I was cooking for five. On Thanksgiving, there are many dishes to be cooked, and I knew there was no way we were going to get through all of the food. Instead of worry about this, I just planned on eating leftover side dishes for a week. In my last post, I laid out a plan, and stuck to the plan in many cases. When the shopping was over, after three or four trips to the coop, there was a lot to deal with.
This was at least close to everything...
We were going to start with a fennel and white bean soup. I started with diced onions, garlic, carrots, and celery sauteeing in some olive oil. I added a couple cups of fennel and let that sweat out with the other veggies. I added some thyme, two cans of drained white beans, and a few cups of homemade chicken stock.
At this point, I let it cook for 20 minutes or so so the flavors could come together, then used an immersion blender to puree the soup. The stock I used was unsalted, so I seasoned the puree with salt and pepper, and added a little more stock and a splash of white wine vinegar to thin the soup out and brighten up the flavor a bit. During all of this, I cubed up some butternut squash and roasted it with olive oil, salt, and pepper in the oven for 45 minutes until tender, adding some balsamic vinegar and during the roasting. In the end, I served the soup with the pieces of butternut squash in the middle. Here we are at the dinner table, soups ready to be eaten.
Soup Course
This was only the beginning. Along with the soup, we started with a Snowden Sauvignon Blanc from northern California. It was subtle, not too sweet, and the acidity of the wine was a great way to open the meal. The soup was excellent. It was creamy with a nice fennel flavor, and the sweetness of the roasted butternut squash brought and excellent sweetness that I had hoped for.
After this course, I loaded up my plate.
Turkey and Sides, Minus the Stuffing
I’ll start with the turkey and move clockwise. The turkey went into a brine on Wednesday and was refridgerated in the brine for 24 hours. The brine was a mixture of water, salt, honey, bay leaf, cloves, cinnamon stick, black peppercorns, the juice of two oranges, and the skin of one of the oranges. I had originally planned on a roulade with stuffing. After taking the turkey out of the brine and beginning the stuffing, I decided to change the plan. I turned on the grill and let it get hot, then created a rub of olive oil, rosemary, thyme, sage, garlic, and allspice. When the grill was hot, the turkey hit the grill.
Turkey on the Grill
It would remain there until the internal temperature reached 137 degrees in the thickest part of the breast. Yes, this may seem a little low, but I assure you that by the time the turkey was sliced twenty minutes later, it was cooked through, moist, and delicious. The brine added a lot of flavorandacidity, and the rub brought the flavors of the herbs to the nice charred outside and crispy skin.
I had my turkey with cranberry sauce. Cranberry sauce is so simple to make. I don’t really understand the canned stuff. I started with some frash local cranberries in a pot with some ginger ale. The cranberries stewed and began to pop. I added some honey, orange zest and juice, a touch of salt, a cinnamon stick, and a few cloves. I let it thicken up a little, and it was done.
Cooking Cranberry Sauce
I did not add too much sugar, so it was a bit sweet but kept the tartness of the cranberries. Their was also a nice clove flavor which I enjoy.
The orange pile on the plate there are the mashed sweet potatoes. I started by simply roasting them. This would soften them up and bring out some of their natural sweetness.
Pumpkin/Sweet Potatoes in the Oven
The pumpkins are for the dessert. After the sweet potatoes were roasted, I scooped out the flesh and mashed them up with some buttermilk, salt, pepper, grated ginger, orange juice and zest, and some vanila extract. The buttermilk made the mixture creamy, and the other ingredients brought their own flavors and provided something very unique. It was a nice twist on a classic mash.
The braised cabbage was the same “recipe” that I had cooked the previous week. I sauteed onions, garlic, leaks, and carrots in some olive oil, then added a large amount of cabbage. I also added about 3/4 of a pint of hard cider, a cinnamon stick, a few cloves, some chile piquin forsome heat, a bay leaf, and then covered it until the cabbage had wilted and cooked for about 40 minutes. At this point, I removed the top and allowed the liquid to reduce until it had almost disappeared.
