Happy Thanksgiving!

Thursday, November 27, 2008

Thanksgiving is here again!  This day is always a little stressful, particularly if you’re cooking.  I chopped and prepped and cooked for eight hours yesterday and another two hours this morning.  There’s still quite a bit left to be done! 

Thanksgiving for those of us in the Northeast part of the country is a no-brainer in terms of eating seasonally.  The first Thanksgiving, fictional or not, was all seasonal and local - and so the foods we associate with Thanksgiving are seasonal for us during this time.  Of course, the majority of people are eating potatoes, cranberry sauce, and turkey from no where near here.  I recently spoke to a reporter about my Thanksgiving menu.  He asked me if there was anything I had sacrificed in order to keep it local.  The answer is no - I’m making exactly what I want, and I didn’t even try to plan a menu featuring locally grown foods.  The Dark Days Challenge allows for 10% non-local ingredients, and I very much doubt the total of non-local ingredients totals even 5%.

The menu:

Bourbon Red Turkey with Juniper Ginger Butter (non-local: ginger) Apple Cider Gravy Pumpkin Chestnut Stuffing Mashed Potatoes with Caramelized Shallots Sherry Vinegar and Molasses Glazed Carrots Roasted Brussels Sprouts with Hazelnuts and Browned Butter (non-local: hazelnuts) Cauliflower and Prosciutto Gratin (non-local: prosciutto) Cranberry Quince Sauce with Pinot Noir (non-local: Pinot Noir) Cranberry Orange Pavlovas (non-local: orange, sugar, vanilla) Apple Cake (non-local: sugar and cinnamon)

Well, duty calls: stuffing needs to be made, meringues need to come out of the oven, and shallots need to be caramelized.  Have a Happy Thanksgiving from all of us at Farm to Philly!