A Way to Come Together And Make Things Better

Thanksgiving morning. Pecan pie with orange scented whipped cream atop. Really hot coffee. We don't take this day lightly. It truly is about giving thanks. It really does help to remember why your life doesn't suck.

I'm writing this a month later so its a bit of a blur but I remember a lot of football, at a very loud volume...maybe also watching some coverage of the Macy's Day parade. As usual we had snacks. To commemorate P's St Louis roots (even though he's from Illinois), I made fried ravioli with marinara dipping sauce. This was a fun choice and nice starter.

Next I put out some deep fried pickled jalapeno slices with ranch dressing dip. Also very sort of midwestern. Cornball appetizers.

Then to class it up a bit I did an Arugula Salad with Pomegranate seeds and Walnuts in a lemon garlic vinaigrette. Moving.

This year I decided to try something new with the turkey. I took it down south for a Smothered Turkey in Cajun gravy. I had previously cut up the bird like a chicken for frying. I seasoned and massaged the skin with spices, butter, fresh herbs and pan seared it before putting in the oven to bake.

The gravy I started making a stock with the giblets, celery, onion, garlic. I made a roux, used the stock and a little wine, thyme and Cajun seasoning with a little cream at the end.

After the meat was tender, I poured on all the hot savory gravy to smother and heated until all flavors combined.



While the turkey was making that smell that fills the house, I prepared the sides. A nice creamed leek casserole. //www.womansday.com/recipefinder/creamed-leeks-parmesan-crumbs-recipe-122758

I baked my potatoes early and scooped out the insides ready to make some seriously outrageous stuffing, including lotso bacon, sour cream, cheddar cheese, green onions, butter and milk with more cheese on top.


I basted my turkey with the gravy until it was falling off the bone and the smell was almost unbearably good.

The leeks casserole was done and bubbly.

Now to make the Utimate Mexican cornbread. This is made with canned creamed corn, buttermilk, fresh penos, canned green chiles, cheddar cheese, but no sugar. No words.

Anytime you go against the traditional you wonder if you will miss the green bean casserole or the stuffing. This time I have to say, nothing was missed. The potatoes were so decadent. They reminded me of a stocking stuffed with gifts. And the leeks were dreamy and angelic. But the turkey was so juicy and succulent. And with that cornbread to absorb all that extra flavorful gravy it just hit that spot. I'd do that again for sure. And it would be a cool thing to do only with legs or wings for single people not wanting a whole bird.

I'm a 1000 Miles from Nowhere

Superbowl Sunday is here. The NY Giants were playing in Indiana, my home state. Eli Manning is fun to watch and is familiar like the kid down the street that had good parents and you went to smoke out with in his paneled basement. Looks like Hoosier snack time!

I opted to keep a running theme of my Fort Wayne food memories however foggy and completely wrong they might be.

The first dish was a roasted red bell pepper hummus for my Greek nachos. These were so invigorating with the cool tomatoes, feta, Kalamata olives and cucumber atop a generous painting of hummus on crisp toasted pita wedges. Uh... but those were Hungarians, not Greeks in Fort Wayne that I had admired, apparently not that closely. My sister M also made a really great goulash as I recall now.

Fried Pickles seem like a midwestern thing but I'd done those for the last holiday so I made fried pickled jalapeno slices instead and guess what? Even better Yo!! So good and the heat mellows, so you just get that little hit. Dipped in Buttermilk Ranch dip. Do the whole jar. You won't regret it.

I made a refreshing lime-aid with simple syrup and lots of fresh limes on ice.

A baked apple crisp for dessert with vanilla ice cream to honor Johnny Appleseed who I always thought was from there but turns out was just buried in the Fort. We had apple trees all over growing up though, so this wasn't like the Greek thing.

But the main attraction was to be the recreation of the Pete's Pride Pork Fritter! The frozen pork tenderloin patty that my dad used to fry up and put between white buns (fun fact - Sunbeam Bread is a Fort Wayne factory) with mustard, mayo, lettuce, tomato, and onion. These stood equal to beef burgers in our house. And they were cause for celebration. I didn't even realize it but as I read now, this flattened, battered, marinated, fried, pork patty sandwich was a true local food tradition in Indiana.

And that sandwich was such a pleasant surprise. The taste brought me right there to that good memory. My dad was like many fathers of his time, terminally grouchy and your presence never made that any better. But there were these certain times when my dad was very happy and one of them was in his anticipation of this amazing pork sandwich while he was making it. Back from Avy's grocery store, excitement in the kitchen, lots of clanking around. I could sneak a peak at his red face and white teeth as he cracked jokes while he cooked, probably about how skinny my legs were or something of that humiliating nature.

It almost didn't matter though. I was going to eat too!
All in all a good homage to Hoosier cuisine and my sad sack upbringing.