24 November 2011

What are you thankful for?

So I decided to make a Thanksgiving dinner on the same day America celebrates Thanksgiving.
Coincidence?
Not at all.
100% planned.

I am very thankful for the fact that I spent a year in the USA and learnt about thanksgiving and met awesome people. I like Thanksgiving…it makes me realize how many things there are to be thankful for…like Thanksgiving Day. Who isn’t thankful for Thanksgiving?

Right…so I did the proper food blogger thing and took photos whilst making dinner rather than just the final result. So sit back, relax and…well, focus…

First of all…the stuffing…very simple, yet sneakily delicious.
First of all, melt a bunch of butter in a pan (the recipe said 55g, I used about 35g and it was sufficient).
Butter is good for you right? I’m pretty sure I read something about fat being healthy.
Yea.

Then I threw in one chopped up onion and sautéed that for a few minutes.
Then two cups breadcrumbs, two tablespoons chopped fresh parsley and ½ tsp dried thyme were mixed in.
A beaten egg was lovingly mixed through, and then a certain amount of milk was added to create a moist concoction of wet oniony bread. And of course, season with salt and pepper.
I then stuffed my chicken (cause he was being mean to me) and tied the legs together (there will likely be too much to fit into the cavity, so the remainder can be kept to the side and then placed in the oven with the chicken for the last 15 minutes or so of cooking).
I rubbed butter all over (for good health) and into the oven at 180˚C (375˚F) it went.
Straight on to preparing the veggies…pumpkin, kumara (that is sweet potato, for my non-kiwi reader/s…whoever you may be), potato and carrot.
Cut them up into even sized chunks, place them in a large bowl, pour in a decent amount of olive oil and then spoon over another hefty drizzle (or three) of honey.
(action shot…very fancy)
Then throw this into another roasting pan, sprinkle with a few sprigs of thyme and season with salt and pepper.
Cover with foil and place in the oven with the chicken and keep ‘em roasting.
The chicken will take about 1 hour 15 minutes. Could be more. Could be less. You’ll figure it out. I believe in you.

After 30 minutes with the veggies, take the foil off and let them cook away into the sweet softness they used to dream of being when they were children. 
I have only now just realised how intriguingly off putting the placement of the extra stuffing is…
When the chicken is cooked take it out of the oven (because keeping it in there would be ridiculous) and let it rest (under foil) for about 15 minutes.
Finally, carve/slice/saw your way through the bird and serve it on a plate with a pile of the golden vegetables and, just for the sake of colour, throw in some sort of greenery.
And there you have it.
Happy Thanksgiving everyone.

Oh, and keep your ears peeled and your eyes to the ground for the next ‘real food blogger’ installment…Fillet of beef on tomato fondue with basil and artichoke dressing. I’m not gonna lie…I’ve already done it, and it was a little bit yum. 

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