November Project: Thanksgiving Dinner

Mmmm, looks good. What's for dinner?

The Bourgaroni's fourth annual Thanksgiving Extravaganza

Herb Butter Roasted Turkey

Turkey Gravy

Port Cranberry Sauce

Mushroom and Thyme Gravy

Herbed Ciabatta Stuffing with Chorizo, Shitake and Sweet Potatoes

Challah Stuffing with Mushroom 

Marcus' Herbed Mashed Potatoes

Garlic Mashed Potatoes

Whiskied Roasted Parsnip and Apple Puree

Annika's Sweet Potato Casserole

Jiff's Traditional Green Bean Casserole

Glazed Brussel Sprouts and Apple in Brown Butter and Cream

Martin's Steamed Brussel Sprouts

Kai's Corn Bread (by Susanne)

Harissa Carrots

Spinach Gratin

Lowri's Celeriac and Potato Gratin

Butternut Squash and Roasted Garlic Galette

Pumpkin Pie

Earl Grey-scented Flan

Pecan Pie

Chocolate Pecan Pie

Whipped Cream

Vanilla Ice Cream

Whoa. That's a lot of food. But was it enough for 40 people? 

Ask Haiko - that's not a peace sign - it's a "second plate" sign. 

Enough food for seconds.. for 40? How'd you pull that off?

We put our army of kitchen bitches to work!

A table overflowing with old classics, first attempts, new favorites. A traditional American Thanksgiving prepared by one American, one half-American, five Brits, a Swede and numerous Germans. Guests who were well-versed in the tradition of dankbarzeit, or "thankful time", a new German word created for the occasion that translates as "Jiff's totally annoying insistence on a group of people, some of whom do not know each other at all, publicly embarrassing themselves by stating one thing, sometimes extremely personal, sometimes humorously removed, that they are thankful for", knew what to expect. For the novices, we put together a short film (imovie is soooooo awesome) with examples of things that one could be thankful for - if only I could figure out how to post it here.

In addition to being thankful for not burning the entire building down despite have three ovens going simultaneously all day long, I am particularly thankful for this community of people who gathered with us to celebrate one of my favorite American traditions. Thank you everyone! Same time, same place next year! Danke Schön!!

November Project: Just Trust Me On This One

Image via Sarah Shatz, Food 52

So, by now you have noticed a pattern. I confess: I am a serial Food52 user. But the recipes, 99% generated by home cooks and food bloggers are so well written, straightforward and do not contain a mile long list of ingredients. As I have already said, Smash is the trained chef. I am a food enthusiast and very amateur-at-best cook. I have never said I am a very good cook - but I love to do it. I love to create something that makes the entire house smell like home, that makes my guests swoon and that is simply enjoyed and then gone. A sort of Buddhist-like ritual. And Food 52, under the direction of the inspirational Amanda Hesser and Merril Stubbs, is powered by people who share this philosophy.

This Butternut Squash and Roasted Garlic Galette is something I have earmarked, "make this after The Kitchen dinner and before Thanksgiving". And last night I did. And it was diiiiiivvvviiiine. Make this for Thanksgiving. Make this for lunch. Make this for company. Make this for yourself. It is simple in practice, complex in flavor and impressive on the table. It took me a bit longer to do because I had two cranky kids under foot but otherwise, it was piece of cake. Or, ahem, galette.

Butternut Squash and Roasted Garlic Galette by lorinarlock

Serves 4 to 6

Pastry:

• 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/4 cup semolina flour
• 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
• 6 tablespoons chilled unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
• 2 to 4 tablespoons ice water

Filling:

• 1 butternut squash
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 2 teaspoons fresh thyme leaves, chopped
• 1 clove garlic, chopped
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
• 10 cloves, garlic whole and unpeeled
• 1/2 cup fresh ricotta
• 1 cup grated fontina
• 2 tablespoons grated parmesan

To make the dough: Put the flour, semolina, and salt in the bowl of a food processor. Pulse to combine. Add the butter and pulse to form a mixture that looks like small peas. Add the ice water, 1 tablespoon at a time, until the dough sticks together (to test, remove the top and gather the dough in your fingers. If it sticks together without crumbling, it’s ready). Add the ice water while pulsing, until the dough comes together, being careful not to over mix. Transfer to a lightly floured board and shape the dough into a disk. Wrap tightly in plastic and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes and up to 24 hours. 

