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THANKSGIVING DRINK: Ginger Martini

There’s one day left to buy the fixings for a special Thanksgiving Cocktail.

  • Make a Ginger Martini with Ginger Soother (from The Ginger People, available at Whole Foods Markets) or use ginger syrup (recipe provided).
  • Or go for a Crantini (a cranberry martini).
  • For a non-alcoholic drink, serve ginger beer. It’s much more robust and gingery than ginger ale. An alcohol-free, sophisticated soft drink, it can be enjoyed straight from the bottle or as a cocktail mixer.

 

GINGER BEER TASTING
For our Thanksgiving guests, we purchased every brand of ginger beer we could find at two stores. During the cocktail hour, instead of having everyone drink too many martinis, we’re having a ginger beer tasting. Just print up sheets with all the contenders. Here’s a guide for how to do it.

Perfect for Thanksgiving: a Ginger
Martini. Photo by Bryan Delodder | IST.

GINGER BEER COCKTAIL
You can use any ginger beer that remains to make a Moscow Mule: 2 ounces of vodka, 1 tablespoon of lime juice and ginger beer. Add the vodka and lime juice to a highball glass filled with ice. Fill with ginger beer and garnish with a lime wedge.

 

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COOKING VIDEO: How To Roast A Turkey

  Just two days to go until Thanksgiving! If you’re in charge of roasting the turkey and want a refresher course, Chef Scott Cutaneo shows you how to make a perfectly moist, roast turkey.

Chef Cutaneo works with a brined turkey. While this step is optional, if you have the time to include brining, the difference in tenderness and flavor will be worth it. Here’s last week’s video and guide to brining.

  • Learn the history of turkey while your bird roasts to a golden brown.
  • For a twist on the traditional: Using flavored butters on your bird or with side dishes is an easy way to add zest with flair. Here are six compound butter recipes for the holidays.
  • Get ready to turn those cold leftovers into a hot Turkey and Stuffing Casserole.
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    GIFT OF THE DAY: Nudo Infused Olive Oil

    Delicious olive oil from Nudo, crushed with
    your choice of six different fruits or herbs.
    All it needs is a bow. Photo courtesy
    Nudo-Italia.com.

    Nudo means “bare” in Italian, referring to the extra-virgin olive oil that fills each attractive can.

    But what we like best about Nudo is not the bare oil (which is lovely) but the crushed fruit and herbs that infuse the flavored oils with so much pizzazz.

    Within hours of being picked, late harvest olives are stone-milled together with fresh-picked fruits and herbs. (Late harvest olives have a subtler flavor than early harvest olives, allowing the infused flavor to burst through.) Crushing the fruits/herbs with the olives provides much finer flavor than infusing the olive oil with an extract. That’s why Nudo is the real deal.

    Choose from Basil, Chillie, Garlic, Lemon, Mandarin, Thyme or Original olive oil. We also like the pizzazz of the can decoration, which makes Nudo olive oil a charming small gift.

    An 8.4-ounce can is $11.99 at Nudo-Italia.com.

    AND THERE’S MORE: You can also adopt an olive tree for a year ($109) and get all the oil produced from that tree shipped to you. See details on the Nudo-Italia.com website.

     

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    TIP OF THE DAY: No More Soggy Cereal

    Want to avoid soggy cereal?

    We find that our morning bowl of cereal, filled with milk, becomes soggy after three spoonfuls.

    It occurred to us: Why pour milk over dry cereal? Why not use a glass of milk as a chaser?

    We tried it, it worked, and now it’s our favorite way to eat cereal:

    1. Fill a bowl with cereal plus any sweetener or fruit.
    2. Fill a glass with milk.
    3. Insert a spoonful of cereal into mouth. Crunch once.
    4. Follow with a sip of milk.
    5. Repeat until all cereal and milk are consumed.

    Just because it seems unusual doesn’t mean that it isn’t a better way.

    After all, forks weren’t used in England until the mid-17th century, although they were introduced to the country in 1608 by an Englishman who brought them back from Italy.

    According to The History Of The Fork, the English ridiculed forks as being effeminate and unnecessary. “Why should a person need a fork when God had given him hands?” was the refrain.

    So, learn a lesson from history: Try new things, as strange as they may seem.

     

    Keep it crunchy: Follow a spoonful of dry cereal with a shot of milk (photo courtesy PreserveProducts.com).

     
      

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    Fried Chicken With Corn Flakes Crust Recipe: The Crunchiest Breading

    [1] This elegant version of cornflake-coated chicken is by Kim at Ordinary Recipes Made Gourmet. Here’s the recipe.

    Corn Flakes Box
    [2] The winner: Corn Flakes (photo courtesy Kellogg).

     

    A few days ago we wrote about the superiority of panko, Japanese breadcrumbs, over American breadcrumbs.

    Yesterday, munching on some Corn Flakes for breakfast, we noticed the Corn Flake-crusted chicken recipe on the back of the box (called “Double Coated Chicken”).

    Hmm, we thought: How do Corn Flakes stand up to panko?

    For lunch, we made both. The verdict: While we love panko, Corn Flakes win hands down—they’re more crunchy and more flavorful.

    We hadn’t used Corn Flakes breading in years, associating it with less-interesting old-school American cooking of the 1950s and 1960s.

    We were wrong. We’ll now use a Corn Flakes crust on fish and other fried foods; and crunchy Corn Flakes crumbs instead of bread crumbs atop mac and cheese and other recipes.

    The orange dots on the plate are a peach purée with bourbon.

    > The different cuts of chicken. How many can you name?

    > The history of chicken.
     
     
    RECIPE: CORN FLAKES FRIED CHICKEN

    Ingredients For 2 Servings

  • 1 skinless boneless chicken breast (8 ounces)
  • 1 large egg
  • 1/4 cup milk
  • 1-1/2 cups corn flakes
  • 1/3 cup vegetable oil
  • 1/4 + 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • 1/4 + 1/4 teaspoon pepper
  • Optional garnish: Runamok Chile de Arbol Honey or other “hot honey”
  •  
    Preparation

    1. POUND the chicken between 2 sheets of plastic wrap to an even 1/2-inch thickness. Sprinkle chicken with 1/4 teaspoon each of salt and pepper.

    2. WHISK the egg and milk together in a shallow bowl. In another bowl, crush the Corn Flakes and toss with the remaining salt and pepper.

     
    3. HEAT the oil in a small nonstick skillet over medium heat until hot.

    4. DREDGE the chicken in the egg mixture, letting excess drip off, then in the Corn Flakes. Press so that the Corn Flakes adhere.

    5. FRY the chicken, turning once, until golden and just cooked through (5 to 6 minutes). Drain on paper towels. Serve with a drizzle of Mike’s Hot Honey.
     
     
    ANOTHER WAY TO COAT FRIED CHICKEN

    Try cornmeal or blue cornmeal.

    And don’t forget the panko!
     
     
    ANOTHER WAY TO ENJOY CORN FLAKES

    Try Corn Flakes as a crunchy topping on ice cream. We prefer them to the sweetened Frosted Flakes—they’re a better counterpoint to the sweetness of the ice cream.
     
     

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