Thanksgiving in Columbus, 2007
So Thanksgiving is coming, once again. Though it will be very very sad not to have Jordan and Frankie this year (stupid grown up jobs and their policies), I had to trudge through the sadness and write the menu anyway. You may notice it's slightly less insane than in previous years. Maybe. I'm not sure, I'm a bad judge of these things.
APPETIZERS
Curried yam samosas
Spicy, coconut milk simmered yams wrapped in pastry and baked.
World’s Fanciest T-BLT’s
Miniature sandwiches sliced from tiny loaves of freshly baked. They’ll feature baby greens, fresh tomatoes, tofubacon, and a truffled garlic aioli. What’s Thanksgiving about these? Nothing, I’m just in love with the aioli and I want it on the menu.
Dutch Potato Soup
A rich, rich soup of potatoes, onions, garlic, and cream blended with smoked Gouda, dark ale, and caraway seeds. Try not to spoil your appetite, okay?
Hail Caesar
It’s salad! Don’t you love salad? Just for the record, I’m not married to this idea. If I manage to crack Dragonfly’s vinaigrette secret before Thanksgiving, this will certainly change.
MAIN COURSE
Smoked Seitan Tofurkey Loaf
Slow-simmered soy and seitan make a chewy, meatish loaf that will be our clever stand-in for the dead bird. (Unless Dave cooks a dead bird, in which case, at least it never had to touch my pans.) This lovely loaf will be hickory smoked for added magics.
Mashed Potato Swirl
Mashed potatoes touched with sour cream and fresh garlic get a whipped swirl of yams. Won’t that be pretty?
Shallot miso gravy
A returning superstar. Shallots and miso combine their flavors to somehow taste like the richest gravy ever made. Best consumed in broad, steaming-hot wells of mashed potatoes.
White Trash Wonderland stuffing
Let’s not embarrass ourselves by discussing how this is made. Let’s just eat it and enjoy its trashy bounty of goodness.
Crack and Cheese
The hallmark of Nema’s imagined “feast of returning”. Shell pasta baked in a gruyere béchamel with a hint of chipotle pepper, black truffle, and a buttered breadcrumb crust. I don’t use the word “crack” lightly.
Toasted Sesame Green Beans
Green bean casserole is gross, but it does seem like green beans should be on the menu, right? I’m going to lightly steam green beans, toast them quickly under the broiler, then toss them in a light sesame glaze and sesame seeds. We’ll see if that doesn’t beat canned cream of mushroom soup and pre-fried onions.
I think we need one more dish, but as I’m waiting for the latest and greatest Isa Chandra Moskowitz cookbook to come in the mail, I’m leaving a spot open. So this may be a leek cassoulet. It may be a spinach, mushroom, and red pepper strudel with goat cheese. It might be corn fritters. Think of it as a delightful surprise!
DESSERT
Cupcake Sampling
I’ve been on a cupcake rampage, mostly thanks to the book Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World. The mainstay of our dessert this year will be a sampling of cupcakes, probably including:
- Tiramisu: a light vanilla cupcake marinated in espresso and coffee liqueur, then filled and topped with cream cheese frosting. Molto bene!
- Pistachio Rosewater: Delicate cake studded with pistachios and lightly scented with rosewater. Topped with rosewater buttercream frosting.
- Apple Cider Cupcakes: Exactly what they sound like. Glazed with cider icing, then topped with a little buttercream.
- Root Beer Float Cupcakes: A brown sugar cake flavored with root beer schnapps, glazed with root beer icing then topped with a swirl of vanilla buttercream “float”.
Ice Creams
The ice cream maker is coming out to play! Here are the requested flavors (minus Marc-Anthony’s suggestion, which will never, ever touch the inside of my house, let alone the inside of my ice cream maker. This isn’t Kitchen Stadium.)
- Chocolate Covered Espresso Bean: For Nick and Nema. A rich chocolate custard flecked with crushed chocolate covered espresso beans (in dark, milk, and white chocolate) and toasted cocoa nibs.
- Lemon Ginger Frozen Yogurt with Cranberry Swirl: For David and Becky. So cranberry sauce and our Thanksgiving have parted ways, thanks to an almost unanimous vote. Alas for the poor cranberry. I’m giving it another shot at glory as a part of dessert.
