Thanksgiving Day Feast

Thanksgiving just happened to coincide with my birthday this year. How happy was I to be able to cook on my birthday??? While most people might label themselves exempt from chores on their birthday, nothing pleases me more than to cook for my loved ones. I especially love dreaming up crazy, extravagant menus where most of the dishes never even have a glimmer of hope of coming to fruition. Oh, If only I had all the time in the world… and a sous chef or two wouldn't hurt either. :)

I was going for a traditional/non-traditional Thanksgiving meal, meaning familiar fall flavors reinvented. I found this Wolfgang Puck recipe for blinis with mashed taro. Interesting right? Mashed sweet potatoes, a Thanksgiving favorite, could easily stand in for the taro. Perfect. My first appetizer was a sweet potato blini with goat feta mousse and onion sprouts.

My second appetizer needed to be a bit heartier, so I went with broiled shrimp marinated with olive oil, thyme and paprika.

Sides included dijon mustard roasted Brussels sprouts (these were my favorite), buttermilk mashed potatoes (also a favorite) and mushroom gravy (vegetarians present).

Since I decided to forgo the Turkey, I roasted a whole Red Thai Snapper with tarragon, parsley and red onions and also made duck confit!

Sorry… No pictures of the duck confit, but I served it with this salad of mixed greens, feta and dried cranberries (another ode to Thanksgiving). I meant to also add orange supremes, but in the chaos that is my kitchen, it slipped my mind. Oops. That's where a sous chef would have come in handy.

Hope you all had a lovely and filling Thanksgiving!

5 Comments

  • dearbarbz

    04 Dec 2008 05:12 am

    Gasps. Should’ve went over to your place ; ) That red snapper looks so good!

    Happy belated birthday :o)

    Reply
  • laughing in the rain

    04 Dec 2008 08:12 am

    mmmmm, that all looks so good!!!

    Reply
  • Alisha

    04 Dec 2008 08:12 am

    [this is good] I absolutely LOVE brussel sprouts.  I probably would’ve eaten that entire bowl.

    Reply
  • Pierre

    04 Dec 2008 09:12 am

    That was good, very good !

    Thanks a lot and see you soon.
    Pierre
    Reply
  • Yeehaw Murghi

    04 Dec 2008 05:12 pm

    [this is good] Aaaah, Brussels sprouts — the most unfairly hated vegetable in the universe. I really enjoy seeing that stuff on display. Brussels sprouts are great. I do understand why kids don’t like it — it’s a little too intense on the flavor side. But they actually taste like cabbage, just a little more intense. Brussels sprouts are cabbage with a black belt.

    Oh, sorry, the rest of the meal looks fantastic. Beautiful.

    Reply

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