Expat's Thanksgiving: Mains

Fortunately for us, London is very accommodating to Americans and our gluttonous holiday. Sainsbury had a plethora of various sized birds and I managed to find the largest one in the frozen section. At 9 kilos (approximately 20 lbs) it was sure to feed my par-tay of 16.

I went with @jamie_oliver and modified his Best Roast Turkey for X-mas recipe. I was slightly concerned with timing, so I created the stuffing without minced pork and breadcrumbs and instead of cooking the stuffing on the stove, I stuffed it raw in between the skin and breast of my big bird Henrietta (yeah we named her). When cooking whole poultry, I always get a bit nervous that I'm going to give myself a serious bout of salmonella poisoning. So, I found Home Cooking on About.com and Help with Cooking really useful
for tips.

Henrietta Before

And after, nicely browned and very juicy.

We had one vegetarian in our mix and I wanted to make something really special. So I went with Ottolenghi's Surprise Tatin which includes a puff pastry base, hard goat cheese, caramelized onions, roasted tomatoes, and sugar glazed potatoes. Always a winner.

Expat's Thanksgiving: The Appetizer

Hello! Sorry I've been away (perhaps you didn't notice and that's OK), but it's been a busy week. Yesterday, the hub and I celebrated Thanksgiving with a few friends at ours. And even though we celebrated it on a different day and most of our party was non-American, it really felt like Thanksgiving in the States. We decided to celebrate it the Saturday before so that way people can truly enjoy the evening and still have Sunday to recover from their Turkey food baby.

Catering for 16 was no easy task, but luckily I had dear Americans friends (and also expats) who helped me make it a huge success. Since the countdown to real Thanksgiving has already begun at home, I thought I'd share with you the dishes we made here in London.  

Starting with the Apps. We wanted to keep it simple and light so we decided on Rapid Roastini by Nigella

Courtesy of atannaskitchentable.blogspot.com

  and Roasted Tomato Pesto by the Barefoot Contessa.

The fried gnocchi bites were a hit and the perfect finger food starter. The roasted tomatoes were delicious, but a bit difficult handle. Perhaps if I cored them (as Ina told me too) it would have been better. I do think; however, that a buttery cracker underneath would make this dish even better.

Our guests gobbled up the appetizers in no time, but still had plenty of room for the feast that shortly followed and I will share with you tomorrow!