Wednesday, December 2, 2009

UnRecipe: A Very Wasabi Thanksgiving

Behold, the First Thanksgiving... minus Pilgrims, Native Americans, Plymouth Rock, a dancing beagle, and a dinner table including jelly beans and popcorn. The Wasabi Prime household has never hosted a Thanksgiving dinner until last week. Except for a few small turkey meals for just Mr. Wasabi/Brock and myself, we never had a gathering of people coming together to dine upon a large flightless bird and multiple side dishes on the fourth Thursday of November. One less thing on the Bucket List!


Turkeytime cocktail hour; don't forget to cut the cheese! - Photos by Miss Alice


This was very much an UnRecipe Thanksgiving, as it came together somewhat last-minute. Our status for Turkeyday was unknown until less than a week before T-Day. Were we staying local? Packing up for a drive out to Eastern Washington to visit Mr. Wasabi's family? In the end, we decided to stay local and invited some friends who were grounded for the holidays, not wanting to do battle with the beast of holiday air travel. Call it a Fugee Thanksgiving if you want, but we kept it fast and loose, and a hefty meal of familiar flavors was feasted upon.


Dexter-ized turkey and colorful side dishes - Photos by Miss Alice


Foodie confessional: I'd never roasted a whole turkey before. And technically I can't really say I did on Thanksgiving, as the edible parts were removed from the bird prior to cooking. We have a standard-sized oven and it would be an air traffic controller mess to both cook and reheat multiple dishes on Thursday, so the less time one item took in the oven, the better. The raw bird was dismembered all Dexter-style, soaked in buttermilk overnight to tenderize (I believe Dexter skips this step), and the parts saw their way into an oven for a thankfully shorter cook time. The herb butter-slathered breast halves, thighs and legs roasted at a high heat to 165-degree doneness in about an hour's time, then rested in a pouch of tin foil for the final ten degree push. The carcass and neck had been reserved for roasting the day before, and made into a collagen-rich broth. This stock was used along with the cooked turkey's drippings to deglaze the pan and make a roasted garlic and shallot gravy over the stove, while the oven switched gears to warm side dishes made in advance.


A heavenly ham joins the food party - Photo by Miss Alice


I give thanks that the turkey, despite a few spills and one burned hand (ow!), turned out flavorful and moist. Not being sure a small turkey would be enough (or worse, be a disaster), a small ham was added for a second main course, aka, Backup Plan "S" -- for Swine. It was pre-roasted and a brown sugar, mustard and vinegar glaze was poured over the spiral-cut hock to add more flavor and caramelize in the oven.

On a bit of a whim, I made fresh buttermilk cheese from this easy recipe in Country Living. It produced a lovely little round of cheese that was like a firm ricotta. Drizzled with honey and sprinkled with pomegranate seeds, it was another addition to the wine and cheese starter menu.

Let's be honest, Thanksgiving is all about the sides - Photos by Miss Alice & Mr. K


Like a lot of people, I'm all about the side dishes during Thanksgiving. We had traditional flavors, but kept things simple: cinnamon spice citrus cranberry sauce, green beans with pecans and blue cheese crumbles, roasted herbed sweet potatoes, and a creamy cauliflower casserole. Guests Mr. K and Mrs. J brought ingredients for a bright and festive cranberry dressing. Mr. Wasabi brought out his giant propane burner to cook that separately on the porch because the oven and stove area had become gridlocked. Their darling friend, Ms. M also brought a deliciously rich mushroom quiche which went marvelously with all the harvest inspired dishes.

More dessert, please! - Photos by Mr. K and Wasabi Prime


Dessert was made ahead on Turkeyday Eve. Big thanks to Ms. CC for providing a pumpkin from her garden and delivering us from the fear of canned pumpkin puree shortages. The rounds of pie dough were rolled out and the roasted pumpkin was blended into a creamy-dreamy custard. The filling recipe was taken from the dearly-departed Gourmet magazine, available here on Epicurious. A secondary pear tart dessert was inspired by one of my favorite food bloggers, Tokyo Terrace, and another way to celebrate another fall ingredient.

A few dessert notes: our kitchen stays fairly chilly, so the desserts were fine to sit out on the counter for a day. I was pleasantly surprised the pumpkin pie crust stayed crisp -- I've read that doing a brush of eggwash over the whole surface, prior to adding the filling, can help create a moisture barrier. Those decorative flattened glass marbles that you use for flower arrangements work in a pinch when you need to do a blind bake, as I don't have pie weights and didn't have enough dry rice or beans to weigh the crust down to avoid puffing during its pre-bake.