Preheat the oven to 400°F. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper.

To make the filling: Cut the squash into two pieces to separate the rounder part from the narrower section. Peel the entire squash, cut both parts in half and remove any seeds. Cut all four pieces into 1/4-inch-thick slices. Put in a large bowl and add the olive oil, chopped garlic and thyme. Toss to coat evenly. Spread out on one of the prepared baking sheets. Set the bowl aside. Sprinkle the squash with the salt and pepper. Put the garlic on the baking sheet and bake until the squash and garlic are tender, about 25-30 minutes. Let cool Remove the dough from the refrigerator and roll out the dough into a large circle about 1/4-inch thick. Transfer to parchment paper–lined baking sheet and refrigerate until ready to use. 

When the garlic is cool enough to handle, peel and put in the reserved bowl. Mash with the back of a wooden spoon until smooth. Stir in the ricotta. (Jiff's note: this roasted garlic is so sweet and fragrant without being pungent, it's dreamy.)

Remove the pastry from the fridge and spread the garlic-cheese mixture over the top, leaving a 1-inch border. Spread the squash over the garlic-cheese mixture and fold the edges toward the center of the galette. Sprinkle the fontina over the center of the galette. (Jiff's note: I think I used more than a cup of fontina; I operate under the "more cheese is always better" premise). Sprinkle the edges of the crust with the parmesan and bake until the crust is crisp and golden brown, about 25-30 minutes. Let cool slightly before slicing and serving.

Serve with a small side salad of some sort and a glass of Riesling and savor.

November Project: Starter, Again

The final product: Gnocchi di Zucca e Amaretti con Sage Hazelnut Pesto.

Let's go back to the beginning.

Sage, Hazelnut, Ricotta Salata Pesto from melissav at Food 52

• 1/4 cup sage, chopped
• 4-5 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 clove garlic, smashed
• 1/3 cup hazelnuts, toasted
• 1/4 cup + 2 TB ricotta salata, crumbled or chopped until a medium fine crumble
• salt

(1) Warm 3 TB olive oil, sage, and garlic in a small pan over very low heat just until the oil bubbles. Pour in a small bowl, reserving the garlic clove.

Side note: the above garlic clove is WAY too big. I would use about a quarter of it. My pesto was completely overpowered by the garlic. 

(2) Place the toasted hazelnuts in mini food processor along with the garlic clove and process until a fine crumble and add to the bowl (alternatively, you can do by hand or in a mortar and pestle).

 

(3) Add the cheese to the bowl along with 1-2 TB more olive oil and stir until combined and salt to taste. This is not a traditional pesto - more nutty than herby and not so much oil.

Another side note: ricotta salata is not just fresh ricotta that you salt. I wasn't sure what it was until the Segnora at my local Italian deli explained it to me - and told me that she doubted I would be able to find it anywhere in the city - unless I wanted to order 10 pounds of it from her supplier. I politely declined, called around, and eventually did find it. It is something akin to a peccorino - but not exactly.

As this is the case, I dropped the gnocchi out of the water and into a little sage butter before the pesto. If you are serving this as a starter, I recommend only six - eight smaller or medium sized gnocchi as they are quite substantial and you don't want people to fill up before the bird comes out of the oven.

The taste testers approved. Aside from the garlic and the portion size, their feelings about the plain pumpkin gnocchi vs. the pumpkin amaretti gnocchi were divided. It's what one would call a geschmacksache in German. A matter of taste. Though we all thought the amaretti were slightly denser in consistency - which can be corrected by adding less amaretti or less flour.

