Giblet Gravy

We've included the liver in our giblet gravy, which gives it a richer flavor. If you simply cannot abide with even a hint of the taste of liver, you can leave it out. Giblet gravy is usually served "chunky", if you want, you can pur?e it for a smoother gravy. One traditional option is the addition of chopped hard boiled eggs to the gravy. If you want to try that, chop up 3 hard boiled eggs finely, and add them to the gravy in step 5.

1 Heat the butter in a 2-quart saucepan on medium-high heat. When hot, add the giblets to the pan. Brown them on all sides.

2 Add the onion, celery and carrot and saut? until the onions turn translucent, about 3-5 minutes. Add the garlic and saut? another minute. Add the bay leaf, thyme and water. Bring to a simmer. Lower the heat, partially cover so that some steam escapes, and cook on a low simmer for several hours, while the turkey (or chicken) is cooking.

3 Once the bird is close to being done, strain the giblets and stock through a fine mesh sieve into a bowl. Set aside the stock. Remove the giblets from the sieve. Finely mince the giblet meat. If you want, you can pull some of the meat off of the neck and mince that as well.

4 Once the bird is done, move it to a cutting board to let it rest. Pour off the excess fat (all but a tablespoon or two) from the roasting pan. Set the roasting pan over two burners of the stovetop set over medium heat. Add the flour (or corn starch slurry) and whisk it into the drippings. Stir in the minced giblets. Let cook for a few minutes, stirring while cooking.

5 Add the strained giblet stock to the pan drippings and giblets and mix well to combine. Bring to a boil and stir constantly until the gravy thickens, about 2-3 minutes. Add 1-2 teaspoons of mustard (to taste). Check for salt and add more salt to taste if needed. Serve it as-is, or pur?e the gravy in a blender for a smoother texture.

Yield: Makes about 3 cups of gravy.

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Open Faced Turkey and Gravy Sandwich

The amounts are approximate, we never measure.

1 Heat gravy in a skillet until bubbly. If the gravy is too thick, thin with a little stock or water.

2 Add pieces of sliced cooked turkey meat to the gravy. Coat with the gravy on all sides and heat until the meat is heated through.

3 Arrange a slice of bread (rustic French or Italian loaf would work great) on a plate. Top with sliced turkey and gravy.

Yield: Serves 4.

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Creamy Green Beans and Mushrooms

I used a combination of 3/4 lb of cremini and 1/4 pound of shiitake mushrooms for this recipe. The ratio of mushrooms to beans is 1:1. If you wanted, you could use all shiitake mushrooms, but use half as much, because they pack so much more flavor.

1 Put 2 quarts of water, salted with 1 tbsp of salt, in a pot to boil while you cut the mushrooms and onions.

2 Heat a large saut? pan on medium high heat. Add the mushrooms to the pan and dry saut? them until they begin to release their water. Sprinkle them with a little salt. Once they have released most of their water, remove them to a bowl and set aside.

3 Add the green beans to the boiling water, and time them for 5 minutes, or until just tender. (No need to defrost frozen beans.)

4 Add butter to the hot saut? pan. Once the butter has melted, add the onions. Cook until the onions are beginning to brown.

5 As soon as the green beans are cooked just tender, strain them. Add the mushrooms to the pan with the onions, then add the green beans.

6 Remove from heat. Stir in the sour cream. Sprinkle with salt and freshly ground black pepper. Taste and add more salt if needed.

Sprinkle with parsley and serve.

Yield: Serves 4 to 8.

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Marc Johns Culinary Prints

Thanksgiving dinner is behind us, and Christmas is a month away. Which means Black Friday, Put-the-Lights-Up Saturday, Buy-a-Tree Sunday, and Cyber Monday are upon us. In our family all the shopping, tree-buying, lights-raising usually happens the day or two before Christmas, which is why my brothers have been known to get socks from me under the tree.* This year I'm hoping to be a little more organized. In fact, I've been thinking about the gift-giving season for months, because I managed to convince, cajole, beg Marc Johns to create a series of culinary themed drawings to make available to you, Simply Recipes readers, as beautiful 8x10 signed, limited edition prints for the ridiculously reasonable price of $20 ea.**

Are you familiar with Marc Johns? He does mostly pen-and-ink drawings, sometimes with a little water color, sometimes with highlighter pens, and sometimes on yellow stickies. His drawings I can best describe as quirky, playful, and even delightfully absurd. He makes inanimate objects say and do things that well, since they are inanimate have no business saying or doing in real life. But this is art. The kind that makes you chuckle.

Wear these oven mitts! Who doesn't want to cook with awesomeness? I think this one would be great for the baker in the family.

Marc's work has been exhibited in New York, San Francisco, Vancouver, and Athens. His drawings have appeared in Wired Magazine, Newsweek, and National Geographic. His book, Serious Drawings is one of my favorite things to gift to my friends. His drawings even can be found as stick-on tattoos.

My broccoli wants a tattoo too.

Wouldn't these prints make fine gifts? Shhhh. Don't tell my friends, or family. It's what they're getting from me this year.

Check out the whole collection in Marc's shop! In addition to the drawings featured here you'll find a vain kitchen utensil and some onions with attitude.

