Thanksgiving 2021
Since we had a wonderful early Thanksgiving dinner (Peking Duck!) in the States, I had thought that we would do something easy or not-so-traditional dinner on the Thanksgiving day, something like turkey chili mac and cheese that I made last year or Teriyaki turkey meatballs on rice. Then, after I talked with J about what would be for this Thanksgiving dinner, I realized that he would like to make it proper. As I can't think about New Year's Eve without Buckwheat noodles or New Year's Day without Mochi, Thanksgiving dinner is a big matter for him! Food tells you about your culture after all. When we were in the States, we usually visited J's parents and his mother prepared the special dinner. I have been spoiled! Could I get through this Thanksgiving by myself?!
The star was of course turkey. A whole turkey would be too much for us, so we got turkey breast. Luckily we found a local butcher online. They had turkey breast with different stuffings, with or without bacon wraps, and in different sizes. We chose a smallest (for 4-5 people) Turkey Breast with Sage and Onion stuffing with Streaky Bacon topping. The turkey was delivered a day before Thanksgiving day. On the Thanksgiving day, I kept the bird for an hour in room temperature and baked it on a veggie bed about two hours. After 20 minute rest, it's ready to carve. So easy. The butcher saved my day!
When the turkey was in the oven, I made candied yam and green bean casserole. I have made green bean casserole some times before. I partially adapted a recipe by Cook's Illustrated as usual. On the other hand, I have never made candied yam. I googled a recipe and found one that can be done with a stove top. That means yam wouldn't need to fight with green bean for an oven space. I cooked cranberry sauce and gravy sauce a day before so that I would be less panicked on the day. The result was pretty good! The turkey was moist and tasty. The sides were also approved by J! Yay!
Dessert was apple and blackberry crisp according to J's request - something fruity. The topping was made with a lot of pecans and oats. In fact, pecans could be added in cranberry sauce or yam. But I used pecans only for the dessert's topping. I think that was a right decision.
The combination of juicy sweet tart apples and berries and generous chunky crunchy nutty toppings was a winner! The crisp was served hot. Whipped cream? Why not?
Happy Thanksgiving!
