November 2007 Cookbook of the Month: The Silver Palate Cookbook

Welcome to the links thread for the November 2007 Cookbook of the Month, The Silver Palate Cookbook by Julee Rosso & Sheila Lukins.

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Edited to Add: A few people have asked whether or not the November Cookbook of the Month is only The Silver Palate Cookbook or does it include The Silver Palate Good Times Cookbook as well. The November book, and the links below, are for The Silver Palate Cookbook since that was the book people had requested. I'm sure no one would object, though, if anyone wanted to start a separate thread for The Silver Palate Good Times Cookbook. It certainly would be interesting to see if the two books did or not not hold up equally well over time.
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You may wish to bookmark this thread for future reference, as it contains links to all the other threads on this cookbook.

Here's the thread for general discussion, recipe planning, links, and previous picks and pans: http://www.chowhound.com/topics/456243

Here are the links for full length recipe reviews. Please select the appropriate one.

For To Begin a Great Evening: http://www.chowhound.com/topics/456238

For Soup’s On: http://www.chowhound.com/topics/456237

For Pasta Perfect: http://www.chowhound.com/topics/456236

For The Main Course: http://www.chowhound.com/topics/456234

For Great Garden Vegetables: http://www.chowhound.com/topics/456233

For Salads: http://www.chowhound.com/topics/456232

For Cheeses and Breads: http://www.chowhound.com/topics/456231

For Sweets: http://www.chowhound.com/topics/456230

For The Brunch Bunch: http://www.chowhound.com/topics/456229

For Basics: http://www.chowhound.com/topics/456228

Happy Cooking!

Rubee Nov 24, 2007 12:16 PM

The Silver Palate Good Times Cookbook

I thought I'd review these recipes here since they're from the Good Times cookbook. I made these recipes for Thansksgiving, from the "America Gives Thanks" chapter. All winners.

Roast Turkey with Grand Marnier Apricot Stuffing (p. 285), and Thanksgiving Potatoes (p. 285)

I've been making the stuffing for years, ever since a coworker recommended both the book and the recipe. It includes lots of butter, dried apricots reconstituted in Grand Marnier, celery, onion, sausage, bread cubes/stuffing mix, slivered almonds, and dried thyme. I also add Bell's seasoning and chopped chestnuts, and use homemade chicken stock. It makes enough to use as stuffing for the turkey, and also a small casserole dish of dressing on the side. I've made it with homemade bread cubes, but find that with all these ingredients and flavors, store-bought herb cubed stuffing mix works fine.

The roast turkey recipe calls for squeezing fresh oranges in the cavities and over the turkey, stuffing it, and then sprinkling with thyme, s&p, and spreading with butter. I made an herbed butter (softened butter mixed with s&p, Penzey's Fox Point seasoning, dried herbs, thyme) and spread it both on top and under the skin. For a 21-pound turkey, the directions call for preheating the oven to 450. Cover with tinfoil, lower the temp to 325 and cook for 3 hours. Remove the foil, and baste periodically for 2 more hours. For my 18-pound turkey, I baked it loosely covered with foil for 2 hours, then removed the foil, and basted 3-4 times (with broth I had made by simmering the turkey neck) while I roasted it according to my digital thermometer, about 2 more hours. It looked beautiful - dad commented that I should take a picture (hmmm...why didn't I).

Thanksgiving Potatoes
These were great; what do you expect, with these ingredients. Potatoes are peeled, diced, boiled and drained, and an electric mixer is used to beat in butter, cream cheese, and sour cream, nutmeg and s&p. I used a 5-lb bag of Yukon Gold potatoes, just enough water to cover, and didn't use a mixer - I used a ricer, and then stirred in the cubed butter and cream cheese, sour cream, and fresh grated nutmeg and s&p. I made these earlier in the day, and reheated while the turkey rested, in a covered casserole dish, dotted with butter, at 300 for about 20 minutes, stirring once. My usual recipe is just as rich, but more complicated, including finely mincing lots of leeks and poaching in butter for about an hour with some fresh thyme. They're delicious, but these are much simpler. I think from now on for Thanksgiving I'll use this recipe. Everybody commented on them and I loved that they reheated perfectly.

Entire TG meal including other SP dishes -- http://www.chowhound.com/topics/463007#3149384

Recipe links:
SP Turkey and Stuffing
http://www.recipezaar.com/143653

SP Thanksgiving Potatoes
http://www.cooks.com/rec/doc/0,1750,1...

I didn't take pics Thanksgiving Day, but these were from our meal of leftovers last night.