Yes, it is that time of year again.  The time when hordes of family descends on the house to stuff themselves full of Thanksgiving holiday cheer.

Somehow, my house has become the traditional Thanksgiving venue.  This isn’t really a problem… I’d consider it more of a culinary challenge.  This year the guest list consists of 21 people, which means preparing a 30 pound turkey.  Yes, it is true.  Turkey do come in 30 pound sizes.  Who really knew?

I’ve spent a lot of time in the last few weeks pondering the ways that this whole meal can be simplified.   Of course, I do that every year, and in the end it always feels like the house has been hit by an atomic bomb.  Still, there’s always hope that it will be more organized.

I’ll be chronicling along the way, but here’s the menu so far:

• 30 pound fresh turkey
• Gravy
• 15 pounds of mashed potatoes
• Italian Sausage and Wild Rice Dressing
• Cauliflower and Broccoli in Cheese Sauce
• Corn Casserole (brought by a guest)
• Green Bean Casserole (brought by a guest)
• Okra (brought by a guest)
• Black-eyed Peas (brought by a guest)
• Pumpkin Pie
• Assorted Pies (brought by a guest).

That doesn’t look so tough, does it?  Ha!  Let the chaos begin!

Today officially kicks of Thanksgiving Prep 2008.  I have all the shopping done (except the fresh turkey that I need to pick up tomorrow).

So, what’s on tap for today?

- Stuffing prep,  including sauteeing the italian sausage and cooking the wild rice.  I’ll assemble it all into a mass of bread cubed goo on Thursday before it goes into the bird.  Yes, I am one of the daredevils that actually puts my stuffing into the turkey to bake it.  I haven’t killed anyone… yet.  Maybe this year!

- Cheese Sauce:  I have been looking forward to making this cheese sauce for weeks.  You see, we belong to an amazing CSA.  This year they offered a cheese share, which we signed up for without even blinking.  Well, we are blinking now!  We love it, don’t get me wrong.  The cheese is some of the best organic, artisan cheese you can find on the planet.  But the reality is that two people can not keep up with the cheese deliveries. 

Not even the staving Shiba Inus have been able to keep up.  So my refrigerator is overflowing with cheese, and the sooner I use it, the sooner I can start using my refrigerator for non-cheese storage. 

- Pumpkin Pies:  I roasted the butternut squashes (also from my CSA) over the weekend, now it is time to assemble them into pies.  I’m making the traditional pumpkin cheesecake pie, of course.

More later – wish me luck!

When it comes to holidays, nothing surpasses Thanksgiving for tradition and for hours of time spent in the kitchen cooking.

And this year will be no different than other years we’ve spent celebrating the holiday.  Twenty-some people will descend on the house like ravenous vultures, eating everything in site.

Ok, that might be somewhat a bit of hyperbole, but it sure doesn’t seem like it when the turkey comes out of the oven and the hordes descend.

I know that the commercials, and cards, and traditional programs around Thanksgiving depict the elder male of the family standing at the head of the table, masterfully carving a beautifully dressed and arranged bird.  His impeccable family sits at the formally set table, dressed in their best finery, with looks of awe and adoration on their faces. Why look! A quick Google image searched showed me exactly that:

Who ARE these people, and what planet do they live on??

This is what it looks like at our house.  The turkey gets pulled out of the oven and the vultures immediately descend.  People start vying for the tail, the skin, and any hunk of meat they can get their hands on before the carving even starts.  Typically, the only way to ward the vultures off is with several serious waves of the carving knife.  And that seldom works.

THAT is our family tradition.  Try to finish off the turkey before it even makes it to the table!  Then fill your plate with everything else, and drowned it all in cheese sauce.

I don’t expect that this is going to change too much.  It pretty much puts an end to any fantasies of an elegantly prepared dinner with candlelight and soothing music playing in the background.  But there is much screaming, yelling and wrestling that takes place, that makes up for the lack of background music, right?

