Thanksgiving Extravaganza

We waffled around on cooking a Thanksgiving meal. We didn't travel, and we eat so well the rest of the time that Adam, at one point, even said "maybe we should just go out for dinner." But we didn't, and instead we conquered our first Thanksgiving together in Brooklyn by devouring two tiny Cornish hens and about 3 pounds of other food on the side (each).



Adam picked up two Cornish hens, about 1.5 pounds each. We washed them and then rubbed them with lemon, minced garlic, sage and, of course, salt and fresh-ground pepper. We'd never really made a stuffing before, but we riffed on the basics we already knew. Three pieces of multi-grain bread we already had in the fridge went into the oven for about 15 minutes to dry out. In the meantime, half a shallot, some sage, marjoram, and thyme went into a bowl, along with about a cup of diced fennel and salt and pepper. We browned some sweet sausage we already had in the fridge and added it to the fennel, etc. Once the bread was dry, we diced it and tossed it in with everything else. Hands got gooey, and the stuffing got delicious.





We stuffed as much as we could into the hens. They're little, but their cavities are actually pretty capacious. They cooked pretty quickly—about an hour and fifteen minutes at 350 degrees (after 15 minutes at 450 degrees to get the skin crispy and seal in the juices). We used toothpicks to keep the skin closed.






I roasted some Brussels sprouts with bacon and garlic. Seriously, I can't believe there are people who are still boiling their Brussels sprouts. Olive oil, and a little salt and pepper will do it every time, and you can add flavor on top of that with sausage or mushrooms, or even herbs. They come out crispy, flavorful and still nutritious. The bacon was a little decadent, but so was everything else. That's why it's called Thanksgiving. I didn't do it this time, but I sometimes splash a little bit of balsamic vinegar on the roasted sprouts. It helps bring out the tangy roasting flavors.



The final product was pretty amazing. I made a quick white wine gravy with the drippings from the hens. Add about a tablespoon of flour to the drippings over heat, stir until the flour is dissolved. Splash in around 1/2 a cup of whatever white wine you have around and just stir until the gravy thickens up and comes to a boil. Boiling will cook off the taste of the flour and evaporate a little of the alcohol, leaving just the flavor of the wine. We'd also made some insanely creamy mashed potatoes with garlic and butter and sour cream. They appear on this plate looking the least attractive, but they were kind of a must in terms of texture and flavor. (Not pictured, an essential condiment to this meal: home-made cranberry sauce.)



Happy Thanksgiving!