Like many others this week, my spotlight local meal has got to be the pretty kick-ass Thanksgiving meal I cranked out (if I don’t say so myself…looking humble, with averted eyes)!
It would almost be easier to tell you the menu, and then list the only things that weren’t local. So, I will.
- Free-range, local turkey
- Bacon, onion, sage dressing
- Gingered cranberry sauce
- Mashed potatoes
- Mashed squash
- Roasted brussels sprouts and turnips
- Homemade rolls
- Pumpkin Pie
- Mincemeat Pie
Only non-local ingredients: crackers used with the local cheese appetizer, black olives (traditional!), one orange, sugar and whole cloves for the cranberry sauce, mince pie filling (my mother-in-law brought this because my husband likes the mince – I don’t like the mince), fresh ginger root, salt and pepper. Even our wine was a New Hampshire vintage! The ground cherries on the cheese board were a big hit for their novelty.
I’ve already made stock from the giblets and carcass, and I’ll make a soup today, since we’re just about sick of eating turkey sandwiches and leftovers for every meal. I’ve also got a small pan of dressing left to freeze that I’ll use with a chicken sometime.
I used Deborah Madison’s recipe, from Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone, for the gingered cranberry sauce. It might have been my favorite part of the meal, and it’s really easy. Just boil water with sugar, slices of ginger and cloves, then cook the cranberries with orange zest until they are the consistency you like. I cooked them until they were all popped, while others might like to leave more of the berries whole. Yummmmm.
Thanksgiving really highlights the available food that’s around here this time of year (for obvious reasons), so I kind of view this as the last hurrah of root vegetables, and I’m going to have to start digging into the freezer stock (don’t get me wrong – we’ve still got squash left). I’m going to need to use some for the soup later today, for sure.
I hope everyone enjoyed the day, and took some time to reflect upon their good fortune. I hope we all have time to continue to feel fortunate during the upcoming, crazy month. Cheers!
The gingered cranberry sauce sounds scrumptious! Thanks for posting a link to Jewell Towne Vineyards. I live less than twenty minutes from where they are, so I may just have to go check it out!
We had ground cherries this summer from the farmers’ market. They were delicious, and something I’d never had before! I didn’t know they were harvested this late — the ones I had were in September.
G&N: The wine was good. Definitely everyday, table wine. I had the Maréchal Foch. I’m kind of a whimpy wine drinker, I like a good, mild red, and that’s just what this was.
Valeree: I think the ground cherries are pretty hardy. The folks I bought them from said they have a good shelf (fridge) life, too.
That sounds fabulous! My meal was as local as i could get it considering I traveled to central NY with it, but I missed having a local turkey. I’d love more details about the roasted b sprouts and turnip, and especially the ground cherry. FEDCO offers a ground cherry plant in their catalog but I’ve been hesitant to try it since I’ve never tasted them.
I’m going to try the gingered cranberry sauce very soon.
Ali
Ali: I just tossed the sprouts and cubed turnip with some olive oil, salt, pepper and balsamic vinegar (I have a vanilla and fig vinegar that I carried with me from California from the Temecula Olive Oil Company that is simply fabulous!) and roasted them at 425 for, probably, 40-50 minutes (it’s hard to remember since nine thousand other things were cooking at the same time!).
The ground cherries tasted, to me, like a cross between a pineapple and a cherry tomato. They were kind of seedy, but very sweet and poppy.
Good luck with the sauce – it was mahvelous!
Thanks! I will be going shopping for b sprouts tomorrow at the farmer’s winter market. YUM!