At any rate, here’s the menu, so far:

Appetizers:  Cheese, sausage, crackers, olives, carrots, deviled eggs
Cole Slaw
26 Pound Turkey
Italian Sausage and Wild Rice Stuffing
20 Pounds Mashed Potatoes with herbs and cream cheese
Gravy
Cheese Sauce
Peas and Pancetta with pearl onions
Cauliflower 
Broccoli
Black-Eyed Peas
Cornmeal Fried Okra
Green Bean Crap*
Bread
Pies:  Pumpkin Cheesecake, Apple, Pecan, Chocolate Pecan, Blueberry, Double Chocolate Fudge 

*Yet another family tradition, you can read about it here.  You may note that we had basically the same menu last year.  See, we ARE a traditional family.

Each year I swear I’m going to blog along with all the prep.  I live up to that vow up until Thanksgiving morning.  It’s all over after that.

It’s that time of year when anyone who writes about wine feels obligated to make recommendations for wines to serve at Thanksgiving. In keeping with that tradition, here are mine.

My significant other and I have fantasies about the perfect Thanksgiving, an elegant meal with a small group of gourmet friends featuring a number of elegant courses accented by fine wine paired perfectly with each dish. The realitiy is that we host a family gathering of eighteen (or is it twenty?) people ranging in age from roughly one to seventy. The dinner is traditional turkey (26 pounds), mashed potatoes (15 pounds), various vegetables served with cheese sauce (too many pounds to count), and of course that jellied cranberry sauce that only one or two people eat. We’re lucky that by adding two tables end to end with the dining room table and using every chair in the house we can actually get the crowd all seated, if only momentarily. Only about half of the adults are wine drinkers with the rest drinking milk, soda and beer.

With that in mind, we avoid anything over $15, try to keep it simple, and have enough on hand so that there is a glass left to drink while cleaning up after the crowd has gone. Here then is what we probably will be drinking this Thanksgiving.

For a white, we’ve been drinking the Hogue Gewurtztraminer ($9). I am not a big fan of Chardonnay, especially at the low end, and don’t find it a good match for food. The Hogue has a nice balance of crispness and fruitiness without being too sweet. Just the thing to go with turkey and mashed potatoes. If you prefer your whites a little sweeter, Hogue also makes a Late Harvest Riesling in the same price range that should suit you. Both of these wines are readily available.

The subject of the perfect red wine for Thanksgiving always causes debate, and from any group of three wine experts you can expect at least four opinions. In the past, I’ve usually chosen either a Zinfandel or a Syrah. Syrah is a very food friendly wine and Zinfandel has enough fruitiness to avoid overpowering the turkey.

This year I think we will go with the Cline Ancient Vine Zinfandel ($12-$14). This is a nice Zin with a bit more depth to it than Zin’s a few dollars less. There are certainly a number of Zin’s in this price range that would also be good choices, the Ravenswood Vintner’s Blend ($10) and the Renwood Sierra Foothils ($12) come to mind.

If I was going to go with a Syrah, I’d be tempted to choose the Qupe Central Coast ($16) though it is just over the $15 mark. I’ve been a fan of this wine for years. It is elegant, smooth, and extremely food friendly, everything one looks for in a good Syrah. There are of course any number of Australian Syrah’s (Shiraz), but this is after all, an American holiday.

The pumpkin pies are done!  But, to quibble, I feel the need to point out that they are not pumpkin pies.  They are butternut squash pies.

Thanks to my involvement in a terrific CSA, I learned years ago that good pumpkin pies… aren’t.  In fact, often the canned pumpkin that one buys in the store is not pumpkin either.  There are a lot of advantages to making pies with butternut squash rather than pumpkin.  First, it just tastes better.  Also, it has a much better texture – no stringy stuff! I don’t even process or mash the squash.  It is the perfect texture for pies simply by roasting the squash for an hour and scooping out the innards.

And here the pies are, below.  Those of you with eagle-eyes will note that the crusts are not homemade.  I admit it, while I simply can not bring myself to make a pumpkin pie with canned pumpkin, by the same token I simply can’t see making a pie crust from scratch.  First, I don’t like to do it, and second, I don’t see a difference in taste, mainly because I suck at making it.  (Bad Foodie!).

I make up for it by adding cream cheese to the pie, making a really nice cross between a pumpkin pie and a cheesecake.

Recipe (makes 2 pies):

• 20 ounces cream cheese
• 28 ounces sweetened condensed milk
• 2 packed cups roasted butternut squash
• 5 eggs
• A pinch of salt, and cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg and ginger to taste (I say to taste because I really load it up on the cinnamon, and most people would not use as much as I do).

