Thanksgiving Meatballs, Cranberry Red Sauce, Pressure Cooked Turkey Stock, and Pumpkin Noodles

METHOD:

For the Pressure Cooked Turkey Stock:
Preheat an oven to 400°F. Put the turkey wings onto a sheet pan and roast them in the oven until they are a rich, golden brown, about 45 minutes. Put them into a pressure cooker with the water, cider, miso, smoked wings, celery, mushrooms, garlic, onion, carrot, and kimchi. Cook the stock for 30 minutes at high pressure. Let the pressure dissipate naturally and strain the stock. Cool over an ice bath and reserve until needed.

For the Cranberry Red Sauce:
Put the mushrooms, celery, onion, dried cranberries, and sun-dried tomatoes into a food processor and pulse to fully mince the vegetables. Remove the vegetables and put the fresh cranberries into the food processor. Pulse to mince the fruit. Combine the minced vegetables and fresh cranberries in a bowl and mix to combine. Put a large pot on medium high heat. When the pot is hot, add the olive oil and when it shimmers, add the vegetable mixture. Cook the vegetable mixture for 10 minutes, stirring so that it does not stick. When the mixture turns burgundy red and the ingredients come together, add the fish sauce and salt. Stir the mixture and add the canned tomatoes. Use a spatula to break the tomatoes into pieces. Cook the mixture for 10 minutes and turn the heat down to low. Add the lemon pepper, paprika, and red pepper flakes and stir to combine. Add some Pressure Cooked Turkey Stock and stir to combine. Cook the sauce for 1 hour, or until it thickens slightly and becomes dark red.  

For the Thanksgiving Meatballs:
Preheat the oven to 350°F. Put the paprika, nutmeg, red pepper flakes, fennel seeds, garlic powder, and salt into a spice grinder. Grind into a fine powder. Put the celery, onion, and shiitake mushrooms into a food processor and process to a fine mince. Mince the bacon by hand or in a food processor. Cook it in a large skillet over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until it is browned and crispy. Add the minced celery mixture and the spice mixture and cook until the vegetables are just tender.

While the bacon and vegetables are cooking, cut the challah into a 2-centimeter dice and toast in the oven until it is a foxy brown, about 15 minutes. Put the potato flakes in a heatproof skillet and toast them in the oven until they are golden brown, about 10 minutes. Add the toasted challah bread and toasted potato flakes to the warm vegetables and mix to combine. Allow this mixture to cool to room temperature, about 20 minutes.

Preheat the oven to 325°F. Put the eggs, heavy cream, soy sauce, hot sauce, and sage leaves into a blender and blend on medium speed until homogenous. Pour the egg mixture over the vegetable-bread base. Add the turkey thigh meat and turkey breast meat. Mix all the ingredients together. Use your fingertips to break up the challah so that is combined with everything else. Shape the meatball mixture into 4-centimeter meatballs and lay them out on a tray.

Once the oven is up to temperature, put the Cranberry Red Sauce in a Dutch oven or roasting pan large enough to hold all the meatballs and the liquid and put it in the oven to heat up. Once all the meatballs are shaped, put them in the Cranberry Red Sauce, put the lid on the pan and put it back in the oven. Cook the meatballs for 45 minutes, until they are firm. Remove the meatballs from the oven and allow them to cool in their braising liquid.

For the Pumpkin Noodles:
Put the flour, salt, Ras al Hanout, and baking soda into a pasta machine and mix to combine. Add the pumpkin purée and mix the dough for 6 to 7 minutes. Check the consistency after 4 minutes. It should begin to resemble coarse streusel. Squeeze the dough together in your hand. Break the dough apart. If it breaks cleanly the dough has enough water. If it crumbles, add additional water in 20 gram increments. Knead the dough and let it rest for 10 minutes for ideal hydration. You can begin to extrude through a pasta machine at this point.

To Assemble and Serve:
Warm the meatballs, still in the Cranberry Red Sauce, and cook the Pumpkin Noodles in a large pot of salted water. Sauce the noodles with the hot Cranberry Red Sauce and serve the Turkey Meatballs on top. Garnish with the parsley, celery leaves, and grated cheese.