a very new england thanksgiving

Yes, I know ... it's almost February. Let's just say the last few months have been a bit zany in TTK, from mega tests that leave me wanting an entire bottle of scotch, travel, more holidays, work, etc ... To be honest, it was a blur of friends, boxes, suitcases, and modes of transportation.

So entertain me while I flip the calendar back to Nov. 2009 for a minute. You still there? Great. Glad you stayed.

This past Thanksgiving I offered to host - and cook - the beast of a Thanksgiving feast here in my Boston apartment for my family. Quite an undertaking, but all in all, what I love to do. My parents and older brother made the trek from Chicago and Rochester, and I spent the week prepping for the feast. The week started off with pork rillettes (part 1, part 2, part 3) - my special appetizer for the family, and lots of trips to various grocery stores and food markets. Needless to say, grocery shopping in a city without a car forces you to get creative, and accept that it may take a taxi or muscle man Randy Savage to get your ingredients to your apartment and into a 4th floor walk up.

Anywho, on to the good stuff -- the food.

Here's the big meals menu // cue drumroll, please.

- Pork rillettes - appetizer
- Green beans with a lemon vinaigrette and toasted walnuts
- my famous bacon braised brussel sprouts for the non-believers
- Sausage, butternut squash and kale stuffing
- Sour cream and rosemary mashed potatoes
- 19.5 lb turkey - brined with allspice berries, candied ginger, stock, and apple cider
- Cider sage gravy, with fresh giblet stock
- Homemade cranberry sauce with rum ;)
- Apple pie with cheddar crust
- Pumpkin cobbler with candied pecans

Outside of a minor hiccup involving a sharp knife and my left pointer finger, the meal all hit the table at the same time, stress was easily washed down with wine and gravy, and the feat was over. Next time, maybe not so ambitious ... or perhaps a larger house. :)

Here are some photos from the delicious day ... and I do mean, delicious. I'll gladly pat myself on the back for that. And as always, nothing beats being surrounded with family, even if that's a bit hair brained. It's what they're there for, and I'll eternally be thankful for them.

First there was the pie, adapted from the Gourmet recipe...




Which makes the most beautiful crust ... and reminds me of my Grandfather, who always had a slice of sharp white cheddar with his apple pie. Grandpa, this one's for you ...



Then Tom the turkey, which Michael so nicely carved after his lessons from the Food Network ...



The stuffing, made by browning sausage, then adding butternut squash, leeks, kale and some stock, and a mix of foccacia and pumpernickle bread. Put into a pan, drizzle with some stock, and top with some fresh Pecorino / sharp cheese, and bake. This ... was straight aces. And ... it's absolutely beautiful. So I like colorful food, that's not a crime. ;)



On to the brussel sprouts ... which oddly enough are requested in our family. With this preparation, they will soon be in your household too. First, render the fat from a few pieces of bacon, remove when crispy - you'll be using it later. Halve the sprouts and sear cut side down in the pan, making sure they have a good color to bring out the nutty flavor. Once they have a good color, add stock to the pan, cover and cook until the sprouts are practically falling apart. Remove from stock, serve with crumbled bacon on top. WIN. (no really, WIN.)



And then there was the cobbler, recipe compliments of my friend Abe. I could eat this every day and live a very happy, very overweight life. My mother pretty vehemently dislikes pumpkin pie, yet she loved this. Take that. High five! :) Based off of this recipe, though I highly recommend using about 2 cups of pecan goodness. You can thank me later.

Peach & Strawberry Cobbler w/ Lemon Crust

Ah, cobbler. How I love thee. It's like the shepherd pie of desserts ... well, kind of. If you think of shepherd pie as the fridge-emptying solution that doesn't taste like complete garbage. Cobbler is somewhat like the fruity dessert version, IMO.

OK, so that made more sense in my head, humor me.

It was July, peaches were in season, strawberries were chopped and in my fridge, and as often happens, life during the week got surprisingly busy. Busy enough to throw my menu planning off and leaving me with produce about to turn.

I hate throwing things away or wasting food, by the way. It's a sort of affliction / mission in life, and leads to some very, um, interesting dishes and concoctions (ie., the jalapeno jam I have 6 jars of in my cupboard. Any takers? Please?)

The peaches were meant for a dinner party as dessert, with a fate including halving, a balsamic and brown sugar glaze, grilling and creme fraiche.

Then someone brought a pie. And I love pie. Sorry peaches. Next time.

I have to say though, this cobbler had the perfect mix of sweet and tang, with the lemon crust cutting the potential sugary sweetness of mixing peaches and strawberries. And a nice recipe to add to the cobbler section of the cookbook in my brain alongside the winter version -- the black 'n blue.

I made mine up in my paella pan brought back for an ex that needless to say stayed in my possession. His loss ;)



Peach 'n Strawberry Cobbler with a Lemon Crust
Adapted from a 1999 Bon Appetit recipe

Ingredients:
4 peaches, fresh preferred, canned are also OK. pitted and sliced
3 cups or so (eyeball it) of sliced strawberries
* rough estimates here ... fill the pan
1/3 cup sugar
dusting of cornstarch
sprinkling of lemon juice, about 1/2 a lemon

1/2 cup all purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
dash of salt
1/2 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
1/2 cup sugar
1 large egg yolk
1 teaspoon grated lemon zest
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 375 F.

Mix together the top set of ingredients so all fruit is covered. Dress with lemon juice.

Mix flour, baking powder and salt in small bowl. Beat butter and sugar together in large bowl until smooth. Beat in egg yolk, lemon zest and vanilla. Add flour mixture and make into a dough-like substance. Form loosely over the fruit. Don't worry, it doesn't need to completely cover the cobbler, and in fact, shouldn't. It'll spread a bit when cooking, and you want it to bubble through a bit.



Pop in the oven and cook until the topping is lightly browned and the filling is bubbly, approximately 55 minutes.

Beating the blues - Black and Blue Cobbler

There's something about warm baked goods and vanilla ice cream that takes the chill out and puts a smile on my face. It does wonders to curb a funk, end a bad mood and has a relaxing quality all its own.

I had a craving for sweets, and only a few things in the fridge / freezer. In order to now have to go outside into the snow / sleet / rain mix, I whipped this up ... yum.

Black and Blue Cobbler

Ingredients:
roughly 3 cups of blueberries
about 1 - 1 1/2 cups blackberries
1 Tb lemon juice
6 Tb melted butter
1 egg, beaten
1 cup flour
1/2 cup raw cane sugar
1 Tb vanilla extract
sugar for sprinkling
pinch of cinnamon

Preheat the oven to 375. Spray down a pan (I used my paella pan ... hey now, love improvising) and pour the berries into the pan. Sprinkle the lemon juice and vanilla over the berries.



In a separate container, combine the beaten egg with the flour and raw cane sugar. It should make a loose, grainy kind of clumpy dough - but still very dry. Take it into your hands and squeeze little clumps to put over the berries.



Sprinkle leftover flour + sugar mixture over the berries, some should be poking through. Drizzle the melted butter over the top, and then sprinkle over the top a spoonful of the raw cane sugar. Sprinkle a pinch of cinnamon over the top. Bake for 30 minutes.



Serve with a scoop of good vanilla bean ice cream and enjoy :)