Advancements in Thanksgiving Sandwich Engineering

We had a fantastic Thanksgiving, and a post on that will be forthcoming, but for now I turn my attention to a subject gripping minds across the nation this time of year: the proper engineering of a Thanksgiving  Sandwich. It's an understandable thing to fixate on: our fridges are swollen with stacked containers of leftovers, and this venerable sandwich represents the easiest means of doing someone new with them— and, done correctly, it's undeniably delicious.

How to construct such a sandwich, however, is a matter of some controversy- specifically, a tradeoff between indulgence and structure.  To quote Deadspin's Albert Burneko, one of the Internet's funniest and most irreverent food writers, "There's some disagreement here. Some people like to pile a portion of each of the various delicious Thanksgiving victuals between two pieces of bread, in what invariably turns into a saggy, dissolving, unmanageable wreck, renouncing any rightful claim to the "sandwich" title within moments of its birth. Other folks prefer to stick to the holiday's saner-seeming sandwich fillings like sliced turkey and cranberry relish and salad, think there's something weird and redundant and brazenly gluttonous about putting stuffing (which is essentially pre-chewed bread) between two slices of bread, and are vampires." 

However, I was inclined to wonder whether this dichotomy was surmountable. Can a sandwich be constructed which both meets the indulgent, gluttonous standards of Thanksgiving and holds together as a sandwich, so,etching that you can pick up and eat without it falling apart? Tongue planted firmly in my cheek ( the better to taste the cranberry sauce), I set out to make sandwich history. Below is my formula. 

1. Toast.

If you want to slop soggy, buttery food onto bread and have it hang together, the obvious first step is to reinforce your bread. A nice toasting firms if up and improves its absorption capabilities nicely. Also, using larger slices is better- adding ingredients horizontally instead of vertically gives you a more manageable product. 

2. Foundations. 

A sandwich is more than a pile between bread- it's a formed whole, with everything serving a larger purpose. If you want a Thanksgiving sandwich that holds together, you're going to need something to keep the ingredients in place. Fortunately, the standard thanksgiving menu contains several efficient and delicious adhesives. We were fortunate to have Bernie's delicious puréed parsnips on hand, which worked especially well for this purpose, but creamy mashed potatoes should work well for you- if they're too dry or chunky, add some gravy and mix up with a fork (also, heat them up please.) Spread a layer of moderate thickness along one piece of bread, which will go on the bottom. For your top slice, apply some cooked cranberry sauce, applying pressure with the knife to get any remaining whole berries to pop and stick to the bread. 

3.  Major Fillings

Presuming you have it (and if you don't, what kind of thanksgiving are you playing at?), the next logical ingredient is stuffing: not only is it indisputably the greatest of all thanksgiving foods, but it provides a soft but textured surface to hold the turkey in place. The bird goes on next- find yourself larger prices and arrange for best possible coverage. 

4. Greenery 

So far, we've dwelled exclusively on the rich, indulgent elements of the thanksgiving meal, as is proper for a sandwich like this. However, if you've got a good vegetable dish on hand you'll want it, both to get something in the sandwich that isn't awful for you and to provide welcome contrast in flavor and texture. Here I chose to go with a terrific kale dish with pine nuts and golden raisins that Janie brought. Whatever you choose, arrange it carefully: in moderate quantities, and away from the edges. 

5. Top and Eat

Invert the cranberried slice on top of the sandwich, press down, and consume. You should have a thoroughly pleasant balance of flavors and textures: smooth, rich starch, soft, savory stuffing, tender,meaty turkey, toothsome, deep vegetables, and snappy, chunky cranberry sauce. And all of this with no fork necessary. If you're at all like me, you'll soon be wishing you had more leftovers to use. 

Colin Skink (haddock, potato, and cauliflower stew)

At least here in New England, its getting cold out there. The wind is howling, and the heavy coats are being taken down. We've still got a month or two before we can't leave the house, but when you do you return red-faced and shivering. This, then, is the time for hot, hearty food, when things that seem unimaginably rich as even a side dish in summer are precisely what your brain calls out for. This is my contribution- it's rich, but not overpowering (thanks largely to the caulifower) and has a very nuanced flavor for such a carb heavy dish. The final texture should be somewhere between mashed potatoes and a thick stew.

I used this recipe as a starting point, but I've heavily modified it,  to add more flavor and better texture, and because as constituted that one has way too much liquid. The name is a silly nod to Cullen Skink, the Scottish smoked haddock and potato soup. Sadly you can't get smoked haddock in this country, so the smoky flavor instead comes from smoked Gouda. You'll want something green and vibrant to balance it- we had an arugula salad with a lemon vinaigrette (just lemon juice, olive oil, mustard powder, and a little sugar whisked together), which wound up being quite nice. 

