Thanksgiving for one is served!

After hours of hard work, I think I achieved my goal of getting a fantastic Thanksgiving meal for the first time in three years.


Here's the finished product!

Cream of mushroom soup

Turkey (under) roasted veggies and jus

Cornbread stuffing with Polish sausage

Garlic Mashed Potatoes

Ham steak

Bacon mac and cheese

Chocolate and Banana cream pie

Not too shabby, aye? I'm definitely going to have leftovers for a while which will save me some cooking time.

Now it's time to stuff my face with some food!

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

Maybe I should live blog for Christmas dinner as well...

Live blogging Thanksgiving for one

Happy Thanksgiving!

As I mentioned yesterday, it'll be an interesting last college Thanksgiving for me. Gone is the Chinese delivery and Chef Boyardee. Now I get to abuse my apartment's kitchen and cook a proper thanksgiving meal. I've started the prep work of my extensive menu last night.


I seasoned the turkey breasts (salt, pepper, garlic powder, Italian herbs, fresh rosemary), and put them in a zip-lock bag to brine overnight (combine water, salt, pepper, garlic powder, paprika, brown sugar, red chili flakes, chili powder, Italian herbs, fresh rosemary. Simmer for about 10 minutes then add ice cubes to cool).


As of 9:30 am:

Turkey in brine

That should be about ready to go in a few hours

I also started on the banana cream pie last night. I make the chocolate (Oreo) crust and the banana custard. I let it cool in the fridge overnight and I put it together today.

11:00

Pre-toppings

That looks pretty good as is, but it can get better.

11:05

With Oreos and Caramel sauce

Looks better... but it's not banana cream pie without the whipped cream...

11:10

Donezo!

Looks pretty good, and I'm sure it'll taste fantastic.

I'm going to prep the sides soon. 

Still need to be prepped:

Bacon Macaroni and Cheese

Cream of Mushroom soup

Mashed Potatoes

Ham steak
Stuffing
Bread rolls

Mixed veggies

12:04: Minor tragedy! I topped the pie with whipped cream way too early. Rookie mistake! The cream has started to set and drip off the sides. I'll have to add more when I eat it, but nobody ever said more whipped cream is a bad thing.

More updates as they happen!

Happy Thanksgiving!


1:39: Just finished making the macaroni and cheese. Will put it under the broiler later on with some bread crumbs and bacon. Boiling a pot of water for potatoes and will start on the soup soon. The oven will be ABUSED today!

Mac and Cheese pre-broiler

2:45 Starting to smell like heaven in here! Mashed potatoes are done, the turkey's in the oven, the stuffing is setting, soup is simmering, ham is on deck!

Thanksgiving for one

When I did a Google image search of "Lonely Thanksgiving," this is what came up first:

Stawiarz/Getty

Let's go with that.

Anyway, by no means is my Thanksgiving "lonely." I've had numerous invitations from lovely and generous people. I even accepted one, but backed out in the last minute because I've had a Thanksgiving tradition of my own (on my own) since going to college out of state.

There's no way I'm spending $400 for a plane ride to Albuquerque, NM only to spend a couple of days there (I will do it to watch a Jason Mraz concert in California, though.) As a college senior, I've spent the past three Thanksgivings all by my lonesome.

A huge part of the holiday is the great food that is served. Here's a recap of my kitchen-less last three Thanksgivings:

2007 - Cold Chinese food. I had to order in a ton of Chinese food since the delivery place wasn't open for the holiday. I say cold because my dorm's solitary microwave was nothing more than a box with a light bulb. I tried heating the food in a plastic bowl over my lamp, but that only ended up in a melted bowl, burnt food, and a close call with the smoke detector.

2008 - Warm Chinese food! Upgrade! My sophomore year's dorm actually had a working microwave! A warm plate of Sesame Chicken had Thanksgiving written all over it.

2009 - Chef Boyardee Spaghetti with Meatballs. Junior year was just depressing. Books seemed to be extra expensive that year, so I didn't have enough money to order my usual stock of Chinese food. I hit up a target and loaded up on 50 cent cans of Campbell's Chunky soup and Chef Boyardee's meals in a can. It wasn't a delicious by any means, but I count my blessings and was thankful to have some warm food in the first place (working microwave!)

2010 will be Thanksgiving done right. I'm armed not only with a working microwave, but also a full kitchen and some money to buy groceries. It'll be a fitting end to my college Thanksgivings and I can enjoy a nice meal in solitude and have some time to myself.

On the menu: 

Starter: Mushroom soup 

Main: Herb crusted turkey, garlic mashed potatoes, bacon macaroni and cheese, roasted vegetables, rolls

Dessert: Chocolate-banana cream pie

Drink: Magners Irish Cider

It looks to be a promising menu, and I'll post pictures and recipes once they are made.

I am incredibly thankful and grateful to all the people and friends who invited me over for Thanksgiving. It's incredible generosity that you offered to include me in your family's celebrations. I just thought that I've formed some tradition of my own now, and this will be the last year I'll be doing it, but again, I'm forever grateful for all your kindness and generosity. That's some Thanksgiving spirit you all manifested right there, and that's what these holidays are all about.


P5UD7YSKAE7W

Apple Crumble attempt 1.

As Top Chef copouts usually say, "I'm not a pastry chef." So I'll use that excuse as well.


I've wanted to make my own apple pie for some time now, so I decided to give it a shot. After consulting with over 10 people and 20 websites, I decided I would take elements from each, and just make my own.

Apple Crumble attempt 1

Measurements have been tossed aside for this.

