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10/23/09

Tour du Plate

we had a lovely canadian thanksgiving and i thought i'd better post about it before american thanksgiving rolls around. i'm going to go out on a limb and say this was the best canadian thanksgiving dinner i have ever made (admittedly not saying much).

the menu included:
chicken
we cooked the whole bird in the crockpot as recommended by julie of dinner with julie fame. it was perfection.
sweet potato fries tossed in truffle oil and parmesan cheese
hazlenut mushroom stuffing
prepared by michaela, the carey family executive chef. if you want to try something new this year TRY THIS!
roasted beet salad with arugula, walnuts, gorgonzola cheese and a red wine vinaigrette.
i am obsessed with beets.romesco dip prepared with roasted sweet red peppers, olive oil, and ground almonds
so easy and so good. we served it with fresh baked multigrain bread (the nutty chewy kind).
jarlesburg and gouda cheese, almond stuffed olives, fresh strawberries

cranberry blueberry sauce infused with lemon and nutmeg
if you use blueberries you need less sugar in the sauce

butter tarts and michael's special pumpkin cheesecake
made without a recipe but this dish is proof that when starting with cream and sugar, it it pretty hard to go wrong


now i am obsessing about what to have for american thanksgiving.

what do you usually have? what new recipe are you going to try? what do you consider your "best" thanksgiving dish? we need some inspiration here!!


10 comments:

Sarah said...

Homemade rolls. Seriously I could just eat mashed potato & gravy sandwiches. That's disgusting but really- oh SO good!!!!

I'll email you my recipe for buns.
Ann brined her turkey before cooking it last christmas. I heard it was delicious...

Mercedes said...

brined? what does that even mean. yes, please do send me your roll recipe. how can i be a good mormon wife if i don't make rolls?!?

leah jane said...

oooh, looks so yummy. everything. you're so good to celebrate. this year we celebrated only by ordering some pumpkin pie. :)

Michaela said...

oh, man. I've been waiting for this post. It's making me drool just thinking about it. Brined turkey = soaked in salt water + other junk for a day or two before cooking to make the meat nice and juicy. I made a maple brined turkey once that was tasty (apparently). This is what I think about American thanksgiving: seafood. We already had our turkey/chicken thing (It's all the same). Not like I eat it anyway, but theoretically it sounds good. Paella or something. Let's have a Spanish-American thanksgiving. Tapas! Yeah... I'm imagining this in my head. We'll scheme about it tomorrow. If you really want to you can make rolls to go with it.

Bonnie White said...

Your thanksgiving dinner looked very exotic and gourmet. Well done. If Sarah's roll recipe doesn't work out, I have one that I have mastered these last few years. I'm with Michaela on the Spanish American thanksgiving. Olive tapenade! And try this - barbeque corn and then roll in chipotle seasoned butter and then roll in parmesan cheese. You will never think about corn again without drooling for this. And try Amy's Sweet Potato pie recipe which is a hybrid of sweet potato and pecan. A must too. I can get your the recipe if you like.

nerak said...

um, since when did you become the most gourmet chef on the planet???? i love sweet potato fries, you may have to tell me how you did those! remember our ladies improvement club? and my rock-hard attempt at caramel? you have come a long ways, I'm very proud.

Regina said...

I brine all poultry and other birds. Not only for taste but to kill germs. Your meal looked spectacular
I am very impressed! :)

Unknown said...

mercedes, i have always LOVED your cooking. you are sooo good at it. everything looks amazing. perfect. i defintely want to try the stuffing. the beet salad looks delish. my mother would be so impressed with the truffle oil. where can i get all the recipes (esp the cranberry blueberry sauce)?

xoxo

Mercedes said...

confession:i cooked the turkey, michaela decorated it with fresh sage. that is why it looks good.

Golden Girl said...

Ah, memories of childhood Thanksgivings, uproarious games of Pit, and of course, the food, the most distinct memory of all. In our family the Pit was great and the food was the pits. Our fare was dry turkey, a kind of greyish dressing, yams with toasted marshmallows on top, instant mashed potatoes with gravy made from a mix, and mom's infamous huge orange jello salad with chunks of cheese and carrots in it. My daughters-in-law have really kicked us up a notch and I'm looking forward to what they come up with on Saturday night, which is when we're having our family Thanksgiving dinner. And then on New Years we are having an Iron Chef competition. The secret ingredient is...........?