This sauce is a vibrant addition to your Thanksgiving spread and is the simplest side to throw together. By using marmalade instead of zest you not only produce an utterly delicious dish but you also save yourself the time of zesting all that citrus. This sauce also makes a killer sandwich spread for post-Thanksgiving turkey sandwiches.

Cranberry Marmalade Sauce

Ingredients:

1 apple (Honey Crisp, Fuji or Gala all work great)

12 oz bag fresh cranberries

1 orange, juiced (makes about 1/2 cup juice)

1 jar English Breakfast Marmalade

1 cup water

3 cinnamon sticks

1/4 teaspoon sea salt

2 tablespoons brown sugar

Method:

1. Chop the apple into 1/4 inch chunks and combine with fresh cranberries in a medium-sized saucepan.

2. Squeeze the orange juice into pan and add marmalade and remaining ingredients and bring to a boil.

3. Reduce to a simmer and partially cover for 10 minutes, stirring from once or twice while cooking.

4. Remove lid and heat for 10 minutes on medium-low, stirring with a wooden spoon and mashing the apple and cranberry pieces as the sauce thickens.

5. Remove the saucepan from heat and allow to cool. Serve at room temperature and be sure to remove the cinnamon sticks before placing on the table. You can make this sauce in advance.

I have been fighting a losing battle since moving to America 14 years ago. Every year at Thanksgiving, I insist on making what I consider to be stuffing. It’s completely different from stuffing in America in that it’s mainly meat based with very little bread at all – just a few breadcrumbs for binding. I try to convert someone each year and I actually caught a few young’uns early before they were corrupted to the ways of American stuffing. My first American Thanksgiving, I even tried to introduce bread sauce to the table but as I looked at it through new eyes, I realized that, like marmite, unless you grew up with it, you were never going to be convinced it was anything other than disgusting. My stubborness has kept me from trying all the myriads of American stuffing that are laid out each year at the annual banquet that I’m lucky enough to attend.

Aurora convinced me to put aside my pig headedness and create a stuffing with Nashoba Bakery’s Harvest Bread which screams Thanksgiving with its cranberries and pecans. We added just enough of Schaller & Weber’s Chorizo to satisfy my meat cravings and out of the oven came a stuffing that was so delicious that I ate it on its own for dinner. It still has a gentle nod to my roots across the pond but has its feet firmly placed in America and may very well have finally converted me.

Harvest Stuffing with Chorizo

8 Servings

Ingredients:

1 loaf of Harvest Bread (crust removed, cut to small cubes)

1 stick unsalted butter, plus extra for buttering baking dish

1 large onion, diced

3 leeks, thoroughly cleaned (sliced into half moons)

3 celery stalks, diced

1 large fennel bulb, diced

Salt and freshly ground pepper to taste

2 tablespoons minced fresh rosemary

2 tablespoons minced fresh sage

2 chorizo sausages, casing removed and sliced

2 1/2 cups chicken stock

2 eggs

3/4 cup chopped fresh flat leaf parsley

Method:

1. Preheat the oven to 350° F. Butter a baking pan or casserole dish. Toast bread in the oven for 10 minutes until just crisp. Allow to cool.

2. In a large cast iron pan, melt butter and add in onion, leeks, celery and fennel. Season with salt and pepper and cook until slightly golden (about 12-14 minutes).

3. Stir the fresh rosemary and sage into the onion mixture.

4. Remove the onion mixture to the side in a large bowl and add the chorizo to the cast iron pan. Cook the chorizo until browned (about 5 minutes).

5. Add the chorizo to the bowl with the onion mixture and then add in toasted bread. Toss together until well mixed.

6. Add chicken stock, beaten eggs and parsley to the bowl and mix well. Season once more with salt and pepper.

7. Dish stuffing mixture into prepared baking dish and bake until browned at the top (about 40-45 minutes).  Serve warm.

What better way to find out how to use products in cooking than asking the producers themselves? We spoke to siblings Ken and Toan about their sauces and glazes and loved how they merged East and West in inventive ways. Since I’m a sucker for all roasted squash, I was excited to try their suggestion of basting the squash with their brown sugar glaze. I decided to add some texture with some fried sage leaves as a hark back to my Italian grandmother who always threw a bunch into the pan no matter what she was frying. The slight crunch and nutty flavor balanced perfectly with the sweetness and soft texture of the squash.

Acorn Squash with Brown Sugar Glaze

Ingredients:

1 acorn squash

1 bottle Brown Sugar Ginger Glaze

Butter

Salt and freshly ground pepper

Sage leaves (optional)

Method:

1. Preheat oven to 350° F.

2. Deseed squash, slice in half and then into long slices.
3. Lay slices flat on a baking sheet covered in aluminum foil.
4. Add a pat of butter on each piece
5. Brush on Sweet Ginger Glaze and season with salt and pepper.
6. Roast for 30 minutes, check for doneness by color or poke with fork for softness.

7. Brush once more with ginger glaze and return to oven for another 10 minutes.

8. In a frying pan, heat 2 tablespoons of butter until it begins to foam. Add a handful of sage leaves and fry til crispy.
6) Remove squash from oven and sprinkle with fried sage leaves. Serve warm.