Thanksgiving Purist

Because of my gluttonous tendencies, I actually can't say no to the Chinese side of the buffet. However, when it comes to my favorite holiday of the year, I really prefer to delve into the butter laden, creamy, richness of all the beloved side dishes that are indispensable alongside pieces of turkey drowned in gravy.  This is the only time of the year that I eat this type of food and I want to eat as much of it as I can while it lasts.

I know that there are all sorts of fancy recipes for stuffing and mashed potatoes and exotically spiced turkey brines.  At the end of the day, I like my mashed potatoes simple.  Potatoes boiled and mashed to a perfect consistency with butter, hot milk, and salt.  Hold the garlic, the cheese, the bacon, the spices, the herbs.  As predictable as it is, I think I also prefer the boring, traditional savory, sage, onions, and celery stuffing over anything fancier.  Candied sweet potatoes need nothing else but brown sugar, maple syrup (or molasses as my aunt uses with resounding success), and butter.  They don't need to be whipped baked twiced, just sliced into wedges or discs and baked to a baked til soft all the way through to a burnished glossyness and cararmelized-edged perfection.  The turkey can be more elaborately prepared or brined in a more interesting fashion...whatever it takes for the breast meat to be juicy and not overdone.  Leave the turducken at home.

This year, I made jap chae noodles (at the request of my mother) and Alton Brown's recipe for green bean casserole from scratch. 

 It was actually super easy to make.  I was surprised that I had some issues with his recipe.  2 medium onions wasn't enough to cover the beans satisfactorily while adding 1/4 of them to the mushroom bechamel sauce.  Tossing the sliced onions in flour and panko crumbs was an ineffective method of coating the onions with breading.  In fact, the flour barely stuck on.  Roasting them at an insanely high 475 degrees for 30 minutes also achieved nothing but shrinking the onions next to nothing and burning the edges 10 minutes into the allotted roasting time.  Next time I'll use my head and revise accordingly.  I ended up salvaging 2/3 of the onions which I sprinkled in a sparse layer on top.  I then sliced 2 more onions, coated them with flour, and deep fried them in small batches.  The casserole was good but a little on the bland side.  Next time I would add more salt to the mushroom sauce.  The sauce needs to be highly seasoned so they can thinly coat the bland green beans.  I might also salt the blanching water more heavily for the beans next time as well.

Adapted from: http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/alton-brown/best-ever-green-bean-casserole-recipe/index.html

Pictures to come.