Sage roasted Turkey with carmelized onions and gravy, Wild rice and chestnut stuffing, Romanesco with chili-garlic sauce, String Beans and Garlic Shoots in Oyster sauce & Pumpkin Pie

As mentioned in the previous post, we were waiting to celebrate Thanksgiving until our Parisian friends could join us, and the only date on which everyone was available, was December 3.  The spirit of Thanksgiving  lingered throughout, in preparation for this affair, and we celebrated in good form.  It was a "first" for 2 of the 5 families, so in a small way, "the pressure was on", for this feast.  Olivier was particularly excited, because Louise, his "amoreux" since they were 3 years old, was to be  joining us.  Didier and I were excited as it was an opportunity for us to host some folks who have made our stay here in Paris, a little sweeter.

As in the States, we started "early".  But by Parisian standards, this meant that we were seated close to 9pm.  Before hand, we made merry with a magnum  plus 2 bottles of champagne, and nibbled on some tarama of crab, sea urchin and salmon roe with warm blinis, that Maud brought over.

For an entree (starter/appetizer in French), we were treated to Delphine's home made Seafood Aspic (I've asked for the recipe).  Then, came the Turkey centric festivities, with the centerpiece being a 6 kilo bird.  The vegetable side dishes were not American standard fare, but they were local (except the garlic shoots), bio ("organic" in French), and made with love!  Also, with a nod to French dining traditions, there was a copious cheese platter before dessert, courtesy or Rosella,.  To close, we returned to American tradition, with pumpkin pies.  Marianne used my recipe for the pie, but added her own decorative flourish. 

Unlike many Stateside, there was no American football on the TV in the background.  But, like in New York and in San Francisco before that, our Parisian Thanksgiving was a heartwarming affair of friendship.   

Keeping in form with USA Thanksgiving norms, the kids ran havoc around the house, turning Olivier's room into a disaster zone,  and there were 3 loads of dishes to be had.  But, I'm proud to say that team chez nous made a sensational clean up crew!  

Our home was fresh and clean again by morning, as if we had spent a quiet evening in, just the 3 of us.  

The Recipes:

Sage roasted turkey with caramelized onions and gravy (modified from Bon Appetit - Our Favorite Thanksgiving, 1999)  I've been making this turkey since 1999.

served 10, with some leftovers

• 12 saucing onions, peeled, but left whole.
• 1 6 kilo turkey
• 2 tbsp butter, room temperature
• Olive oil for basting
• 8 whole, large sage leaves
• 1 c chicken broth
• 1 c white wine
• salt, pepper and paprika to taste
• 1 tbsp all purpose flour

Make a bed of onion on the pan, for the turkey to sit on

Preheat oven to 220 degrees, Celsius

Rinse turkey inside and out, and pat dry.  Slide hand under skin of the breast to loosen.   Use hands to spread butter under the skin, over the breast meat.  Arrange 4 leaves under the skin on each breast.

Spoon stuffing loosely into the main cavity.  Tuck wing tips under the turkey and tie the legs together loosely.

Rub turkey with 1 tbsp of the olive oil and sprinkle with salt, pepper and paprika

Place turkey on top of onions. Roast for 30 minutes.  Pour the stock into the pan and "tent" the turkey loosely with foil.  Reduce the oven temperature to 180 degrees Celsius.

Roast turkey for 2 hours then uncover.  Continue to roast until turkey is golden brown.  Baste occasionally with pan juices, for another 2 1/2 hours.

Transfer turkey and onions to serving platter and tent loosely with foil.  Let stand for 30 minutes.

Over low flame, add a tablespoon  of flour to the  pan juices, and add the wine, as well.  Mix until a smooth gravy forms and serve on the side.

*The turkey baked for 5 hours.  During which, Didier and I went for a run, we relaxed to Christmas caroles, and had our friends, Caroline and Jean Baptist over for afternoon tea and cupcakes.  A perfect Saturday!  

Wild rice and chestnut stuffing

 I created this in 2007, for the first Paris pyjama crew's thanksgiving feast

• 1 c lardons (thin cut bacon), diced in 1 cm strips
• 2 large onions, chopped
• 6 cloves garlic, minced
• 2 c wild rice
• 4 c water
• 1 c chopped fresh parsley
• 1 1/2 c steamed chestnuts, roughly chopped

Cook wild rice as per package instructions.

Meanwhile, brown lardons over a low flame.  Add onions and garlic after 2 minutes, and stir occasionally until onions are soft.

