We Give Thanks
We give thanks for being able to grow this food, for being able to cook, for being here, now, and for friends.
This year, I am cooking most of Thanksgiving dinner – it has not happen in years, as we generally are celebrating elsewhere.
And so of course I have to use the things we have here. Now. To me that’s the meaning of a harvest celebration – which is after all the root of Thanksgiving.
On the menu:
Cream of Pumpkin & Apple Soup with Truffle oil
Roulade of Turkey Breast with Dry Cranberry/Sage/Onion Stuffing & Autumn Olive Jelly
Cardoon Gratin
Roasted Sweet & Irish Potatoes
Swiss Chard Gratin
Chestnut Puree
Arugula & spinach salad with roasted apples
Appetizer & Dessert to be brought by guests.
Homemade: bread, broth for the soup, butter, lard
From the garden: Pumpkin, sage, thyme, parsley, parcel, Swiss chard, potatoes, sweet potatoes, arugula, spinach, mustard greens, raspberries, cardoon;
Foraged: chestnuts, autumn olives;
Purchased from local sources: turkey, cream, apples, whiskey (to soak the dry cranberries), wine;
Not local: onions, sugar, olive oil, truffle oil, salt, flour & vinegar.
We give thanks indeed.
Happy Thanksgiving to you and your family ! Have a great time !
The menu sounds delicious…
Oh how fortunate for your dinner guests this past Thanksgiving day, that meal sounds like a flavor extravaganza.:)
Wow, Sylvie, what a feast, and what a beautiful tableau the ingredients make! I’ve never tasted a cardoon. How do you make your gratin?
Brett
Thanks Vanille and Mike! Mike I am sure it’s taste extravaganza at your house every day given all that you grow!
Brett, cardoon tastes of artichoke – but the texture is different. Neither of which is very surprising since the cardoon IS an artichoke grown for its leaf stems. The gratin is very simple. Trim, slice and parboil the stems. Arrange in buttered gratin dish, smother with cream, a little nutmeg and pepper, and sprinkling of Parmesan – fresh bread crumbs if you have. 30 minutes in a hot oven. Voila. C’est tout; c’est bon.