Braised Cabbage
The cabbage was great. I have eaten each night since Thanksgiving, and I enjoy the sweetness, the flavor of the cabbage, the spicy kick from the chiles, and the fall flavors of apple, cinnamon, and cloves.
The beets I did very simply. I boiled them in their skins until tender. I removed the skins and diced them into fairly large chunks. Before dinner, I put some olive oil in a pan and sauteed onions, garlic, and thyme, then added the bits at a fairly high heat to caramelize the ouside. A minute or two before they were finished, I added a splash of white wine vinegar and a tablespoon or two of honey. I love the earthy flavor of beets, and the sweet and sour preparation definitely brightened the flavor.
Sauteeing the Beets
The cauliflower puree was also pretty simple. I steamed the cauliflower to cook it through. I then put it into the food processor with some Vermont Butter and Cheese Fromage Blanc, a head of roasted garlic, chopped rosemary, salt, and pepper. There was a strong rosemary flavor that went along with the very creamy cauliflower. It was a hit at dinner, and I was excitedly surprised to hear that my brother liked the dish a lot.
Cauliflower Puree in the Food Processor
Not on the final picture of my plate was the stuffing. It got its own plate as there was no room at all for it.
Okay, so That Isn't my Plate
To start the stuffing, I made some sausage. I did a buffalo sausage, starting with some ground buffalo I got at work. I added chopped garlic, salt, black pepper, red pepper flakes, and some fennel seed. I let this sit in the fridge overnight and the day of, I browned it in some olive oil to start the stuffing. When it was browned, i removed it from the pan and added onions, crimini mushrooms, garlic, carrots, celery, and leeks. I let these sweat and I added rosemary, sage, and thyme. I let this cool while I toasted up cubes a a cranberry orange loaf I got from the Great Harvest Bread Company that I thought would make a great stuffing. At this point, I combined the sautee with the bread, added two eggs, and some chicken stock. I baked it until the top was a bit crispy and it had cooked through. The flavor of the stuffing was very good. There was a lot of flavor, and i know my brother thought it was a little too far from tradition. I also was in the mood for a fairly breadlike stuffing, so it was a little less moist than my mom might have liked. My dad thought it was great, and I really enjoyed the flavor of the stuffing with the sausage and mushrooms. When eating the leftovers the next two nights, I agreed with my mom and would have preferred a more moist stuffing.
After the sauvignon blanc was finished, we opened up an Arcadian Sleepy Hollow Pinot Noir. This was an excellent fall wine with a fair amount of spice and a long finish. Although I believed it to be a great fall wine, I didn’t find that it was the perfect pairing for our meal. Perhaps we could have used something different to counteract the spices in the meal…
For dessert I made a pumpkin souffle. I started by roasting a couple of local fresh pumpkins.
Pumpkin After Roasting
I then scooped out the flesh into the food processor and blended it with cinnamon, ginger, allspice, nutmeg, fromage blanc, a touch of milk, sugar, and some molasses. I whipped up five egg whites and gently folded these into the mixture. At this point, I put portions of the fluffy mixture into individual ramekins and baked them at 350 degrees for about 30 minutes. This was the first time I had every made a souffle, and I was happy to see them rise and come out light and airy. I added a a cream on top that I made from melted marshmellow, heavy creamy, and vanilla ice cream. I then sprinkled some crumbled graham crackers over the top. The souffle had a strong pumpkin flavor complimented by the spices, and it was brought into a full dessert category with the sweetness of the cream. Along with this, we had a light and sweet sparkling wine from Italy. It was fruity and not very complex, but served as an excellent palate cleanser.
Overall, it was a great meal. I had some fun cooking some new things. I was not too stressed out as my mom and I did a great job with prepping everything. I ate until I was stuffed, and most importantly, it was great to spend time with my family. There weren’t many of us which made for an intimate meal that I will remember for a long time.
Posted by guiltygourmet 
