Turkey Day 2005

My cousin, Vivian, and I were in charge of Thanksgiving dinner for our family of 19. And since our Grandma's birthday is within a few days of this gluttonous holiday, we made it a double celebration dinner party. Unfortunately I was feeling a bit under the weather and kept putting off duties til late afternoon. Then, busy busy busy! Here is what we cooked and ate into a comatose:

Leftovers from last party...
Warm Picholines & Olives
French Cow's Milk Cheese Plate
Rosemary-Dijon Lambchops w/Pistou

Menu...

Herb-Butter Roasted Turkey w/Gorgonzola Sauce
I didn't want to cook a whole bird and didn't want to have gravy. So I roasted a few turkey breasts and thighs and made gorgonzola sauce instead. The gorgonzola sauce is soo much better than gravy, imo.


Pan-Roasted Brussel Sprouts w/Pancetta & Balsamic
I tried brussel sprouts for the first time at AOC last week. It was so good and that I was inspired to make a similar dish for Thanksgiving. I forgot to get veal stock reduction for mine but it was still delicious. When the sprouts were carmelized in the pancetta fat with the crispy pancetta, red onion, and garlic, I drizzled in some balsamic vinegar and let it reduce for a sec.


Autumn Panzanella of Root Vegetables
This was my mistake of the night. I thought it would be brilliant to roast the veges under the turkey breast and finish it off later in super high heat with herbs and balsamic. But there was too much meat on top of the veges for it to roast. It steamed instead. The roasted veges with the shaved pecorino were still delicious but this was no panzanella. I'll have to rethink this recipe.


Bread Pudding w/Grand Marnier, Dried Blueberries & Candied Pecans
For some reason I was craving condensed milk and had a box full of bread crusts leftover from the last party. So bread pudding it was. I soaked some dried blueberries and grand marier, cut up one apple, got some golden raisans out. Voila, bread pudding. Topped it with La Bread Bakery granola and candied pecans. It came out so very dense but delicious. I need practice on this one... it is baking afterall.

Vivians' dishes...

Broccoli w/Lemon-Butter, Pinenuts & Parmesan
A simple vegetable dish topped with toasted pinenuts and parmesan. I like broccoli a lot so there was a lot of picking one out of the serving bowl everytime I passed by the dining table.


Thyme Popovers
These were popped over when we took it out of the oven. When we turned our backs for a second they completely deflated! I think this may be my doing because I peeked and the recipe says "Do not peek." Oops.

Sweet Potato Pie
[this one was devoured before i got a chance for a photo]
Mmmm... so comforting. I love sweet potatoes. Damn, is there anything I don't love?


Red Velvet Cake
Such a pretty cake for our grandma!