Thanksgiving

2010

It has long been a little personality tweak of mine that I am drawn to all things American. I've said it before, I can't tell whether I should have been born in the US, or England (another life-long love), but I'm not sure Australia is where I fit in. Therefore, I adopt all the traditions from the land of the red, white and blue, and the land of the ... er... red, white and blue.

Thanks to my avid cultural consumption, from the start of October I begin receiving emails reminding me that I need to get a turkey and have I decided on what sides I'll have on the table for my family this Thanksgiving? Ads and articles start popping up in the American magazines I subscribe to, and nowadays my Twitter and Google reader is filled with a Thanksgiving theme. Of COURSE I have to partake.

This is my third or fourth Thanksgiving and I subject the good-natured Veggie Dad to traditional dishes the likes of those he's never heard of before, and we sit down together and talk about all the things we're thankful for. I'm too afraid to invite anyone over for an extended celebration, as I'm worried they'll say "what in the hell are you talking about? We don't celebrate Thanksgiving, we're Australian (duh)" and "Well, where the hell is the turkey?".

My first Thanksgiving, I stuffed a pumpkin. One year I made Paula Deen's stuffing the star of the show (and ate it for the next week it was so huge). This year, after reading this article in the New York Times, talking about the importance of sides, I decided this Thanksgiving, we were having a side-fest. No turkey wannabes.

Our menu:

Paula Deen's Macaroni and Cheese
Mashed sweet potato
Green beans with lemon and slivered almonds
Art Smith's no-knead rolls (Yes, Oprah's previous personal chef)
Corn on the cob
Homemade gravy
Pumpkin Pie

You owe it to yourself and those you love to try that pumpkin pie. I'll explain in the post exactly how frightened I was of it, and how unbelievably excited I was to try it and immediately become pumpkin pie's biggest advocate.

Paula Deen's Macaroni and Cheese

Oh boy. Cheese. Gooey, baked, melted, slightly browned cheese. With token pasta.

If you're looking for a heart attack (otherwise known as food that's actually going to taste pretty awesome), it's to Paula Deen we turn. And so I did when I needed a traditional American side dish for Thanksgiving.

Please let's have a moment of reverent silence for macaroni and cheese.

Ingredients:

4 tablespoons butter
1/2 cup sour cream
2 cups grated cheddar
3 eggs, beaten
4 cups cooked elbow macaroni
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup milk

Method:

1. Preheat oven to 350F

2. Melt butter into cooked and drained macaroni. Add the cheese until sticky.

3. Mix sour cream and eggs, add to macaroni and stir.

4. Add milk, stirring for a few minutes to see if you need to add any more to keep the sauce creamy.

5. Spread out in a greased casserole dish, cover with cheese (yes more cheese) and breadcrumbs if you like, and cook for 35-40 minutes.


And because watching Paula is half the fun (that voice sure is polarising), I've added her here. Happy cheese, y'all!

Pumpkin Pie

I have to admit, I held out on this pie for a really, really long time. I mean, it's pumpkin. It's a vegetable. It's not a dessert. It goes with gravy, not whipped cream.

Well, I'm pleased to announce I was wrong. This is one versatile veggie!

I still find it funny when I search for pumpkin on American recipe sites and iPhone apps, and am bombarded with dessert dishes. I just never grew up with it served in that way, and sometimes it just looks and sounds plain wrong. Like pumpkin pie. But I'm now pumpkin pie's biggest convert and loudest advocate. I'm not sure what any other pumpkin pie tastes like, but this was the first one I ever made, and I hit the jackpot when I did. Look no further, this is the most ridiculously delicious pumpkin pie on all the Earth. I swear. In fact, it's 10.30 am and I've just talked myself into eating a piece right now. To hell with waiting for dessert.

Ingredients:

1 9-inch pie shell
2 cups mashed pumkin
1 cup packed dark brown sugar
2 teaspoons ground ginger
2 teaspoons cinnamon
1 teaspoon nutmeg
1/4 teaspoons ground cloves
1/2 teaspoon salt
2/3 cup cream
2/3 cup milk
4 large eggs

Method: 

1. Preheat oven to 200C and position a rack to the bottom of the oven.

2. Organise and pre-bake your crust. I usually bake mine 10 minutes until just golden.

3. Put pumpkin, sugar and spices in a pan, heat until simmering on medium, and cook until thick and shiny, about 5 minutes. Stir often.

4. Whisk in cream and milk and simmer.

5. Whisk eggs and add slowly to mix, whisking the whole time until incorporated. You don't want pumpkin-flavoured scrambled eggs.

6. Pour into pie shell, bake 25 minutes until dry-looking, but centre wiggles slightly. Cool.


Original recipe here


This year, I made a Betty Crocker pie crust - recipe here. My tip - if you're using butter instead of shortening, use unsalted.

Oprah's Menu: No-Knead Dinner Rolls

I love Oprah. There, I said it.

If she has it, I want it. Therefore when her previous personal chef Art Smith said he made these dinner rolls for Oprah's Thanksgiving once, I needed to make them too. And I'm actually glad I did. They're little, soft, perfectly browned and soak up butter like nobody's business. Best of all, they're easy to make and making your own rolls just sounds so darn impressive.

Yep. Try and reisist that.

I made 12 rolls, but the original calls for 24. It's easily doubled. Perfect recipe for those people like me who love cooking, but hate getting their hands dirty. Especially when it comes to dough - I avoid it at all costs. I don't have a KitchenAid who will lovingly and mechanically knead or mix dough for me, so I have to hit it 1950s -style and mix it myself. With this recipe, I don't have to!


Ingredients:

1 cup warm water
1 package 1/4oz dry yeast
1/4 cup sugar
1 egg, lightly beaten
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
1/2 tablespoon salt
3 cups plain flour
1/5 tablespoons melted butter

Method: 

1. Preheat oven to 200C

2. Pour water in large bowl and sprinkle yeast over. Leave for 5 minutes.

3. Add sugar, eggs, almost all the oil, and salt. Gradually stir in enough flour to make a smooth ball.

4. Lightly brush the top with oil. Cover tightly with plastic wrap, and let stand for one hour until doubled.

5. Brush round cake pan with butter. Punch down dough and separate into 12 pieces with floured hands.

6. Keep flouring your hands and form the dough into rough balls. Arrange in pan.

7. Cover loosely and stand 35 minutes until doubled.

8. Brush with melted butter, bake 20 minutes or until golden. Let stand in the pan for 5 minutes.

9. Accept the accolades that come with baking your own bread.

It looks just like real bread!