Post Thanksgiving dinner report!

I hope everyone had a wonderful holiday! Thanksgiving dinner was quite a success, the only disappointment being that Grandma did not want to make sticky rice stuffing :(. She insisted that the roast chicken be butterflied when roasted, so there would be nowhere to "stuff" the stuffing :P. Instead of arguing with her, we compromised on making "zhen zhu wan" instead which are pork meatballs coated in glutinous rice and them steamed. Pretty delish as well, but alas, not the same as sticky rice stuffing!

Oh real quick before I move onto pictures! I'm an aunt again! My brother and sister-in-law just had their second baby, a girl, named Hannah Kay last night! So congrats to them :).

Ok, back to food :). So, here is the menu in pictures:

Starter #1: Pumpkin soup, finished with creme fraiche and toasted hazelnuts

I think I was a little over-zealous with the salt at the end, so it was a bit overpowering even for my salt-loving palate. But everyone licked their bowls clean so I guess it couldn't have been that bad :). My Grandma even poured it over her mashed potatoes, instead of using the shiitake mushroom gravy hee hee.

Starter #2: Mache greens with sliced persimmons and pomelo segments,
dressed with a pomelo and rice wine vinaigrette


Pretty, huh? This was a great palate cleanser after the soup and was super light and refreshing. I love love love love the persimmons and the vibrancy it adds to the plate against the green of the mache.

Entree: Herb Roasted free-range chicken with shiitake mushroom gravy


I do not like butterflying my chickens because it just looks so "blah" when it's plated. Also the juices all run out of the chicken and the end result is a bit drier than if the chicken was properly trussed. But I do what my Grandma says, so butterflied chicken it was. I dressed the chicken with olive oil, salt, black pepper, rosemary and thyme and roasted it until nice and crispy in a 350, then 450 oven (just the last 10-15 minutes).

The gravy was made with the pan drippings and a little roux. I sauteed the mushrooms with a little wine and shallots and garlic first before combining it with the roux and drippings. I also added a touch of milk.

Side #1: Mashed potato and sunchoke puree
No picture available - sorry, this was really not exciting enough presentation-wise to take a picture of, but it was super delicious!!! You'll just have to trust me on this one.

Side #2: Roasted brussel sprouts with bacon lardons


Everyone loved this dish - the brussel sprouts were really sweet and the bacon just added a hint of smokiness. I dressed it with a little cider vinegar at the end which gave it a little kick.

Dessert: Pear Tart


I got the recipe for this tart from Everday Food, a PBS cooking show, and it was first made for me by my bff. One taste and I was hooked! I would post a link to the recipe, but it's been taken off their website :(. Maybe I'll type it up and post it a little later. Anyways, it's a Pate Brise crust, with a frangipane filling (I ground the almonds myself) and then layered with sliced Bartlett pears. I love how its all golden in the center. SUPER YUMMY!!!

Was it a crazy effort? No, not really! I made the tart the night before and the day of, I prepped for a few hours in the morning and then it took me about 2 hours to cook the rest of the meal. The best part was watching everyone eat and enjoy the food. Gave me lots of warm fuzzies :).

Happy cooking everyone!