Mistakes were made as expected. But overall, a great meal.
The good:
The turkey was excellent (I always eat turkey on Thanksgiving, pescatarian-ism be damned). Moist, crispy skin. Spring Onion was sad about no wishbone, though. My gas Bosch oven has never been well-behaved since we moved in (a new house with new appliances) but it was really bad yesterday. It repeatedly dropped the temp - I had to constantly turn off the oven and turn it back on and let it get up to 475F. I had 2 thermometers going, each showing slightly different temps. But by some miracle, it got cooked perfectly. B and Spring Onion loved it. And the sherry gastrique that Seasons to Taste provided as accompaniment was a welcome hit of acid that I think Thanksgiving meals often lack (which is why kimchee is such an awesome accompaniment).
NYT air fryer brussels sprouts with garlic/balsamic/soy/lime juice. This is going into our regular dinnertime rotation as we eat brussels all year round. Easy and delicious.
Mashed potatoes - Per seriouseats, I cubed (but not peeled, we love the peel), rinsed, boiled/simmered, drained, rinsed briefly with hot water, returned to the pot and mashed with butter, tiny bit of milk. Rinsing off the starch was notable. Iāll do this again.
Some excellent wines, as usual, from our local wine shop, Bermanās in Lexington.
The adequate:
Gravy purchased from Summer Shack - missing some umami; I thinned it out a bit with broth since we didnāt have pan drippings.
Bellās stuffing mix supplemented with carrots/celery/onion/fresh thyme + rosemary/broth; sauteed in the roasting pan. I made the mistake of adding fresh cranberries (from frozen from last year) because I forgot to get dried cranberries. Too tart for my crowd but luckily, I was able to fish out the cranberries. I love tart so I kept the roasted cranberries and added them to my portion. The stuffing crisped up nicely while the turkey was roasting. We love those crispy corners.
Green bean casserole from Seasons to Taste with bechamel and mushrooms. Good, but it was under-seasoned. After salting it, it was a welcome addition to our table (I could probably categorize this under the Good category. The green beans were not overcooked mushy mess, which is how I picture this dish.) First time Iāve ever had green bean casserole.
Pumpkin pie from Summer Shack. Eh. Iām not a dessert person whatsoever but even I was underwhelmed.
The bad:
Parker House rolls; I make these quite regularly for Thanksgiving so I donāt know what happened (I riff off Smitten Kitchenās pretzelāed rolls). This year, I decided to try the King Arthur recipe and as I was going along (neglected to do my homework and read ahead) and I knew I was in over my head. I am a āhold my handā kind of baker. I had tested my yeast the day before and it looked good. But we also keep our house at a toasty 60-62F all winter so maybe I should have turned the heat up. We baked them a bit a more and because we are frugal New Englanders, weāre going to call them hardtack and eat them with gravy.
Sad first rise:
Even sadder post-bake:
Yet to be enjoyed/evaluated:
Lobster pie from Summer Shack; I baked it yesterday but we decided to keep it until today. Iāll report back.
The best part:
I struggled with the idea of a meat-eating kid, but it is what it is. Spring Onion has always been a picky eater, but this year, he has decided that he likes burgers and he loved his Thanksgiving meal! Iāve learned to go with the flow. Above all, seeing him enjoy his meal made me the most happy this holiday season.
Final plate - B didnāt take a photo of the table as I requested. Oh well. He borrowed some of Spring Onionās diced up turkey for the photo as he had already eaten all of his portion. Not very photogenic, as usual for brown/beige-ish Thanksgiving meals. We eat so much salad/veggies all year long that weāre cool with a brown meal.
I like that Serious Eats mashed potatoes recipe too but I peel the russets and also add cubes of cream cheese, reheats well with this addition.
Everything looks terrific. I know about Bellās Seasoning ā¦ do they also sell a stuffing mix? Iāve never seen it. I always use some when I make homemade stuffing using a Charlie Palmer recipe.
A bit of crispy skin off the Cdn Thanksgiving turkey in Oct 1996 was the gateway to me falling off the pescatarian wagon. I climbed back on in September 2004, and fell off again, after having some lamb in 2006.
Havenāt managed to go pescatarian for more than a couple weeks straight since then.