Happy Holidays!

~Elise

*One year I got everyone toothbrushes. I was out of work, and they were very nice toothbrushes.

**Full disclosure, I get NO commission from the sale of these prints. All proceeds go directly to the artist.

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Italian Meatballs

We've used equal amounts of ground beef and ground pork. You could also use a third each of ground beef, pork and veal.

1 Start with the tomato sauce, which will simmer while you prepare the meatballs. Heat olive oil in a large skillet on medium heat. Add the onions, carrots, celery, and parsley. Stir to coat with the oil, reduce the heat to low and cover the pan. Cook for 15 to 20 minutes until the vegetables are soft and cooked through. Remove the cover, add the garlic, and increase the heat to medium high. Cook the garlic for half a minute, then add the tomatoes (if using whole canned, break up with your fingers as you add them to the pan.) Add the tomato paste and basil. Season with salt and pepper. Bring to a low simmer, reduce the heat to low and let cook uncovered until thickened while you prepare the meatballs, 15 to 30 minutes. Pur?e in a blender, or push through a food mill for a smooth consistency. Adjust seasonings.

2 Heat the milk in a small pot until steamy. Turn off the heat, tear the bread into little pieces and soak it in the milk until it partially dissolves. Mash it until you get something that resembles a paste. Turn it out onto a plate to let it cool.

3 In a large bowl, combine the beef, pork, ricotta cheese, grated parmesan, eggs, salt, parsley, oregano, black pepper, garlic cloves and the bread-milk mixture. Mix it well with your hands until it barely combines. Don't overwork the mixture or it will become tough. It is OK to have some discernable bits of bread or meat in the mix; better that than overworked meatballs.

4 Wet your hands and form the meatballs. A traditional size for this sort of meatball is 2-3 inches across, but you can make them any size you want. Once you roll the meatball in your hands, roll it in the flour to give it a good coating. Set each one on a baking sheet as you work. You might need to rinse your hands a few times as you make the meatballs.

5 When all the meatballs are formed, heat olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Brown the meatballs on at least two sides. Don't worry about the center getting cooked through, as you will finish these in the sauce.

6 Once all the meatballs are browned, arrange them in the sauce, turning each one over in the sauce to coat. Cover the pot and simmer gently for 15-20 minutes. Serve with the sauce and pasta or crusty bread. Sprinkle with a little chopped parsley for garnish if you want.

Yield: Makes about 16 meatballs. Serves 8.

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Walnut Maple Pie

Use a dark maple syrup (US grade B) for this recipe if you can. It has a much stronger maple taste than Grade A.

1 Preheat oven to 375?F. In a bowl, mix together the beaten eggs, maple syrup, rum (if using), vanilla extract, melted butter. Sprinkle with flour, salt, cinnamon and nutmeg. Whisk until smooth.

2 Spread the chopped walnuts over the bottom of a prepared pie shell. Pour the maple syrup egg mixture over the walnuts. Place in the preheated oven on the middle rack. Place a cookie sheet on the rack underneath to catch any drippings from the pie crust.

3 Bake at 375?F for 40-45 minutes. After about 20 minutes (about halfway through the baking), you may want to tent the pie crust edges with foil, or use a pie protector, so that the edges don't get burnt.

By the way, don't worry if the surface of the pie "cracks" while cooking. The pie filling will puff up while hot (because of the eggs), and then deflate while it cools.

4 Remove from the oven and let cool completely before serving.

Yield: Makes 8 servings.

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Duchess Potatoes

You can easily scale up this recipe. To make ahead for a dinner party, just prepare the mashed potatoes, pipe them and refrigerate. Put them in a 425?F oven 20 minutes before serving to brown.

1 Place potatoes in a medium to large pot (3 qt) and cover with a couple inches of cold water. Add a couple teaspoons of salt to the water. Bring to a simmer and cook until the potatoes are tender (the tines of a fork easily pierce), about 20-25 minutes.

2 While the potatoes are boiling, melt 2 tablespoons of butter and set aside. You will use this butter to coat the potatoes right before they go in the oven. Preheat the oven to 425?.

3 When the potatoes are cooked, drain in a colander and put the potatoes back in the pot set over low heat. Allow them to release steam for a minute or so. Add 2 tablespoons of butter and mash the potatoes until the butter has been incorporated. Add the nutmeg, black pepper, heavy cream and continue mashing the potatoes. Once everything is incorporated, add salt to taste and the egg yolks. Continue to mash until the mixture is smooth. Do not over-mash or your potatoes will end up with a gluey consistency.

4 Using a piping bag with a large star point, pipe the potatoes onto a cookie sheet. Alternatively, you can just fill a casserole dish with the mashed potatoes, and use a fork to create lots of peaks on the surface. The swirled edges from the star-point piping bag forms or the peaks of mashed potatoes in a casserole dish will brown nicely in the oven. The browned parts taste great, so you want to maximize them. Whether you make piped portions or a casserole, paint the potatoes with the melted butter. Bake in the 425?F oven until nicely browned, about 20 minutes.

Yield: Serves 4-6 as a side dish.

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