Micah's Read of the Week, Vol. 17
Thanksgiving Recipe Extravaganza, hero saves dog from gator, The President's post-election schedule, John King's Magic Wall, and more.
Hello, and welcome to Micah’s Read of the Week, in which we don’t go scorched earth on a niche golf media personality. Yet. Happy Thanksgiving!
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Thanksgiving Recipe Extravaganza
As promised last week, it’s time for the first annual, Micah’s Read of the Week Thanksgiving Extravaganza. Obviously, this year is weird. Really weird. Cases and deaths are skyrocketing. Fauci is all over telling people not to travel. It’s best not to eat with your family. Avoid others.
So here we are. Even in 2020, Thanksgiving is still worth celebrating, even if alone. In that spirit, the recipes I’m sharing are designed for small gatherings but could be scaled up for next year.
Let’s start with a drink.
Negroni
A bitter cocktail before a big meal is a really good idea. This one is simple and delightful. This is easy to build in bulk, so mix up a small pitcher and pour one for everybody. A warning: this is essentially a martini, although not a particularly potent one. It’s still a drink made without non-alcoholic mixers, only spirits. Feel free to top with seltzer for those who don’t typically drink cocktails.
Ice
1 ounce Campari
1 ounce sweet vermouth, such as Cocchi or Dolin
1 ounce dry gin
Twist of orange peel, for garnish
Mix and drink. Saluti!
A couple of appetizers
Feta, Yogurt, & Spinach Dip
Who doesn’t like this one? I’d use Greek yogurt and maybe a little mayo. And of course, double (or quadruple) the garlic.
INGREDIENTS
1 medium clove garlic, crushed
1 teaspoon dried oregano
8 ounces feta cheese, crumbled
1 cup plain low-fat yogurt, or more as needed
2 10-ounce packages frozen chopped spinach, defrosted and squeezed to remove excess moisture (2 cups)
Salt
Freshly ground black pepper
Combine the garlic, oregano, feta cheese, and yogurt in the bowl of a food processor; process for 30 seconds to form a smooth sauce.
Transfer to a medium bowl and add the spinach; stir to incorporate. If the mixture seems too thick, add yogurt as needed. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Serve immediately, or cover and refrigerate for up to 2 days.
Maple Spiced Glazed Nuts
I love a bowl of nuts. Homemade spiced nuts are super easy to make but feel really special.
3 tablespoons maple syrup
¼ teaspoon salt
⅛ teaspoon ground cayenne pepper
⅛ teaspoon ground cinnamon
1½ cups unsalted walnut or pecan halves
Steps
Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Line a rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper.
Stir together the maple syrup, salt, cayenne pepper, and cinnamon in a medium bowl until well blended, then stir in the nuts so they are evenly coated. Spread the nuts on the baking sheet in a single layer, drizzling over them anything that’s left in the bowl.
Roast (middle rack) for 8 to 10 minutes, stirring them every 2 to 3 minutes, until browned, shiny and fragrant. (If you don’t stir them, they will burn.) Let cool completely; they will crisp up as they cool.
So, what about the turkey?
Whether you’re gonna do a whole bird or just select parts, there are a million recipes out there. This WaPo article has a bunch of ideas for any size gathering. There’s even a recipe for a bird cooked completely in the Instant Pot.
Let’s talk sides
We all know what the best side dish is: Dressing. Call it stuffing if you really want, I don’t care. It’s delicious. It’s basically an excuse to take bread and eat it with gravy. You can only do this once a year and not hate yourself. It’s a must.
I made some this weekend. It’s easy. Again, scale up or down as needed. Make it a day in advance if you want.
Made some cornbread the day before. Leave it on the counter overnight. Take the largest bowl in your house and crumble the cornbread. If you have some other bread laying around, feel free to toast it, tear it, and add to the bowl.
Chop the biggest onion you can find and a few celery stalks. Cook the chopped veg down in some olive oil and way too much butter. I like to add a diced jalapeno or two and maybe a bell pepper. Add some salt. Take your time and cook this slowly to caramelize the veg. Add sage (fresh is better if you can find it, dried is good too). Sage is essential here.
Once the veg is softened, add everything to your bowl. Add some more sage, and some chicken stock. Crack some eggs into your bowl, then mix everything with your hands. Add the mixture into a greased baking dish, and stick in a 350-degree oven, covered with foil. After a while, take off the foil and bake until it’s as brown as you like.
This can sit on the counter all day and then be reheated in the oven while you wait for the bird to rest.
Dressing is a must. What else?
A couple of weeks ago, we featured some honey-glazed carrots. I’ve made these. They are delightful and a nice addition to the Turkey Day table.
Of course, we can go traditional. But since you’re probably feeding fewer people than usual, there’s no reason to cook a giant green bean casserole or a big skillet of sweet potatoes.
So let’s try something new.
