Let me start out by saying my Gratitude List is long, but this is the short version! Without my Faith I wouldn’t get through…then my Family and my Friends…so very, very wonderful and precious! Willow is my joy…Jasmine my bed-buddy…and the kitties are a constant source of entertainment! For each and all, I am very grateful! Now…on to the Feast!
We generally had fun… I started cooking the day before…I finally killed a saucepan. %!@#*%!! I was cooking cranberries down, and they were taking the longest time to boil…oops. They boiled all right…to the point of hard gel! Incredibly intense flavor…one ruined pan. Oi. Oh well…it’s making the most incredible cranberry aioli now… You win some, you lose some, and you make something out of the leftovers… The pan, however…will never quite be the same. It’s pretty intensely burned. We’ll see…replacement coming.
Here was some of our fun… This was battle yam..
I had never noticed “asian” yams at the market before, and they were definitely marked “Asian Yam” with the darker red skin. The color comparison made me wonder if that wasn’t what I usually bought…so I got them, even though the ones I usually buy were equally clearly marked. As I put them into the oven, I noticed the pale flesh showing through the skin…not what I wanted. I ran to the closest market and grabbed a couple “Garnet Yams” for dinner. Whew! Not wanting to waste anything, I threw them all in the oven to see what the differences might be.
Ok…fresh out of the oven with no additives of any kind, just as Mother Nature made them… The Garnet Yam on the left is a rich orange color and very moist, almost unctuous on the tongue. However, it’s almost tasteless…only mildly sweet without a lot of flavor of any kind, but with that really great mouth-feel. Now…the Asian Yam is almost white, and relatively dry yet this one has a really sweet flavor and lots of texture. Hmmm! So…we decided we wanted the texture of the Garnet yam…but…what would they be like mashed together?? Another time, perhaps. The Asian Yam has excellent body for ravioli, excellent body for pie…and flavor!
I also had fun with bread. While all of you are having fun with baking throughout the year, I’m paying attention and stocking up so when I can play, I CAN play!!
I think this is my first official loaf from The Bread Baker’s Apprentice. What a recipe…what a keeper! I forgot how much I love bread! Not only making it…but working it, feeling it, feeling when it’s right, listening to it…and of course…eating it! I mixed this up for Thanksgiving and pushed a pan of rolls out for dinner, then let this dough sit overnight and made a boulé out of it the next day. Oh happy bread! It’s been treated with an egg wash and dusted with amaranth seeds.
Yes, we had all the rest of the traditional stuff too…but how many pretty turkeys can you look at in a year? We had the turkey, brined about 16-18 hours and roasted, dressing, mashed potatoes, gravy that came out far too well…I basted the turkey with broth this year. Rather than using any butter, I oiled the bird. Alton Brown suggested not using butter because the milk solids would burn…so I took that into consideration. I basted with the broth because it was handy on the stove and I may have seen AB do so… It made for some absolutely fabulous pan drippings for gravy later…OH MY!! It was like turkey demi-glace. It was so wonderful to have later when we made gravy and soup!! Yummm!
I apologize for the photo…the flash caught the fat on the top of the soup and turned it into stardust! This was soup the first night past Thanksgiving…turkey noodle soup. Kind of a tradition with us. *Ü* I always bone the turkey before we go to bed the day it’s cooked. This one simmered ever so low all night long, and that was fabulous. The broth is rich and gels like Jello! LOL! Last night we opted for creamy turkey rice soup. Lunch was an open faced roast turkey dinner sandwich…toasted bread spread with cranberry aioli layered with dark turkey meat, topped with hot turkey dressing, layered with turkey breast, and topped with turkey gravy… It was pretty wonderful! *Ü*
You know…we did have dessert… I wish I’d thought to take a picture of it. We had a Sunflower Seed pie…think Pecan pie, only using sunflower seeds instead of pecans. It was tasty. It didn’t last because it was tasty.
So…tell me about your dinner? Did you burn anything?
Can't Believe We Ate... 