Published by TheFoodMonkey on 30 Nov 2006
A Very Food Monkey Thanksgiving in Boston
After a good week of digestion, I’m finally ready to write about Thanksgiving.
The day began with an early start, with my friend Ricky meeting me at 9:30am to head over to the annual Brookline High vs. Newton North annual Thanksgiving football game. Brookline and Newton North have been going at it every turkey-day since 1899, making it one of the oldest High School football rivalries in the nation. Alas, Brookline has lost–sorry, has been SLAUGHTERED–8 out of the last 9 years. The last time BHS was actually good was during my years there when we won 5 straight years in a row.
Now you’d think that the teams should be approximately equally matched in the long run. Brookline should in theory have just about the same number of awkward Jewish kids that Newton North has, thus the games shouldn’t be completely one-sided. Yet it has been, and finally last year they had a change in coaching staff.
Now when I say rivalry, let me give you pause, lest you conjure up images of Friday Night Lights or Hoosiers style fervor. Rather think of a ballet of mediocrity that has had constant trickling attendance for over 100 years…like The Mousetrap or Shear Madness. That being said, I’ve always gone and had a good time and it’s fun to see alums (if any show) and watch the kids play.
Well Ricky and I headed out to the game in the 40 degree pissing rain weather hoping for a good turn around from last year, when we left early with BHS down 33 to 0 at the half. We arrived at the Newton North field (each year they switch off) and surveyed the scene. On the home side of the field there were 300 screaming Newton North fans being lead on to higher and higher pitches of excitement by 20 jubilant cheerleaders. We walked through the throng to the Brookline side of the field with hopes of joining our valiant and passionate fans. We crossed the midfield barrier to see our side…which had all the majesty and zealous ardor of an abandoned Mexican theme park. We had about 20 fans sitting on broken concrete bleachers being cheered on by five unhappy looking cheerleaders who showed up 45 min into the game. Our band was some alum in his early 20s who brought a bass drum and gave it a good whack every 15 minutes that resulted in resounding thud, encouraging our team on to greater heights of sadness. The thud certainly resounded with BHS losing 38-7.
My tears mingled with the rain….
The one good spot of the morning was that they had a canteen truck with a really nice sausage, egg, and cheese sandwich on ciabatta bread.
Anyhow, the best possible way to recover from such an inauspicious start to my day is a feast at my folks’ house prepared by my Mom. Before I came over, I asked if there was anything I could bring, an my mom told me that the apple and pear stuffing wasn’t quite up to snuff and needed something. So I decided to go over to the Mexican specialty store next to me and pick up some chorizo to spice it up.
I headed over to my folks’ house to help set things up. We had a smaller than usual Thanksgiving this year with only 8 people. Usually there’s one or two of my wayward friends from the West Coast who can’t make it home and comes along. But I guess air fares were good this year.
This year’s menu:
Hors D’oeuvres
- Cranberry Brie Tart
- Marinated Mushrooms
- Baked Salami with various specialty mustards
- Dill dip in a bread bowl
Main Course
- Turkey
- Sweet corn casserole
- Broccoli cream cheese casserole
- Home made cranberry sauce
- Coleslaw
- Green beans
- Apple, pear, and chorizo stuffing
- Brown sugar sweet potatoes, ala Ruth’s Chris
Dessert
- Pumpkin cream cheese roll
- Apple Pie
Everything was made by my mom, except for the coleslaw, which was brought by my aunt and uncle. We joked about how upon their arrival, the dinner could commence, as the pivotal part of the meal had arrived. So, of course, I had to give my due deference to the slaw.
First came the hors d’oeuvres which included an amazing home made cranberry and brie tart, a giant baked salami, a dill dip in a bread bowl, and my mom’s marinated mushrooms. My dad and I always try to push my mom to do a just hors d’oeuvres meal sometime, because they are so good and if one doesn’t pace oneself there will be no room for the main dish.
The true center of any Thanksgiving feast is the turkey. I have been reading up a lot on brining and really wanted to see if we could brine our Turkey this year. Brining, however, is a time consuming process and though worthwhile, is often a pain to do. Enter the magical world of Trader Joe’s and their absolutely stellar pre-brined fresh turkey.
After being lovingly and skillfully cooked by my mother, and carved into dark meat and white meat platters by me, this was the best turkey that I have ever had. It was moist and highly flavorful all the way through. I really am not much of a white meat person. I usually find it too dry and flavorless. This, however, was really really really good. I urge everyone to rush to your local Trader Joe’s
So everyone loaded up on Turkey and each of the SEVEN side dishes and we feasted away. Makes a pretty plate, no? I should note that a special star of the side dishes was the sweet potatoes (located in the center of the plate above). My mom got the recipe from Ruth’s Chris Steakhouse, and it is damn good. You can read a treatise on it here.
Finally came dessert, and my mom made her apple pie
and this delicious pumpkin cream cheese roll, which was a sweet cream cheese filling inside pumpkin caked covered in nuts. Mmmmm. I’m still working on the leftovers.
Ooof. Writing this makes me hungry again. I think I’d best go finish off the last of the leftovers 
The creative poultry just keeps on coming — LASSI (28 Greenwich Ave., NYC) is offering a take-out Tandoori Turkey for Thanksgiving. Marinated in yogurt and spices, the birds come with two sides and in two sizes – grand feast of dildar (20 lbs / $65) and regular feast of dildar (10lbs / $45). Order at 212-675-2688.
