Thanksgiving: A man, A plan, An (alimentary) Canal

Tutti a tavola a mangiare!

When I was growing up, Thanksgiving was one of my all-time favorite days off from school. We were typically home in the morning and early afternoon, the smell of my Mom's incredibly delicious homemade noodles wafting through the house, while I watched very special Thanksgiving episodes of The Doctors, Days of Our Lives, As The World Turns, Capitol, and Guiding Light. Oh, and The Price Is Right. You do NOT miss Bob Barker on a day home from school, yo.
 
So, in my pre-cooking days, my role at Thanksgiving was to show up and eat, and like most kids, I didn't think anything of it. I win the wishbone pull, so hand me that last crescent roll, please.  Easy peasy lemon squeezy.
 
For the past three years, C'pher and I have hosted Thanksgiving at our house, which means that, even though we're generally only responsible for the Turkey, gravy, and 8-10 matching plates, napkins, and wine glasses, I still feel considerably busier than during Thanksgivings of yore, when my biggest task all day was staying awake through yet ANOTHER teary scene between Roman and Marlena. Eesh.
 
Each year we seem to have a different, disparate and fabulous group of November orphans with no place to go, so each year we get a slightly different mix of people, and the result is always a wonderfully fun and festive afternoon-into-evening, full of all the best reasons to give thanks: food, friends, and the good fortune to be able to enjoy both.

All this week, I'll be sharing what I think are the makings of a delicious Thanksgiving meal, most all of which have been part of our celebration at one point or another. I hope you'll be able to pick and choose from among them, whether you're hosting or guest-starring, and contribute to whatever meal you'll be sharing for Thanksgiving. I think it makes a great meal as is, but how many Thanksgivings have you been to that you haven't taken something to?  I mean... aside from when you were ten?

What you eat before you eat so you can eat: The Appetizers

Serving appetizers at a Thanksgiving meal is almost asking for trouble.  On the one hand, you can't have everyone drinking themselves into a stupor on Gloria Ferrer Blanc de Blancs and Beaujolais Nouveau on an empty stomach.  On the other, you don't want folks to gorge themselves on crudités and cheese only to throw their hands up in surrender by the time you get to the main event.

I have tried to choose satisfying but small bites to start out with. Things that go well with cocktails or champers but won't take up valuable real estate in the small intestine.  Thanksgiving often about excess, but even excessive eaters will beg for a tongue depressor and 20 minutes in a locked bathroom if you don't pace things correctly. And personally, my bathroom is clean and all, but I'd just as soon my guests didn't have to get an up close and personal look at the underside of my toilet seat, you know?

Delicious... sez me.

Now that I've alienated half of you with my bathroom talk, let's get to it.

SESAME AND ROQUEFORT BISCUITS

I've posted this recipe once before and linked to it many times over, but it bears repeating here. These beauties, first served to me by C'pher's pal and now ex-colleague Leigh and her husband Rick, go perfectly with red wine and won't fill you up unless you devour the whole bowl yourself, which you may be tempted to do, so reign it in, buster.

The dough is very very loose, so if you're fighting to keep it cohesive, don't be afraid to sprinkle a little milk (whole, preferably) a teaspoon at a time. The end result won't change much.  The dough can be made ahead and chilled for up to 2 days, and though I've never tried it, Leigh adds that the finished product freezes very well.

• 1 ¼ cups self-rising flour (recipe follows)
• 1 stick (½ cup) cold unsalted butter, cut into 1/2-inch cubes
• ¼ lb. chilled Roquefort cheese such as Le Vieux Berger, Société, or Le Papillon, crumbled (1 cup)
• 1/3 cup sesame seeds (2 oz.)

Pulse flour and butter in a food processor until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Sprinkle cheese into mixture and pulse a few times to incorporate. Transfer mixture to a work surface (it will be crumbly) and knead briefly to distribute ingredients (do not overwork), then press together to form a dough and roll into a 7-inch log (about 2 inches in diameter). Wrap tightly in plastic wrap and chill until firm, at least 1 hour.

Put oven rack in middle of oven and preheat oven to 350°F. Grease a large baking sheet.