Buon Appetito!

November Project: In Search of the Perfect Starter

 I have been trolling various cookbooks, websites and the annals of my own brain as well as asking family and friends and the greater www, for the perfect fall starter: one simple smallish plate that is visually gasp-inspiring and sensorily moan-inducing. Readers, what would turn you on?

For me personally, the answer would not be squash. Yet, I keep coming back to it again and again. I have ruled out a soup. I love soup, do not get me wrong and I personally enjoy soup as a starter but I cannot get over the feeling that soup is a boring starter. Send me hate mail. Tell me how wrong I am. I know, really I am on your side. But I just can't bring myself to do it. There is some sort of mental hurdle that stands firmly it.

But the squash hurdle is one I can navigate. I am going there.  With my mad scientist coat on I am going to combine two different butternut squash recipes to see how this might work: a Pumpkin Gnocchi recipe, adapted from a friend with Sage, Hazelnut, Ricotta Salata Pesto taken from the Caramelized Butternut Squash Wedges with Sage, Hazelnut Pesto from melissav at Food 52.

Jiff's Gnocchi di Zucca (e Amaretti)

1 medium sized Hokkaido squash - to yield 2 cups pumpkin puree

2 cups Flour

2 cups Parmesan cheese

1 tsp Salt

1 tsp Nutmeg

1. Quarter your the hokkaido, scrape out the seeds and put them on a cooking sheet in the oven at about 375°F for 40 minutes or until soft. Scrape out the flesh and let it sit in a siv until it has cooled. Then give it a whirl in the food processor until smooth but not runny.

 2. While it is cooling, mix 1.5 cups of flour with the salt and nutmeg.

3. Make a little well in the center of the flour mixture and insert pureed pumpkin and Parmesan in the center.

4. Work the flour into the puree until you have a nice dough. 

Optional: to do the gnocchi with Amaretti, crush them up and throw them in with the flower mixture.

5. Cut the dough into 4 or 5 pieces and roll them one at a time into little stretches of rope. Cut the rope so that you have 1 inch pieces of pillowy-soft gnocchi.

6. Put them on a semolina dusted baking sheet or tray and stick them in the freezer for two hours or until you are ready to cook them.

7. To cook, bring a pot of salted water to a boil and throw them in. When they float up to the top, take them out. They are now done and ready to be dressed.

Tomorrow, to top them: Sage, Hazelnut and Ricotta Salata Pesto. And taste testers weigh in.

November Project: Roasted Butternut Squash Coconut Curry Puree/Soup

  Image via Sarah Shatz, Food 52

For me, and perhaps for many, soup is the quintessential fall food. A bowl of seasonal vegetable(s), roasted, simmered or sautéed with herbs, pureed with a homemade stock that has perfumed the house when you made it yesterday and perhaps mixed with cream or topped with a bit of gooey melted cheese. Throw a crusty baguette in the oven for 10 minutes before you are ready to eat and watch the butter melt on the bread as you spread it on. Dip in and mmmmm, heaven. 

Fall for me is often associated with root vegetables like parsnips, rutabega, celery bulbs and Jerusalem artichokes. And of course squash. This recipe for a roasted butternut squash coconut curry puree/soup intrigues me - the coconut and curry are more South Asia than traditional Thanksgiving but I do like to serve a few dishes that people might not be expecting. I have never served soup at Thanksgiving dinner before mainly because it's a hassle - it means I have to add bowls and spoons to the list of dishes and cutlery - and when this means I need to round up an extra 30 bowls and spoons, the idea quickly becomes a fleeting thought, relegated to the pile of recipes to come back to one day. 

