Pumpkin Seed Brittle and the beginnings of a Thanksgiving menu

photograph from My New Orleans, by John Besh

Yesterday I started prepping for our annual Thanksgiving feast.  This year we're hosting a seated dinner for twenty, and house guests begin arriving tomorrow!  My husband is always in charge of the turkey, and he always spit roasts it over an open fire - more on that later this week.  Please forgive my short and slightly scattered posts over the next few days.  I could sit and write all day, but then we'd have nothing to eat!

 I found this salad recipe in one of my favorite cookbooks, My New Orleans, by John Besh.  I purchased this several years ago at his restaurant, August, where my husband and I enjoyed one of the best meals we've ever eaten.  It is a beautiful cookbook, arranged by seasons of food, including Blackberries and Chanterelles, Gumbo and Thanksgiving.  His recipes are thoughtfully crafted and simple to follow.  The results are always delicious, and very popular with dinner guests.

I'm a sucker for anything with blue cheese (preferably a good english stilton), and the spicy/sweet nuttiness of the pumpkin seed brittle perfectly compliments the tangy blue cheese.  I especially like this recipe because one can make the brittle ahead of time, as it will easily keep in the pantry (in a plastic bag) for up to a week.