Put sesame seeds on a plate. Cut dough into scant ¼-inch-thick slices with a thin sharp knife, then gently press both sides of each biscuit in sesame seeds to coat and arrange ½ inch apart on baking sheet.

Bake until golden, 10 to 15 minutes. Cool biscuits on baking sheet on a rack 2 to 3 minutes, then transfer with a spatula to rack to cool completely.

(Source: Gourmet magazine, December 2004)

SELF-RISING FLOUR

Whether you buy or make this stuff, don't leave it sitting around longer than 4-6 months, as baking powder starts to lose some of it's kick in time.

1 cup sifted cake flour
½  tsp baking soda
½ tsp baking powder
¼ tsp salt

Sift all items together well, and use in place of store-bought self rising flour.

SPICED ALMONDS

And speaking of champers... if these beauties are good enough for the staff at Gloria Ferrer to serve in their tasting room alongside their many fine sparkling wines, certainly they're good enough for your dinner table.  And no one ever fills up on almonds -- just put out a small amount and replenish if you think it necessary.  Guests will temper their gluttony if they think these are in short supply!

• 1 cup whole blanched almonds
• 1 tsp extra virgin olive oil
• ½  tsp sea salt
• ¼ tsp or more smoked paprika  (Spanish pimenton de La Vera)

Preheat oven 300º F. Transfer almonds to a heavy baking sheet. Drizzle them with olive oil and sprinkle with salt, then toss with your hands to coat evenly. Bake until golden brown and fragrant, about 30 minutes, stirring them well halfway through.

Transfer the nuts to a bowl and toss with enough paprika  to dust all the nuts. Add more salt if necessary. Put the nuts on a paper towel in a single layer and cool completely before serving.

   

AVOCADO-CUCUMBER SOUP WITH SHRIMP

More often than not, Thanksgiving in San Francisco means lovely warm weather, and since our place has floor-to-ceiling windows with eastern and southern exposures, it warms up pretty quickly sometimes. This summery dish was an attempt to introduce a little something cool to get the gastric juices a-flowin' while the sun was still shining in.  Also, I really like the idea of including a little seafood, since it often gets overlooked on a traditional Thanksgiving menu.

Note that this recipe calls for cilantro, and while I really love it, it remains on many people's gag list (C'pher is included in this group).  You can make it with fresh flat-leaf parsley if you want, and it still tastes nice. The shrimp is also easy to leave off if folks are shellfish-averse. More for me, I always say!

• 1 English cucumber, peeled and cut into ¼-inch cubes (about 2 cups)
• 2 avocados, pitted and peeled
• ½ cup low-fat plain yogurt
• 3 Tbsp fresh lime juice
• 1 minced small jalapeno chile (seeds and ribs removed for less heat, if desired)
• 1/3 cup sliced scallions
• 2 Tbsp chopped fresh cilantro
• Coarse salt and ground pepper
• 1 tsp olive oil
• 12 medium shrimp (about 6 oz.), peeled and deveined

In a blender, combine half the cucumber and 1 avocado with the yogurt, lime juice, jalapeño, scallions, 1 tablespoon cilantro, 1 cup ice water, 1 ½ teaspoons salt, and 1/4 teaspoon pepper. Purée until completely smooth. Transfer to a large bowl.
Cut remaining avocado into 1/4-inch cubes. Stir avocado and remaining cucumber into soup. Thin with ½ to 1 cup ice water, as desired. Season again with salt and pepper. Chill, about 1 hour.
In a large skillet, heat oil over medium-high heat. Cook shrimp, turning once, until opaque throughout, 2 to 3 minutes. Ladle soup into bowls; garnish with shrimp and remaining tablespoon cilantro.  Serves 4.

(Source: Everyday Food magazine #14, July/August 2004)

Comments

[Maureen Kirk-Detberner]

[this is good] Great sounding recipes....I have to try them.

[Kyle Minor]

Glad you like them WPG... if you only try one of the three listed here, make it the Biscuits. They are excellent and very very easy.

[Marge Cameron]

Reading this makes my mouth water! I hope you and Chris have a festive, successful (food and friend-wise) Thanksgiving. Marge C.
P.S. MMMMM'MMMM - rabbit!