BUT, for the Thanksgiving dinner I am preparing as a three-course sit-down, it may be more feasible. My only concerns: Is soup a boring starter? If I am planning on a dessert that involves pumpkin in some form, would this soup/puree be overkill? If I used this as a puree instead of a soup, what could I set on top or along side it? Readers - I ask for your advice.

Roasted Butternut Squash Coconut Curry Puree/Soup by Testkitchenette

Serves 6

• 2 tablespoons coconut oil
• 2.5 medium butternut squashes, cut in half and seeded
• 2 large yellow onions, chopped
• 1 red pepper, seeded and chopped
• 1 jalapeno pepper, seeded and chopped
• 4 garlic cloves, chopped
• 2 inches fresh ginger, peeled and chopped
• 1 tablespoon naturally brewed soy sauce (tamari)
• 1 tablespoon red curry paste
• 2 teaspoons garam masala (preferably) or curry powder
• 1 14 oz. can coconut milk
• 2 cups low sodium/no sodium vegetable broth
• salt and pepper to you taste
• 1 handful cilantro, chopped

1. Preheat oven to 375F and lightly coat a large cookie sheet with olive oil. 
2. Sprinkle each half of butternut squash with salt and pepper and lay cut side down on cookie sheet. Bake for about an hour until fork tender. Let cool for a bit and peel skin off, I used an old grapefrut spoon but you could use a paring knife. Cut into chunks.
3. While butternut squash is roasting you can get started on the soup. In a large heavy bottomed pot heat up coconut oil at medium heat. Add in onions, garlic, and ginger and saute till onion turns transluscent (about 8 min.). Add in red pepper, jalapeno, season with salt and pepper and cook for about another 10 minutes (stirring and taking care not to burn). I started with 1 tsp of salt and a few grindings of black pepper.
4. Add in soy sauce, red curry paste, garam masala/curry powder and stir to coat. Add in coconut milk, veggie broth, and 2.5 of the roasted butternut squashes and stir to combine. I used my potato masher to further mash up the butternut squash.
5. Bring to a boil and simmer for approximately 30 minutes. Puree if desired in batches in blender. Return to pot and add extra broth depending on how thick/thin you want it to be and season to taste. When ready to serve, sprinkle the cilantro over it.

November Project: Two Thanksgivings

Ok, y'all. It is even more dringend - urgent. I am cooking two Thanksgiving dinners this year: my traditional family and friends dinner and a pre-Thanksgiving dinner with a few modern twists. Recipe testing begins immediately. And I think I am going to start here: Mashed Potatoes with Caramelized Onions and Goat Cheese.


Image via Sarah Shatz, Food 52

They look pretty amazing, no? I am drooling. But would they go well with turkey? Or would they be too tangy? Would it be better to stick to something more traditional, buttermilk, garlic.

Sonali's Mashed Potatoes with Caramelized Onions and Goat Cheese from Food 52

Serves 4

• 4 tablespoons unsalted butter, divided use
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1.5 pounds yellow onions (approximately 2 large onions), thinly sliced
• Kosher salt
• 1/4 teaspoon sugar
• 3 pounds Russet potatoes, peeled and cut into 1-inch pieces
• 1.5 cups half and half
• 1 clove garlic, smashed
• 1 bay leaf
• 3 ounces goat cheese
• Black pepper

1. To make the caramelized onions, heat 2 tablespoons of butter and the olive oil in a large sauté pan over medium heat. Add the sliced onions and stir them to coat with the fat. Add 1/4 teaspoon salt and the sugar and cook, stirring frequently, until onions are golden brown and caramelized, about 30-40 minutes. If the onions get too dry, add a small amount of water to deglaze the pan. Set aside.
2. Place the potatoes in a large pot of cold, salted water. Bring to a boil and cook until fork tender.
3. While the potatoes are cooking, heat the half and half, garlic, bay leaf, and remaining 2 tablespoons of butter in a small saucepan over medium heat.
4. Drain the potatoes and return them to the hot, dry pot. Stir them over low heat for 2 minutes until they are dry. Pass the potatoes through a ricer into a large bowl. Gently stir in the hot cream mixture a little at a time until the potatoes are smooth and creamy (discard the garlic and bay leaf). You may not need to use all of the liquid. Set aside a small amount of the caramelized onions for garnish and stir the remaining onions into the mashed potatoes. Crumble the goat cheese into the potatoes and stir to combine well. Season with salt and black pepper to taste.
5. Spoon the mashed potatoes into a serving bowl and garnish with the remaining caramelized onions. Serve hot.

