This recipe combines two of my favorites—chile and popcorn. Adjust the heat of this candy by the type of chile you use. Make with New Mexican for a mild heat, cayenne for more fire and chile de arbol for somewhere in between. Don’t use microwave popcorn because of its salt and fat content.
Grilled Peach Halves Stuffed with Cheese and Chipotle Raspberry Puree
Stolen Appropriated from Dave DeWitt’s Perfectly Pungent Peaches article at Central, these grilled peaches stuffed with cheese and chipotle raspberry puree are a tasty surprise to spring on your guests at your next barbecue. Do not peel the peaches. The chipotle chile adds a nice hint of heat and smoke to this spectacular way to end a great meal off …
Oven-roasted Potatoes Sprinkled with Rosemary, Garlic, and Peperoncino Powder
Potatoes are an industry standard when it comes to holiday cooking. They’re the bricks for building comfort food. Whipping up good mashed spuds isn’t exactly quantum physics. Transforming them into something special to be remembered, though, well, there’s a touch of art to that. Or you can use this Italian oven-roasted version from our Italian holiday feast feature.
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 Coloradito
This brick-red mole, courtesy of Restaurante El Naranjo in Oaxaca City, is made with chile ancho, sesame seeds, and almonds.
Spicy Winter Harvest Salad
This marinated spicy salad is rather like the traditional Mexican Christmas Eve Salad and takes advantage of fall vegetables. Substitute celery for the jicama, add oranges or apples, and you have a lower-fat take on a Waldorf salad.
