rappin' pilgrim

american thanksgiving has kind of always been an oddity of sorts for me and other canadians. while our southern neighbours are roasting turkeys and snow is supposedly falling here [less of late due to our much changed climate over recent years], our thanksgiving took place way back at the beginning of october! for some reason, the end of november seems too late for this holiday. must be the idea of falling snow and not falling leaves that confuses me and the fact that the bigger holidays are just a mere few weeks after that.

there is such an amazing build-up and hoopla to it that we do not experience here. perhaps that is just the canadian way and the difference between our two mentalities and countries. everything is blown up in america, it seems — and that's not a negative comment. we canadians are just more quiet.

in any event, thanksgiving is on its way next weekend down there! martha stewart has gone mental with her daily broadcasts and countdown. i imagine turkeys everywhere are cowering and running for dear life.

all this aside, check out this link to watch what i thought was the funniest e-card ever. forewarning: this isn't the kind of card you send ole granny! perhaps, my sense of humour is just strange but i found it amusing in that it is more a sign of the times in which we live in: the music we hear and the messages conveyed.

i dunno ..... gotta love the get-up he's wearing, especially that hat.

vegetarian "meat" cabbage rolls

this is a great recipe for those days you do not want to eat meat or cannot eat it. it is also appropriate for vegetarians & those following a vegan diet. though it was designed as a vegetarian option, it can certainly be converted for use with meat.

it is almost exactly like those cabbage rolls which are filled with whatever meat you normally use. i have managed to fool quite a few people over the years with these. as this is a recipe of my own doing, at the moment i can only vouch for using the yves brand groundround product. i am sure a similar product would produce the same results. i love using the dried sweetened cranberries from ocean spray (see ingredients in the recipe) instead of the traditional raisins.

the recipe can be doubled and the rolls frozen for later use. if you do not or cannot use soy "meat" products, then you can most definitely replace it with real ground beef or turkey. i would add an egg to the mixture also, in that case. do not cook the meat beforehand either — just mix it together as you would for regular rolls. i will experiment at a later date with tvp & extra firm crumbled tofu to see if it measures up for a non-meat substitute.

this time i used a savoy cabbage in place of the standard cabbage we see at the market. you can either separate and boil the leaves or boil the whole cabbage itself for several minutes. i did the former in this instance.

the standard measure for filling is about 2 tbsp per leaf however you should decrease it to 1 tbsp when filling the smaller inner leaves, should you be using a smaller savoy cabbage. you can, of course, use a regular cabbage too.

vegetarian "meat" cabbage rolls

makes approximately 12 - 15

filling ingredients:

1 pkg yves ground round or similar product [340 g pkg]
scant 1/3 c [jasmine] rice
4 tbsp [fresh] finely ground bread crumbs
1 tsp salt
1 tsp onion powder
1 tsp garlic powder
1/8 - 1/4 tsp cinnamon
1 - 2 tsp sugar
1 tbsp ketchup

1 large onion
3 cloves garlic

1 savoy cabbage

sauce ingredients:

1 1/2 c tomato sauce [2 small cans hunts]
1/4 c ketchup
1/2 - 3/4 c apple sauce
1/2 c water
1 1/2 - 2 tbsp brown sugar
1/8 tsp black pepper
1/8 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp onion powder
3 tbsp craisins, or golden raisins or chopped dried apricots

dice the onion and garlic and fry in 1 - 2 tbsp olive oil until soft and very lightly browned. set aside 3 tbsp of this mixture for the filling.

make the sauce by combining all the ingredients along with the onion-garlic mixture in a saucepan. bring to a boil and simmer for approximately 5 to 10 minutes.

make filling by adding all ingredients together and the reserved onion-garlic mixture in a bowl. it will stick together nicely though it looks loose in this photo. if using meat, add one egg. it will take about 3/4 lb of meat.


separate the leaves of the cabbage and put them in a pot of boiling water for about 3 to 4 minutes. remove and let cool. when cool, take a paring knife and horizontally (parallel) remove part of the thick central vein to make it more flexible for rolling. don't skip this step.


depending on the size of the leaf, place 2 heaping tablespoons of mixture on it — use less filling for a smaller leaf. put it near the base and roll up, tucking in each side as your roll. place these, seam side down, in a large pyrex or container that will contain them. add 3/4 cup of water and put these in 325 degree oven for 1 hour, covered. this is too cook the raw rice and steam the leaves further.


after the hour is up, remove the pan from the oven and remove the cover. there should be little water left. [remember if you are using meat there may be excess liquid due to the meat releasing its juices; if there is too much you can discard some of it]. carefully put the sauce over the rolls making sure to cover all of them.


reduce the temperature to 275. cover the pyrex or (roasting) pan again and place back in the oven for another 1 1/2 hours. remove the pyrex and take the cover off and return the rolls to the oven for another 15 - 20 minutes.

take the pyrex out and let the rolls cool down before serving. these taste even better the next day.

enjoy!

happy holiday — gobble, gobble

ever wonder how this bird got its name? we eat enough of it every year, we should at least know the facts. read the straight dope for the answer.

picture: www.njpalisades.org

how often do we ever see the turkey dressed in his [or her] full regalia? usually it comes wrapped in brown paper from the butcher's counter or plastic from the freezer section.

here is some fun trivia from njpalisades:

Turkey Trivia

Turkeys can fly 40 – 55 miles per hour.

