Oh man, am I ever behind in posting pictures and recipes of yummy things. Since I don't know where to start, I figure Thanksgiving is probably a good place. Possibly overwhelming; you may not get many recipes with this. Zan and Becky came to eat and drink with us, which made for excellent company and a really fun day.
We started with appetizers. Ed really wanted to make a vegetable terrine, so he spent a long time roasting vegetables and getting everything *just so*. It was a very pretty terrine, unfortunately, it sort of just tasted like cold vegetables, with too much aspic on top. I don't really know how to improve on the fact that the terrine just tasted like cold roasted vegetables. I like roasted veggies, but the other appetizers were far more interesting.
Other appetizers included a smoked salmon plate, some chicken liver pate that Ed made that we served with shallot jam, that he also made (and this was delicious), some turkey pate that was made with some unknown parts of the bird that maybe should not have gone into the pate (this was not quite as delicious; much more gamy and not really all that delicate), and some hummus and veggies. All my favorite things!
We made this immediately after going for a long-ish run in the snow, so were all quite chilled by the snow and quite excited by the appetizers. Ed managed the perfect photobomb...
The ladies showing their excitement without the photobomb...
So, after a few more hours of eating and drinking and talking and laughing, eventually dinner was done. Mashed potatoes, delicata squash with sage and thyme and oregano, pull-apart garlic bread, two kinds of cranberry sauce/chutney, roasted Brussels sprouts with ham and gruyere, sausage and apple stuffing and roasted turkey thighs.
No idea what's going on in this photo, but it makes me smile.
Here's a photo of my plate, which may have been overloaded. And I may have gone back for seconds, and felt quite uncomfortable after that. But I just loooove stuffing! And you only get it once a year! It took me days to be hungry again.
No photos of dessert, but we had a slightly-more-caramelized-than-ideal tarte tatin, with vanilla ice cream, and I was so stuffed that I barely had any of it. I should also mention that Zan arrived armed with a beer or three for each course, that we paired pretty darn successfully!
Here's the cranberry chutney recipe, at least:
2C apple cider vinegar
1 onion, diced
1/4C fresh ginger
2 tbs orange peel
1 cinnamon stick
1/2 tsp red pepper flakes
1/4 tsp ground clove
12oz cranberries
1.25C brown sugar
2 bosc pears
Cook the spices and the cider until it's reduced to ~1.5C (10min). Add everything else, and simmer for 30 minutes, then mash coarsely.
And the stuffing, which was so delicious - I used
Pioneer Woman's recipe. Highly, HIGHLY recommend this one. We cooked it underneath the turkey thighs, so all the drippings went right into the stuffing. Win!
Oh, and here's the shallot jam. This one's a little estimated, since Ed made the shallot jam...
Start with several pounds of shallots. Slice thinly.
Cook on low with plenty of duck fat and salt, for 20-45min until you're starting to get some good caramelization. Add some cider vinegar and some sugar. How much? Only Ed knows. Some. Also good are some raisins, preferably golden raisins. Add more duck fat as needed. Keep cooking. If things start to stick, you can add some water. Keep cooking. Taste occasionally and keep cooking. After about an hour, it's probably ready.
This was really good with the chicken liver pate. I have no idea what the recipe for the pate was, sorry!
