Happy Thanksgiving

Today, 26th November, is Thanksgiving in America and we currently have our hand up the turkeys bum and the stuffing baking in the oven. As some of you know, I’m going to be giving a lot of thanks for the good food, the wine, the nibbles, the cocktails and the great company!  As this will be a holiday, I will not be putting out my usual Friday article as I hope to be rubbing my belly and recovering from Thursday’s over-indulgence. 

 

I did, however, want to post a recipe so that everyone can have a little taste of Thanksgiving, which is essentially the same as Christmas dinner, i.e., a lot of turkey with all the side dishes.  Having spent a year in North Carolina I like to bring out my inner Southern Belle now and again so I'm giving you a recipe for Cornbread as it’s a classic fixin’ in the South.

This dish is simple, quick and you can add in a variety of different ingredients to give your cornbread a different taste.  Here in America they tend to serve this dish with turkey and the trimmings, ala Thanksgiving dinner but it's also great with chili and soups if you’re looking for a satisfying winter supper. 

Happy Thanksgiving Y’all!

Cornbread

Ingredients

225g butter

225g plain flour, sifted

225 g medium yellow cornmeal, or polenta

1 tbsp baking powder

1 tsp salt

125g caster sugar

2 large eggs

475ml milk

Directions

Set the oven to 180C/gas mark 4.  Grease a 23cm round or square tin with butter.

Combine the flour, cornmeal, baking powder and salt in a bowl and make a well in the centre. Pour in the eggs, milk and melted butter. Stir vigorously with a wooden spoon.

If you fancy adding any flavours then add them at this stage.  Great additions are cheese (sharp cheddar works well) or herbs (sage, rosemary and dill are good) or spices (such as paprika, cayenne, red chili).  For recipe inspiration and quantities see http://www.foodnetwork.com

Pour the mixture into the warm baking tin and bake in the oven for 35-40 minutes until risen and golden brown.  Alternatively, grease up a muffin tin and make individual cornbreads.  

The Big MAC!

Macaroni and Cheese, the real big MAC!  I’m going to lay it on the table, I’ve never been a huge fan of mac and cheese and I know that’s sacrilege if you love it.   My cousin Mori loves it and if I think about macaroni then I think about Mori but I love her and I don’t love mac.  Yes its cheese and yes its pasta and normally that would be great but I find it gets a bit dull after a while, I feel the same about risotto, it’s spoonful after spoonful of the same thing and I tire of it quickly.

Since being in America I find that my staunch views about macaroni are changing.  The shift came the other week when I was out for dinner at Mizner Park in Boca Raton (if you’ve never been to this particular part of Florida then the best way to describe it is as Disney World for grown up’s - rich, white grown up’s that valet their Bentleys and Ferrari’s on perfectly landscaped streets).  Each restaurant is dishing out their interpretation of America’s most beloved comfort dish and every celebrity chef and home cook appears to be doing the same.

The dish I had was lobster mac n’ cheese with shards of black truffle, it was sublime, it lifted the dish from comfort food to mouthfuls of indulgence.  Rich yes, but I’ve never been against richness.  Comforting yes but comforting in a cashmere and Swiss chalet sort of way.  Expensive yes but…  I have no rebuttal for that. 

Mac and cheese has been a staple of the American diet for years, according to history it was served at the White House during Thomas Jefferson’s Presidency and it has commanded attention ever since.  Kids and college students eat boxes of the stuff (Kraft sells over a million boxes of mac n’ cheese a day!) Moms serve it for supper, Southerners have it as a side dish with everything, restaurants serving only mac and cheese are popping up all over the Country and pretty much everybody other than Dr Atkins enjoys it on a regular basis. 

A poor economy works to macaroni’s advantage as comfort food is, naturally, comforting in uncertain times and the onslaught of winter helps too.  I think mac and cheese has got into my psyche, writing about it this week and seeing it on menus, TV shows and ad’s has made me long for a dish that I’ve not cared about for years.  If you’re looking for something comforting this weekend pop open a bottle of wine, cook up your favourite mac recipe and stick your feet up.  

For inspiration see: www.foodnetwork.com there are over 200 recipes and varieties! 