The November Project

At 2.25 years old, my twins are finally at an age when they are beginning to understand and appreciate tradition. They have learned to sing "Happy birthday to youuuu!" although they still occasionally sing it to themselves. They tear into wrapped presents, and show great restraint when watching someone else open a gift. They swarm around the chocolate Santas already stocked in the grocery store and yell, "SANTA! HO HO HO!" before they fall upon them. And as of yesterday, they have a deep love for Halloween, or at least for asking strangers for candy. Watching them divvy up the spoils last night, skillfully bartering with friends to exchange a package of gummi bears for a coveted chocolate bar, I had flashbacks to my own childhood.

After scouring the neighborhood, house to house often through three foot snow drifts (back when it used to snow...), we would reconvene in the living room by 7pm, emptying pillow cases filled with mini Baby Ruth bars, circus peanuts and candy corn, Twizzlers, and the occasional tooth brush from the neighborhood (smart ass) dentist. We'd shed our costumes, outfits that mom often made herself, projects she worked on painstakingly for weeks, and sit by the fire, admiring the towering mountain of sugar we had amassed before mom would make us put it all in a big Tupperware container; she would ration out a few pieces each day, depositing them into our school lunches.

Halloween for me heralded the beginning of the real holiday season - the Thanksgiving/Christmas season. Thanksgiving meant heading up north to our (other) cousins' cottage where we would play football in the snow all afternoon while my mom and aunt slaved away at the stove. We would tuck into the turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, cranberries, green bean casserole and pecan pie around 5 pm, the kids and adults at one long table. I'd have already prepared my soliloquy when it came time to share one thing I was thankful for. We would retired to the living room after dinner for a raucous game of Family Feud, the board game.

My family rituals frame my childhood memories. And now that I am a parent myself, I realize how important it is to carry on these traditions - not only because I enjoy them, but for my children, for their memories. And while they may not really be old enough to remember going trick or treating last night, they woke up talking about it this morning. And when we look at the photographs, we will talk about it again. And when we remind them about the time we carved a face into a pumpkin and got chocolate from the neighbors, they will ask when they get to go again.

And so it is for the kids (and mostly probably, admittedly, for ME), that I begin planning my 4th annual Thanksgiving Extravaganza. For the fourth year in a row, I will squeeze over thirty people, mostly Germans, into my living room and present them with a traditional holiday spread, scenes from the Macy Thanksgiving Day parade and will force them, and some do need serious cajoling, to participate in what has become known amongst past participants as Dankbarzeit, literally, thankful time, and for the record, a German word of my own invention.

Only a madwoman would take on cooking for 30 people on her own and I like to think I still have some of my wits about me. Therefore, I assign recipes to anyone who asks, "Can I bring anything?" Yes, they get assignments. This is not a free-for-all potluck. German kartoffelsalat is NOT allowed on my American Thanksgiving table. Last year, diners paired up and together made a double portion of their assignment - garlic mashed potatoes, stuffings, pumpkin pies, gratins, and more. SO, the November project will be a prelude to Thanksgiving, a love letter to one of my favorite American holidays, and an incentive to prepare my recipes, decoration and logistics. I would also love to hear from YOU - variations on a traditional recipe that have become staples at your Thanksgiving table? A recipe that you tried that was a huge success or a miserable failure? I need to know! After all, I have traditions to create for these two....