Not a Teardrop Thanksgiving

[Catherine+twins]

Actually, this week I have been hearing the term "Friendsgiving" to describe the meal with friends instead of the usual extended family. My BFF has been avoiding Thanksgiving with her highly disfunctional family for more than 25 years by volunteering for extra shifts (yes, she has always done shift work, but it is pretty well-paid shift work now, all these years later), so I knew she would be working on Thanksgiving day. I invited her over tonight instead.

Even with the teen twins, we really only needed a modest meal for 4, as BFF and I have both had bariatric surgery in the past and have, as the kids say, "tiny tummies." I decided to take advantage of that, and cooked a duck instead of the modern tradition of turkey. We also had broccoli casserole (the kids were disappointed that we didn't have Brussels sprouts, but they also like broccoli--no, really, I'm not joking!), crispy potato fans (fancy baked potatoes), sweet potato turkeys (thinly sliced SP, cut out with a turkey cookie cutter and roasted), green chile pumpkin bisque served in the roasted pumpkin shell (it was a blue pumpkin with lovely dark orange meat), and finally mini pumpkin pies with pumpkin pie spice whipped cream.

BFF is the queen of camp cooking, and except for the pies, she has cooked everything on my menu over fire and coals in a camp somewhere (while wearing a Spanish Renaissance costume, usually). She introduced me (and the twins) to duck, but this is the first I have ever cooked it by myself. I had to do a good job! Fortunately, with a recipe from Alton Brown's Good Eats, it was a success! I steamed the duck first to render off some of the fat, then finished in a hot oven to crisp the skin. Oh, yuummm! Better than crispy turkey skin any day! DS filled up on potatoes (and pie!), but DD and BFF and I picked over the carcass until there was nothing left!

My two fails? Well, I went into it knowing the kids are not big fans of soup, unless it's chile. I tried to get by that by making green chile pumpkin bisque instead of the more common curried pumpkin bisque. Nope, they assured me it tasted great, and DD had been really looking forward to trying the soup served in the pumpkin itself, but they didn't finish it. That's okay, I'll have soup for lunch tomorrow and Friday at work. And I forgot to make dressing. No one noticed that except me, as I could make a whole meal of dressing.

The kids and I have never really done a Thanksgiving in our own house. Sad to say, as they are already 13! But with first my grandparents in town (until the kids were 4), and then my mom and step-dad and my uncle (mom's younger brother) and aunt also here (and for the last few years my cousin and her husband since they have the biggest dining room!), we have always bundled into the car and headed off to someone else's table on the big day. Anyway, this was really fun!

But I ate too much and drank just enough.

Happy Friendsgiving!

Catherine

[Catherine+twins]

Green Chile Pumpkin Bisque

1 4-5 lb pumpkin (I think this was a Jarrahdale)
2 tbsp butter
1 medium onion, roughly chopped
4 New Mexico green chiles, roasted, peeled, roughly chopped (or 1-2 4-oz cans green chile)
2 cloves garlic, smashed and roughly chopped
1 tbsp taco seasoning
¼ C white wine
3 C pumpkin pulp fresh from the pumpkin (or 1 can pumpkin puree)
2 C chicken or vegetable broth
½ C half-and-half
Salt and pepper to taste

Cut the top off the pumpkin at an angle so it won't fall in when the pumpkin is cooked and soft. Scrape out the seeds and stringy guts with an ice cream scoop or other maneuverable scoop or spoon. Put the lid, flesh side down, and pumpkin, cut side down, on a cookie sheet and bake at 325 F for 45 min or until the flesh can be scooped out of the shell easily. (Oh, let it cool down so you can handle it.) Leave some of the flesh around the lid hole to hold the lid, but scrape most of the flesh off the lid itself. Do not puncture the pumpkin shell! You should have about 3 cups of pulp. Set the shell and lid aside.

Put butter in the soup pan and melt. When it is starting to sizzle, add the onion and saute about 4 minutes, until soft and beginning to brown. Add the green chiles, garlic, and taco seasoning and stir to drive off the moisture of the chiles. Deglaze the pan with the white wine and stir until almost dry again. Add the pumpkin and stir until it coats the other veggies and warms through. Add the broth, stir to incorporate, and use an immersion blender to puree until smooth. Heat until boiling, remove from heat, and stir in the half-and-half. Add salt and pepper to taste. This took more salt than I expected. Like potatoes, the pumpkin just seems to soak it up! Pour the soup back into the pumpkin shell and serve immediately.

Catherine