Thanksbittman

November 18, 2009 9:50 AM

Bittmanfilter: 101 Head Starts on the Day-- "The Minimalist" gives us a hundred and one Thanksgiving dishes that can be prepared in advance.
posted by dersins (24 comments total)

Thanks so much for posting this! I somehow got talked into making a vegan dish for Thanksgiving this year, so I've been going through Bittman's How to Cook Everything looking for ideas. This should help.
posted by lexicakes at 9:57 AM on November 18, 2009

How far in advance? Next Thanksgiving isn't until October 11, 2010.
posted by grounded at 10:01 AM on November 18, 2009 [3 favorites]

How far in advance? Next Thanksgiving isn't until October 11, 2010.

lolcanadia. c'mon everyone knows you guys don't count.
posted by dersins at 10:04 AM on November 18, 2009

Forgive my ignorance, but what does one do with all those chutneys?
posted by runningwithscissors at 10:07 AM on November 18, 2009 [1 favorite]

You know, I'd rather read an article about 11 really good dishes than 101 dishes of varying quality. Although I do appreciate his casual style of describing how to make things.
posted by Nelson at 10:14 AM on November 18, 2009

Anyone including "a suspicion of garlic" in a recipe (#80) can fuck right off.
posted by Graygorey at 10:46 AM on November 18, 2009 [2 favorites]

Graygorey, you could use a suspicion of Valium.
posted by letitrain at 10:48 AM on November 18, 2009 [2 favorites]

lexicakes, there's an awesome vegan blogger who's posting a series of howto recipes for creating vegan Thanksgiving dishes, and she has an entire section on substituting ingredients, i.e. 'I usually cook with butter; how I make that vegan?' which I found to be very helpful to this non-vegan!

Also, you may find the book "The Adaptable Feast: Satisfying Meals for the Vegetarians, Vegans, and Omnivores at Your Table" to be a useful resource.

Note: I am not a vegan, but I do sometimes cook for one
posted by librarylis at 10:55 AM on November 18, 2009 [2 favorites]

runningwithscissors: "Forgive my ignorance, but what does one do with all those chutneys?"

They're chutneys. Spread them on things.
posted by boo_radley at 10:55 AM on November 18, 2009

I had to go to a specialty shop to find measuring spoons that are as small as one suspicion. At least now I have the full set - suspicion, hint, soupcon, dusting, and pinch all come on a nice metal ring.
posted by backseatpilot at 10:56 AM on November 18, 2009 [6 favorites]

They're chutneys. Spread them on things.

That's like saying, "It's mayo. Put it on stuff." Thanks for the help, I guess?
posted by runningwithscissors at 11:13 AM on November 18, 2009 [2 favorites]

Chutneys are good when used as you would cranberry sauce.
posted by cerebus19 at 11:24 AM on November 18, 2009

Chutneys are good when used as you would cranberry sauce.

avoided?
posted by edgeways at 11:31 AM on November 18, 2009 [3 favorites]

God bless ya, Mr. Bittman. I'm hosting a late thanksgiving/early christmas party in a few weeks (December 6th! You're all invited! MeMail me for details, no joke!) and I foolishly decided to nix the potluck idea and make everything myself. I'm also going to two concerts and a MeFi Meetup that weekend, so....these make-ahead recipes are my saving grace.
posted by chara at 11:47 AM on November 18, 2009 [1 favorite]

"It's mayo. Put it on stuff."

You're doing it wrong. Mayo is for dancing, not putting on stuff!
posted by robocop is bleeding at 11:50 AM on November 18, 2009

OK, without an NYT login I can't see the article, but runningwithscissors, here are some things you can do with chutneys:

CHEESE. Chutney loves cheese. Cracker, cheese, chutney = awesome. You can get creative with this, like oven-roasting some Brie and serving with toast and chutneys. Generally sharp cheese goes with sweeter chutney, while milder cheese goes with spicy tangy chutney. One of the quintessential English dishes, the Ploughman's Lunch, is basically a cheese-and-chutney (Branston Pickle) sandwich.

These can all be supplemented, for non-vegetarians, by HAM AND/OR PATÉ AND/OR SMOKED MEATS. You want a sweet, fruity chutney to go with the ham, a tart one to cut through the unctuousness of the paté, and something really tangy to counterbalance the smoked meats

POPADOMS. Like chips-and-dip, India style. In an Indian restaurant, they bring you popadoms and an assortment of chutneys before your meal. Alternate the sweet mango stuff with the ohgoditburns hot lime pickle. Crunchy and awesome.

This Beginners' Guide to Chutney has been brought to you by Avoiding Cleaning The Kitchen Co. Ltd.
posted by Pallas Athena at 11:55 AM on November 18, 2009 [7 favorites]

Thank you, Pallas Athena!
posted by runningwithscissors at 1:38 PM on November 18, 2009

backseatpilot: I had to go to a specialty shop to find measuring spoons that are as small as one suspicion. At least now I have the full set - suspicion, hint, soupcon, dusting, and pinch all come on a nice metal ring.

No smidgen, scintilla, or whiff? No dab, dash, or dollop? Hmpf, strictly amateur. I hope you didn't pay too much for that cheap imported knock-off!
posted by Greg_Ace at 1:48 PM on November 18, 2009

Back off from the holidays, Bitman! As much as I admire your column and minimalist cooking, this is no time for either! This is the season for food that takes all day, maybe all week, to prepare.

Those who can't handle it should back out of the kitchen! ~ or at least settle in the corner and make sure that the cook's wine glass never empties.
posted by kanewai at 2:32 PM on November 18, 2009

lexicakes, you do know about Bittman's How to Cook Everything Vegetarian, right? I'm guessing a fair amount of the book is vegan, but I don't know.
posted by Someday Bum at 6:47 PM on November 18, 2009

I feel stupid for asking this but what are 'boxed tomatoes'? Is this another word for canned or does he mean 'tomatoes in those little green playpens'? (we used to call them unruly tomatoes)
posted by jaimystery at 10:52 AM on November 19, 2009

Boxed tomatoes. Basically, just like canned, only without the tinny taste.
posted by dersins at 11:17 AM on November 19, 2009

jaimystery - boxed tomatoes are actually quite good! They're certainly better than the hard waxy things my grocery store tries to pass off as "tomato."
posted by kanewai at 11:35 AM on November 19, 2009

baked apples with vanilla ice cream! Rock on! Got my desert.
posted by petersn1 at 2:14 PM on November 21, 2009