No one is hungry at the end of Thanksgiving dinner, but everyone wants that piece of pumpkin pie or pecan pie—or both.

Here’s a solution: Instead of a pie, serve mini tartlets. One mini tartlet can satisfy, for a fraction of the tummy space and calories of a piece of pie or full-size tart.

While many sources do not make this distinction, a tart is different from a tartlet, which is different from a mini tartlet. The difference is the size; to call everything a tart or every individual size a tarlet is ambiguous.

 
The same pans can be used to make quiche.

Our favorite holiday time-saver is to use two NIBBLE Top Picks Of The Week: the delicious mini tartlet shells from Clearbrook Farms filled with the wonderful pecan-pie-in-a-jar from San Saba River Pecan Company. (This is also one of our favorite party favors and small gifts—we order it by the case.)

You can also fill the mini-tartlets with pumpkin, apple or other favorite.

If you want to make your mini tarts from scratch, here are two recipes:

Certified Angus Beef and the CAB Logo. Photo courtesy Certfied Angus Beef, LLC.

Chef Johnny Gnall went “back to the farm” recently, to observe the production of Certified Angus Beef. His report follows. If you have questions or ideas for other articles, email Chef Johnny.

I was recently invited with other journalists to spend a few days in Wooster, Ohio, home to the headquarters of Certified Angus Beef, LLC (CAB), to get an in-depth look at Angus production.

From birth to butcher block, CAB takes great care to ensure that their Certified Angus cattle, and the beef they produce, meet rigorous standards and are handled properly, humanely and safely.

Angus is a breed of cattle;* there is much Angus meat to be had in grocery stores and restaurants. But 51% of Angus genes is all that’s required to call beef Angus or Black Angus There are no other standards that ensure flavorful meat, humanely produced.

Hence the formation of the nonprofit CAB, which aims to educate consumers and chefs about the Certified Angus Beef™ trademarked brand and how its ranchers strive to keep the bar high on the Angus production.

While there is plenty of less responsible beef production in America and elsewhere, there are also plenty of dedicated people, ranches and organizations with a mission to provide the alternative: cattle that are humanely raised, healthful and ultimately sustainable for man and beast.
 
WHAT IS CERTIFIED ANGUS BEEF?

Only 12% of all Angus cattle make the cut to become Certified Angus Beef, after passing through a set of stringent criteria. From feed, to age, to marbling, the beef that gets the CAB stamp gives consumers the assurance that what they are eating is of high quality in both tenderness and flavor.

Visiting one of the CAB ranches outside Wooster, we observed firsthand the time, cost, and human care that goes into the ranching of Certified Angus Beef cattle. The feed, health and overall comfort of the animals are carefully monitored.

After all, happy cattle make tasty steaks. If you’d like to see the operations for yourself, there are CAB ranches in all 50 states. Head to the organization’s website to find a ranch in your area.

Once we butchered some specific cuts, we traded butcher coats for chef coats and took the beef to the kitchen. In particular, we were working with the subscapularis muscle, commonly called Vegas steak, and teres major, commonly called bistro filet or hanger steak.

HOW TO COOK VEGAS STEAK

The Vegas steak is similar in shape to a Flatiron steak, but smaller; very thin and lean, it can easily get tough if not cooked properly. This is why there were a number of high-profile chefs in our group: It was their job to experiment with the cuts and find out which cooking methods worked best to bring out optimal flavor and tenderness.

Angus cattle. Photo by Scott Bauer | US Agricultural Research Service.

With the Vegas Steak, the chefs tried oil and butter basting, stir frying, even wrapping the beef in caul fat.

But in the end, the only successful foil to the toughness was marinating the steak and cooking it sous vide (pronounced soo VEED).

While most home cooks won’t have access to a sous vide water bath (THE NIBBLE has two of them!), marinating the steak overnight with some acid and fat (try olive oil, red wine, garlic and rosemary), then giving it a two-to-three-minute sear on each side, should do the trick.
HOW TO COOK BISTRO STEAK/HANGER STEAK

As for the teres major (which is cheaper than genuine tenderloin and still quite tender), try rubbing it with a paste made of chopped herbs, room temperature butter, kosher salt and fresh cracked pepper, then searing and roasting it. You’ll get a lovely, aromatic crust.

Both of these cuts are currently under-marketed, which means if you can get them, they will be cheaper than other, more popular steaks. Keep an eye out for them, and if you visit a real butcher shop (independent butchers are a disappearing lot of craftsmen), ask about them.

