Reasons to be Thankful: Thanksgiving - Kitchen Butterfly (2024)

Written by Kitchen Butterfly on November 22, 2012 in ,

I have reasons to be thankful, even if I am a desperado.

Reasons to be Thankful: Thanksgiving - Kitchen Butterfly (2)

Desperate to be American, in part…..purely to eat Turkey, or Turducken. Ok….we’ll have to settle on chicken. I am thankful for food on our table. Simple, fancy, tasty and homemade. Eaten with people to love. That I love. Thanksgiving on the third Sunday in November.

Reasons to be Thankful: Thanksgiving - Kitchen Butterfly (3)

Desperate to celebrate Thanksgiving and to be thankful, even if my chicken isn’t stuffed but merely wet-rubbed in a ‘not-so-traditional’ rub of soy and fish sauce. And a most delicious gravy from pan drippings.

Desperate for homemade red sauce, even if it is made from Pitanga cherries and not cranberries, even if they could be cousins.

Desperate for sweet potatoes, and thankful for wonderful friends and colleagues who know my love for food and encourage me. Challenge me. Whether it is to simply make roasted potatoes, crafty layer cakes, fashion out great-tasting ice-cream cakes or share what I know and love of food. I am thankful.

Recipe: Adapted from a recipe by Emily C on Food52-Brown Butter, spiced sweet potatoes.

Desperate for deep-fried, breaded green beans, and thankful for the success of the recipe. Finally. Thinking someday I’ll have to have this ‘green bean casserole’ with Campbell’s Mushroom soup. This casserole that polarises people.

My recipe: On Food52

Most of all, I am desperate to make pumpkin pie. Something I can’t quite work out. How do you stuff pureed pumpkin into a pie. This pie though gives me a great, great excuse…..to try out my revolutionary stove-top pie crust, where the pie dough is cooked on the hob, a riff on Paula Caillat’s oven-cooked pie crust. Making this pie crust, has revolutionalised my pies. No need for the fear of ‘making leathery, tough pastry’, of leaving it to rest for fear of overworking the gluten. No need to worry……

The results are outstanding. A pastry base that remains crisp, flaky and down right buttery. Days later. Even after reheating. No eggwashing of the base. No…no….no….no.

Instead of using all-purpose flour alone, I ground up some oats and pecans and subbed some of the flour in the recipe. Most of all ( a repeat, I know), I made this in a pot, on the hob!

My recipe: inspired by Paula Caillat’s oven-cooked pastryfor the crust, and Meta Given’s recipe for the filling

Isnt that reason enough to be thankful?

13 Comments

[…] when combining fat, flour and liquid. My go-to whisk for all things sauces, especially around the holidays. Also called the spiral whisk.I used to have a metal version, which hadone main loop with […]
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[…] jelly. Softset, I know. But still, Zobo jelly. In place of cranberry sauce. Like our Pitanga cherry one from last […]
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[…] ya yaay. A soft set, but a set nevertheless. It’ll grace tomorrow’s table. Like our Pitanga Cherry saucedid last […]
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How I would love to make you a traditional T dinner…you did very well my friend!
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Indeed, you have much to be thankful for. I would be thankful to sit and dine at your table anytime. I love how you had all the elements and spirit of an American Thanksgiving meal, it’s truly an inspired meal. I”, also extending an invitation to come and have Thanksgiving with me if you ever feel brave enough to visit Montana in November.
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And I wish I could sit at yours….hope you had a lovely one, Ozoz.
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- It was great Steve – I hope you enjoyed yours!!!!
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Happy Thanksgiving to you! You have the Thanksgiving spirit, and there is always a few extra chairs for you and your family at my table.
Thank you for your warm wishes for a Happy Thanksgiving-indeed it was wonderful. Anytime, you can bring your family together for a meal, and sharing in the moment, it is a wonderful thing.
Velva
P.S. We are hosting a student from Spain this year. He was waiting to taste the turkey!
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- Velva, I hope your Spanish student enjoyed the Turkey….though I have no doubt he would!
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Mmm, that looks yummy! The fried green beans look really good, too. Our friend made psedo-green bean casserole – basically a white sauce mixed with a packet of cream of mushroom soup, then fried some onions. Pretty good.
…And we had a yummy yakwa cranberry-esque sauce. It was really good! Fresh zobo flower, apple chunks, pineapple, and there must have been some kind of nut in it because there was a slight crunch. Hoping to get the recipe from my friend soon. Man, it was tasty – and I’m not a huge fan of cranberry, either!
Oh, and the crust on your pumpkin thing sounds YUM!
p.s. Saw the link to our foodie friday market blog – fun! Thanks! 🙂
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- Christie, I loooooooveeee the sound of your sauce. I will be eagerly awaiting the recipe, with homegrown ingredients! Thanks.
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What a tasty tribute to Thanksgiving! It may seem that all Americans celebrate with the same holiday menu, but in fact the traditions are as unique as each individual. Thanksgiving is a wondrous holiday were we put aside our petty humanness and center our attention on our blessings. What a splendid holiday! Happy Thanksgiving Oz!
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- Thanks Deb, I am thrilled at the various Thanksgiving traditions I read about. Someday, i’ll be at a real American table, in the US…..feasting on food!!! I hope you had a great one.
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