Some party photos and a final Thanksgiving wish - Photos by Miss Alice


The most important ingredient of all? Friends! Along with the cranberry dressing, K + J and friend M were kind enough to bring wine and glugi, a Finnish mulled wine that is both delicious and potent. Mr. K also brought bottles of his home-brewed beer, which incorporated the fall flavor of juniper. Delightful gals Sassy J and Miss Alice arrived with ample supplies of bread, wine, and cheese to power us through the cocktail hour. Guests also provided paparazzi service for the meal, as the Prime was too harried with food prep to take many pictures, so additional thanks goes out to all the photographs!

Turkey meal to turkey sandwich! - Photos by Miss Alice


Despite the challenge of getting several dishes on the table at the same time, it truly was a meal prepared and inspired by many people. It was great that so many people had a hand in it, local ingredients were involved (we promised at least one locavore item on the table), and it truly felt and tasted like tradition. Much appreciation to everyone for making this meal happen -- it was a Thanksgiving worth remembering and being very thankful for.


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23 comments:

  1. wowowow......everything looks divine!
    that ham dish is definitely one of the show stoppers!

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  2. I love the little homemade cheese plate. This dinner set up looks like you are a food stylist! Must do ham for Christmas, your looks so devine. R&R

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  3. I love this post...everything looks absolutely delicious. I like how you casually whipped up some buttermilk cheese. What?! Nice job. And anyone who can work a Dexter reference into a turkey carving post is a winner. My only complaint: why no photos of little Indy? Surely she got a little turkey too.

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  4. @Hungry Dog -- lol, I had a pic of Indy sprawled out on the floor, looking sad for turkey, but I thought, jeeze, I put her in everything and people must be sick of seeing her! I swapped her out for a pic of Brock/Mr. Wasabi with the lighter. Amazingly, I was shocked how easy homemade cheese was -- we had leftover buttermilk from the soak, it was just enough for the cheese recipe, and I hate letting stuff go to waste!

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  5. Everything looks great! I expect an invite next year!

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  6. Holy Smokes! How incredible! You all whipped up these dishes as if you've been making thanksgiving turkey for years! Incredible! wish I was headed to your house for thanksgiving! The photos are gorgeous.

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  7. Gorgeous! Both the photos AND the food. What camera are you using?

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  8. Wow look at all those mouthwatering Thanksgiving food!! Can I come over to your place next year?? :)

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  9. Wonderful spread for the holiday meal!

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  10. Oh you look like you had a fabulously-delicious-and-fun-time... Way to go! Your turn to make me drool!!!

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  11. What a lovely thanksgiving dinner. Great photos. Thanks for sharing.

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  12. That heavenly ham looks like a beautiful nature set piece for LOST... a delicious, mouth-watering minature island of magical meaty bliss.

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  13. aww, your thanksgiving feast looked fabulous! love the decor and ambiance, too. nice touch with the pomegranate!

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  14. what a cozy thanksgiving dinner..everything looks yummy esp that ham, I love it :P and your desserts too! :)

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  15. Hey Ms. Wasabi.

    Maybe one of these years we'll have a joint Wasabi-Terrace Thanksgiving. Until then, thanks for opening up your day to us. I'm working on a pretty cheesy video of the craziness involved with trying to put on a legit Thanksgiving in Tokyo.

    How do you get those clear shots with such low light? Or are you all squinting from uber-bright lights at dinner? We have a tough time getting dinner shots since Rachael uses natural light for 99% of her photos. Pass on any tips!

    -"Hubs" of Tokyo Terrace

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  16. Where do I begin? Miss Alice is a photog genius and I hope to bribe her next year to photograph my Thanksgiving. The homemade cheese dish?! On a whim?!!?! That dish is so pure and so complete, its like an apex of food preparation in my eyes. The pear tart looks nothing short of divine, and I am more than impressed that you were gun-ho using the fresh pumpkin! You had a most excellent celebration. Cheers!

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  17. Everything looks amazing! And it looks like everyone had a great time! :)

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  18. What a feast! Can't believe this is your first time cooking big Thanksgiving meal. Both the turkey and ham look amazing. Other side dishes also look yummy too.

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  19. I'm just very simply impressed! Somebody actually took pictures of Thanksgiving dinner that didn't make me want tu hurl! Would like to make that cheese if you would share the recipe?

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  20. Beautiful meal, very appetizing dishes, everything looked fantastic!

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  21. Looks like you had quite a spread. And only ONE burned hand? You did better than I!

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  22. Gorgeous food. I like the unrecipe Thanksgiving. I'll invite myself next time. :D

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  23. Wow, such a divine dinner! I would love to join in for the next thanksgiving. Remember to invite huh!

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