Around this house, we certainly leaned into the "make what you want" approach to this year's holiday. Though somewhat discussed, what were your grand designs and how did they turn out?
6 thoughts on “November 27, 2020: Results”
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(Don't tell Mrs. Runner, but her stuffing needed a lot of help this year. Thankfully the rest of the meal provided a lot of help)
STEVE is a relatively newly identified phenomenon: now space weather has identified something else new.
I replaced the knock sensor in the Subaru yesterday but was still getting a fault code. So I did some additional research and found out that on Subarus the knock sensor has to be oriented a certain way, in this case 45 degrees from the engine centerline. When I installed it I turned the sensor around to make it easier to plug into the electrical connection, so this one's on me. The good news is there's still a fair chance the new knock sensor will fix the problem - once properly installed.
Dinner turned out well for the most part. I left the turkey in a bit too long, and the cheese grits weren't quite up to the usual, since I couldn't find the recipe I usually use. But, overall it was all good, until I got a raging headache and ended up in bed before 8 pm. No me gusta.
Our trip across state lines to get Blue Bell ice cream on Wednesday was more of an adventure than we intended. The hike in Mojave National Preserve was great, but each time we stopped the van was a little bit closer to not starting. We had an extra battery in the back, but I was really hoping to not have to change a battery in the dark at a gas station in the middle of nowhere. But, it did just barely start at the last stop, and we made it home with the old battery. It still needs to be changed out, but I'd much prefer doing that in our own driveway.
Our delays meant we didn't make it home until just after 10 pm, which is the current COVID curfew here. We were technically on our way home from the grocery store, though, which is exempted. Not sure if that counts when the grocery store is that far away....
Dinner turned out great, if lonely without family.
I brined a whole breast (6+ lbs) in buttermilk, salt, smoked paprika and a little sugar for two days. Drained and air-dried in the fridge for about 5 hours, then I spread herb butter under the skin (rosemary and fresh thyme) and scattered rosemary over the skin. Smoked for about two hours (indirect heat) with hickory and pecan. Drip pan had carrot, celery, onion, apple, rosemary, thyme, tarragon (which I forgot to put in the butter), peppercorns and cloves. I poured over about a liter of boiling water right before putting it in the grill.
Extracted neck and wing bones from the breast roast to make extra stock. After the bird roasted, I extracted all of the veg from the drip pan to cook down with about 1.5 cups of red wine. All of that went into the blender. Made a roux, blended in the smoked stock, extra stock and the blended veg to make gravy. It was a little too orange from the carrots, but really tasty.
The Mrs made dressing ("stuffing" for you Philistines) with hot Italian sausage. I roasted sweet potatoes on the grill with the bird (not as smokey as I had hoped because it didn't penetrated the skin very well). Steamed green beans. Cranberry sauce. Homemade bread. Moscow Mules. Finished with a Russian River Consecration and a slice of cherry pie.
So we hit all the gluttony notes of the holiday, just ratcheted back slightly. Missed having the kids together and missed spending time with family. But we video chatted (Google Duo and Snapchat, respectively) with my parents and our kids. That was good.
we asked the boy what he wanted for thanksgiving, and he said yaki niku, so we said sure whatever. went to the japanese market and got some thin sliced pork belly, and made a bulgogi style marinade with some beef kiriotoshi and just a basic marinade with some chicken thighs. shittake, shishito, and onion also on the grill(/griddle). made glazed carrots with thyme* and dill, sauteed kale* with peppers, and a big honking roasted sweet potato on the side. pretty basic for the holiday, but i'm not a big thanksgiving food fan anyway.
*from the garden.