This past Thursday we had our third thanksgiving here in Beijing, yet this is the first one we had without visitors. In the past my parents and my sister would visit and we would have a take-out thanksgiving dinner prepared by a local western restaurant. This year, since we would not be entertaining guests, I decided to make a homemade dinner given I had the time.
Of all the ingredients one needs to make a traditional thanksgiving menu, the turkey is by far the most exotic. Finding an imported one is not that difficult, but there isn't one on every grocery store shelf. I was able to track down a 12lb imported frozen turkey for our feast. The only downside is that it was a butterball, so i couldn't do a brine. I gathered (with the help of amy) all the ingredients and began the serious cooking wednesday night after work.
For our dinner, we invited some american friends with two small children the girls' age. It was nice to have guests and they brought the wine.
Our menu was this:
- Roast Turkey with homemade pan gravy
- Sausage and Herb Stuffing
- Homemade Green Bean Casserole
- Roasted Garlic Mashed Potatoes
- Rustic Rosemary Bread with Herb Compound Butter
- Green Salad
- Pumpkin Pie
- Apple Pie (supplied by our guests)
I was very happy with the turkey. It cooked a little faster than I was ready for, but at 165 she must exit!. It was juicy and the white meat the next day was still moist.
I actually wasnt very happy with the gravy this year. I usually make great gravy supplementing the pan drippings with a roasted garlic chicken au jus recipie from my balthazar cookbook and reduce the hell out of it. I don't know what I was thinking, but I went more traditional and used a buerre manie method which made it artificially thickened instead of being reduced. I'll know next time to stick to what works.
I also was disappointed with my stuffing. It was beautiful with apples and dried cranberries, and I had great sausage from the german butcher. But it was a little to fruity for me. I like my stuffing with more root vegetables, sauage and the strong fennel seed aroma.
The green bean casserole was awesome. I tried alton browns recipe and it worked well for this classic, and nothing comes from the can!
The mashed potatoes were great. I have been using the same recipie for ages and it always works. Just don't ask how many calories. It was made easier with a new hand mixer I broke down and bought. After doing all the whisking by hand for a couple of years here (voltage issues with my other toys), and said enough is enough.
The bread was great! And I let it get really brown and crusy to give it the rustic country look.
The pies were good and I was able to use the kids pumkins from halloween to make the pumpkin filling. I roasted it a few weeks ago and froze it.
We had a great time, and it can't be minimized how awesome it is to have an ayi to manage the cleanup. At work the next day I had my first of many delicious turkey sandwiches.
Though not the same as at home, and of course missing our family and friends, it still amazes how you can create normal in a non-normal environment. See everyone soon!
