Best dish on the T-day table?

[Cusina]

So what went right?

My sweet potato/winter squash side was awesome. My favorite this year, though the bird was a close second. Beautifully juicy and delicious.

[tryska]

i'll actually have to go with my broccoli casserole.

(i've never made one before, and never even looked at a recipe)

basically what i did was make a bechamel, added some sharp cheddar and a splash of white wine, a smidge of salt, white pepper and garlic, and the sauce was fabulous.

i then steamed the broccoli, perfectly, in the microwave, and topped with cheese sauce, and crumbled up ritz. into the overn at 350 for 30 minutes, and it was fabulous, and got rave reviews.

i was thrilled, simply because it was my first time ever, and i wasn't working from a recipe.

[Schneier]

My wife's son brought a sweet potato dish with chipolte and other stuff. It was fantastic.

And my turkey was superb.

Bruce

[Dave the Cook]

My wife's son brought a sweet potato dish with chipolte and other stuff. It was fantastic.

Was that the Bobby Flay recipe that ran in the NY Times last week? Sweet potatoes, cinnamon, creme fraiche, maple syrup, chipotle? Regardless, this was a hit at our table, too -- a good combination that got us away from marshmallows/pineapple/orange/whatever. You could taste the sweet potatoes.

The creme fraiche leads me to my proudest moment of yesterday. I had lost track of the potatoes I was simmering for mashers, and they got severely waterlogged. I compounded my error by adding too much milk, and ended up with some pretty gloopy stuff. I tried to up the solid-liquid ratio by adding the rest of the creme fraiche, leftover from the sweet potatoes, and about four heads of pureed roasted garlic, but it wasn't enough. In a way, it reminded me of a souffle base, which reminded me of Jeanette Pepin's ridiculously simple cheese souffle (the recipe is in Jacques' autobiography). She doesn't separate the eggs, doesn't whip whites -- none of the fussy stuff that is usually employed to create a souffle.

I had about four pounds of gloopy potatoes, which I transferred them to a big round casserole. I beat four eggs just enough to combine, and folded them in, drizzled a bit of melted butter on top, then stuck the dish in the oven at 425F, while we baked two batches of rolls. I'm guessing it was in there about 30 minutes. The potatoes rose about an inch and a half, and came to the table with a delicate, light brown crust. They were ethereal, and I was amazed.

Of course, they collapsed under the gravy like Atlanta under a snowstorm. But like tryska, I was proud of winging it.

[tryska]

dang, dave - i'm gonna try that next year...with all my scientific approach to potato mashing this year (directly from the class) mine still wound up heavy and gloopy. i was also afraid of taking the egg-beater to them - i have a feeling if i had, it would have made them lighter, but i like the mashed potato "souffle" idea.

[Squeat Mungry]

The biggest hit at our gathering was a cracked crab appetizer brought by one of the other guests. This was signalled by long stretches of silent munching punctuated by gasps of amazement and delight and murmured thanks. (I don't eat crab myself, but I sampled the horseradish cocktail sauce on a lemon wedge and it was truly delicious!)

Unfortunately, the same guest provided the biggest culinary disappointment (besides my own undercooked brussels sprouts): a red velvet cake requested by her Colorado-raised husband, who was also celebrating his birthday. The cake elicited some silence, as well, punctuated by "This is... interesting."

Fortunately, the other dessert option was the most incredible from-fresh pumpkin pie I've ever had anywhere, baked by the host.

Cheers

Squeat

[tryska]

was the red velvet cake bad, or were people just not used to it?

"this is....interesting" is the death-knell for any cook.

[fifi]

Good save, Dave! You really ought to write that one up.

Fave of the day? Hard to say. Once you get past the fried turkey I guess the sweet potatoes, baked and sliced, put into a casserole and topped with a pineapple sage (fresh from the herb patch) butter sauce. The tamales with poblano cream to dunk them in got a lot of votes. A lot of folks also put some poblano cream on their turkey. As we were cleaning up, I caught my nephew LICKING the serving dish. He looked really funny with green stuff on his nose.

[GG Mora]

Everything was good, but the gravy was stellar this year.

And even though it didn't get eaten yesterday (see my my blog if you dare) the "pumpkin" cheesecake is awesome. Rather than use canned pumpkin, I made it with a purée of roasted kabocha and delicata squash. Bling.

[guajolote]

shrimp and grits with red-eye gravy. these were based on dave the cooks method at varmint's pig picking.

[Squeat Mungry]

was the red velvet cake bad, or were people just not used to it?

"this is....interesting" is the death-knell for any cook.

I admit I didn't have any of the cake, either, as I am not a fan of chocolate. (I know, I'm a freak!) The texture looked like wet sand at the beach, though, and no one finished even the smallest slice. The husband declared it was "not what I am used to." She is an excellent cook, though (everyone in this group is). Just out of her familiar territory on this one, as an act of love. (Her crab had this entire group of "foodies" gasping and almost weeping with delight!)

