Tanya“Daaarlin’, what’s for dinner today?”
“We are going to eat colonial today – pumpkin and butternut squash soup, turkey, wild rice, cranberry sauce and sweet-potatoes roast.”
The Thanksgiving dinner is a remarkable celebration of American rustic food. It’s an exciting way to reconnect with nature and cook and eat what’s growing around us – the indigenous North American food – pumpkins and squashes, cranberry and apples, corn varieties and yams, beans, wild rice and mushrooms.
There are a few side dishes to accompany Turkey the Queen. I will share how I cook sweet potatoes roast and wild rice. These are my favorite side dishes.
I deliberately skip sharing how to cook Thanksgiving Turkey because every home chef has his or her own method of preparing this wonderful meal. That would be a nice topic for discussion during the family dinner.
Last time we cooked pumpkin and butternut squash soup, which proved to be a success with its exotic and friendly spices. It was also chicken broth based with no cream, which made it less heavy. Just remember to add a tiny piece of Irish butter into the soup bowl and sprinkle a few roasted pumpkin seeds before serving.
It tastes decadent with a glass of Riesling.
Today, we will start with roasted sweet potatoes for which we need 5 unpeeled sweet potatoes, thoroughly washed and cut crosswise into 1 inch wedges, 1 ½ cups of orange juice – fresh, from 5 oranges, ⅓ cup of brown sugar, ⅓ cup of red wine, 1 ½ cup of olive oil, 3 heads of unpeeled garlic, 2-3 sprigs of thyme and sage, 1 red chili open, ¼ cup of Angostura bitters (optional).
Preheat oven to 430 degrees. Orange juice, red wine, brown sugar are brought to a boil over high heat and then simmered over lower heat for 10-15 min or until the mixture is reduced to approximately to 1 1/2 cup. Add olive oil, a sprinkle of salt, and bitters (optional).
Arrange the potato wedges in a baking bowl or deep tray, add herbs, garlic heads, chili. Pour orange and wine mixture on to the potatoes wedges, toss well and roast in the oven for a about an hour turning the potatoes over every 15 min. Sprinkle some more olive oil and orange juice if needed. Serve in the same bowl while it’s hot, or at least warm. It should taste sweet and sour, and spicy!
Remember to eat baked garlic. Scoop or squeeze the inside onto your bread or potatoes, or just into your mouth. You will be surprised how sweet and delicious it tastes. It’s a sublime experience and should be part of the Thanksgiving rustic dinner.
Now let’s cook wild rice.
What is wild rice? Despite its name, wild rice is not always wild and it is not actually rice. Rather, it is the seed of a wild aquatic grass indigenous to North America. It grows wild in the lakes and streams of Minnesota, Wisconsin and areas close to Canada.
I was first introduced to wild rice at a family Thanksgiving dinner, by my in-laws from Minnesota, who showed me how to cook it. Since that time wild rice has been traditional part of my Thanksgiving menu.
In a medium saucepan, bring 1 cup of wild rice, 5 cups of water, ¼ cup of olive oil and 1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt to a boil. Cover and reduce the heat to maintain a steady simmer for 45 min. Continue cooking until the rice is tender and the kernels pop open.
Drain excess liquid and serve with 1 cup of slightly roasted pecans. It has a nutty, earthly taste and goes so well with sweet potatoes.
So, let’s eat, drink and talk about what’s on everybody’s mind – FOOD. Plenty of earthly, colorful and delicious food, and let’s argue about whose turkey or apple pie are more delicious. Is there a better way to celebrate?
Cheers! And Happy Thanksgiving!
P.S. All the food featured in this post has been prepared and photographed by me.