If you opt for a American recipe then here is a conversion chart for you as US recipes measure in cups:

1/2 CUP = ¼ pint / 5 fluid ounces / 115 ml / 60 grams

1 CUP = ½ pint / 10 fluid ounces / 285 ml  / 120 grams 

All hail the cupcake!

Ah the glorious cupcake, all soft sponge and delicious icing peeping out of a little cake holder and only a cup-of-a-cake so surely not sinful like a whole SLICE of a cake.  Ah glorious little cupcake how I love thee so.  And apparently I’m not the only one…

On a recent trip to D.C. I gazed in wonder at a queue of people snaking out of the door and down the street from Georgetown Cupcake, everyone waiting in line as if to get their hands on tickets for a major gig, not a bite or two of sponge and icing.  My weekend travels got me thinking, how crazy is this cupcake craze? 

New York City’s Magnolia Bakery gave the cupcake cult status when it was featured on Sex and the City.  The single portion size, nostalgia factor and affordability of this sweet treat have also contributed to the growth of this market that accounts for multi-millions of dollars in America.  Britain, as we know, likes their own slice of the action and the UK market grew by 13.6% in the last year, with an estimated market of £34 million that is made up of supermarket sales, couture cakes and even Greggs the bakers – Scottish high street “bakery” and peddler of the sausage roll and fudge donut combo – got in on the action!

Talking of donuts, when I last lived in the US, back in 2002-03, the delectable Krispy Kreme donut was all the rage and cupcakes were nowhere to be seen, now you can buy a KK in your local supermarket and they’re drier and not as coveted as they used to be, turns out the Krispy Kreme family grew too large and consumers lost their passion for these glazed delights.  

Commentators are divided on the cupcake boom, some believe their prestige will fade like the Krispy Kreme donut, or be overtaken by a new hit, I notice the French macaroon has been making appearances in glossy fashion mags and TV shows such as Gossip Girl, could it be next to the throne?  For the time being, bakers, marketeers and consumer spending would suggest that our appetite for cupcakes hasn’t peaked yet, and on that note, I’m off for my next sugar rush…                    

The above delights are from Cupcake Couture, drool over their site: www.cupcakecoutureusa.com 

or visit one of their locations around the USA. 

I went to a BBQ and a football game broke out!

I have come to the conclusion that one of things I love most about living in America is the emphasis on food.  I write this article in the lull between Halloween and Thanksgiving and I’ve gone from thinking about spooky cookies to juicy turkey as quick as you can say “star spangled banner”.

This is, of course, a marketing ploy constructed by corporate America to sell people things they didn't realise they needed or wanted.  Due to this, a year in the life of an American flows from one event to another; Valentine's Day, to Mardi Gras, to Paddy’s Day, to Easter… and so on and so forth.  For me, that’s an opportunity to think about the year as one party and meal after another! 

Next up is Thanksgiving, and sure it’s about the family, feeling blessed and victory over the British but it’s also about that meal, every delicious course of it and I’m already dreaming about a Southern spectacular.  This year I’ll be giving thanks to the turkey and trimmings, the cornbread, lashing of cranberry sauce and the pecan pie.  Last week, during Halloween, I was lusting after everything with a hint of spiced pumpkin about it: coffee, cream cheese, cakes and cocktails.

I feel the same way about weekend football, (of the American variety) for me those games aren’t about the prowess of the guys on the field but the food on my plate.  I long for those chicken wings doused in buffalo sauce, the side of blue cheese dip, the waffle fries, the cold beers and the cocktail specials.  In fact, falling out of a bar after 4 professional football games and 8 pints of Long Island Iced Tea is fast becoming one of my favorite ways to kick back at the weekend!

Then there is the great art of Tailgating, it’s like one huge party played out in the parking lot before the big game.  Thousands upon thousands of cars and trucks pull up, get their grills (BBQ’s) on and have a giant cook out and its as much a part of the big day as the game itself.

For the time being I’ll be looking forward to Thanksgiving followed by Christmas with a side of Hanukkah thrown in.  On New Years eve we’ll hit the reset button and start anew on another year of events and dining, and seeing as this is America, if you don't go big, you may as well go home!