People like to join tribes whenever possible; it's in our DNA, with modern versions including Cowboys v. everyone else, Yankees v. Redsox, CSI v. NCIS and the two guys from Twilight whom I am proud to say that I do not know their names. When it comes to Thanksgiving, people break into mashed v. sweet potatoes and pumpkin v. pecan pie (I personally am a mashed/pumpkin guy). When it comes to stuffing, I think people are less confrontational, but we do know what we like. Options include cornbread, oyster and tradtional, etc. Me, I'm a traditional stuffing person with my favorite being sausage apple stuffing. I also like to throw in chestnuts for a seasonal touch. There is nothing special about the recipes, just pick a good one and start a tradition. Here is one I use from Epicurious. Enjoy and do try to eat as much as you can on Thanksgiving Day!
Ingredients:
2 tbsp vegetable oil
1 lb Italian sausage, sweet or spicy, skin removed
1 cup diced celery
1 cup diced onions
1 cup chopped chestnuts (from a jar is fine)
1 cup peeled cored granny smith apple
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 tbsp fresh parsely, chopped
1 bay leaf
8 cups 1-inch cubed french bread
1 cup whole milk
1 cup low-salt chicken broth
2 tbsp butter, melted
3 large eggs, beaten
Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Heat oil in heavy, large skillet over medium heat. Add sausage, breaking into pieces with a spoon, and saute until cooked through and brown, about 8 minutes. Using slotted spoon, transfer sausage to large bowl. Add celery and next 7 ingredients to skillet. Saute over medium heat until vegetables are soft, about 5 minutes. Discard bay leaf. Return sausage to mixture. Butter a 13x9x2 inch baking dish. Add bread to sausage mixture. Whisk milk, broth, and butter in bowl to blend. Mix into stuffing, season stuffing with salt and pepper. Mix in eggs, transfer to prepared dish and bake uncovered until cooked through and brown, about 50 minutes.
Today at work was holiday season meal #1. Because let’s be honest, the temptations of the holiday season are all but limited to Thanksgiving and Christmas meals.
Our work place hosted a pot luck Thanksgiving meal and let’s just say there was an abundance of temptations. While I showed up with my salad with Honey Goat Cheese dressing, others showed up with the classics: candied sweet potatoes, homemade mac’n cheese, cranberries, green beans, corn casserole, mashed potatoes, homemade hot rolls, turkey, dressing, pecan pie, pumpkin pie, and coconut pie. Morning meetings could not get over quickly enough. Once the line formed for the buffet, it took all the will-power in me to keep from cutting to the front of the line or physically scooting along the slow-poke in front of me. Yummm! Doesn’t food always taste better when you’re not the one cooking and cleaning up after it?
In true RD fashion, I tried a little bit of the most eye-catching dishes, and only one dessert: pumpkin pie cheesecake. I forgot to mention that one…but yes, there was pumpkin pie cheesecake and yes, it was as decadent as it sounds. I dug deep and limited to one plate of small portions. After all, negative behaviors cannot be reinforced by the dietitian’s lacking self control!! Just wouldn’t do good things for my street cred, you know?
A lot of my patients dread the holidays because of the implication is has on their waste line. Rest assured, self and all others, the holidays are not a time for expansion! Or guilt!
Here are some tips from your resident dietitian blog friend to get you through this season without any added poundage.
Don’t go hungry.
Hello, this is no different than grocery shopping, folks. Hungry bellies lead to bad decisions in excess. Holiday parties and meals are NO exception.
Bring something to share.
Nine times out of ten, you’re not alone in your healthy-eating indeavors. A lot of your friends, family, and co-workers are also watching something…whether it be their blood pressure, cholesterol, glucose, or weight. Healthy options are always appreciated. Plus, a plug for healthy, tasteful cooking is always a plus!
Limit the damage: calorie-free beverages to the rescue!
Be careful of wasting calories. Beverages are easy ways to send your intake over the top. Opt out of alcohol, or drink in moderation. And drink plenty of water, please! Bring your favorite calorie-free soda or flavored water so that you are able to enjoy a beverage of your choice.
Distance yourself from temptation.
