It’s Thanksgiving Day. The Macy’s Thanksgiving Day parade is playing on television in the background. I’m preparing my apron to begin tackling Thanksgiving dinner prep. I started working on the dinner menu two weeks ago. It underwent a few drafts, but I finally settled on the dishes I’ll be making this year. Thanksgiving dinner will feature some classic dishes balanced with some re-imagined dishes. To prepare for Thanksgiving dinner tonight, I started testing recipes for the last few weekends to make sure the flavors were just right. This morning, I woke up shortly after 6:00 a.m. and started on my preparation for Thanksgiving dinner. The menu for dinner includes nine different dishes and a simple unsweetened tea to round out the meal. I know it’s only Kevin and I for dinner tonight, but I still wanted us to have a traditional Thanksgiving dinner with all of the sides and sweets. Since we both love leftovers, the large portions worked out perfectly.
Thanksgiving 2018 Dinner Menu:
Starters
Bacon and Cheddar Biscuits
Apple, and Walnut Salad with Lemon Dijon Vinaigrette
Main
Whole Roasted Turkey with Rosemary Butter
Sides
Cheesy Hash Brown Potatoes
Green Bean Casserole
Garlic Herb and Cranberry Dressing
Orange Soy Glazed Carrots
Sweets
Orange Cranberry Sauce
Apple Pie with Vanilla Ice Cream
Sip
Cold Brew Black Tea
I started by making some bacon and cheddar biscuits to serve for breakfast in the morning. Once I started cooking, I didn’t stop until all of the dishes were done around 2:00 p.m. My game plan was the make some biscuits for breakfast, roast the turkey (since it takes the longest to cook), prepare the sides two at a time (my oven can only fit two casserole dishes at one time), work on the pie, dress up the salad, prepare the drink, and finish with the gravy. Instead of a standard cocktail, I put Kevin in charge of making the unsweetened black tea. In traditional Chinese meals, hot tea is almost always the drink of choice. I didn’t want hot tea so I asked him to make an unsweetened cold brew black tea. Plus, you can’t go wrong with making tea. While Kevin was preparing the tea and catching up on gaming, I continued on with preparing the side dishes. Most of the side dishes are mix and bake. The dessert, apple pie, took the longest time to make. It was also the dish I was most excited about making. I’ve made apple pie a few times in the past, but today, I wanted to make a lattice top for my apple pie instead of the standard smooth top. I prepped my dough following my pie dough recipe yesterday evening, let it rest on the counter for 30 minutes, and then rolled out the dough to begin crimping and laying the lattice. Instead of dividing my pie dough into two pieces, I doubled the pie dough recipe so my apple pie can have a thicker crust. The apple pie turned out to be the most visually stunning, show stopping dish of the night (aside from my perfectly roasted turkey).
Apple Pie:
· Double batch of pie dough recipe
· 3 medium size Granny Smith apples
· 3 medium size Fuji apples
· 1 lemon, zested and juiced
· ½ tablespoon pumpkin or apple spice
· ¼ cup fine sugar
· ½ cup light brown sugar
· ¼ teaspoon kosher salt
· 1 tablespoon cornstarch
· 1 large egg
· 1 tablespoon water
· 1 tablespoon fine sugar, for sprinkling
Directions:
1) Prepare the pie dough following my recipe the evening before. Wrap the dough in plastic wrap and store in refrigerator.
2) Set aside a large bowl. Slice the apples into thin slices and add to the large bowl. Mix in the zest and juice of the lemon, pumpkin or apple spice, sugars, salt, and cornstarch into the large bowl. Combine until all of the ingredients are blended together. Let the large bowl rest for 30 minutes.
3) Preheat oven to 350°F.
4) Roll out one piece of the pie dough. Loosely wrap the pie dough on a rolling pin and use the rolling pin to transfer the pie dough to the pie dish. Unroll the pie dough. Crimp the edges of the pie dough around the pie pan. Drain the juice from the bowl. Scoop the apple mixture into the pie pan.
5) Roll out the second piece of pie dough. Cut the pie dough into eleven equal strips. Lay six of the strips across one side of the pie dough. Fold back every other strip. Lay one long strip across the other side of the pie. The strip should be perpendicular to the other strips. Fold the strips back. Alternate with the other strips and fold back every other strip. Lay another strip across the pie. Continue this process in a weaving motion as if you were weaving a basket. Once all of the strips are laid out on the pie, trim off any excess dough hanging off the pie. Press the ends of the lattice strips into the edges of the pie.
6) Make the egg wash by whisking the egg and water together until combined. Brush the egg wash all over the pie including the crimped edges. Generously sprinkle the fine sugar all over the pie.
7) Place the pie in the preheated oven and bake for 50-55 minutes until the apples are cooked through and the crust is golden brown.
Takeaways: Let the pie cool completely before cutting into it. The first few times I made pie, I cut into the pie right away and the juices from the apples spilled right out. Letting the pie rest beforehand will allow the filling to stay intact.
