Thanksgiving menu

Time to think about Thanksgiving menu.Why now? Because I don't want to do work...
I absolutely love making Thanksgiving dinner, and I absolutely love my mother in law for allowing me to do that every year. In our family the menu has to be pretty simple, since we do have some picky eaters. Here is what I am thinking currently will be a good traditional meal for us.

Appetizers: 
Honey roasted cashews
Crackers with candied jalapenos and brie
Artichoke & spinach dip
Salami plate + marinated beans + marinated peppers + olives
Tart with baked tomatoes and goat cheese

williams-sonoma.com

Main Dishes: 
Honey glazed turkey breast
Roast Beef

Sides:

Mashed Potatoes
Stuffing with bacon, celery, apples 
Watercress salad with pears and candied walnuts
Roasted asparagus 

williams-sonoma.com

Sweet potatoes baked  with brown sugar, walnuts and Gorgonzola cheese.
Home made potato rolls
Something with Cauliflower 
Cranberry sauce
Corn bread

Desserts: 
Berry Galette
Shots of Brownies with raspberries
Peanut butter ice-cream

Drinks
Apple cider

Cashews
Walnuts

Salad mix
Spinach
Pears
Apples
Lemons
Oranges
Cranberries
Celery
Asparagus
Sweet potatoes
Cauliflower
Olives

Potatoes
Onions 
Mixed Berry
Cream cheese
Parmigiano
Gorgonzola cheese
Brie
Goat cheese
Salami 

Turkey breast
Beef
Bacon
Beef Stock
Chicken Stock

Blast for the past
TG 1 
TG 2 
TG 3 
TG 4 
TG 5 

Parsley Pesto

My new favorite. Parsley pesto. Great for pasta dishes, great for mashed potatoes, great addition to any salad dressing, amazing sandwich flavor booster. Simple to make, as always.

1 big bunch of Italian parsley (I only use Italian, the other one looks pretty, but doesn't have any flavor)
2-3 garlic cloves
1/2 cup olive oil
salt

Put everything in a food processor bowl, process. Done.

Here is what I used it for so far...
Pasta - add a tbsp to cooked pasta, sprinkle with hot pepper flakes and add some Parmesan (Parmigiano if you'd like) cheese.
Mashed potatoes - a tbsp on top of mashed potatoes, adds a lot of flavor
Chicken - marinade over night or for couple of hours, grill.
Salad - add a tbsp to dressing  (
Sandwich - spread a tbsp on one side of bread, great with salami sandwiches

I keep this on the counter, no need to refrigerate. So far, 2 weeks and it still looks like new :) I guess olive oil preserves parsley pretty well.

Enjoy.

Fried Egg with Fried Red Tomatoes

This is one of my favorite foods. Simple, yet satisfying. Reminds me of summer days in Ukraine. Well, you won’t have bacon with it, but something very similar and much greasier – salo (cured pork belly). Even without bacon for me, that’s what breakfast should be like .






Start with cutting tomatoes and onion. Fry them lightly in some oil. Add some salt and black pepper. Add cracked egg and cook it on very low heat until its perfect. Well, you know when it’s perfect, right?

   

At home, we’ll eat it from the pan sometimes… All that stuff at the bottom of the pan is so good when you use a piece of bread to pick it up with.

Zesty Pickles

These may look like those bread&butter pickles, but they are not. These are so so so much better. They are crisp, fresh, sweet, and tangy. The recipe was found in one of those thousands of journals I have at home. Which one is a mystery. I have no clue, but I'm somewhat leaning towards either Gourmet or Food and Wine.

 

6 cups of sliced cucumbers
2 cups sliced onions
1 cup vinegar
1/2 cups of sugar
1tbsp salt
1 tsp mustard seeds
1 tsp coriander seeds
1/2 tsp turmeric
1/2 (or more) tsp hot chilli flakes
4 garlic cloves

 Just in case, 6 cups of sliced cucumbers is about 3 pounds. As one can see from the picture, I'm not too strict when it comes to the measurements.

Here is what to do:
Slice all the cucumbers (I use mandaline, but if you know how to use the knife, it'll do)
Slice all the onion(s).
Chop or slice garlic cloves. Mix it all in a large pot. Combine all the remaining ingredients in a small pot, and bring it to boil. Pour over cucumber-onion-garlic mixture.

 
It may look like there is not enough brine. Do not worry, once cucumbers release their juices, it'll be more than enough. These pictures were taken 20 minutes apart... you can see how much more liquid one on the right has.

 That's it! Let the cucumbers sit on the counter for couple of hours then move the mixture into clean glass gars and refrigerate. They are ready to eat in about 3 days. You can keep these in the fridge for up to ... The longest I've gone to was a month, after that I don't know... I never had a chance to try.