If your family is anything like mine, desserts hang out on the table to taunt us all…nearly demanding second and third helpings. Same goes for appetizers. Put desserts and appetizers away from the crowd to avoid noshing and nibbling. BLT’s add up! Bites, licks, and tastes, that is! If appetizers and desserts are sitting out, position yourself away from the platters and plates. I once heard that you’re out of the “red zone” once you’re 15 feet from food. Make it happen!
Always survey the options.
Have you ever taken too large of portions and ran out of room on your plate before you got half-way through the buffet line? Did you just say to yourself, “Oops! I’ll be back for that next year?” No. You pile your food into a monument of mistake, or come back around for all that you missed.
Before you start filling your plate at meals and parties, see what’s on the menu so that you can prioritize what you want the most. The majority of people enjoy most foods on a Thanksgiving spread, but can pass by quite a bit without feeling at all shafted. Get what you REALLY want and move on.
Wait it out.
If you find yourself wishing for seconds, take a 10-15 minute breather before heading back for more. Have a glass of water and re-assess in a few.
Go with a plate method.
If you’re serious about increasing the nutrition of your meal without the calories, opt for ½ your plate to be filled with vegetables and salad, ¼ to be filled with meat, and ¼ to be filled with potatoes, bread, casserole, etc. This insures you’re getting good balance and lowering the caloric damage of the meal.
Set goals.
Have a plan, write it down, and execute!
Start the day off right…exercise.
While many gyms are closed on holidays, sign up to run a local race or commit to going on a walk or run the morning of a holiday. Starting off the day with exercise can not only help balance caloric intake, but also get the tone set for the day: balance and health.
Don’t lose sight of what the holidays are about.
Whether you celebrate Christmas, Hanukah, Kwanza, or Chrismakah (for any OC fans out there!)…food and feasts are inescapable. Yet, they are NOT the focal point of holidays…or shouldn’t be, anyways. Focus, rather, on family, friends, faith, and fun…food is far secondary to all aforementioned.
Last week I attempted a rather adventurous process with my ingredient of the year, a pig’s head.
After removing the jowels, they were seasoned with salt, pepper, lemon and rosemary and cooked sous vide for about 8 hours. Once cool, the meat was shredded and fat removed from the skin. The shredded meat was then spiced and packed back into the skin, the whole thing rolled up into a crude sausage.
The inspiration was a Tom Kitchin recipe I saw in Coco – crispy on the outside with a hint of teeth sticking crackling and soft within, exactly the way pork should be.
Except it didn’t quite work. As the sausage hit the hot metal of the pan it split quite enthusiastically, the skin popping and sending the filling flying out onto the hob.
The cats ate well for three days.
And I declared that I’d had my fill of porcine head – that it was fun but I’d proved my point and, what’s more, belly is far, far tastier. ‘I can’t be arsed to cook one of these again,’ I uttered as I tipped the last of the snout into the rubbish and waved it goodbye, a piggy little eye looking up at me from the depths of the bin.
Like a true junkie, 48 hours was all it took to renege on my promise.
Brawns and braises and crispy fried ears are all well and good (and sometimes not so good) but it was a tiny transparent slice of charcuterie that convinced me it was worth obtaining just one more head from my butcher.
Guanciale is the perfect halfway point between pancetta – made from belly pork – and lardo, the cured back fat of a particularly chubby variety of pig. It is the cured jowl cut, the name coming from the Italian word guancia, meaning cheek. And it is delicious.
Some say the reason behind the popularity of chocolate is that it melts at body temperature – pop a piece in your mouth and you can feel it gently spreading across the palate as it transforms slowly into a liquid.
For me, charcuterie has the same effect. The fat in top quality cured meats should be near translucent at room temperature and should slowly dissipate once in the mouth leaving just a tiny morsel of intensely flavoured meat to chew on.
Guanciale did just that. It fluttered around the mouth like a delicate angel’s wing but then settled into tasty, porky goodness of the sort I’ve only tasted with the finest and ethereally thin slices of prosciutto.
What’s more, it convinced me that now is the perfect time to attempt some proper meat preservation. It should be ready by Christmas…
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