Turkeys can run 12 miles per hour.

Turkeys can dig through four to six inches of ice and snow to reach food in the winter.

Turkeys were not only an important source of food for Native Americans, but their feathers were also used for religious ornamentation.

well, mr. turkey .... the facts remain, you still taste great anytime of the year.

for some interesting turkey history and lore, visit Turkey for the Holidays. it's a great little site from the university of illinois, full of information about our favourite north american friend.

can't get enough? ever wonder what the h*ll that thing dangling from the turkey's beak is called? here are more turkey facts. find out what other countries call this bird at wiki.

and the winner for the stamp for the wild turkey, meleagris gallopavo, for the 2007 year is samuel timm of wautoma, wisconsin usa. here is his winning picture:

to see the other very nice stamps, visit the turkey stamp contest winners.

as i was listening to the radio today, they were talking about the difference between cooking a stuffed bird vs. an unstuffed one. well the unstuffed one takes significantly less time to cook.

cooking advice, a hotline number and a chart for roasting times are here.

enjoy your dinner. turkey is good anytime of the year but best enjoyed with family & friends.

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happy holidays

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for a tasty, no fuss turkey schnitzel recipe [one which i have often used], look here at whole foods. you can replace the crumbs with matzo meal, too.

check here for my step by step recipe for chicken schnitzel :D

seven days in the sukkah we shall sit

picture: le serigrafie inedite di Emanuele Luzzati
"Succoth - La festa delle capanne"

sukkoth is first of one of the three biblical harvest festivals and can be seen as a sort of a jewish equivalent of a thanksgiving holiday. sukkoth lasts 7 days with the first two and last two being full holidays. these last two days have their own names and specifics [to be discussed at another time].

this agricultural celebration required ancient jews to travel, often long distances, to the holy temple in jerusalem to bring their best offerings at the conclusion of the autumn harvest. as mentioned in my previous post, the holiday is called the feast of the tabernacles in english. these tabernacles were the huts or booths that jews lived in during the harvest season. there was no time to return to villages due to the workload. these temporary shelters were built with roofs of foliage.

the temporary dwellings, from which the name of the holiday is derived, also represent the 40 years that jews wandered and survived in the deserts after leaving egypt. it was a structure easily erected and disassembled and was highly moveable. as it says in leviticus:

You shall live in booths seven days ... in order that future generations may know that I made the Israelite people live in booths when I brought them out of the land of Egypt, I am the Lord, your G-d."

over the next seven days, jewish men are commanded to eat their main meals, pray and celebrate in these structures. the rest of the family joins them for grand feasts and special prayers. some people will even sleep in them overnight. the sukkah [the hut itself] is decorated and built to specification: at least three sides with the roof made of materials that allow the stars to be seen through openings. bamboo and foliage [such as pine boughs] are used as first choices often.

this site called the sukkah project shows you several examples of some various people have made.

the OU.org site provides beautiful photos of sukkot in jerusalem. click on the link for the slideshow. [i linked this in the entry about etrogim].

not all sukkas are the same. often different countries have different customs for building them and celebration of the holiday. this article briefly speaks of the the sukkas & traditions of the jews of the caucausus, dagestan, kurdistan & yemen.

foods for this holiday are often stuffed — cabbage rolls, peppers, zucchini, tomatoes — all representing plenty. other items which may show up are stuffed pastries like knishes and my favourite .... burekas made of either dough or filo. filled shtrudels are common dessert items. fruits are often cooked with meats, chickens and turkeys stuffed to capacity and a number of casserole dishes are featured on menus. the list of possibilities are endless.

you can also look here to read more about other harvest festivals around the world. no matter what the tradition, we all are thankful in the end for that which sustains us.

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the first north american thanksgiving occured in 1578 in newfoundland
&
the first canadian thanksgiving on april 15, 1872

april, huh? interesting. now the holiday occurs on the second monday of october every year. definitely a moveable feast.

though from a kids site, this is interesting information about canadian thanksgiving.

cool tool

image: bayou classics

with the upcoming holiday of thanksgiving [canadian] deep-fried turkey is apparently the best there is. though i have never had it, anything deep-fried is worth a try.

this is obviously an outdoor endeavour using specialized equipment. i heard talk today that the best oil to make deep-fried turkey with is peanut oil due to its high smoking point and that it does not form sludge which makes clean-up a nasty thing.

check out the contraption itself at the specialist site, Bayou Classics [the deep south is apparently home of the deep-fried turkey].

look here for a step by step with pictures & explanations of the whole process.