Sweet Potato Salad With Orange-Maple Dressing
3 pounds sweet potatoes, peeled and cut into 3/4-inch cubes
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt, or more as needed
1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil
2 tablespoons maple syrup
1/4 cup fresh orange juice (from 1 orange)
2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
2 tablespoons minced fresh ginger
1/4 teaspoon ground of freshly grated nutmeg
1/2 cup chopped scallions (about 3)
1/2 cup chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
1/4 cup coarsely chopped toasted pecans
1/4 cup golden raisins
1/4 cup dark raisins
Freshly ground black pepper
Simple directions: boil the potatoes, drain, cool, and dump into a bowl. Wisk all the liquids and spices together, add the herbs, nuts, and raisins, then combine with the potatoes. Refrigerate until ready to serve.
Fresh and light. A nice alternative to the traditional table.
Dessert
Lemon Chiffon Pie with Saltine Cracker Crust
This seems like the easiest pie imaginable. Saltines are theHit the link for the ingredient list.
Easy directions:
Crust: Preheat oven to 350°F. Stir together crackers and sugar in a medium bowl. Add butter; knead with your hands until mixture holds together. Press into bottom and up sides of a 9-inch deep-dish pie pan. Chill 15 minutes. Bake in preheated oven until lightly browned, about 15 minutes. Let cool completely on a wire rack, about 1 hour.
Filling: Stir together 1/4 cup cold water and gelatin in a small bowl; let stand until softened, about 5 minutes. Meanwhile, beat egg yolks with an electric mixer on high speed until thick and lemon-colored, about 1 minute and 30 seconds. Transfer to a medium saucepan. Add 1 cup sugar, lemon zest and juice, and salt; stir until smooth. Cook mixture over low, stirring constantly using a rubber spatula and scraping down sides of pan constantly, until mixture is thickened, 5 to 8 minutes. (Do not let eggs scramble. If mixture becomes too hot, temporarily remove pan from heat, stirring constantly, until slightly cooled.) Remove from heat; add gelatin mixture, and stir until dissolved. Let cool, stirring occasionally, 1 hour. Transfer to a large bowl; set aside.
Beat heavy cream with an electric mixer on high speed until stiff peaks form, about 45 seconds. Set aside.
Beat egg whites in a medium bowl with an electric mixer on medium speed until foamy, about 20 seconds. Gradually beat in remaining 1/2 cup sugar. Increase mixer speed to high; beat until stiff peaks form, about 3 minutes.
Whisk about 1 cup egg white mixture into cooled lemon mixture. Add half of the remaining egg white mixture and half of the whipped cream to lemon mixture; using a spatula, fold in until almost combined. Add remaining egg white mixture and whipped cream; fold in until just combined. Spoon into crust. Chill until set, about 1 hour.
Add whipped cream and serve.
Pumpkin Cheesecake with Bourbon–Sour Cream Topping
Gotta have some pumpkin thing on the table, right? This looks like it beats the hell out of a traditional pumpkin pie. Again, hit the link for the ingredient list.
Make the crust:
In a bowl combine the cracker crumbs, the pecans, and the sugars, stir in the butter, and press the mixture into the bottom and 1/2 inch up the side of a buttered 9-inch springform pan. Chill the crust for 1 hour.
Make the filling:
In a bowl whisk together the pumpkin, the egg, the cinnamon, the nutmeg, the ginger, the salt, and the brown sugar. In a large bowl with an electric mixer cream together the cream cheese and the granulated sugar, beat in the cream, the cornstarch, the vanilla, the bourbon liqueur, and the pumpkin mixture, and beat the filling until it is smooth.
Pour the filling into the crust, bake the cheesecake in the middle of a preheated 350°F. oven for 50 to 55 minutes, or until the center is just set, and let it cool in the pan on a rack for 5 minutes.
Make the topping:
In a bowl whisk together the sour cream, the sugar, and the bourbon liqueur.
Spread the sour cream mixture over the top of the cheesecake and bake the cheesecake for 5 minutes more. Let the cheesecake cool in the pan on a rack and chill it, covered, overnight. Remove the side of the pan and garnish the top of the cheesecake with the pecans.
Video of the Week
By now, you’ve probably seen it, but whoa buddy is this a great Florida Man story.
Dude saw his three-month-old Cavalier puppy dragged into the water by a gator, jumps right in, pries open the gator’s mouth, and rescues the dog. All without dropping his cigar. Also, he’s wearing a dad cap with a picture of a Cavalier on it. All of it captured with the help of a camera installed by Florida wildlife officials. The dog escaped with just a few scrapes.
Legend.
Speaking of old white guys from Florida, where’s the President?
Since we’re previewing Thanksgiving, we might as well suggest some conversations for your socially distanced zoom chat with your in-laws. From WaPo:
The president who likes to put on a show is mostly offstage these days.
