Roasted acorn squash seeds

Tony's, a little garlic powder, brown sugar and EEVO

Thanksgiving! - Turkey Deluxe and More!

I had an amazing Thanksgiving. The preparation of the food was thrust upon me and my sister at very near the last moment. We were at the grocery store until midnight on the phone with our mom. But you know what? We didn't mess anything up! We cooked everything we set out to cook! And it was delicious! I'm so proud.

The hardest thing about Thanksgiving was getting the timing right. We had so many things to cook in the oven that all had to be done before the turkey. We were up until three baking the night before, and Haley was up at six to finish before putting in the turkey around 830 or 9.

We made:

• turkey & gravy
  
• cranberry goo
• sautéed squash
• creamed spinach
• cornbread dressing
• rice
• mashed potatoes
• cheesy potatoes
• corn
• pumpkin crunch
• pecan bars

Turkey Deluxe

Neither of us had cooked a turkey before. We had consulted with Mom, of course, and I had chatted with a customer where I work the day before. He swore it would be no good unless we brined the turkey first. Haley is a science nerd and thusly loves Alton Brown (I do too!) -- so we started with his Roast Turkey recipe here that Haley had seen on the teevee. Here's her prepping the brine.


We used a big fine gallon paint bucket to brine it. The brine is basically lots of salt, brown sugar, pepper and vegetable broth. You boil it up, pour it in the bucket, stick the turkey in breasts down, then cover it with icy cold water. It stayed out on my porch for about six hours, and we flipped it halfway through. I think with brining, the longer the better. Ed from the clinic said he brines his for twelve hours!

Next you add some aromatics -- the stuff you stick inside the turkey. We followed Alton and did apples (Minnesota Honeycrisp, a variety of apple designed by my alma mater) and onions.

Then you just stick it in the oven. You do it extra hot first, like, 450 or something. Then you bring it down after about half an hour. Unfortunately my oven is about this _____ big and really old, so even after we somehow made the 19 pound turkey fit inside of it, the house filled up with black smoke really badly. And I ain't got no ventilation. So we took it out and decided to bring it over to Nate's parents' house. Here's me with the already lovely turkey at 9 in the morning.


When we got there, the Rowans showed us their turkey trick: a big plastic baking bag. It keeps the moisture and flavor locked in and keeps things from burning and smoking. It cooked maybe... four hours? I won't give you the turkey porn 'til the end. Here's some other food.


Cranberry Goo

This is just cranberry goo. From cans. One of them was regular cranberry sauce (not jelly) and the other was whole cranberries. Mixed together. Rob made this. And how!


Creamed Spinach

Creamed spinach was easier and deliciouser than I thought. Apparently this is a staple to my sister because it's something her best friend always makes for Thanksgiving. We used two blocks of frozen spinach, cooked according to the directions. Then you sauté some onions -- usually scallions or something -- but we used purple because that's all we had by the time we got it -- with some butter and garlic. Once the spinach is done, throw it in and add about a cup of cream or half & half. Cook it until it thickens up. Don't forget salt & pepper. Voila!



Simple Squash

Oh god I love squash. Ain't nothin' better than sautéed squash. Just butter, onions and squash until they soften. And lots of Tony's.



Canfield Cornbread Dressing

Next is the crown jewel of this Thanksgiving -- my Maw-Maw's cornbread dressing. I was never a very big fan of this, but holy cow was it the most delicious thing ever when we made it. I think the reason was that it was a little crispier this time around.

It's sort of an ordeal, but worth it. Start by baking two boxes of cornbread into either one 9x13 or two 9x9s. Once it cools, crumble it up!

Then you boil a pound of chicken after seasoning. My mom does thighs, but I did breasts because I hate bones. While it's boiling, brown a pound of ground beef, well seasoned. Take the chicken out, let cool and then shred. You can do this with your hands or a couple of forks. It's a technique that anyone who's made authentic Mexican food should be familiar with.

While you're shredding, put all the turkey giblets (You know, they extra stuff that's in a bag inside the turkey. It's, like, the liver and heart and stuff.) into the same chicken water and boil those too. I know it's gross, but it's delicious. Now, if I'm not mistaken, my mom puts the giblets into the cornbread dressing -- or at least the neck meat. I know I couldn't stomach getting the neck meat off. Haley tried, but even she got grossed out. (In my mind, I have Nate quoting Napoleon's brother Kip: "You're bruising my neck meat!") Phydeaux was really happy to get the giblets. For us, they just made the broth amazing.

Chop up a couple of green bell peppers, an onion, some green onions and a bunch of parsley. Mix the crumbled cornbread, the shredded chicken, the ground beef, the peppers, the onions, the green onions and the parsley. Then put them in either one 9x13 or two 9x9s (or 8x8s?). Smush it down so it's packed tight, then pour the chicken and giblet broth over it. Not too much! You don't want it to be soggy. Then bake 'em!! About an hour at 350, of course. When they're golden brown around the edges, you'll want to scoop it up out of the hot baking dish with your bare hands it'll smell so good. Don't though!


Please make this your desktop background like I did. It's just so beautiful.


The Rest

This is the pumpkin crunch featured in the last post!


You know Krusteaz? Haley had wanted to make pecan pie, but we settled for a box of pecan bars. They're great! Really. Try them.


Sharon made her signature turkey gravy. Cold water and a Thunderstick are the two secrets, but I won't give away any more without permission.


