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 I think I'm ready to start thinking about food again - now that we've put a sizable dent in the Thanksgiving leftovers that is! This was an interesting Thanksgiving because after years of pressure from the fancy new Thanksgiving menus in every cooking magazine's November issue I finally took the plunge and tried all new recipes for Thanksgiving. It was also interesting because Husband convinced me to run a 10K Turkey Trot Thanksgiving morning. The trot was fun and a tradition from our years in Houston but a full day of cooking after my first 10K in a couple of years made for a pretty tired foodie.... Still, it is a great Thanksgiving tradition.
Thankfully, we'd prepped a bunch of things on Wednesday so we only had about a few hours of cooking on Thanksgiving day itself. Earlier in the week, we reviewed our menu choices and made a few modifications to our original menu such as removing the onion side dish (we had plenty without it) and choosing a slightly more straightforward/traditional cranberry dish. As happens with most new things, some of the dishes we tried where hits and some were duds.... Porcini Mushroom Turkey with Mushroom Gravy: This turkey has a mushroom butter that is spread between the turkey meat and skin. We've used butters on poultry before and had great results but in this case the butter didn't seem to change the flavor of the turkey much. I wouldn't make the turkey again. The mushroom gravy that went with this turkey was a bit labor intensive with lots of mushrooms and more preparing than I'm used to for a gravy. But the result was amazing. I'd definitely have the gravy again.  Three-Mushroom Dressing with Prosciutto: I'm a big fan of stuffing and really love when it is cooked inside the turkey. As a result, I was a bit skeptical of this dressing but I was pleasantly surprised. It really tasted like a stuffing and it wasn't a whole lot of work. I'd make this again.
 Whole Wheat Dinner Rolls: I really want to like whole grain breads and Bon Appetit made these sound delicious. But I was really really disappointed in the result. I knew these rolls wouldn't be as good as the all butter rolls I normally make but these really didn't have any good flavor. I only ate one and while Husband made an attempt at eating a second he gave up. I froze the rest and we'll use them for stuffing when we make our traditional turkey next month...
Smashed Rutabagas with Ginger-Roasted Pears: We served this in place of mashed potatoes. I'd never had rutabagas before so this was a big gamble. The result tasted ok but was not stellar. Between the ginger-roasted pears and the cream in this preparation, however, I'm still not sure I know what rutabagas taste like though. I probably wouldn't make this again.  Cranberry, Pear and Ginger Chutney: This was a pretty easy dish to prepare although it did have a large assortment of ingredients. The result was good but a bit strong on the cloves. I'd make this again but with less cloves.
 Apple and Quince Crisp with Rum Raisins: This was, by far, the best part of the meal. I absolutely loved this crisp. The raisins, which were flambéed, were not only fun to make but delicious even on their own. I'd never had quince before but it really complemented the apple. Initially, we intended to serve this with whipped cream but we were too tired after a full day of cooking (and trotting) so we skipped the whipped cream. In the end that was a good choice since this dessert is so great on its own that the whipped cream was not necessary.
Overall, the meal was fine but this menu required more work than the one we normally make and for most of the dishes the extra effort did not yield better results. Would I try an all new menu again? We'll have to see just how energetic I am next year...
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