The People’s Choice for Pumpkin
You guys voted, and you voted for pumpkin cheesecake. You’d better freaking eat it this year!
P.S. There will also be The Becky Stuff! Yay!!
APPETIZERS
Curried yam samosas
Spicy, coconut milk simmered yams wrapped in pastry and baked.
World’s Fanciest T-BLT’s
Miniature sandwiches sliced from tiny loaves of freshly baked. They’ll feature baby greens, fresh tomatoes, tofubacon, and a truffled garlic aioli. What’s Thanksgiving about these? Nothing, I’m just in love with the aioli and I want it on the menu.
Dutch Potato Soup
A rich, rich soup of potatoes, onions, garlic, and cream blended with smoked Gouda, dark ale, and caraway seeds. Try not to spoil your appetite, okay?
Hail Caesar
It’s salad! Don’t you love salad? Just for the record, I’m not married to this idea. If I manage to crack Dragonfly’s vinaigrette secret before Thanksgiving, this will certainly change.
MAIN COURSE
Smoked Seitan Tofurkey Loaf
Slow-simmered soy and seitan make a chewy, meatish loaf that will be our clever stand-in for the dead bird. (Unless Dave cooks a dead bird, in which case, at least it never had to touch my pans.) This lovely loaf will be hickory smoked for added magics.
Mashed Potato Swirl
Mashed potatoes touched with sour cream and fresh garlic get a whipped swirl of yams. Won’t that be pretty?
Shallot miso gravy
A returning superstar. Shallots and miso combine their flavors to somehow taste like the richest gravy ever made. Best consumed in broad, steaming-hot wells of mashed potatoes.
White Trash Wonderland stuffing
Let’s not embarrass ourselves by discussing how this is made. Let’s just eat it and enjoy its trashy bounty of goodness.
Crack and Cheese
The hallmark of Nema’s imagined “feast of returning”. Shell pasta baked in a gruyere béchamel with a hint of chipotle pepper, black truffle, and a buttered breadcrumb crust. I don’t use the word “crack” lightly.
Toasted Sesame Green Beans
Green bean casserole is gross, but it does seem like green beans should be on the menu, right? I’m going to lightly steam green beans, toast them quickly under the broiler, then toss them in a light sesame glaze and sesame seeds. We’ll see if that doesn’t beat canned cream of mushroom soup and pre-fried onions.
I think we need one more dish, but as I’m waiting for the latest and greatest Isa Chandra Moskowitz cookbook to come in the mail, I’m leaving a spot open. So this may be a leek cassoulet. It may be a spinach, mushroom, and red pepper strudel with goat cheese. It might be corn fritters. Think of it as a delightful surprise!
DESSERT
Cupcake Sampling
I’ve been on a cupcake rampage, mostly thanks to the book Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World. The mainstay of our dessert this year will be a sampling of cupcakes, probably including:
- Tiramisu: a light vanilla cupcake marinated in espresso and coffee liqueur, then filled and topped with cream cheese frosting. Molto bene!
- Pistachio Rosewater: Delicate cake studded with pistachios and lightly scented with rosewater. Topped with rosewater buttercream frosting.
- Apple Cider Cupcakes: Exactly what they sound like. Glazed with cider icing, then topped with a little buttercream.
- Root Beer Float Cupcakes: A brown sugar cake flavored with root beer schnapps, glazed with root beer icing then topped with a swirl of vanilla buttercream “float”.
Ice Creams
The ice cream maker is coming out to play! Here are the requested flavors (minus Marc-Anthony’s suggestion, which will never, ever touch the inside of my house, let alone the inside of my ice cream maker. This isn’t Kitchen Stadium.)
- Chocolate Covered Espresso Bean: For Nick and Nema. A rich chocolate custard flecked with crushed chocolate covered espresso beans (in dark, milk, and white chocolate) and toasted cocoa nibs.
- Lemon Ginger Frozen Yogurt with Cranberry Swirl: For David and Becky. So cranberry sauce and our Thanksgiving have parted ways, thanks to an almost unanimous vote. Alas for the poor cranberry. I’m giving it another shot at glory as a part of dessert.
The People’s Choice for Pumpkin
You guys voted, and you voted for pumpkin cheesecake. You’d better freaking eat it this year!
P.S. There will also be The Becky Stuff! Yay!!