Post Thanksgiving Lessons

I had a lovely Thanksgiving. The food was good, the turkey gave me no trouble whatsoever and mix of guests was just perfect. Essentially a Thanksgiving with no drama in the living room, dining room or kitchen. Can't beat that!

I had set up a challenge for myself this year not to use copious amounts of butter and I achieved that goal without compromising the flavor. I used 2 and a half sticks of butter - 3 at the most. Perfectly acceptable amount in my eyes when a 30 pound turkey and about 8 sides were on the table - feeding 11 guests and countless doggie bags and left overs.

The clear winner in the eyes of my guests were the brussels sprouts. They really did come out well. First off, they were baby brussels and so were sweet and tender. I cooked them in a little butter, fresh thyme and lemon juice. Definitely something to cook on days other than Thanksgiving.

The personal triumph for me were the mashed potatoes. I used very thin skinned Yukon Golds and left the skin on. I could say that it was for the added nutritional value in the peel - but the truth is that I was saving some time.
I used buttermilk instead of cream. Buttermilk is misunderstood by many to be a fat filled ingredient - but truly, it is very low in calories and provides a lovely tangy flavor to the potatoes. I did use some butter and a nice amount of salt and pepper. I almost forgot the roasted garlic. My trick with roasted garlic is to take garlic cloves and cook them slowly and gently in oil. They become tender and sweet, and provide a luscious flavor to just about anything. The bonus is garlic flavored oil that you can use in any dish that needs a subtle garlic flavor. I use the oil when cooking vegetables; or flavor it with rosemary and thyme - it makes a perfect dip for bread.

Then the stuffing. I love stuffing. I love making it and I especially love eating it. I used corn bread and sourdough bread. I cut it into inch size squares and left them in the oven overnight. The oven is off but the heat of the pilot light helps dry out the bread. When the bread is dry it takes on more of the stock which translates into more flavor. And the key to a flavorful stuffing are the fresh herbs. I don't think you can have too many herbs in stuffing. I use sage, rosemary, thyme and tons of parsley. I cook the mirepoix ( fancy french word for onions, carrots and celery) with the herbs so there is a lovely essence of the herbs. And then I add finely chopped herbs when mixing the stuffing and before putting it in the oven. The cooked herbs provide a depth of flavor and the uncooked herbs provide freshness.
That is a good principle when cooking almost anything like stews and other long cooked dishes. Herbs while cooking and fresh herbs as garnish, or toward the end of cooking. They brighten any dish.

The sweet potatoes. I used 2 kinds - by accident actually. Fresh Direct happened to have yams - my first experience with them. They are creme colored and not sweet, and taste quite starchy - more so than a potato. I also used the sweet potatoes. The color contrast was aesthetically pleasing and the flavor was enhanced by the juxtaposition of the 2 types of potatoes. I peeled and sliced them about a 1/4 inch thick - then boiled them seperately till they were just done.
It would be better to steam them but can you believe it - I don't have a steamer. I need to get me a steamer.
As soon as the potatoes were cooked and drained, I added some olive oil, maple syrup, fresh lemon and orange juice and the key ingredient in my opinion - grated fresh ginger. Salt and pepper of course. The technique of adding the flavoring ingredients to hot potatoes is a good one to keep in mind. The hot potatoes absorb the flavor more readily resulting in a more flavorful dish. Remember that when making potato salad.
I made this dish before with only sweet potatoes and I remember it tasting much better. I am not sure what happened exactly. Did the yams not love the maple syrup, etc.? I am not exactly sure. The dish was good - just not as good as I remember it the last time. But my guests didn't have the memories of the last time I made them - and so I trust that they enjoyed them.

