The Good Plate

Archive for the ‘Fall’ Category

Recipes in this Post

• Cranberry-Riesling Compote
• Grandmother’s Oyster Cornbread Dressing

This year, like last year, I’m going to my friend’s for Thanksgiving, and like last year, I’m bringing something. It’s also my son, Spane’s birthday today, November 21, 2012, and he has requested Chocolate Cake with Mocha Frosting I made for his 7th birthday party. Since his birthday this year is the day before Thanksgiving, he is going to have his birthday party in December – so watch for recipes!

I have talked about going to my Grandmother’s house and wonderful turkey that came out of her Nesco Roaster. My Grandmother always had the best dressing on her table, that my Aunt Flora made every year. It was Oyster Cornbread Dressing, and it is my favorite dressing to prepare.

But, we always had canned cranberry sauce, that I really never liked. I have been making cranberry sauce for years, but today I found a new recipe that I’m going to make this year. It’s from Chef Bryan Voltaggio.

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Recipes in this Post

Ox-tail served over noodles

• Braised Ox Tails

When I was a little girl growing up in Germany, when we had Oxen Shvantz Suppe it was always a real treat. Braised with wine for hours they are tender and juicy. They are wonderful on a cold, rainy winter day.

What are ox tails, you ask? Well, they are the tail of an ox or steer which is cut into 2 to 3 inch pieces. They are very meaty and make a nice gravy, all on their own. How do you eat ox tails? You get most of the meat out with your fork, then you pick the piece up and suck all the goodness out of the bone. A bone bowl is a good thing to have on the table when you are serving ox tails.

When you go to buy ox tails, be sure and get them from a reputable butcher. The bony part should be bright white, the sinew pink, and the meat should be nice and red. I was lucky, my butcher brought out a tail and cut it there in front of me with his incredibly sharp knife. You can’t get any fresher than that.

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Hoppin John on top of Jasmine Rice with Scallion Garnish

Recipes in this Post

• Hoppin John
• Steamed Kale
• Corn Bread with Gold Nuggets

Almost every year, I bake a ham for Christmas so that I can have the bone for New Year’s Day. Of course, this year I roasted a goose, so I had no ham bone. Luckily, my good friend Stevie Lewis, saved me the bone from his family’s Christmas ham. From this bone, I make Hoppin John, and old Southern dish of black-eyed peas, ham, and rice. With it I serve steamed Kale and cornbread.

There is quite the long tradition with this meal. The black-eyed peas are said to represent coins, the kale is green like money, and the cornbread is golden to represent gold. Eating this for New Year’s Day is supposed to bring good fortune for the New Year.

Well, it might not bring any more money into your purse, but it is very economical. It’s a break for all the heavy holiday foods. It’s also very good for you. Black-eyed peas are high in protein, iron, zinc and potassium. Kale has anti-cancer properties. Corn bread, if you don’t put tons on butter on it, is also good for you.

I have been making this meal for years, but alas, the only photo is the one at the top. But, I’ll take pictures when I make it, so if you’re here after January, 2012, there are probably more pictures.

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Recipes in this Post

• Three Pepper Spicy Meatloaf
• Cowboy Salad

A lot of people don’t like meatloaf. I don’t blame them, I hated meatloaf as a child because it was bland and the only thing that was even a tiny bit tasty was the dried ketchup on the top. That all changed when I went to dinner with a friend who raved about the meatloaf and Cowboy salad. I tried it, and I was a convert.

What made this meatloaf different was that it was spicy, and it had little pieces of vegetable inside. I loved it. The restaurant is long gone, but the meatloaf is here to stay.

Of course, the best thing about meatloaf is the sandwiches the next day. Some people heat up the meatloaf, some people, like me, do not. For me, there’s nothing better than a thick slice of cold meatloaf on a slice of crusty sourdough bread, slathered with mayonnaise.

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This is fast becoming a staple Thanksgiving dessert. I don’t like pumpkin pie, and mince-pie is wonderful for Christmas, so this has the one for this holiday. It’s very simple to make with only a few ingredients that you probably already have on hand.

You will want to use Panko bread crumbs, because they are large and very dry. Broken up bread will not absorb enough of the juices to make a nice top on this. Breadcrumbs that come in a can will not work either, as they are too small, and you would just have a cranberry pudding instead of a Brown Betty.

If you like to add things to your cranberry sauce, like pineapple or nuts, you could easily add them to this recipe as well.

Make this for your Holiday table and enjoy the smiles from guests. Enjoy!

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Well, I guess The Good Plate is “poopular” because our old host said we were too busy, so we moved to a new host. Lots of things happened while we were away, and I’ll have to get you all caught up.

We had a wonderful Halloween, and quite the turn out.  I was sick all that week, but I still made Halloween happen.  I cut my hair, and you can see in this photo that I look a little pale.  I was still sick.

But, enough about me, let’s talk about food!  It’s been very cold lately, and I don’t like sending Spane off to school without a warm breakfast.  When he was a toddler, his favorite breakfast was Grape-nuts and milk warmed up, softened, in the microwave.  I don’t like hot cereal, so I never tried it.  Well, after I doctored it up, it was very good.  You have to try this!

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