I did not snap a photo of my plate, but it was a good meal. My stepmother ordered roast turkey (fine), gravy (forgettable), harissa braised turkey wings (moist and flavorful, but mild), and mushroom bastilla (delicious) from a local place and made this NY Times stuffing. Her friend brought cauliflower with cheese sauce and a green salad, along with some very nice Champagne. My red wine cranberry sauce was proclaimed delicious (my stepmother, who says sheās not a big fan of ginger, really liked the candied ginger in it), as was the pear fudge pie, seen here sharing the plate with my brotherās mince tarts.
Spatchcocked the turkey on the Weber after a 24 hour dry brine, came out great with a smoky flavor from applewood chips, also added toum paprika butter under the skin. Creamed mixed greens (kale, spinach, dandelion), mashed potatoes with gravy, cranberry sauce, pumpkin pie with cookie graham cracker crust. Oh and a 5 lb lobster because there were two of us so I wanted to make sure we had enough to eat.*
*Sisterās family went out of town so we are having another Thanksgiving with them Saturday and most of this (except the lobster we polished off) will make it over there, together with sausage sourdough stuffing. Still deciding if I am going to roast another Turkey or not.
File for next year? The savory pumpkin gratin featured in Jacques Pepinās Tonight Show appearance a few days ago. He used it for the turkey sandwich competition he had with Jimmy Fallon, the host. I suspect the recipe omits an herb or twoā¦ I would add summer savory and include something in the onion family.
I followed my own Thanksgiving tradition this year. I ate by myself, which may sound tragic but I prefer it. Iām a picky vegetarian, and this way I get to eat exactly what I want. Which isā¦
Potato-green bean crumble. This is like three Thanksgiving side dishes in one. The filling is potatoes, green beans, onions, rosemary and a bit of vegetable broth. The topping is walnuts, multigrain bread, sharp cheddar and rosemary. This is loosely adapted from a Nigel Slater recipe I read years ago.
Something apple-y. This year it was apple turnovers from Whole Foods. In the past itās been Martinelliās sparkling apple cider or a baked apple.
Iām close with my meat-eating family, but they think my food is āweird,ā so I let them do their multiple Thanksgivings with different sides of the familyā¦and I stay home and donāt have to share my cooking with anyone. Thatās the true spirit of Thanksgiving, right??
EDIT: I belatedly realized this makes me sound like a total jerk without the context that I live alone. So itās not a situation where Iām refusing an invitation and the rest of the household heads out without me. My family and I just donāt plan Thanksgiving dinners together and thatās an arrangement that we all prefer!
Just a quick report back, the kid made his way home nicely. Amtrak was an hour delayed and he was starving, and I was worried heād miss his connecting bus bc their status on website showed it already departed when it hadnāt. But all was well. And the straight-ahead turkey breast roast was done as a torchetta and came out wonderfully! Thank you to @Amandarama. My younger son said he doesnāt generally like the turkey and this year it was his favorite item. Thatās big props.
I didnāt think it cast you in a negative light. If I were less ruled by my palate, Iād be a vegetarian. As it is, for decades Iāve eaten less than half of the animal protein I used to, and with the advent of Impossible Meat, the flavor and texture of which completely fool me, I may yet get to true vegetarian. Not only are YOU happier not having to impose your menu needs on your family, it is probably a more enjoyable repast for the carnivores, some of whom feel guilty dining in the presence of a vegetarian or vegan.
Since you mentioned apples, if you like a crunchy, tart-ish apple, look for Snapdragon apples in your area. Not only yummy, but GREAT keepers. I spent most of last winter in a hospital and nursing homes. A friend brought me a bag of Snapdragons, which I rationed. I had no alternative to keeping them in a cabinet, and they lasted over three weeks. The final one was no longer crisp, but it had no brown, soft spots. They are so great eaten out of hand that I have yet to make baked apples or pie with them. They can be ordered, expensively, from Yes Apples.
I could easily be a vegetarian, but without the fake meat. I cannot imagine voluntarily eating that stuff. And if I had to hunt, kill and butcher an animal - just give me eggplant. My husband fishes on Cape Cod bay and I told him years ago if he brought home a fish he had to bring it into the kitchen as if we bought it in a fish market. I donāt have any qualms about chopping vegetables, but I do not want to see the process of dissecting a fish or an animal.
