The Feast of Thanksgiving

The great American tradition of Thanksgiving is one of the high holy days of the food world.  This event also tends to be an opportunity for a family gathering to enjoy good food and reunite with relatives near and distant.  As has been the case in the recent past, we hosted the Indiana branch of the family to our home.  Centered around a large hunk of meat, the meal is typically a buffet of standard but succulent fair and a bevy of desserts.  Our centerpiece was a smoked turkey.  Weighing in at 12.4 lbs., our bird would have spent most of a day in a brine solution except that this one had been pre-injected with brine solution and I didn't want to have it overly salty.  I have brined our turkeys for a couple of years on the initial suggestion of Alton Brown's Good Eats program on deep frying a turkey.  This has produced very juicy meat and reduces the risk of a having a dry tough turkey if you are not the most conscientious of cooks.  Some folks may say that using a brine pushes the salt and water content over the edge but it works for me as long as the turkey isn't processed ahead of time.  Since last year, I have turned from frying to smoking as the means to prepare the star attraction.  Make no mistake that this is a very slow process.  Last year I ended up having to finish it in the oven.  The big difference this year will be the use of a grill to do the smoking instead of the modified ECB (El Cheapo Brinkmann).  For this I again turned to Alton.  The visual appeal of a smoked turkey is hard to deny.

Smoked Turkey

This year was especially exciting since it was the first year that we are featuring produce from our own backyard garden.  This year we are going with the premise that based on timing and history, Thanksgiving should be themed around the harvest and spotlight foods that are seasonal and locally grown, or at least locally available.  I like to imagine a pilgrim having finished gathering and preserving food for the coming winter looking at their stores and either clearing out older stock that will soon spoil or fixing up the leftover bits and bobs from what was freshly preserved into a tasty dish to be shared with friends and family to celebrate the completion of the harvest.  While this would limit the amount of fresh vegetables and fruit, I see it as my opportunity to clear out those items from the back of the shelf in the pantry and fridge.

Big pot of Chard

Without a doubt the performer in the garden this year was the chard.  After planting these leafy nutritious greens, we have been able to cut and come again throughout the year and we chopped out what was left in the garden (protected from frost the last couple of weeks with blankets at night) to add to our feast.  They have added a lot of color to our salads and we have had to look for inventive ways to use it in order to not be overwhelmed.  One such was a recipe from A Sweet Life using the chard stalk (often unused and tossed) for a Mediterranean style dip similar in taste to baba ghanoush.  This, however, does not fit in the tradition scheme for thanksgiving so we left it in the fridge and I'll talk about that at another time.  We did steam the leaves and added chili peppers also from the garden.  We kept it simple but provided salt, garlic and my favorite, balsamic vinegar to allow people to garnish to their preference.

Mutant Carrots

Second to the chard was the monstrous carrots.  They were as big as a baby's leg and my daughter used a single carrot to shred the four cups needed for my birthday carrot cake.  They were used to accent many of the other dishes but stood on their own for a dish of glazed carrots made with Ginger ale and butter.  The sweet potatoes on the whole were long and skinny so we mashed them and in a fit of inspiration added plain yogurt and blonde sugar and baked it for a few minutes, A cheese spread made with pesto from the garden basil, potatoes where roasted with butter garlic and green beans and the green tomatoes that didn't finish ripening before the frosts became green tomato pie.  For bread we wanted to make cornbread but the fun corn cob pan didn't work out as planned so resorted to rolls.  Add in garlic mashed potatoes, gravy, green bean casserole, apple and blueberry pies and a cheesecake and you are getting the big picture.

Potatoes and Green Beans

Sweet Potatoes

Cheese Spread made with Pesto

Glazed Carrots

Cranberry Deliciousness

 

Rounding out the spread was a special (to me) cranberry dessert that my Granny used to make just for me.  My mother had preserved the recipe and since cranberries and crushed pineapple don't pass the grown locally theme we will file this under 'indulgence for my nostalgia.'  It is more of a molded gel than anything else with a cream frosting.  As a feast, I am very pleased with the outcome and by the satisfied sounds emanating from the table I would guess that I am not the only one.