I should add that the host couple host Thanksgiving every year for our gang, and have perfected all the standards, so every year we can count on a perfectly roasted bird with nice crisp skin, moist breastmeat and robust, flavorful dark meat, as well as delicious stuffing, perfect riced potatoes, delicate green beans with shaved almonds, from-scratch 'Parker House' rolls, fresh-tasting peas with pearl onions, and that pie... that pie!

[tryska]

aww the poor thing.

well whatever, at least she had a crowd-pleaser as well.

[KatieLoeb]

I spent Thanksgiving with my best friend, her mom and brother. Her mom is a FABULOUS cook (Thaks Mrs. S!) and made quite a few interesting dishes. My favorite was a vegetable pie that wasn't quite a quiche. Very good! The stuffing she made was also very tasty.

I made a Pumpkin Flan for dessert that came out quite well. I made it non-fat and relatively low calorie by using egg substitute, Splenda, evaporated skim milk and fat free half and half, but you could probably make it with real eggs, sugar and half and half and it would be delicious, if not deadly! I'll post the recipe in the archives soon.

[SethG]

The biggest hit of the day for me was the gravlax I set out when our guests arrived. I was afraid no one would touch it, and my fears were heightened by the fact that no one in my wife's family (all of whom came to our place in Brooklyn from Jersey) seemed to know what gravlax was! (My mental note to self: New Jersey really is the midwest!)

But then everyone loved it. Even my sister-in-law, who claimed not to care for salmon or mustard, kept raving about how good it was and scooping up the mustard/dill sauce.

This cranberry swirl cheesecake was also a big hit. I was glad, because it was a total pain in the butt to make.

[Katherine]

The stuffed onions were the standout this year.

[slkinsey]

I made a Pumpkin Flan for dessert that came out quite well. I made it non-fat and relatively low calorie by using egg substitute, Splenda, evaporated skim milk and fat free half and half, but you could probably make it with real eggs, sugar and half and half and it would be delicious, if not deadly! I'll post the recipe in the archives soon.

Wait... you made a lowfat, low-calorie dessert for Thanksgiving?!

[KatieLoeb]

I made a Pumpkin Flan for dessert that came out quite well.  I made it non-fat and relatively low calorie by using egg substitute, Splenda, evaporated skim milk and fat free half and half, but you could probably make it with real eggs, sugar and half and half and it would be delicious, if not deadly!  I'll post the recipe in the archives soon.

Wait... you made a lowfat, low-calorie dessert for Thanksgiving?!

Yes - my hostess eats low fat and with all the other multiple filling carbohydrates on the table for Thanksgiving, any little bit to lighten up is good from my perspective. Makes the trousers only tight, not bursting at the seams...

[Schneier]

And the stuffed cabbage rolls appetizer.

Absolutely fantastic.

Bruce

[Al_Dente]

Friends of mine did an excellent job with a indian spiced turkey, dressing with collard greens and sausage (it really did work) and a number of other dishes. I made some soup for a first course that was so simple yet so tasty.

Pea Soup with Toasted Cumin

Basically, just start sweating some onions in EVOO (1 medium), brown them a bit if you want, and meanwhile toast some cumin seeds (2 tbls). Grind the seeds to a powder, add to onions for a minute or two, add turkey or chicken broth (3 1/2-4 cups), and then frozen peas (10 oz). Once defrosted, put in the submersion blender and let her rip. Season to taste and serve. I didn't make it thick like your typical pea soup, about the consistency of something slightly less viscous than NE clam chowder. For just a few ingredients, it had surprising depth and taste.

[hjshorter]

The oyster and andouille stuffing was a big hit, as was the salad with goat cheese and dried cranberries.

[Katherine]

I asked my daughter if she agreed with me that the stuffed onions were the standout, and she did not. FWIW, she thinks that the rare roast lamb or the Baked Alaska with fresh raspberries stood out more.

[vengroff]

Our brined and stretch-trussed 8lb capon was the best thanksgiving bird I've had in a long time.

My mom and I made a pretty awesome pumkin pie. I did the crust and she made the filling from a recipe she got from some women's magazine in the 70's.

Toasted corn pudding was good too.

[Susan in FL]

The goose was really, really good. Tied for first place was one of the new recipes this year, Oysters Rockefeller Soup from Bon Appetit, November 2003. Delicious!

[bergerka]

It's really hard to say what the all over BEST dish at our table was, but the revelation of the evening for me was my very first oyster. Oh. Oh my. Oh...MY.

(yes, Sam, you told me so).

and it had cucumber granita on it.

Sexy.

K

[mighty quinn]

i brined two birds in hard cider and maple syrup- had to leave them with my sig other to finish but he did an admirable job AND toted them up to the hospital to boot! best turkey i've EVER had-anywhere. i don't usually eat white meat but this aws good. had to write out the recipe several times over. worth all the effort!