Since President Trump was declared the election’s loser earlier this month, gone are blustery speeches and stemwinder White House news conferences about the coronavirus, which never disappeared like he promised — or any other topic for that matter. Gone are lengthy call-in sessions with favored Fox anchors that often stretched so long the hosts had to push to conclude the calls.
Gone, too, are regular White House jousting matches with the press, impromptu Oval Office appearances with random guests or any pretense of being interested in many of the duties of the job.
In the 19 days since the election, 12 have included no events on the president’s schedule. He has appeared at public events four times and has played golf at his own Virginia course six times. He has taken no questions from reporters.
Since Election Day, he has spoken 8,143 words over 18 days through Saturday, according to Factba.se, a website which tracks all of his utterances and movements. On average in 2020, he spoke 8,398 words daily, according to Bill Frischling, the website’s owner, but only 454 words per day since Nov. 3. On the last day of the campaign alone, he uttered more than 55,000 words.
He averaged about 48 minutes on camera every day in 2020, Frischling said. He has spent about 50 minutes on camera total since Nov. 3.
“Definitively, it is the quietest period of the presidency,” Frischling said. “It’s the longest stretch between events and it’s the least number.”
Six rounds and 12 days with no events on the schedule. Must be nice. Considering there’s a pandemic killing thousands of Americans each day, I would say that level of leisure would be a fireable offense. Good thing the voting public already made that decision.
We have been here before
The great Jeff Pearlman knows a lot about the President, as he wrote the definitive book about 80’s pro football league, The USFL.
He bought a team, the New Jersey Generals, after the debut season, and from that first press conference (held in the lobby of Trump Tower), Trump was the loudest, brashest, most headline-obsessed owner in all of professional sports. He bragged about his wealth, his girlfriends, his projects. He begged for headlines, then begged for bigger headlines. Mostly, though, what he wanted was for ownership of the New Jersey Generals to result in ownership of an NFL franchise.
Shortly after purchasing the Generals, he literally met privately with NFL Commissior Rozelle in a Manhattan hotel suite and said, bluntly, “I will help destroy the USFL if you give me a New York City NFL team.”
Rozelle told Trump he was a conman and a fraud. “As long as I am involved in the NFL,” he said, “you won’t be.”
Then, Donald Trump decided to sue.
Trump held a press conference announcing the suit, and told none of the other owners. Trump filed the suit in New York City, and told none of the other owners. Trump plotted with the USFL attorneys he hired, and told none of the other owners. Trump decided he should be the star witness, and told none of the other owners.
So the trial happened, and shortly thereafter the USFL (winners of $3 in a laughable suit that went terribly wrong) ended operations and died.
Its owners lost millions of dollars.
And their dignity.
I guess Rudy didn’t read the book.
Remember CNN’s John King?
His 15 minutes (this election cycle) appear to be running out. But this headline made me lol:
CNN’s John King: ‘I’m Addicted’ to the Magic Wall
It’s Tuesday morning, Election Day. What’s John King doing?
I don’t wake up a month before the election and say, “Oh my God, the election’s coming. I have to do a cleanse or get performance-enhancing drugs or walk more.” I know it’s coming. It’s like a Super Bowl. It’s the thing I train for. It’s the thing I prepare for. I just knew it was important that morning to try and get some fresh air because I wasn’t going to be home until it was dark. So I take my coffee in the morning and just take a nice, long walk around the neighborhood.
On his first experience with the Magic Wall:
They rushed me to New York, and I was petrified because I had never practiced at it. At the end of it, I was in awe of the machine. That was the first time. And I guess we’ve sort of been Velcro’d to each other ever since.
Do you know how you were selected to be its shepherd?
I don’t know the answer to that. I just know that morning, they called me and said, “We decided we want you to do this. Come to New York.” And I was like, Holy shit! And I came to New York and got a few hours of practice before we went on-air. And now here I am.
How about some subtle shade towards MSNBC’s Magic Wall Guy?
Do you feel any sort of rivalry with your state-election-board peer, MSNBC’s Steve Kornacki?
I don’t know him. And, honestly, I don’t have a clue what he’s doing most of the time cause I’m on live television. When I’m sitting in my office, I’ve got a TV that has the four-box thing on it, so it has Fox and MSNBC and Fox Business and CNN. So I’ll see him every now and then — preelection or postelection. Steve’s from Massachusetts, like I am, so we should know each other, I guess.
Can’t wait to see John again in 2024.
Where else can I find Micah content?
Podcasts: Mind of Micah, Back Door Cover, Too Much Dip
Twitter: @micahwiener & @producermicah (Why two twitters? It’s a long story)
Instagram: @micahwiener
LinkedIn: @micahwiener
Peloton: #badboysofpelly@micahwiener
Email: micahwiener@me.com
Hey man. Just play the hits. Traditional Thanksgiving food > tricked up. I think the subscribers would love to see pics of your attempt at each of these dishes though. John King > Khaki pants guy. Let's hope your subscribers stay safe and away from family. #ThankfulForMicahsReads