Happy holidays, everybody. As we pull into the home stretch for 2015’s finish line, foodies like us find ourselves busier than the North Pole elves. Over the next few weeks, I’ll grill, smoke, bake, and post a storm of different recipes. One of them is this Dark Chocolate Cheesecake with Red Chile Ganache from this spicy holiday dessert piece at Fiery Foods and Barbecue Central.
Panpepato (Spicy Chocolate-flavored Christmas Bread)
The turkey’s gone, the stupidity that is Black Friday is behind us, and now we’re on to Christmas. Your food options are a little more freestyle than Thanksgiving’s now. If you’re looking to get away from ham, geese, and mashed potatoes, how about going Italian? Dave DeWitt ran a whole Italy-style holiday feast in this feature story, and this Panpepato (Spicy Chocolate-flavored Christmas Bread) recipe was just one of the wonderful options from which to choose.
Barbecue Thanksgiving: The Ultimate Turkey from Ray Lampe
You can (and should) do an entire Thanksgiving spread via barbecue grill. We know because we did so; just read the whole story. One of the items in that tale was what Dr BBQ himself termed The Ultimate Turkey. That’s a real bold claim, even coming from one of the foremost experts in the world on barbecue. Here’s the recipe so you can try it and tell us if he’s right.
Serrano Ginger Cranberry Chutney
For me, canned cranberry sauce is the Jar Jar Binks of the Thanksgiving universe. Annoying and mostly unnecessary, it’s mostly there to entertain small children. It doesn’t have to be that way, folks. You don’t have to suffer through it, as Nancy Gerlach showed us with this serrano ginger cranberry chutney recipe she hipped us to in her Spiced-Up Thanksgiving Trimmings story.
Serrano Ginger Cranberry Chutney
Where is it written that canned cranberry sauce has to be served with at Thanksgiving? The sweet, sour, hot tastes of this chutney compliments turkey, chicken, and even pork. The addition of black pepper may sound odd, but it does provide a tasty accent to the chutney.
Mole: Turkey in Chocolate Chile Sauce
If you want your Thanksgiving bird to be a stand-out, try Mole Poblano de Guajolote (aka Turkey in Chocolate Chile Sauce). It’s just one of the great Mexicanized Thanksgiving ideas she put forth in this article at our main site. Although this recipe is for sliced poultry and only serves 4-6 people, I’m sure you can do the math and scale it up if need be.
Mole Poblano de Guajolote (Turkey in Chocolate Chile Sauce)
In an 1870s cookbook from Puebla there were recipes for 44 different moles but only one, Mole Poblano de Guajolote, or turkey in mole sauce, is called the National Dish of Mexico. This mole has descended from an Aztec chilemolli dish and although it’s called poblano, it doesn’t contain any poblano chiles. In this case poblano refers to the people of Puebla, birthplace of this dish. For an authentic taste, lard is used, but if that’s offensive to you, substitute vegetable oil. Also, Mexican chocolate can be used, but if you do, be sure to eliminate the cinnamon from the recipe.