See all the cuts of beef in our Beef Glossary.

ASK & YOU SHALL RECEIVE

Ask your butcher about the recommended methods of cooking for any cut you buy, as well as where your steak came from.

 
Educate yourself; the information is out there. It’s something of importance that we can all sink our teeth into.
 
*Angus cattle are a breed native to the counties of Aberdeenshire and Angus in Scotland. They are known as Aberdeen Angus in most parts of the world. In the U.S., they are frequently crossbred with Hereford cattle, retaining the black color. They can legally be called Angus if 51% or more of the genes are Angus.

It’s rare, it’s expensive, it’s exciting: Samuel
Adams Utopias. Photo courtesy Boston
Brewing Company.

At a suggested retail price of $160, you probably can’t give it as a gift to all your beer-loving friends; but connoisseurs of craft beer will really appreciate a taste. Buy a bottle and invite them for a sip.

This is no burger-and-pizza beer. Utopias is best enjoyed at room temperature in a snifter, as an after dinner drink like port or cognac. In fact, company founder Jim Koch considers Utopias to be on a par with the very best ports, cognacs and sherries.

Packaged in a brew-kettle-style decanter, Utopias contains between 28% and 30% alcohol by volume (ABV). The purpose is not to break the beer alcohol barrier, says Koch, but “to make a wonderful, unique beverage.”

The concept for Utopias developed 20 years ago, as the company sought to push the boundaries of ABV by creating a triple bock beer, with more intensity and alcohol than double bock beer. (Dopplebock is German for extra-strong, a beer of about 7.5% alcohol by volume, or stronger, and commercial beers had not been made beyond a ceiling of 14%).

In addition to higher alcohol, the flavors of Utopias are greatly deepened by wood aging. The barrels used for aging are considered an ingredient, and individual barrels are hand-selected as carefully as hops, for flavor level. After years of experimentation with different woods (bourbon barrels, scotch barrels, etc.), the brewers decided that rum barrels provide the most desired flavors for this beer.

The 2012 tenth anniversary blend includes beer from the original barrels of 20 years ago, the 1999 millennium bottling and other years. Koch finds flavors of vanilla, fig, cocoa, wood, dark fruits like raisins and bright fruits cherry and raspberry.

The flavor is not just unlike any other beer; it’s unlike any other beverage in the world.

Here’s a video of Boston Brewing Company founder Jim Koch discussing Utopias.

Designed in Europe for professional kitchens, these handy helpers made food preparation faster and more pleasant for home cooks, spawning an era of more adventurous cooking.

Before the food processor, people used electric blenders, hand-cranked grinders and food mills.

Our mother relied on her Foley food mill to rice potatoes (for the silkiest mashed potatoes), make spaetzle and purées: her splendid applesauce, tomato sauce, soups and vegetable and fruit purées. A food mill can also be used to make baby food.

The old-fashioned food mill maintains a few advantages over a food processor or blender:

 
The device rests upon a bowl or pot; the food is added and the handle cranks the ingredients into a smooth or textured purée, based on the grinding disc selected.

To make superior, seedless cranberry sauce for Thanksgiving, pick up a food mill like the one in the photo from Sur La Table, or this one from OXO.
  

A Rye Manhattan. Photo courtesy Joe’s Stone
Crab.

A Manhattan is a pre-Prohibition cocktail that’s coming back into retro favor. It’s made with whiskey, sweet vermouth and bitters and garnished with a stemmed Maraschino cherry. The traditional whiskey is rye, although Canadian whiskey, Bourbon, blended whiskey and Tennessee whiskey can be used.

The cocktail represents “classic simplicity,” says the general manager of Joe’s Stone Crab | Chicago, John Aldape, who provided this recipe.
 
 
MANHATTAN COCKTAIL RECIPE

Ingredients

1. COMBINE all ingredients except garnish in a shaker. Shake for 30 seconds. Serve “up” in a chilled Martini glass or an Old Fashioned (lowball) glass.

2. GARNISH with cherry and serve.
 
 
MANHATTAN VARIATIONS

There are many variations of the cocktail. Originally it was stirred, not shaken. And then, there are the spirits switch-outs:

 
In fact, you can have a Manhattan party and let everyone vote on the “best” Manhattan.
 
Find more of our favorite cocktail recipes.