Andy didn't have to be at work until later morning which meant we got to hang out for a few extra hours and he cooked me breakfast(bacon and eggs, my favorite)! In my defense he offered to do this so I didn't feel that badly about sitting on the couch, drinking coffee and watching the Today show. It's been a while since he's cooked me breakfast, I think reality and life has finally set in a bit, so I'm trying to soak this up as much as I can. It's definitely a treat :)
Andy and I get to host Thanksgiving and I'm not going to lie, I'm pretty excited to take on the challenge. I love to cook and having a day off to do just that is fine with me. I thought I would share some of the dishes that made the cut. To preface this, last year Andy and I had an early Thanksgiving with his parents and in terms of the menu, we bit off more than we could chew. The recipes we chose were fairly complex (we just picked what looked good!) and frankly we didn't do any kind of prep the day before. Nothing. So, needless to say, the kitchen was a huge mess, no one really knew what was going on and we just tried to stay a float. Everything turned out great, but in the end we didn't really have much time to relax, watch football and hang out with his parents, which is what we really wanted! So, with this in mind, the things we chose are pretty simple and most can be prepped before...which is what I did all day today!
#1 pick - Tom Colicchio's Herb-Butter Turkey. Butter. Enough said. Recipe can be found here.
#2 pick - Low Carb & Gluten Free Stuffing. Please, do not let the name scare you. We made this last year and it deserved a repeat appearance. It's naturally low carb and GF so you're not going to find any weird ingredients. It's full of veggies, herbs and sausage! Recipe can be found here.
#3 pick - Sweet Potato & Rosemary Casserole. I chose this recipe mainly because it can be made the day before, but also for the caramelized onions, rosemary and parmesan. Yum! I personally prefer sweet potatoes paired with something savory. Yes, sweet potatoes topped with toasted marshmallows are hard to pass up, but can be overwhelmingly sweet. Recipe can be found here.
#4 pick - Cheesy Cheddar-Gruyere and Chive Biscuits (GF). Cheddar and Gruyere. Did you know I love cheese?? P.S. I love this girl's blog. Recipe can be found here.
#5 pick - Roasted Asparagus. Nothing too complicated. Recipe can be found here. Last year we made a recipe with the name of Absurdly Addictive Asparagus. And it definitely held up to it's name. This stuff was so good. It's a bit of work, but totally worth it if you have the time! Here is the recipe.
#6 pick - Arugula, Pear & Goat cheese salad with Pomegranate Vinaigrette. This was a last minute addition. I initially didn't think that a salad was necessary, but when my mom asked for the recipe the other day I just couldn't get it out of my head. I've made it several times and it's so yummy. The flavors and colors are simply amazing. It's light and refreshing. The red color of the pomegranate seeds against the green arugula makes this a great salad to bring to any holiday party. Some of the ingredients, mainly the pomegranate molasses, might scare you, but I was able to find this and everything else needed at Whole Foods. Recipe can be found here.
Last, but certainly not least, dessert! In fact, if I could have it my way, this guy would be my numero uno.
#7 pick - Frozen Pumpkin Mousse with walnut-toffee crunch. This was not my first choice for our dessert recipe, but after a very serious conversation with Andy and much convincing I agreed that no, we do not need an entire full sized dessert for the four of us. My dreams were crushed. I actually had picked out a Larger than Life Praline Cheesecake. Just look at it, it's beautiful! I found the original email I had sent to myself when I found the recipe and it was dated back to October 14, 2013. Do you think I was excited about this thing?? I thought it would be a great dessert as we live in the south and Praline Pecans are staple around here. Anyways, I digress...the frozen pumpkin mousse will fabulous. It's a recipe my mom made a while ago and when brainstorming for lighter/smaller dessert options I thought of it right away. In the end, this decision is for the best. Leave a larger than life praline cheesecake around Andy and I and things just turn out badly...
The day went pretty smoothly and I got almost everything done that I wanted to. It was so hard not to pick at everything that I was making. I tried my best, but let's just say I wasn't really hungry by the time lunch rolled around...
I started with the sweet potato casserole, caramelized the onions, boiled potatoes, added parmesan, rosemary and a dash of cayenne pepper. My favorite part of this dish was getting to use my new 2-in-1 mix'n masher! I would give it a five star rating!
Next up was the pumpkin mousse. I started by making the walnut-crunch topping. After this was done I had to put it away immediately. If left out, this stuff would have been gone, guaranteed. I wish Andy would have been here after I was done making the mousse. This was a perfect bowl for lickin'!
After the mousse I figured I would get the pomegranate vinaigrette made for the salad as well as tackle the oh so stubborn pomegranate. Now, for those of you who have had to deal with pomegranates you know they are no easy feat. The first time I tried to collect the seeds I ended up with stained red fingers and one less shirt (pomegranate juice also does not come out of clothes very well, note to self) Then, my friend and mother shared a couple of tricks that saved me from every having to deal with a pomegranate again. Take notes people!
First, cut off the top of pomegranate and make four shallow cuts running from the top to bottom.
Next, fill a small bowl with water, submerge the pomegranate under the water and slowly break the pomegranate apart by using the cuts you already made. Gently remove the seeds, keeping it underwater. Now, I'm not sure if this is magic (probably physics, Andy would know), but you will find that the seeds sink to the bottom and the skin floats to the top, making it easy to collect the seeds!
When all the seeds are removed I usually rinse them off in a strainer and remove any pieces of skin that I missed and then you are done! No stains, no mess, no shirts ruined. It's great.
Finally, I got to work on preparing the gravy base and the herb butter for the turkey. This was pretty painless. Just a lot of chopping and waiting....the gravy had to reduce for about 45 minutes. When it was done I was supposed to render about 4 cups...I had exactly two cups. Not a big deal, just had to add chicken stock to it, but I was hoping for more!
The herb butter I made smelled delicious...rosemary, sage, tarragon, and thyme. Hard not to want to lick your fingers.
All and all I think it was a pretty successful day. I have no idea how we would have gotten all of this done had we waited until tomorrow! I think we would be eating at 10pm.
Tonight I will be doing what I can to mentally prepare myself for taking on the turkey tomorrow. If you've never cooked one of these things, they are kind of intimidating. Not knowing what to expect, a few weeks ago I scoured amazon.com to find any of the kitchen tools that may be necessary for the turkey. I ended up with a dripless baster, a meat thermometer, a liquid fat separator, cooking twine and turkey lifters! This turkey isn't going anywhere!
Now that I've got everything done for tomorrow, it's time for me to cook dinner for Andy and I! Spaghetti squash and sauce...luckily I made this meat sauce a while a go so all I have to do is defrost it, otherwise, I think we would be going out to eat. I'm over cooking for today.
I hope that everyone has a wonderful Thanksgiving and enjoys the time with their friends and family! I know I will be missing everyone back in Wisconsin and Minnesota, but I'm very grateful to have Andy's parents here in Charleston! Now, go get your eat on!
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