I was upset on Wednesday afternoon after the turn of events that day when I remembered that it was Thanksgiving the next day. The thought of cooking food and sharing it with my sisters gave a little bright light to my dark tunnel. On my way to the supermarket, I was already thinking of what to cook on a tight budget. I knew I wouldn’t be able to serve turkey since it’s too expensive here and it’s too much for just three people. So I thought chicken and something with pumpkin/squash. I had most of what I needed to roast a chicken and I have ingredients to make a brownie at hand so in just a few minutes, my menu was complete. Roasted chicken with a side of sautéed squash and green beans and for dessert, pumpkin/squash cheesecake swirled brownies.
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| My plated Thanksgiving Dinner |
My youngest sister can’t go home on Thursday night since she still had classes so I made Thanksgiving dinner tonight. I woke up a bit late today (and I don’t know why I keep over sleeping) so I took the chicken out of the freezer as soon as I woke up and thawed it out while I had my morning/afternoon coffee and brunch. I started cleaning the chicken after my meal. Usually, I would use lemon for the chicken but since I forgot to buy some the day I went to the supermarket, I just got some kalamansi from the trusty sari-sari store (hehe). So for the marinate, I used garlic, Spanish paprika, kalamansi, rosemary, pepper, drizzled some olive oil into it before salting the chicken. I stuffed in some onions with the same mixture of spices and herbs. I let that sit in the chiller while I started doing my brownies. I’ve made cream cheese brownies before but never a pumpkin/squash flavored one. But all there was to it was adding the squash, cinnamon and nutmeg to the already existing cream cheese recipe I use. After about 35-40mins, I could smell the aroma of the chocolate-y goodness coming from the kitchen. I’d like to believe that when you start smelling the goodness of your treats then that’s the time to take it out. :D I took out the marinating chicken in the fridge, trussed it, seared it in a pan, stuck it in the oven, and timed it for an hour. Knowing it would be done before an hour, I checked it after 30 minutes and the smell overwhelmed me as I opened the oven door. My mouth started to water as I smelled all the flavors coming in together. I gave it a last whiff, closed the door and started sautéing my veggies. It was the perfect time to practice my pan tossing. When the squash were bright orange and the green beans gave its lovely color, I turned the heat off and took out the chicken. The doneness was just right, and the juices gave me a brown tint, so I let it sit while I made my pan gravy. I swirled red wine in the pan I used for the chicken and let it infuse with the onions, garlic and that flavorful fond to make my pan gravy more tasty. You can never go wrong with a little wine in your food, or sauce for that matter. Chicken done,
veggies done,
brownies done,
gravy done, time to call my sisters for dinner. :D Zyra took the first bite and the actually cursed because of how good it was. She said it was way better than the chicken she had at Cravings (sorry we can’t seem to get over how bad it was and we keep comparing it with others.). I took a bite out of mine and cursed too… and agreed with her. Lil sis, Nina, was quietly chomping on her food. Not saying anything but since I saw that there was something on her cheek (probably form the chicken) and did not bother to wipe it even though I pointed it out, I’m guessing that she was enjoying her food and didn’t want to be bothered. Zy actually had more than her fill. She ate more than a quarter of a chicken. We were full but I made room for a lil dessert. My sisters were hesitant to taste it because they’ve never had it before (well, I haven’t either) but since they trust my cooking, they went ahead and tried it. They said it doesn’t really taste like pumpkin/squash and they had a couple more pieces. I tried it and I was surprised at how good it was. The actually brownie was uber moist and the pumpkin cheesecake tasted rich. Another one to add to my flavors of brownies. :D
We may not have turkey or stuffing or mash potatoes or cranberry sauce and all that, but it was still a very much tasty and fulfilling dinner. When you share good food with your family, your problems seem like a million miles away and you just enjoy the moment and the food. I wouldn’t have shared Thanksgiving dinner with anyone else but these two that I am most thankful for.
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