Gobble Gobble...

It's that time of the year again, HOLIDAY TIME! And that means good friends, family and FOOD. Since we are spending Christmas this year in Denver with my in-laws, that meant that Thanksgiving was with my family here in Laguna Beach. My mother and father in law came out to spend the week with us, which was fantastic because my father-in-law is an excellent chef and I knew he and Louis could tackle the turkey like pros.

Because we had a guest list of 21 people, Louis decided to do one 24-lb turkey and 2 ducks. AND he decided to smoke them. The smell was simply delectable. After placing the turkey in brine for 24 hours in a mixture of apples, apple cider, sugar, salt and water - plus injecting the turkey with a mixture of butter, crushed apples and salt - the turkey was ready to go into the smoker.

While all of this was going on, my mom and I were busy prepping for the rest of the meal. Our menu consisted of:

Green Beans and Brussel Sprouts with a White Wine and Caramelized Onion Reduction

Yams and Marshmallows

Creamy Pureed Cauliflower "Mashed Potatoes"

Smoked Turkey and Duck Gravy

Braised Kale Stuffing

Roasted Root Vegetable and Cornbread Stuffing

Cranberry Sauce

Acorn Squash with Mint and Toasted Pumpkin Seeds

Roasted Bell Peppers

I don't typically make dessert and so others definitely came through in that area. My friend Mara brought a Cream Pie, Mini Pecan Tarts and a large Pecan Pie. My cousin brought brownies, my aunt brought pumpkin pie and my mom supplied the coconut ice cream.

Everything went shockingly well the entire day - but I have to say my main favorite was the two different types of stuffing. I can get bored with typical stuffing, so trying out these new recipes was quite a treat. The slow braised kale was spicy with the addition of chile-flavored oil (with rosemary) and worked great with the fennel that was also slow cooked with onions and plenty of white wine and chicken stock, and torn up Udi's gluten free bread. The root vegetables that I used for the cornbread stuffing (homemade cornbread provided by my father-in-law and gluten free) were rutabagas, parsnips, and pearl onions. It called for carrots - but I opted against them at the last minute. Almost all of the food could be made in advance, and just needed to be blasted right before serving.

Roasted Vegetable and Cornbread Stuffing

Slow cooked Kale Stuffing

It wouldn't be the holidays without making brussel sprouts - and I decided to pair mine with green beans that I blanched very quickly. Then I made a sauce of caramelized onions, added tons of white wine and chicken stock and reduced. Then quickly cooked the brussel sprouts - by sizzling them in an extremely hot pan so they caramelized without over cooking. Perfect.

I thought one of the main issues I would have could be people rejecting the idea of cauliflower "mashed potatoes" but surprisingly it was extremely well received. There were no complaints and I think people were somewhat delighted that they couldn't tell the difference. Of course all of the vegan butter I added probably help - plus the roasted garlic.

Cauliflower "Mashed Potatoes"

The rest of the dishes offered absolutely no problems and everyone raved about the acorn squash (a recipe from Bon Appetit) and the toasted pepitos were truly the added bit of delight to the dish.

Acorn Squash with Mint and Pepitos

One slight issue we ran into was when my mom was trying to serve the Yams and Marshmallows. Typically we have a troubled past with this dish as we have set ovens on fire, lit marshmallows on fire and pretty much have some seriously rotten luck with yams. Well, there weren't any fires but while placing the plate on the table my mom somehow flipped it - resulting in mashed yams all of the table. Fortunately due to some quick thinking from my father-in-law he was able to right the dish with minimal loss. Way to go!

It was an all-over great thanksgiving but the main star was the turkey. The smokiness came out and was truly, truly delicious. We couldn't have asked for a better day filled with fun, family, friends and food. 

Dark Meat

Light Meat

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!