grown up sides for Turkey day

Are you tired of the canned cranberry stuff?  Well, I have been for years, but some traditions are sacred, and that means my T-day table will always be graced by a few slices of the jiggly stuff for those who must have it.  But there will also be a bracing little bowl of cranberry relish.   A food processor is required for this recipe -- I suppose you could chop all of this stuff by hand, but that would make a 10 minute recipe a 3 hour endeavor.   This relish has a sweet-tart flavor, with just a tiny bit of heat from some candied ginger.  Make it a day or two ahead, and it will turn a gorgeous shade of ruby red.

1 bag fresh cranberries

1 orange

1 apple, such as fuji or gala

6 pieces candied ginger

2 TBS honey

everything gets chunked up, and tossed in the food processor;

I am using a blood orange here, because I had one on hand --

a regular orange works just fine

The original recipe, cadged from I know not where, simply quartered the orange and tossed it in, peel and all.  I find that the rind, especially if it is a bit thick, can be bitter, as can the seeds.  I take the two minutes required, and use a vegetable peeler to take the zest off of the orange, then peel away the rind, seed the segments, and toss everything in.  Process the candied ginger first, to grind it up a bit.  Don't worry if it sticks to the blade.  It will come loose and chop into smaller pieces when you add the fruit.

  the ginger adds a little sweet heat to the mix

After chopping the ginger up a little, everything else goes in the pool.  Quarter the apple and remove the core, but it is fine to leave the peel on.  Then, just chop the bejeezus out of everything and store it in the fridge until the big day.  I made this a bit early, for a newspaper article on Thanksgiving that will run next week.  So, I am going to experiment, and see if it will freeze, so I don't have to make it again.  I can't imagine why it wouldn't, but I'll report back at Thanksgiving.

relish with just enough bite to cut through

the traditional rich dishes of the day

Another favorite side dish, which I saw in the Wall Street Journal a few years ago, is a sweet potato dish made with coconut milk.  It has a subtle flavor, and a more grown up taste than the marshmallow thingy.  I haven't made it yet, so no pictures.

Preparation: 5 minutes
Cooking: 65 to 80 minutes

8 medium sweet potatoes
2 cups coconut milk, approximately
1 cinnamon stick
Salt and pepper
Preheat the oven to 425 degrees.

Poke a few holes in the sweet potatoes, set them on a cookie sheet, and bake for 45 minutes to an hour.  They are done when they can be easily pierced with a fork all the way through their thickest part.  Let them cool, and then peel.  Either pass them through a food mill or a ricer, or mash with a fork or potato masher.

Bring the coconut milk to a boil, reduce heat and simmer for 20 minutes with the cinnamon stick  Remove the cinnamon stick,  and whisk into the sweet potato purée.   Add the coconut milk a cup at a time until you get the consistency you like.  I use the whole amount, which yields a light purée.

Add salt and pepper to taste.  Cover and reheat just before serving.