This is the final Thanksgiving post today, and will detail the sauces, chutney, and dessert I made. All of which were really quite good, if I do say so myself.
Persimmon Chutney
From this recipe
4 persimmons
2 tablespoons ginger tea
1 tablespoon honey
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon chilli powder
I peeled and diced the persimmons before putting in a pan on a high heat with the ginger tea, honey and cinnamon. Once the mixture started bubbling slightly, I lowered the heat and stirred the chilli powder through. After about fifteen minutes the chutney was solid and sticky, and good to taste. Unfortunately I can't tell you much else about it as I completely forgot to serve the chutney and it is still sitting forlornly on top of the microwave.
Gravy
Makes about 600ml
150ml duck and chicken fat
100ml red wine
200ml beef stock
1 onion from the chicken cavity
Seasoning
We had a lot of fat reserved from roasting both birds, which had been added to a jug (and cooled) over the course of the day, so simply put it in a pan. It heated for a few minutes before the red wine was added, and a few minutes later so was the beef stock. The gravy was tasted and seasoned accordingly. It was still too thin at this stage, so we put it on a higher heat to reduce, and added one of the onions which had been roasted inside the chicken. There was way too much gravy but it was absolutely delicious.
Black Raspberry and Cranberry Sauce
From this recipe
2 cups black raspberries
1 handful dried cranberries
3 bay leaves
Rosemary
Thyme
1 teaspoon sugar
1 tablespoon chopped onion
100ml red wine
1 teaspoon spiced rum
Salt
I mixed the raspberries, cranberries, bay leaves, rosemary, thyme and sugar in a bowl and left to marinade for half an hour. Fried the onion in oil, added the wine and rum to the pan, and then set the alcohol on fire with a lighter - which was bloody scary. I shrieked. And panicked when I realized that I was using a wooden spoon. Surely it would catch on fire! Luckily it didn't, so I tipped the raspberry mixture into the pan with a little bit of salt (I added too much and had to remedy it with a bit more sugar), allowing it to heat through and reduce slightly. The original recipe suggests blending the sauce but I preferred it to remain thicker, so I settled for stirring roughly and bashing up the fruit a bit in the process. I removed the bay leaves before serving. This sauce was delicious but probably superfluous, as I was the only one who really had any of it.
Pumpkin Pie
From this recipe
8 servings
9 chocolate biscuits
1/2 cup butter
1 tablespoon milk
Pumpkin puree (made earlier this week)
I'd started this recipe on Wednesday morning by making the pumpkin puree; I continued it on Friday night, which I was actually quite proud of. I did something in advance! Anyway, I crushed the biscuits, mixed them with melted butter and milk, and used the mixture to line a pie dish. This went in the fridge overnight. I hate dough and pastry so a cheesecake base seemed to be the best way to go. On Saturday morning I poured the puree on to the crust and baked it for thirty minutes at 180 degrees C (360 Fahrenheit).
Rum Cream
2 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons rum
150ml cream
1 teaspoon sugar
Imagine how stupid I felt after yesterday's post, when I realized that the Pioneer Woman's Hard Sauce is actually just brandy butter.
I had had a little bit of wine by the time it came to making the cream for dessert, so unfortunately the two tablespoons of rum became quite a bit more, and the cream became fairly potent. I had left the butter to soften out of the fridge for a while, and then blended it with the rum, cream and sugar before serving with the pumpkin pie. Absolutely delicious.
