I mentioned in my last post that I was hosting Thanksgiving this year. We had 14 at the table, and it all went well. I was happy to see that the relatives all have an acceptance of the gluten thing. I invited others to bring some gluten free dishes, but I did not require it. I had the most wonderful positive responses where people asked questions about how to do this. They may have brought other dishes with obvious gluten (pies, green bean casserole....), but they were open to understanding about cross contamination issues. When I thought about the things I am grateful for at Thanksgiving, that one was high on this year's list.
Appetizers were the easy part. I usually stick to cheese, crackers and nuts, since I love them all. The Blue Diamond Almond Nut-Thins prompted comments of, "These are good!" and "Where do I get these?" A cousin brought along pear halves stuffed with cheese and fruit. Mmmm!
For the turkey, I mixed olive oil with McCormick Montreal Chicken Seasoning, pulled up the skin, and spread the mixture around under that. We cooked the bird breast-side-down for the first two hours (tented with foil), which is supposed to make the meat more tender. After two hours, we flipped it over. I think that may have messed up the pop-up timer on it, but we always check with an instant-read thermometer nonetheless. It was indeed tender! We had a 12-lb turkey as I really didn't want to wrestle with a huge 24-lb one.
We also baked a turkey breast that I seasoned with a mixture of mustard, rosemary and garlic, topped it with a loose cover of foil, and baked that. Again....very good.
Gravy? I found a good recipe online at http://glutenfreegirl.blogspot.com/2006/11/it-is-absurdly-easy-to-make-gluten.html. No one seemed to notice that it was gluten free.
Stuffing? Last year no one really wanted to try the gluten free stuffing that I had made. In the interest of keeping a gluten-free cooking area, I assigned "traditional" stuffing to my brother. People enjoyed his so much that they immediately labeled him the new "stuffing man" and told him it's his job from now on! I sent the leftovers home with him.
For John, I made a gluten free stuffing using two boxes of Van's waffles. We put the waffles in the oven for a few minutes the night before. I should have cut them into cubes at this point, but I was lazy and just turned off the oven and went to bed. In the morning we had dried-out waffles. I cubed them, cooked up onion and celery in 4 Tbs. butter, added 1 tsp sage, 2 Tbs parsley, and 2 tsp herbs de province; poured on 1 1/2 cups of gluten free chicken stock, and popped it into a crock pot for a few hours. This worked out well!
We had mashed potatoes.....plus some roasted sweet potatoes done in the same manner as my roasted new potatoes (11/21/10) and iron skillet potatoes (8/5/10), with olive oil and that WOW seasoning that I like. I didn't really pay a lot of attention to the time, I just roasted them over an hour in the same 325-degree oven with the turkeys, stirring them about halfway. The photo above is John and Peter helping out with the preparation for that dish. They are a BIG help! (Thanks, guys!!)
Other vegetables and sides were supplied by my cousins and aunt. Most (not all) were gluten free, but once things are on the table the risk of cross contamination is high. John took his food first, before others even sat down at the table. To ensure that he had "safe" leftovers, I had him set aside a good amount of food to immediately put in the fridge for himself. We labeled any leftovers that he could eat as "GF". Cranberry sauce is gluten free....and Whole Foods has GF cheddar biscuits in their freezer case that are fabulous. I think everyone enjoyed those!
Dessert is the tricky part. I made a GF pumpkin pie, which I gladly served to anyone who wanted it, but I was determined to keep it GF for John's leftovers. I served slices of this pumpkin pie, then put it aside while we served other pies. If I went back to the pumpkin, it was with a clean knife and onto clean dishes!
Most people want "a little piece of everything," LOL!
I also put out Dove chocolates, which everyone likes.
Here is my chestnut recipe, which are nice with coffee. People can sit around the table, smacking chestnuts to open them as they continue to chat. I did cook them in my cast iron skillet, which got them a little extra-roasted on the side that contacted the skillet. This reminded me of chestnuts that you can get in New York City from vendors!
Roasted Chestnuts
Soak your chestnuts in a bowl of cold water for 30-60 minutes; drain.
(I find that the soaking makes peeling very easy!)
Make sure your oven is on. I put it at 350.
Cut a slit in the shell of the rounded side of the chestnut.
Make sure the cut goes all the way through the shell.
Arrange chestnuts in a single layer in your pan.
Bake 40 min.
Let cool at least 5 minutes. Peel.
