pie pan, trim and flute the edges.  If cooking on the parchment paper, add the pie filling to the center of the pastry circle leaving a 1 1/2 ” border.  Fold the edges up over the pie filling, pleating as you go.

Combine the flour, sugar, salt, and cinnamon in the bowl of a food processor fitted with a steel blade.  Add the butter and pulse until the mixture is crumbly.  Pour into a bowl, add the almonds and rub it with your fingers until it starts holding together.  Sprinkle evenly on the pie filling whether on parchment paper or in the pie shell.

Bake the tart in the hot oven for 20 to 25 minutes.  Remove and cool before serving.

Printable recipe