We decided to host Thanksgiving this year. Twelve seats around the table, which isn’t the largest dinner ever hosted, but it was the most people I’ve cooked for at one time. So, what was the plan? What about trying something you’ve never done before, and hoping for the best? Sounds like a plan. So, off to the internet to order…
A TURDUCKEN.
Which is a duck breast, wrapped with Creole sausage and cornbread stuffing, then placed inside a deboned chicken, wrapped again with sausage and stuffing, and then THAT is placed inside a mostly deboned turkey. Excessive? Perhaps. Exciting? Definitely. And if nothing else, the table will look amazing (many thanks to my wife Tracy, who has quite the eye for design. Also, this is her photo).
The question though, is what to have with it? Well, gotta have cranberries. Here’s something courtesy of mom: A cranberry compote. Shallots, orange zest, orange juice, cranberries, sugar. Put it all in a pot and let it cook down. Done.
Next up: Potatoes. Decided to go easy and fancy at the same time, so here’s how to make a Hassleback potato. Make 1/8” slices in a Yukon Gold, but not all the way through. I laid two wooden spoons on either side of the potato to help with this.
Then, coat with olive oil, season with salt and pepper, and put in the oven for about half an hour. They’ll start to fan out.
Take them out, put some bacon fat on them, re-season, and then back in the oven for another half hour or so. The fat will run into the slices, and everything will be both tender and crispy at the same time. For toppings, your choice of chives, bacon, sour cream, and parsley.
It’s not all meats and starches. Let’s do a salad. Chop some unsalted pistachios, add to a pan with fennel seed and oil, and cook until slightly brown. Let cool.
Slice some fennel.
Add chopped tarragon, chives, parsley, lemon zest, lemon juice, and horseradish (just a little!).
Toss it with lettuce, olive oil, and the pistachio mixture.
Is it lunchtime already? I didn’t think about what to do. Wait, I have some sausage. And some chicken stock. And some white beans. And some kale. Yeah, I got this.
Top with parmesan.
Where was I? Ah, yes. Green beans. Trim, steam for 3 minutes, salt, lemon juice. That was easy.
We have to have snacks. Pecans, coated in butter and baked with salt, paprika, and rosemary.
Crudité with sour cream dip.
Smithfield ham, cheddar cheese, and salami (note: I didn’t actually make any of this).
Dessert is store-bought pumpkin pie (hey, a guy’s only got one oven). But to jazz it up, let’s turn once again to mom, and make a bourbon apricot sauce. What’s in it?
What do you do? Add one to the other, and then add heat.
Put it on pie.
It seems like I’m forgetting some-
TUR.
DUCK.
EN.
I ordered one at cajungrocer.com, and it came frozen solid in the mail. Thaw it out (this will take several days in the fridge). Four hours covered, one hour uncovered, until the temp hits 165. In theory. Ours took a few hours longer, because it still wasn’t completely thawed, even after two days (see above parenthetical hint).
Let it rest for about half an hour, and madly scramble through the kitchen to get the rest of the food finished and plated. Then, remove the legs and wings, and slice.
Make a roux (this was done the day before), separate the juices in the pan from the fat using a fat separator, and then add to the roux to make gravy. Season to taste.
Time to eat! Hm? What’s that you say? You want to know what that is in the lower right corner? Oh, that’s a batch of red beans and rice. For more information, go to http://earfatigueproductions.blogspot.com/2009/01/its-time-my-friends-for-little-red.html .
Happy Thanksgiving!