The salad:

Oven Roasted Beets with Arugula. I loved this salad. It was fresh and light - a nice counter point to the other dishes on the table. For the beets, wrap them in foil and bake them in a 325 degree oven. They take quite a while - so its best to do this the night before. My beets were especially huge and so took almost 2 1/2 hours. As soon as you are able to handle them, oil your hands and peel them. The oiling of the hands ensures that your hands don't remain red for too long. The same applies for your cutting board. I cut the beets into 1 inch square. I love cutting beets into squares as opposed to slices - they look like jewels when they are square. I saved the juice that was gathered in the foil that the beets were cooked in and used it in the dressing.
The dressing like most of my dressings was simple. Just some lemon or lime juice - whatever I have at hand, a little olive oil (I don't follow the formula of 1/4 acid to 3/4 oil - I just taste it till it tastes right) and salt and pepper of course. Just before I was to serve the salad I dressed the baby arugula and the red beet juice made the leaves look lovely. The oil made them glisten and the red juice clung to the leaves in places and they looked lovely. I put the greens in the middle of a platter and the dressed beets all around.
If you like the idea of this salad - please take the time to cook the fresh beets. What I am trying to say is don't used canned beets - they are no where close to the fresh ones. If you don't have 2 hours to put your beets in a largely unattended oven - make another salad.
I had planned to put some goat cheese in the salad too but changed my mind at the last minute. They was too much food on the table and the goat cheese would be lost. I would definitely add it when I make this salad on another day when I don't have such a feast.

The Vegetarian Entree.

I baked the Sweet Dumpling Pumpkins in the oven the nice before. The choice of these pumpkins were solely visual and what I could find in the market. Also the size helped in the determination - I was looking for something that would be good for 1 serving. They were a tad too big - but the day before Thanksgiving I couldn't be too choosy. There was a huge run on all things squash and pumpkin at the grocery store. This was one ingredient that I didn't get from Fresh Direct since I wanted to hand pick them.
I made the filling which was toasted pearl couscous (called Israeli couscous by some), onions, squash, apples, mushrooms and lots of herbs. Half an hour before were were to sit down, I stuffed filled the pumpkins and baked them in the oven. I wasn't thrilled with them since I think they cooked to long in the oven and the couscous got a tad crunchy on top. This is what happens when you are juggling 8 or 9 dishes in one oven and trying to get everything hot and out on the table at the same time. I still think that the vegetarians appreciated the sentiment that I made something especially for them and they wouldn't just have a plateful of side dishes.
I am hypercritical of my own cooking because that is how I learn. When I make these next I might put them in a lower temperature oven or keep a watchful eye on them on maybe cover them.
Cooking is all about making adjustments according to what is thrown at you.

The Gravy:

For the first time ever I made the gravy before hand. Ideally I would want to make it with the turkey drippings in the pan the turkey was cooked in. The turkey needs to rest for 30 minutes and that is plenty of time to make the gravy. But with the size of kitchen that I am working in and the last minute chaos of getting everything ready - making the gravy becomes a huge ordeal. By the time the turkey comes out of the oven I am used every square inch of my counter space and the stove top. To have two burners free where I can make the gravy the way I like it just doesn't happen.

So I made the gravy before and then after degreasing the pan juices, I added them to the already made gravy. The is a happy medium that I am comfortable with.
When I go out to buy that steamer I also need to get a gravy separator. It is this genius measuring cup looking contraption that just separates the fat from the precious as gold pan drippings, and you can just pour it off while the fat remains in the separator.
I was happy with my gravy, it had a rich and deep flavor and was the perfect consistency. Slightly thick but not gummy and gray. Think of it as a thickened jus.

The Turkey:

It was my least fussy turkey ever. By that I mean that it gave me no trouble at all. I cooked it simply and it cooperated all the way. No pink parts at the joints, no dryness - just perfect crispy brown skin, succulently juicy breast meat and perfectly cooked dark meat.

I rubbed it with salt and pepper and massaged it with 1/2 stick of butter. Put it in a 500 degree oven for about 20 minutes and then reduced the heat to 350 and cooked it for another 2 hours of so - until the thermometer registered 160 degrees. I didn't baste the turkey once. I feel once there is a lovely crispy skin - why ruin it by throwing liquid on it and also...since it is so crispy - how will any liquid permeate. I used to baste every 20 minutes but I find that it just cools down the oven and makes the turkey take longer to cook.

I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving.
If not, don't worry there will be another one next year.
What were the hits or misses in your menu?
Learn anything new? Something to keep in mind for next year or forget about it?

Until I eat again!