Bring all ingredients up to room temperature, making sure that the cream cheese is very soft.  Blend cream cheese until smooth.  Slowly add 14 ounces of milk, blending to ensure smoothness.  Add the rest of the milk.  Add squash, then eggs.  Spice to taste.

Pour into prepared pie shells.  I used one regular pie crust, and one graham cracker pie crust.  Be warned, you very well may have extra mix left over.  I throw the leftover in ramkins or a small baking dish and bake it up for a crustless pumpkin pie-like snack.

Bake at 350 degrees for approximately 40 minutes.

One of the side dishes that disappears fast at our Thanksgiving table is the Cheese Sauce.  In many ways, it is really a side of a side dish, served up alongside the broccoli and cauliflower, though I will note that in reality it gets poured over almost everything on the plates, very much like a gravy.  I make a lot of cheese sauce for Thanksgiving, using 1 cup of butter, 6 cups of milk, and over 13 cups of cheese.

I can already here the cries of “Holy Heart Attack, Batman, that’s a lot of dairy!”.  But I’ll point out the following:

1. There will be around 25 people for dinner.
2. We are from Wisconsin, after all.
3. I use chicken stock in addition to milk in a relatively futile effort to lighten the sauce up a bit.
4. There is usually some left over, which people fight over even more than the leftover turkey.
5. It is Thanksgiving… get over it.

Here’s the evidence:

Cheese sauce is a great dish to make in advance, which I did, stored in a crock pot, and put in the refrigerator.  On Thanksgiving it will be brought out and warmed in the same crockpot, which makes it an effortless and mindless thing to deal with in the uproar.

Recipe:

• 2 sticks butter (1 cup)
• 2 cups flour
• 6 cups milk
• 2 cups chicken stock
• 8 ounces cream cheese
• 8 cups cheddar cheese
• 4 cups sharp cheddar cheese
• 1 cup parmesan cheese
• powdered garlic, onion, mustard to taste
• salt, white pepper, paprika to taste

In a very large stockpot, melt the butter over low heat.  Add flour, a little at a time, whisking to avoid lumps.  Once well mixed, cook over low heat for several minutes to cook out the flour taste.

Slowly pour 2 cups milk into flour mixture, whisking constantly to ensure smoothness.  Once smooth, add the rest of the milk more rapidly, still whisking.  Add the cream cheese and allow to melt.  Continue to add the rest of the cheese, whisking as you add so that it melts consistently.  Once all the cheese is added and melted, use the chicken stock as needed to thin to the right thickness. 

Taste the sauce before adding salt, as the cheese can be salty.  Add all spices, to taste. 

I’ll start with a quick look behind the scenes.  You see this picture?  Yes, the picture on the left.  The Thanksgiving-oriented picture.  Yes, that one.

 This blog gets literally hundreds of hits a day around this time of year from people who are searching for this picture. Oh, they don’t know that this is exactly the picture that they want – at least, not until they see it.  But once they see it, they come here to grab it.  By the hundreds.

But that is beside the point of this post.  It’s that time of year again – Thanksgiving.  Some people have a nice, quiet dinner at home.  Some people go to their eccentric great-aunt’s house.  Others gather at the parents house.  And still others go and have a respectable, civilized dinner out.

But not here at Cuisine Capers.  Instead, we are descended upon by around 25 very hungry people (give or take one or two, depending on how things work out).  And, I’ll point out, they are very hungry people who can eat a lot of food.

So, here’s the menu:

• 28 pound fresh turkey
• 15 – 20 lbs of mashed potatoes
• Gravy
• Wild rice and Italian Sausage stuffing
• 7 Layer salad
• Peas with pancetta and pearl onions
• Cauliflower and broccoli mixture
• Cheese Sauce
• Black-eyed Peas*
• Okra*
• Southern Cornbread*
• Green Bean Crap**
• Multitudes of dinner rolls
• Pies, pies and more pies

I’ll be chronicling the prep along the way, if all works out.

Notes:
* Black-eyed peas, okra and cornbread are all a nod to the southern roots, courtesy of my father who is from Hot Springs, Arkansas.  No one but my father will eat the okra (pronounced O-KREE in my family), but most of us will eat the cornbread and the black-eyed peas.

