Event #22: Grateful, Zoom-Full Thanksgiving

Menu
November 26, 2020

The Mains
Thanksgiving Turkey
Carrots Vichy
Brioche Feuilletee
Pomegranate Winter Salad
Garlic Mashed Potatoes
Homemade Cranberry Sauce
Sausage and Sourdough Stuffing
Made-From-Scratch Gravy

The Desserts
Mini Pumpkin Cheesecake
Mini Apple Pie
Mini Pecan Pie
Homemade Vanilla Ice Cream

The Beverages
Homemade Apple Cider
Pence Vineyards Syrah

Two weeks before Thanksgiving, it became clear that it would be a much different Thanksgiving to any other we had ever had - so when John went to the store, he bought the smallest turkey he could find so we could prepare for our two-person Thanksgiving.

Despite the reduced guest list, we still wanted to serve a majority of the classics, however, looking at the menu, I don't think anyone would think we would just be serving the two of us given we would be making a 10-lb turkey, sausage and sourdough stuffing, garlic mashed potatoes, carrots vichy, a pomegranate winter salad, citrus cranberry sauce, made-from-scratch gravy, as well as three different types of mini desserts (mini apple pies, mini pecan pies, and mini pumpkin cheesecakes) to be served with homemade vanilla bean ice cream. Oh, and fresh homemade apple cider. Oh, and my "crispy bread"s again since they were such a hit last time. Yes… we have leftovers and we’re not mad about it.

Even with a full menu like that, the prep the day before and the day of were relatively relaxed, given our dining time was "whenever the food was ready," which left us able to talk to a lot of the friends and family we were missing on a holiday that we usually spent around one another. Lots of calls were made (zoom and otherwise) between checking on things in the oven, or in my case, between rolling out and turning my proofing crispy breads. The turkey, which I was most concerned about, actually went in only a few hours before we ate because John had gone with a dry brining method this year, which seemed like a very low-maintanence way to cook it, but had required a lot of fridge space in the days leading up as the bird thawed and then brined.

Once it was about 5PM, the only thing that wasn't out of the oven and ready to eat was my crispy breads, which had another hour before they could even go in the oven, so we decided to go for dinner and eat the breads later with dessert. Candles lit, us dressed in something other than casual-ware, wine poured, and table laden, we sat down to our Thanksgiving meal - different than any other we had ever eaten.

Given the universal nature of this meal we are excited to share our course-by-course breakdown of how things went.

The Mains

The turkey came out exceptionally well given the new cooking technique - it was the most tender and moist turkey we’ve had and we attribute a lot of that to the dry-brined technique. However, in a couple spots it was too salty - where the brine had accumulated which was unfortunate, but nothing a little extra cranberry sauce couldn’t make us forget about.

The carrots vichy recipe, taken from the cookbook Chef Supreme, written by Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s husband Martin, were a special treat in how sweet they came out (yes, a lot of sugar and butter), one of two dishes that made it off the table with no leftovers.

The other clean plate of the night was our pomegranate winter salad, made with pomegranates of course, arugula, a citrus dressing, and the highlight - candied pecans.

The garlic mashed potatoes are a classic year-round, but again hit expectations and were especially complemented by the homemade gravy (made by mixing a roux with some previously made chicken stock).

Our cranberry sauce was perhaps the biggest surprise star of the night - something that made it on the menu perhaps out of mere obligation or sense of tradition - the tartness and acid of the cranberries blended with citrus cut perfectly through the heaviness of the turkey, stuffing, and potatoes. It left our palates feeling clean and refreshed, ready for the next bite.

Our stuffing is an adapted version of a Williams Sonoma recipe, dropping the heavy and salty bacon, incorporating our own homemade sourdough, using flavorful homemade duck stock, and adding beautiful apples to the mix. Definitely a hit, and a point of pride getting to make it in a brand new dish that perfectly accommodated it. Cannot wait to look for an excuse to make the stuffing again.

And lastly, brioche feuilletee, more affectionally known as “Crispy Bread.” While it was the last item on the table, and we were stuffed (pun intended) by the time it reached us, we couldn’t help ourselves but devour a full roll each. The crispy, buttery, soft nature of the bread - still warm out of the oven - is an experience next to none.

The Desserts

Our mini desserts were perfect. We debated doing whole pies, but the idea of dedicating a whole pie to each flavor (or even just two) was excessive, even by AJRB standards. The minis allowed us to enjoy each favorite Thanksgiving Pie flavor without needing to over-stuff ourselves. The pumpkin cheesecake was perfectly textured - soft and delicate on top, with a delicious crunch from the graham cracker crust. The pecan and apple pies paired perfectly with the ice cream, the combination filling our senses with joy and nostalgia.

The Drinks

The annual batch of homemade apple cider came out even better this year than years past. In addition to juicing countless pounds of apples and mixing it with holiday spices (cinnamon, cardamom, clove, etc.), this year’s surprise addition was including sliced ginger and a splash of whisky as it simmered for hours on the stove. The flavors melded - creating a spicy (in the most literal sense of the word) and sweet cider that brought fall fully into our apartment.

And, to complement the meal with Pence Vineyards’ Syrah was an exceptional pairing. The bold red stood up to the rest of the meal, contrasted and complemented the cranberry sauce, and its peppery flavor elevated the turkey and stuffing. For a night that demands the best, it was a treat to break out a special bottle.

After an exceptional two days of cooking, and a beautiful meal, we celebrated doing what we love - but we long to share these experiences with friends and family again. Talking to everyone was a treat, we can never have enough of that, but we look forward to when we can celebrate together, eat together, and be together. We hope that time isn’t far away.