All I know was I made a Graham Cracker pie crust, stewed the apples in cinnamon and some herbs, added a crumble on top, and baked it for about 45 minutes.

Not too bad of a first attempt, I must say. I have to fine tune a bit on the execution, but the flavors are dynamite.

Veggie Omelette

Here's a simple omelette that is both filling and healthy.

Veggie omelette with Feta cheese

Ingredients:

2 cups fresh spinach
1/2 large tomato or 1 small one
1/4 onion
2 cloves garlic
2 tbs butter
2-3 large eggs
Milk
Your favorite cheese

Prep your veggies. Dice the onions, garlic and tomatoes.

Bring your non-stick skillet to medium-high heat and melt the butter. Throw in your garlic and onions and cook until onions are translucent.

Throw in the spinach and tomatoes and cook until spinach is wilted.

While that is going on, beat the eggs in a bowl. Add a dash of milk for a fluffier result, but it's not necessary.

Once the veggies are done, put them on a plate and set aside.

Now, melt the other tbs of butter. Pour in the eggs and have it sit there until bottom is firm. Push the outside parts of the egg to the middle and have the uncooked liquid flow over to the empty part of the pan. Make sure you push in all sides evenly so that you don't overcook your eggs. Keep doing this until the egg isn't runny anymore, but make sure you don't overcook it either. Don't flip the egg! This is an omelette!

Add your favorite cheese directly onto the egg. Now, get your veggies and add it right onto the middle of the egg. At this point, turn off the burner. The pan should be hot enough to cook everything.

Omelette plating technique:

Fold the right side of the egg over the filling in the middle. Now grab a plate with your left hand. With your right hand, slowly slide the opened up part of the egg onto the plate. Once you have it, quickly flip the pan over your plate, and you should end up with a perfectly wrapped omelette! Sprinkle over some more of your favorite cheese.

Eat it with some toast, add your favorite ketchup, salsa, or hot sauce. 

Simple Stir-fry

Here's a quick and easy dish you can cook up on the fly, but still get some hearty results.

Chicken stir-fry with rice and egg

Ingredients:

Boneless chicken breasts (1 large one would do, but for less prep work, go for the pre-cut thin sliced ones)
Soy Sauce (I prefer Kikoman Japanese style for a lighter taste)
4 cloves garlic
1 qtr red onion (white is fine too)
2 carrots (or about a half-cup baby carrots)
1 cup broccoli
2 cups fresh spinach
1 lemon
1 tbs. butter(salter or unsalted is fine)
Pepper
Garlic powder

Optional:

Sesame seeds
Sesame oil
Chili flakes

Prep work:

Put some soy sauce into a bowl along with 1/2 juice of the lemon, about a tsp. of garlic powder and a tbs. of sesame seeds. Mix it up and set aside.

Cut up the chicken into bite-sized pieces and throw it into the soy mixture for a little bit. Make sure each piece is coated nicely. Set aside.

Wash your hands.

Time to chop up the veggies. Start with the carrots. Then broccoli, then put them in a bowl, and sprinkle a little bit of salt and the rest of your lemon onto them.

Now, preheat a skillet to medium heat. Add about a tsp. of sesame oil to heat up on the skillet for a nice nutty flavor.

Continue chopping. Garlic and onions this time in to a nice fine dice.

Throw in the butter and melt it. You can use Sesame Oil instead or mix in some sesame oil for a more authentic Asian flavor.

Once the butter is melted, throw in your onions and garlic. Let it cook until the onions become a bit translucent.

Now, time to throw in the chicken. Pour chicken, marinade and all, into the skillet, and stir it a bit until... probably give it a couple of minutes.

Pour about 1/2 cup of water and bring to a simmer.

Once simmering, throw in the broccoli and carrots. Add a little bit of salt and some pepper and some chili flakes if you want. Cover it up and let it sit there for about 5 minutes.

After that, throw in the spinach, cover it up, and let it sit there until the spinach leaves are wilted. Probably another 3-5 minutes.

Once the spinach is wilted, mix it up again, and put it on a plate! Have some rice or noodles with it. For this one, I used rice, and I fried up an egg to go along with it.

Crab cakes?

Crab cake with a side of spinach

The beauty of being a college senior is that I'm able to live in the sweet new dorms armed with a full kitchen. I love cooking, so I've been trying to make some food. I'll be posting them here for your enjoyment...


Crab cake with spinach

Ingredients (yields 2):

2 oz crab either canned or fresh. In this case, I used canned because fresh was too expensive.
1/2 tsp. mustard
1 1/2 tbs. mayonnaise
4 saltine crackers
1 slice toasted whole wheat bread
1/4 of a red onion
Juice of 1/4 lemon
Paprika
Salt
Pepper
Italian seasoning
Garlic powder
Chili flakes
1 egg
Bread crumbs

Make sure you drain all the liquid from the crabs. Then just mix all the ingredients in a bowl. Seasoning to taste.

Shape into patties and coat with bread crumbs.

Melt a tbs. of butter and a tbs. of olive oil in a non-stick pan. Fry patties. About 4-6 minutes per side on medium high heat.

After you take out the patties, wilt some spinach, season with salt and pepper.

For tartar sauce, just mix some mayo, a little mustard, onions, garlic powder, paprika, juice of 1/4 lemon, and some pickled dill.

Plate, and serve with some toasted bread! I chose to flatten 2 pieces of whole wheat bread on the same pan as the fried stuff so it can crisp up and get some butter. Sprinkle some garlic powder on it.