Thanksgiving

I never really appreciated Thanksgiving until I moved to the US. We celebrate it in Canada on a different day, but it does not have the same resonance as it does here, at least not in Québec. Sure, we congregate over turkey with our families and the meal is far more special than others, but rarely do we actually fly cross-country or drive long distances to do so. We save that pilgrimage for Christmas, good Catholics that we are.

Luigi and I are very fortunate to have family living in Seattle. My uncle and aunt, Claude and Pandora, have been here for almost fifteen years and their presence was one of the key reasons we chose to move to this city. Spending Thanksgiving at Claude and Pandora's has become our new normal, a tradition, and Pandora's love for the Holiday - she is American - has transferred to me. There is something refreshing in gathering around a bountiful meal for no other reason than that of expressing love and gratitude towards our cherished ones. No strings attached.  No guilt over purchasing the perfect presents. No Thanksgiving music buzzing in your ears since the day before Halloween. No [blatant] religious motivation. Just Love. Gratitude. Food.

Let's be clear. I love Christmas. I love selecting and trimming the perfect tree. I love baking cookies.  I love Christmas music. I love my Santa collection. I love that almost every tree ornament I own has a story. I love Christmas movies. I love leaving cookies for Santa and carrots for the reindeer. I love watching the expression on my daughter's face when she walks into the living room on Christmas morning.  I love mimosas at 10 am, panettone, eggs florentine, left-over gravlax and candy cane breath. I love matching Christmas pjs.

But, Christmas is a season and Thanksgiving is one day. Christmas feels more contrived, somehow. In the United States, Thanksgiving is one day on which virtually everybody reunites at the same time, for the same reasons and around the same kind of meal, which can be downright simple or sometimes very elevated, or just right in the middle. People all converge over one message. Thank you. I love you. I am grateful to have you in my life. There is no artifice. Just one, true, simple message. How beautiful.

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My father and I would look forward to my mother's Thanksgiving turkey because of one thing: my mother's Thanksgiving leftover turkey and wild rice timbale, which is based on an old Craig Claiborne recipe from the New York Times. "Timbale" is fancy for "casserole" and this is hands-down the most dated and kitchy dish in my culinary arsenal. That said, I make it once a year and it isn't Thanksgiving without it. So here it is.

Timbale de Dinde et de Riz Sauvage - Turkey and Wild Rice Casserole

(Adapted from a Craig Claiborne recipe in the New York Times, circa 1980)

8 servings

Ingredients

1 ½ cups raw wild rice

3 cups boneless turkey cut into cubes

5 tablespoons butter

5 tablespoons flour

3 ½ cup. rich turkey broth or boxed chicken broth
Leftover turkey gravy

1 pound mixed mushrooms (I use crimini, chanterelles and one or two ounces rehydrated porcini)

Juice of half a lemon

2 tablespoons finely chopped shallots
2 teaspoons fresh thyme, minced
1 ½ cup heavy cream 

1 cup dried cranberries (you can use up to 1 cup and a half, but I find that's too much)
1/8 teaspoon grated nutmeg

Kosher salt
Freshly ground black pepper
Micro greens or Fresh herbs
Cranberry sauce with Crystallized Ginger (see below)
 

Directions

1. Rinse and drain the wild rice. Bring rice, 4 and 1/2 cups of water and 1 teaspoon of salt to boil. Lower heat, cover and simmer for 45 minutes to one hour or until the rice grains are puffed open. If they are not open after an hour, just remove the pan from the heat and let the rice stand. Drain well.

2. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees and prepare your sauce: Melt 4 tablespoons of butter in a saucepan and add the flour, stirring with a whisk. When blended, add the broth, a couple of tablespoons of your turkey gravy as well as the juices of the reconstituted porcini (if using), stirring rapidly with the whisk. Let simmer for 15 minutes, stirring regularly. The sauce should reach the consistency of a creamy soup and coat the spoon.

3. Prepare your mushrooms: In a heavy sauce pan or or sauté pan, melt 1 tablespoon butter. Add mushrooms and lemon juice and cook, stirring often until the mushrooms begin to sweat. Add shallots and thyme and continue to sauté until most of the liquid has evaporated. Add mushrooms to the sauce. Add cream and nutmeg. Add salt and pepper, to taste. Continue cooking for about 10 min at low heat, stirring regularly and never letting the mixture reach a full boil.
 

4. Combine sauce, rice, turkey and fruit and put into a casserole or pyrex dish.  Cover loosely with foil and bake for 45 minutes, uncovering for the last 5 minutes. 


11/29/2014 update:

I've added the recipe for my favourite cranberry sauce, which I think elevates the dish a tad bit. It also occurred to me last night that just plopping adown a big spoonful of timbale doesn't make for a very sexy presentation. I pulled out my nifty food rings and, instead, arranged it carefully in a perfect circle on the plate. I then topped it off with some micro greens (Trader Joes) and some chervil and chives. I served the cranberry sauce on the side.

Although this would add even more to the dish's calorie count, I think the timbale would do marvelously well served on top of a square piece of puff pastry (a vol-au-vent would be ideal).

I usually serve a winter salad as appetizer.
 

Gobble gobble!
 

 

Cranberry Sauce with Crystallized Ginger
(Adapted from Bon Appetit, December 1990)

Note: I only had one bag of cranberries and halved all the other ingredients. It made enough for 8 people. The recipe is excellent without the crystallized ginger. The ground ginger adds a nice zing on its own.

Ingredients

2 12-ounce bags cranberries

1 1/2 cups sugar

1 cup orange juice

1 cup water

1 tablespoon grated orange peel

1 teaspoon ground ginger

1/2 cup (about 2 ounces) minced crystallized ginger (optional)

 

Directions

 

Combine first 6 ingredients in heavy medium saucepan. Bring to boil, stirring until sugar dissolves. Boil until cranberries pop, stirring occasionally, about 5 minutes. Cool. Mix in crystallized ginger (optional). (Can be prepared 3 days ahead. Cover and refrigerate.)