Add chestnuts and rice to the lardons, and mix well.  Add chopped parsley, remove from heat and mix well.  Put aside until ready to stuff turkey.  *This can be made a day ahead and refrigerated until ready for use

Place any excess stuffing in a baking dish and warm in the oven during the last 1/2 hour of the turkey's baking time.  Or turn it into fried rice for another meal, by warming it over a low flame with a tablespoon of toasted Sesame oil and diced scrambled eggs.

-x-

*The vegetables use my standard arsenal of Chinese condiments, so it was like cooking for everyday.  In the end, it was a really easy meal to put together, and as always, cooking it was a joy! 

Romanesco with chili-garlic sauce 

 *I first discovered romanesco here in Paris.  It's lime green in color, with pointed tops.  It's beautiful, and tastes like a cross between broccoli and cauliflower.

• 2 heads of romanesco, cut into florets
• 4 c water for steaming
• 2 tbsp sesame oil, plus 2 tbsp peanut oil
• Lee Kum Kee brand Chili Garlic sauce, to taste.  I used about 4 tbsp
• 1/4 c Chinese cooking wine

Steam florets for 10 minutes until just cooked, but still crisp.  This can be done the day before, and stored in the refrigerator, until ready.

In a pan, over medium heat, combine oils and chili garlic sauce with wine.  Once well blended, add the romanesco until evenly coated.  Remove from heat, plate and serve.

String Beans and Garlic Shoots in Oyster sauce

• 2 kilo string beans
• 1/2 kilo garlic shoots
• 3 cloves of garlic minced
• 3 little birds eye chilies
• 4 tbsp oyster sauce
• 2 tbsp Chinese cooking wine

Blanch string beans and garlic shoots in salted boiling water, just until cooked through, but still crisp; about 8 minutes.  Drain. This can be done the day before, and stored in the refrigerator, until ready.

Saute garlic in  2 tbsp of peanut oil.  Add vegetables and oyster sauce, and mix well.  Turn up heat and add wine.  Mix, until wine evaporates, or for 1 minute.  Remove from heat, plate and serve.

Pumpkin Pie

Marianne added a little sugar flourish to hers

• 2 prepared crusts par baked for 15-20 minutes at 175 degrees Celsius
• 1 1/4  cups of pumpkin puree (see below)
• 1/2 c brown sugar
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp grated ginger
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 2 tsp all purpose flour
• 2 eggs, lightly beaten
• 1 c evaporated milk (unsweetened)
• 2 tbsp water
• 1/2 tsp vanilla extract

Combine pumpkin puree, sugar, salt, spices and flour in a medium mixing bowl.  Add eggs and mix well.  Add evaporated milk, water, and vanilla and mix well.  Pour into the par-baked crusts and bake at 200 degrees Celsius for 15 minutes.  Reduce heat to 175 degrees and bake for about 35 more minutes, or until the center is set.

Pumpkin Puree

• Cut pumpkin in half and scoop out the seeds.  Roast the halves in the oven at 175 degrees Celsius for half and hour, peel and puree.
  
• Take 1 1/4 cup of the puree to make 2  13" pies, and the freeze the leftovers in batches of the same amount for future use

3 - 12 - 2011 Thanksgiving Cuisine Crew

I can only speak for myself, but to me, our Parisian Thanksgiving was a heartwarming success! I'd like to thank these lovely ladies for their yummy contributions to the feast, and we are definitely looking forward to many more!

À la prochaine!

Thanksgiving Turkey Burgers with Ginger - Chili Cranberry Sauce, Sweet Potato Fries and Mache

Last night was not a common Thanksgiving celebration.  Didier was off to squash, no one was dressed up, and we had a low key meal around the kitchen counter.

We were planning to share a Thanksgiving feast with some French friends over the weekend, as it was still a school night here.  But, when I heard on Wednesday, that an American friend was in town, and hoping to celebrate, "even with turkey burgers, at a burger joint", I got inspired.  I decided to concoct a burger recipe, myself, and invite her over, along with the old 'Pyjama Crew'.   I threw together a casual menu, and served Pumpkin Pie for dessert (I'll post that recipe, once I've tweaked it to my liking).  It was a simple menu, typical chez nous:  Healthy and local favorites, such as Mache, spiced with Asian flair, and a tribute to a beloved American Tradition....

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The recipes are listed in order of preparation.  It is important to note that there are no 'rules' in my cooking, and I suggest that the ingredients be modified based on what you like and what is available to you. 

Ginger - Chili Cranberry Sauce

• 500g fresh cranberries (frozen works too)
• 1 c orange juice
• 2 c ginger beer (or ginger ale)
• 1 red chili pepper of your choice.  This time, I used a cubanelle.  Use what you like and to the spiciness that you desire.  Tabasco would also work. 
• 6 tablespoons agave syrup (if I had maple syrup on hand, I would have used that) 

Heat cranberries, ginger ale, syrup and orange juice in a sauce pan, over medium - low heat, stirring occassionally, until cranberries are soft and the liquid has reduced by half.

