It’s Thanksgiving this week: turkeys over the water, beware! I understand how important it is in the US; cries for 'where can you get pumpkin anything in UK?' have been heard in my locality; but it must be like a prequel to Christmas with the lavish feasts and the family get-togethers. I guess everybody in America runs out of steam after that and so, wisely, celebrate Christmas rather modestly, compared to us.
And so here’s for my American friends, and anyone who still struggles to find a perfect recipe for cooking that bird on the Thursday: my brined turkey, and it’s well worth the effort. And I know what I’d like to serve with that turkey instead of cranberry sauce: fig confit. Not too late to make it as figs are in season and the confit takes about 10 minutes to prepare.
To follow, a twist on the pumpkin pie with added cranberries: I must admit I’m not a huge fan of pumpkin pie, but then I detest English Christmas pudding so it’s one all and nobody’s feelings hurt, hopefully.
During the rest of the week, or the whole week for those who do not Give Thanks, there might be an opportunity to cook some pork katsu – such a good twist on schnitzel, with Worcestershire sauce and tomato paste in the pork chop coating. On the side, fondant carrots will do well, or any fondant vegetables: just cook them till soft in a butter and stock emulsion.
If you’d rather have seafood, get a kilo of mussels, they are fabulously cheap at the moment. Curried mussels with some crusty bread or – okay – oven fries will take under 20 minutes to clean and cook.
The creamy chicken with leeks recipe has recently been deemed comfort food, so how about cooking that one night? And for a meatless feast, make this vegetarian chili – hot as you can take and easy as anything. Happy Thanksgiving everyone!