Colin Skink

Serves 6

3 medium potatoes, peeled and cubed

Half a head of cauliflower, cut into florets

1.5 pounds haddock filets, skinned and deboned if possible. 

Six cloves garlic, peeled 

1.5 cups milk

2 ounces smoked Gouda cheese, grated 

1/2 ounce  Parmesan, grated

1/2 ounce bleu cheese, grated 

1 cup creme fraiche 

1 bunch green onions, chopped

1/2 cup chopped parsley and/or chives 

2 bay leaves

Curry powder

Paprika

Thyme

Pepper flakes

Mustard powder

Nutmeg

Cumin

Salt

Pepper

Olive oil

1. Preheat oven to 425.

2. In a  bowl, sprinkle cauliflower and 3 of the garlic cloves with olive oil and season well with paprika, curry powder, pepper flakes, thyme, pepper and salt. Transfer to baking sheet and roast in oven 20-25 mins until tender. If they fail to soften enough, you can microwave them for 3 minutes after roasting. Do not turn off the oven when they are done. 

3. Boil potatoes until tender and drain well.

4. Simultaneously, in a large saucepan cover the haddock filets with the milk, and add the green onions, bay leaves, the remaining 3 garlic cloves quartered, and a couple good shakes each of nutmeg, mustard powder, and cumin. Bring to a boil covered over medium heat, then reduce to low and cook until fish flakes easily. 

5. Remove the fish and set aside. Pour the milk through a mesh strainer into a measuring cup. Discard the bay leaves, reserve the garlic and green onions. 

6. In a large bowl or the pot from the potatoes, combine the potatoes, cauliflower/ roasted garlic, creme fraiche, Gouda, bleu cheese, half the Parmesan, the garlic and green onions from the milk, and 1/2 cup of the milk (discard the rest). Mash well, then add the flaked haddock and stir to combine.

7. Transfer the entire mix to a lightly oiled baking vessel (shallower is likely better) and top with the remaining Parmesan. Increase oven heat to 450 and bake for an initial 20 minutes. If mixture is still soupy, cook for another 10. 

8. Turn off oven and let sit in the oven for another 5 minutes. If you're having bread with this, put it in the oven to warm at this point. Remove, top with parsley and/or chives, and serve. 

Spiced Sautéed Carrots

And for now, back to food. 

I'm writing things up in a different order than I actually cooked them, but it's Thanskgiving tomorrow and I figure some of you are either hosting dinners or are headed to other people's, and are trying trying to come up with a vegetable dish that's seasonal but doesn't contain either marshmallows or canned cream of mushroom soup. Here's my contribution: it's easy, it's quick, and it's seasonal and satisfying without being heavy. Don't go out and buy a ton of spices for this: if you've got any selection at all you can probably use what you have- just try to balance the "sweet" spices with savory ones like black pepper and rosemary.

Spiced Sautéed Carrots

Serves 6 as a primary side 

1 pound carrots, cut into coins 

2 tablespoons butter

1/4 cup sherry or brandy

1 teaspoon sugar 

Zest and ~2 tablespoons juice from an orange

Curry powder

Nutmeg

Cumin

Rosemary

Salt 

Pepper

1. Melt butter in a large sautée pan over medium-low heat. 

2. Add carrots, stir well to coat. Let cook 2-3 minutes.

3. Add orange zest and seasonings. Use plenty of pepper, enough curry powder to dust all the carrots, a good dash or two of nutmeg, and a pinch each of the cumin,  rosemary, and salt

4. Cook 2-3 more minutes, then add orange juice and sugar. Continue coking until all liquid is mostly absorbed and carrots are mostly softened, approx. 5 minutes.

5. Add the sherry and stir vigorously. When all the liquid is absorbed, check for tenderness and serve. 

She Still Takes Care of Us

A few weeks ago, Anne made me dinner.

For some of you—my friends who knew her only through this blog, or those few lovely people who discovered this site on your own—this will seem entirely mundane. This blog testifies to the fact that she loved even mundane weekday cooking, and in the first few months after I moved here she invited me over for dinner quite a few times: tastes of home, in the difficult first few months of adjusting to a new city, and a new post-college life.

The rest of you are probably wondering what the hell I meant by that first sentence.

When we started this blog, Anne had already been diagnosed with cancer. Writing it was her idea; something we could do together, a reason to talk more and to enjoy more time together. It was early days then, and I was younger and less well informed, but I think even then I knew in the back of my mind that that statement came with a clause that neither of us wanted to vocalize. "While we have time," written in invisible ink.