** Green Bean Crap is typically called Green Bean Casserole in most families.  In my family, we’ve changed the name in honor of my sister-in-law Laurie, who, after being assigned this dish to bring a couple of years in a row cried in horror, “No, not that grean bean crap!” after being assigned it yet again.  Needless to say, she will be bringing the green bean crap for the rest of her natural life to every family gathering we have.

The Traditional Corned Beef and Cabbage… (sort of…)

There is a big difference between Irish American St. Patrick’s Day and Irish St. Patrick’s Day. Take that traditional corned beef, for example. The Irish don’t celebrate with corned beef. In Ireland eating cabbage is certainly common place, but it is served with Irish bacon, not corned beef. Corned beef became a tradition in the US when immigrants could not afford to buy the traditional Irish bacon, and they substituted Jewish corned beef instead.

And you know that long standing US tradition of overindulging in really bad green beer? First, until the 1970′s, Irish pubs were required to close on Saint Patrick’s Day. Second, the Irish have much better taste in beer… (Miller Lite? Bah!).

We dranks Smithwick’s this year. We were introduced to Smithwick’s the first time that we went to Ireland, years ago. Smithwick’s is an Irish Ale that came to be somewhere in the 1700′s. Located in Kilkenny, it was built next to an abbey. Eventually, it expanded and took over the abbey and the grounds surrounding the abbey. There’s probably a fun philisophical point there, but I’ll save that for another day. Smithwick’s has since been purchased by Guinness.

The first thing to know about Smithwick’s is that it is NOT pronounced Smith Wicks’s. In fact, the pronunciation changes the further west you go in Ireland, and, of course, the more Smithwick’s you drink. Starting in the east, you’re fine if you walk up to a bar in a pub and order a Smiddicks. However, by the time you get to the Ring of Kerry, be prepared to stumble up to the bar and demand a smks. That’s right… no vowels needed. Just slur it fast… smks… and you’ll be fine.

It took a long time to get Smithwicks here in the US. I found it in Canada years before it finally made it’s way to the states. But now it is indeed here and can be found in some liquor stores and your better bars and taverns. US bartenders look at us in confusion when we order Smiddicks, but we just can’t ask for a Smithwicks. We do stop ourselves from ordering a Smks though (unless we’ve had too many of them…).

Every year we do make our corned beef and cabbage. This year I found a very nice cut of brisket. I don’t boil my corned beef. I prefer to braise/roast the meat instead. I believe the texture is better, and meat has a deeper flavor. I put a rack on the bottom of a roasting dish, add some water to the bottom of the dish, put the corned beef on the rack, cover it up and roast at 350. I take the lid off for the last 30 minutes or so to let it “dry up” a bit.

And that boiled cabbage? I have just one word for that – “DON’T”! Why take a perfectly good cabbage and boil the snot out of it? There is no redeeming value behind mushy cabbage.

We saute the cabbage until just slightly wilted, but still very crisp. Add sliced onions, garlic, some red pepper flakes, and a splash or two or red wine vinegar and you’ve got a flavorful dish that does not have the texture of slime.

Now I think I’ll go have another Smks.

The Turkey!

Anyone who says that a six burner stove is excessive does not cook for 25 people! This was our first Thanksgiving in our new house. We had designed both the kitchen and the dining room to be able to host the family gatherings. We used every burner of the 6 burner stove, and we had both ovens going full speed for most of the day. I don’t know how we would have done this without the kitchen layout. We had mixed veggies, cheese sauce, gravy, peas with pancetta and pearl onions, mashed potatoes and blackeyed peas.

And of course, as usual, there was too much dessert, but most of it went. There was pumpkin pie, pecan pie, raspberry pie, applie pie, blueberry pie and raspberry cheesecake.

All in all, another good Thanksgiving.

Now the plans for Christmas start! In one month we need to do this all over again! I’m torn between tenderloin and prime rib. I’d love to make something a bit more elegant than mashed potatoes, but I’d have a revolt on my hands if we dared to skip those!

Calm Before The Storm

The Wild Rice & Italian Sausage Stuffing is prepared…

The turkey is stuffed, seasoned, and resting on its nice, shiny new All Clad Turkey Roasting set…

The turkey is in the oven….

The table is set…

And the “Queen of Shiba” is awaiting her meal!