French Thanksgiving!!!

[funkygreendog]

So I'm having a big ol' Thanksgiving party on the 24th for my French family (I live in Toulouse for the time being and this is my first Thanksgiving away). My french family wants to totally do up an American holiday. What should I most definately make, what for the vegetarians, and what side items and what should the big whammy-o dessert be? (aside

Comments

[alienor77310]

Hello neighbor. I can't help you much for the side-dishes, I just have horror memories of the orange-jello-and-grated-carrots-salad my host mom made for T-day. That, and I hate sweet potatoes, which didn't help. Just some advice for your cheesecake:
- You won't find canned pumpkin. Buy a biggish pumpkin wedge (1.5 kilo) at the marché. Remove seeds, cut into smaller wedges, peel, then cube. Put the cubes in a saucepan with a centimeter's worth of water, cover and simmer over low heat until the pumpkin turns mushy. Uncover, turn up heat a little and let the liquid evaporate, stirring frequently so it doesn't scorch. When liquid stops seeping out of the mush, you have pie-ready pumpkin purée. You can put it through the blender for a smoother product, and freeze leftovers for later pies or soups.
- You won't find cream cheese as you know it. The closest substitutes are (generally salted) spreads such as Saint Moret or Carré Frais Gervais. There is "Carré Frais Gervais sans sel", which you should be able to find at a large hypermarché.

[anita_margarita]

Can you find turkey in French markets in November? I remember reading about an American family in France, not too many years ago, being unable to locate a turkey until December. You may have to order it ahead of time (like now

[alienor77310]

Availability questions:
- Turkey: it can be as simple as ordering one whole turkey from wherever you buy your meat. "Une dinde entière". You won't get the giblets, though. If you want them for the stuffing, you need to buy "gésiers", etc.
- I've found cranberries in the deep-freeze section. The problem will be to use up a 1-kilo bag ;-)
- Sweet potatoes can be found at the "exotic" section of the produce alley in most hypermarchés.
- Corn is available everywhere.
- Peanut butter can be found in the "exotic" alley of most larger stores, Toulouse being pretty international.

[funkygreendog]

hey,
Actually, we are going to do turkey cutletts because it's easier to cook and easier to find.
I found sweet potatoes at an open market in Toulouse recently

do you live in Toulouse, or a neighboring town alienor? hehe this is cool.

[alienor77310]

I live about 45 km from Toulouse, in the Gers département.

You can also find turkey legs and whole turkey breasts pretty easily.

[the_sybil]

Before I moved to the States myself, an American friend cooked us a Thanksgiving meal in the UK. The things we found particularly unusual were the whole salty/sweet thing, especially having cornbread with butter and honey with a main course, and also having mashed potato (rather than roast or something like dauphinoise) with a roast dinner. I imagine these elements would also be found unusual in France, so you might want to include them.

If you are unable to find cornmeal in the shops, you might be able to substitute polenta? And I hope you can source cranberries, they are so very much a part of Thanksgiving. I imagine you'll be able to find good, cheap chestnuts though - I think they go great with Thanksgiving food.

Being veggie myself (and, btw, where did you manage to find vegetarians in France? Things must have changed since I was last there) I usually cook a nut roast, which I find goes pretty well with the rest of the Thanksgiving trimmings. If you want me to tell you how I make it, let me know.

I hope you have a lot of fun!

[ladyjaneinlace]

Nut roast? I'm intrigued. I'd love to see the recipe, since I am always trying to find vegetarian meals these days.

Will you share, please? Thanks!!

[the_sybil]

not so much a recipe, I play this one by ear

[greencow]

i have my grandma's celery stuffing recipe if you're interested. also, i suggest polenta. my ex MIL used to make polenta for every holiday meal. it's creamy and really yummy. not very american, but it's pretty easy to make. also, mashed taters. or for a variety, garlic smashed taters. at mom's, we'd started a new tradition of having sweet potato pie. which kind of knocks out both sweet potatoes and pie, but we'd eat it as a dessert with lots of whipped cream.

[anita_margarita]

I'd like your grandma's celery stuffing recipe, please!

[greencow]

here it is

[anita_margarita]

That sounds very much like what I make. And yes, it needs to be kept moist! I do dry out bread in a low oven a few days before T-Day...it seems to make it better, somehow.

[breathbox]

a stuffed squash filled with the stuffing you use w/ the bird (just make it with vegetable broth instead of turkey) is a nice centerpiece for a vegetarian thanksgiving.

brussels sprouts with hazelnuts and tarragon/dijon would be a nice mingling of a traditional side dish and french cooking.

in fact, i think ive just found one of my side dishes.

if you can offer some sort of vegetarian gravy, maybe a wine and shallot based affair, that will be fun for them.

have fun!