Thanksgiving 2011

Perhaps you remember that I mentioned gatherings back in September. I know, I know, I talk about gatherings a lot but it was early September and I was already trying to get everyone excited about Thanksgiving. Well, it has been a week since our annual get-together and I simply can't go any longer without talking about our feast.

Why can't we have a dinner like this every week? Sure, it inevitably includes a ridiculous amount of work and an even more obscene quantity of food but so what?! Any excuse to get twelve friends at one table is good enough for me. I usually start thinking about the menu a month in advance and I think that this year, we did a pretty good job. We were very prepared and, for the first time in five years of hosting this event, there wasn't a moment of stress throughout the preparations. For that reason, I would rate this year as the best Thanksgiving yet.

Every year we make fresh pasta. Last Thanksgiving, our ravioli were a hit so we were under a lot of pressure to keep it up. We opted for something a little more rustic and a touch more foreign: pierogies.

We also, for the first time, vetoed the turkey altogether.

Thanksgiving 2011 Menu

Dinner:

Ottolenghi's Moroccan Carrot Salad

Thomas Keller's Leek Bread Pudding

Big Lou's Porchetta

Ottolenghi's Wild Mushroom Ragout with Sour Cream, Tarragon and Garlic Croutons

Big Lou's Roast Leg of Lamb with Apple Chutney or Curry Cream Sauce

Thomas Keller's Creamed Corn

Ottolenghi's Ratatouille

Cabbage and Mushroom Pierogies & Potato Cheddar Pierogies with Caramelized Onions

Cheese Course with Spiced Nuts and a selection of Sticky Spoon Jams:

Spiced Autumn Plum Jam

Tomato Jam

Apricot and Saffron Jam

Kits Beach Blackberry Jam with Lemon Geranium

Desserts:

Sticky Toffee Pudding with Vanilla Bean Ice Cream

Pear Crumble with Crystallized Ginger and Creme Fraiche

Artisan Bakery Pumpkin Pie with Fresh Raspberries

Also on the menu...

By the way, you may have noticed that we used a few of Ottolenghi's recipes. If you don't own Yotam Ottolenghi's book Plenty, go buy it. Now. Shut down the computer and go. Every recipe I have made so far turns the average, unpopular, sometimes bland vegetable into a dish that simply explodes with flavour. This isn't your typical, healthy vegetarian cookbook. I recommend it highly and I think that all twelve of our guests would agree.

Someone even brought root beer liqueur, just for the fun of it and, with so much ice cream being passed around, it was inevitable that root beer floats would be mixed up.

I look forward to this event all year long and the very next morning, with a HUGE pile of dishes awaiting on the kitchen counter and a house taken over by tables, chairs and empty bottles of wine, I always sit in the middle of the mess and start thinking of ideas for the following year. I love it. I hope that your Thanksgiving was just as wonderful. If not, come to our house next time...