Thanksgiving 2009: A Recap

I hope all you Americans had a great Thanksgiving, and that everyone else in the world had a great Thursday! My roommate, Annmarie, and I hosted an open house Thanksgiving. We were basically the safe house for all of our friends who wanted a break from their families. We had friends popping in and out all day and evening, which was great fun. Someone made a comment about how much food we had made, and Annmarie pointed out that we would be making all this food for ourselves anyway! It's true; how could we say no to turkey, gravy, stuffing, mashed potatoes, and all the rest? We even made 3 delicious pies. Oh yes, and all gluten free, of course.

November 26, 2009
Thanksgiving!

Cooking began on Tuesday. There were cranberries to sort through:

Cornbread to bake (for the stuffing):

Shallots to fry for the green bean casserole:

And the mushroom sauce to make (no photo, sorry). The shallots were dusted with white rice flour, and the roux for the sauce was made with sweet white rice flour. Worked really well.

Then I made a gingersnap cookie crust for the chocolate pumpkin pie:

That night I hid the cornbread and the cookie crust in the microwave, to keep them safe from Violet.

(By the way, last night I found her head inside the box of crackers looking to help herself.)

Wednesday came, and Annmarie needed the kitchen to prepare and bake the pumpkin pie and the chocolate pumpkin pie. Whole Foods makes a decent frozen GF pie crust, which she used for the regular pumpkin pie:

This is a Martha Stewart recipe from last year, and it turns out a nicely spiced pumpkin pie. Annmarie had some problems with the filling spilling when she pushed the rack back into the oven, but it didn't affect the tastiness of the end product.

However, this pie is totally overshadowed by the chocolate pumpkin pie:

Hello, gorgeous.

This is technically supposed to have a milk chocolate drizzle on the top as decoration, and also lending itself to the official name, Triple Chocolate Pumpkin Pie. We have always been happy with a simple Double Chocolate Pie, and we call it the Chocolate Pumpkin Pie for short. There is a layer of bittersweet chocolate between the crust and the filling to keep the crust crispy.

This pie is definitely the blue ribbon winner of our Thanksgiving menu. People who were too tired came over just for this pie. People who thought they were too full suddenly found room for this pie. And when I woke up Friday morning, I knew that my breakfast was going to be a slice of this pie.

I also made RLB's Deep Dish Blueberry-Cranberry Internet Pie. This is a good freaking pie. The berries are so juicy and bright and tart. There is a little bit of lemon to wake the senses up a bit more, and the deep jewel tones of the fruit are a feast for the eyes. Holy antioxidant pie, Batman. I think I am in love.

The GF crust was made by rolling together two store bought 9 in premade pie crusts. These premade crusts (not the same one Annmarie used for her pumpkin pie) were surly and difficult but finally we worked out some sort of compromise. I would roll it out, it would fall apart when I picked it up, and I would press it back together in the pan. I reminded myself there was no gluten to toughen things up and render like cardboard, so I didn't worry about overworking.

This pie requires a 9 in deep dish pie plate, as does the chocolate pumpkin pie. So the chocolate pumpkin pie got the pie plate and this pie got the cast iron skillet. I actually really like the look of this pie in the skillet:

It looks very down-home and unassuming.

The top crust, even after rolling out and refrigerating, was even more rude and unhelpful. I ended up just sliding it off the cookie sheet it was resting on right on top of the berry filling, without crimping the edges or turning anything under. It will be more like a pandowdy, I told myself. Rustic.

And tasty. The crust is still tender and yummy. We have taken to scooping out portions of this pie with a serving spoon. This was today's breakfast, and it was good.

That night a couple of friends stopped by with their leftover GF pies. We had FIVE PIES to sample. It was truly, truly decadent.

The photo is blurry and dark, but you get the idea. From left to right the pies are: cherry, key lime, blueberry-cranberry, pumpkin, and chocolate pumpkin. You can see the green bean casserole right behind the pies, as well as some of our leftovers inlcuding our large boat of (awesome GF) gravy and our crockpot of hot buttered rum.

All in all, a very delicious, happily gluten-free, and fun Thanksgiving. I hope yours was just as wonderful if not more so!