I used the extra lobster from the soup mix-up and the ingredients I had on hand to adapt this recipe from Jean-Georges Vongerichten’s in Food & Wine. The original recipe calls for thai chiles and shredded basil, but I left those out since I didn’t have them. It also calls for pea shoots, but suggests watercress as a substitute, which I did have. The end result didn’t taste as Thai as was intended, but it was a nice quick lunch salad.
I started baking the desserts almost a week before Thanksgiving, and I’d recommend the order I worked in. I made the ice cream on Saturday, the pecan pie on Sunday and Monday, the pumpkin pudding on Tuesday and Wednesday, the cake on Wednesday, and the pecan pralines on the big day.
I like the idea of pecan pie, which I don’t see much in New England, but I usually find it too sweet. This recipe from Susan Spungen, via Food & Wine, cuts the sugary pecan mixture with a fudgy dark chocolate filling.
This pumpkin pudding is my own recipe. Bread puddings are incredibly easy; just pour a custard over stale bread cubes and bake in a water bath. For how to set up a water bath and my feelings on crusts, see my previous bread pudding post.
According to Food & Wine and this recipe, again from the Rushings, red velvet cake is traditionally covered with cream cheese frosting and studded with pecans. I’ve never had it, but this version is really good. I had my dad dig up the ice cream maker he and my mother got for their wedding and have used once before. I suppose this sort of thing depends on your model, but ours kept jamming whenever it encountered a large chunk of ice, so make sure the ice is finely crushed. The ice cream came out pretty dense, more like Häagan Dazs than Turkey Hill. There was some dispute about whether the pecan pralines, which were pecans in hard caramel. Drew said that pralines should be chewy, but I don’t have much of a recipe. They are, in any case, yummy.
Making your own whipped cream takes about five minutes longer than getting the can out of the fridge, but it tastes so much better.
The following was the full menu for our Thanksgiving.
Smoked Salmon Spread on Endive and Crackers
Pumpkin Soup with and without Creole Lobster
Salad with Homemade Vinaigrette
Roast Turkey with Gravy and Cranberry Sauce
Plain Stuffing, Chestnut Stuffing, and Vegetarian Stuffing
Mashed Potatoes
Mashed Rutabaga
Mashed Yams with Marshmallows
Roasted Parsnips and Carrots with Horseradish-Herb Butter
Savory Ricotta-Squash Tart
French Green Beans with Almonds
Dark Chocolate Pecan Pie
Pumpkin Bread Pudding with Brulee Topping
Red Velvet Cake with Cream Cheese Ice Cream and Pecan Pralines
Whipped Cream
I was responsible for the hors d’oeurvre, the soup, the ricotta-squash tart, and the desserts.
The salmon spread is super easy. I liked the endive, but some people found them too bitter and preferred crackers.
I sent my dad to the store for lobsters for the pumpkin soup on Thanksgiving morning. I didn’t tell him to get them live because it never occurred to me that lobsters could be steamed at the store. He didn’t ask if I wanted the lobsters cooked or not because it never occurred to him that lobsters could be cooked any way than boiled or steamed. It ended up being kind of a big thing, the result of which was that we went back for live lobsters and saved the cooked lobsters for some other time.
The soup is really involved, but tastes amazing. I’d recommend waiting for a special occasion to make it. Since my brother’s girlfriend is kosher, I made a vegetarian version as well. I’ve included both recipes, adapted from those of Allison Vines-Rushing and Slade Rushing in Food & Wine.
This recipe is also adapted from Food & Wine, although it’s by Susan Spungen. It’s really easy, but a little time consuming. Although it’s made with squash, it doesn’t have a heavy squash flavor. Even my brother, an avowed hater of the squash, enjoyed it. The recipe makes two tarts.