Nate's Dad Bruce always cuts the turkey with this ancient electric knife, but this year he passed the honors on to Natey! I cried a little; it was my first time cooking Thanksgiving dinner and Nate's first time cutting the turkey. How pukishly domestic of us. I love it!!


Here's the food porn. GUH. SO GOOD.




All in all, the holiday was a complete success. Haley and I didn't sleep much, but we learned that moms and dads that cook Thanksgiving dinners do a lot of work with a lot of love. I'm really happy that I got to share the experience with Haley and Rob and Nate. And Charlie came to dinner too!

Thanks to the Rowans for letting us bring all the food over to their house and helping with the turkey when we were clueless. Thanks to Rob for some awesome photographic memories and help with dinner. Thanks to Nate for cutting the turkey and playing mandola all day. Thanks to Charlie for his pure self. Thanks to Mom for the Thanksgiving know-how and the many years of home-cooked meals. Thanks to Alton Brown for the rest. And a big dumb sentimental thanks to my big dumb sentimental sister Haley. I miss you!


The one thing I missed this Thanksgiving? Good ol' green bean casserole. But when I tried to make it, I didn't have enough green beans! What ever did I improvise? How badly did I adulterate a classic?? Find out next time in ... Experimental Cookery!

Cous-cous masterpieces v.2

My sister just moved out of Minneapolis -- real quick too. She asked if I could go to her apartment and clean out the rest of the stuff there. I thought it would be quick and painless, but there was actually a bunch of junk there, some Haley's, some the bitchy roommate's, some old roommates'. It was an exhausting but good day of organizing and recycling and giving things away to neighbors in Uptown. One old lady was so happy to get Haley's ironing board, and some dude got a really nice desk chair.

I got a few consolation prizes: a small crockpot, a crappy blender, a metal bowl that's now Phydeaux's water dish, a maybe-working electric blanket and my black corduroy jacket that I thought had been lost forever. Maybe my favorite find was a fun kitchen toy: STACKS - the pyramid kit. If you look close, you can see that Haley bought it for $1.69, my guess is at Arc's Value Village thrift store. And I got it for free! Sucka.

The first thing I thought upon finding the box was cous-cous. They're basically metal molds in the shape of a pyramid. They also come in triangle, square, round and heart shapes -- though I've heard that surrounding yourself in pyramids helps the energy flow in your life or something. This even extends to eating your food in the shape of pyramid. Plus it looks awesome. You can read some cool stuff about the feng shui of pyramids here; note the angry tone when the author says that the awareness of the impact of geometrical shapes on human energy is disappearing thanks to modern feng shuists. I blame the fat guy on Trading Spaces.

Now the tricky part about the pyramid shape is that you have to find some way to balance them while you fill them. The tiny booklet in the box suggested bowls, but I didn't have any that were deep enough. I ended up using the steamer top of the big pot I usually cook chili in. Two of the pyramids happened to fit side-by-side, and the point of the pyramid fit perfectly into one of the holes, so they didn't slip around. Much. I won't lie and say it was perfect, but it worked.

There were a few recipes in the box, but they were gross and complicated and stupid. Apparently the "creator" of the Stacks system has a whole series of cookbooks you can buy. She posits, "Why cook a meal when you can create a sensation?" Why indeed. I say, "Why use someone else's recipe when you can use your own?"

The idea that really makes the Stacks system beautiful is that of layers. It'd still be cool to eat your cous-cous in a pyramid shape, as a quick plating gimmick, but the layers are totally where it's at. I had a few things in the fridge I wanted to use up, leftovers from a giant chili party we had for Nate's birthday. So that's where I started, but of course this meal is completely versatile, depending on what you've got on hand. Easily vegetarian, easily themed. No cous-cous? Use rice, like on the box.

I left the cous-cous (~1 cup) grossly underseasoned by my usually standards so that it could stand alone as its own flavor. The main centerpiece of these pyramids was the yellow onion (~1/2), yellow squash (~1/2) and zucchini (~1/2) medley that I sautéed with a little butter and olive oil, never forgetting my trusted Tony's.

I also had one extra chicken breast that I seasoned and cooked up on a skillet real quick. While it was sizzling, I chopped up one tomato and a bunch of walnuts into tiny little pieces. I julienned some spinach as well. Then chopped the chicken real small too.

Then all I did was stuff the pyramids. I started and ended with cous-cous, thinking that it'd definitely keep its shape best. Next layer was walnuts, then a thick squash and zucchini layer. Under that was the chicken, then the spinach and the end layer of cous-cous. Firm but gentle pressure is the key to making it stick. My honeybee spatula was just right for firm, flat, even pressure. I put the plate on top of the pyramid, flipped them together and gently removed the pyramid form. (Also, the recipes always recommend spraying the inside of the pyramid with vegetable spray or something. If I were baking, I'd do this, but I skipped this step and they came out just perfect.)

I had a little cous-cous and squash & zucchini left, so I used some tiny condiment thingies for some contrastive shapes. I made a dessert cous-cous mound with walnuts, cranberries and cous-cous. Delicious.

Here are some amazingly beautiful photos of this amazingly beautiful meal.




I thought that the once you stuck your fork in the thing, it would all be ruined, but actually, they kept their shape pretty well. It was like cous-cous pyramid Jenga. Always play with your food.

I'm most looking forward to baking with theses puppies. Stay tuned!