Adjust seasoning if necessary, and remove from heat.  Let cool at room temperature for at least 10 minutes before serving.

Sweet Potato Fries 

• 2 sweet potatoes, scrubbed clean, skins on (I 'eyeball' everything, so use as many sweet potatoes you think you need.  For the 6 of us, I used 2 large sweet potatoes)
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• salt and pepper
• optional:  other fresh herbs, such as rosemary and some peeled cloves of garlic

Preheat the oven to 200 degrees celcius or 392 degrees farenheit. 

Cut the sweet potatoes into 2 1/2 " long by 1/2 " wide strips, or as you like.

Place in a shallow baking dish, coat with olive oil, and season with salt and pepper (and other herbs or garlic, if using)

Baking time could be between 25-45 minutes, depending on how much moisture is in the potato.  I check the the potatoes every 10-15 minutes, and mix them around to make sure that they crisp evenly.

Remove when they are done to your liking.  If you still need time before the burgers are done, return the fries to the warm oven, with the heat off, to keep them warm until serving.

 Sage Turkey Burgers

• 1 kilo ground turkey
• 2 tbsps olive oil
• 1 large onion, finely chopped
• 3 tbsp fresh sage, finely chopped
• 1 large egg
• 1/2 c bread crumbs
• 1/4 c hoisin sauce
• salt and pepper to taste
• 6 whole wheat hamburger buns

Sautee onions and sage in 1 tbsp olive oil over medium  heat for about 3 minutes, or until onion is soft.  Remove from heat.

Combine the turkey and the egg in a large bowl, until well blended.  Add the bread crumbs, onion mixture and mix thoroughly.  Season with salt and pepper, and form into a ball, then flatten into patties about 1/2 inch thick.  I came out with 9 patties.

In a cast iron grill pan, grill the patties over medium-high heat until cooked through, about 4-5 minutes per side.  

Split the buns in half and toast in the same pan, during the last minute or 2 of cooking, depending on how you like your buns.

Remove burgers and buns, and let them rest for 2-3 miutes.  Dress both sides of the buns with the Cranberry Sauce, add the patties and serve with a side of Sweet Potato Fries and Mache.

 Bon appetit!

Traditions

On our bike ride home from school last night, Olivier (my 6 year old), asked me about our traditions.  "Mom, what do the English do for Christmas and for the holidays? What customs do we have?"

Olivier is in a French School, with an English Section, for bilingual kids.  The students are mostly Parisian born, with at least one parent having English as their mother tounge.  So, to consider himself "English" at this stage is not too surprising.  "Honey, we speak English," I reminded him, "but mama and papa are not from England.  We met in New York."

"OK," he sighed, so what are our traditions?"  I answered: "We've made up our own."

I've been an expat for most of my life, having lived in 7 cities so far; 4 of which, before I turned 16. As a child, continuity came from knowing that change was iminent. And, security came from knowing that there was another International School to go to.   For me, it was an adventure, and to this day, I feel very lucky.

Immuned to Culture Shock until I turned 20, the places where I feel most foreign, are in Manila, where my parents were born, in San Francisco, where I was born, and in Paris, the place I love and currently call home.

Until this conversation with my son, I assumed that I didn't have any "real" traditions. But, I now  realize that while ours may not be those that TV shows are made for, I have created and taken some Traditions with me.

Seven years into our life here in Paris, and I can say that I feel at home in a "foreign land". And, whenever I feel at home, I create. And so brings us to the birth of this blog. Here, I will share our traditions, and the menus and recipes that celebrate them. I will also highlight any noteworthy feast, which resulted from an epiphany, or was simply a joy to create. May this blog serve as a place for folks to visit, request, comment on, and share  some of the recipes that we've enjoyed together! Didier and I have celebrated a lot over the years pre and post Olivier.  We've made a tradition out of a few, and here are some that I will highlight: NYC Pre Olivier Annual "It's not Didier's Birthday" Paella Party Annual Peking Duck Night Wednesday night Squash (the sport) and Sushi at Floy's 4th of July Fireworks at Red Square Boat days with Pumpernickel Bagels and Egg Salad Dimsum Sunday  Paris Post Olivier Bienvenue chez nous Thanksgiving with a Pan Asian twist Taco Night Tarte Night Cupcake Getogethers Pasta Vongole at Rue Amelot The Thankful list

Thank you to all who have partaken in our Traditions, thus far, and here's looking forward to many more!