WQED Multimedia

An elegant twist on the
traditional Thanksgiving bird.

Thanksgiving is easily one of my favorite meals of the year. As I brine the turkey, parboil the Brussels sprouts, bake the sweet potatoes and snitch the apples, I imagine that idyllic Norman Rockwell moment when the roast beast will be brought steaming to the festive table to a collective “Ah” from the waiting diners and we all tuck in for an afternoon of thankful feasting. Have you ever noticed that Thanksgiving can also be the most disappointing meal of the year?

First of all, in trying to meet everyone’s diverse expectations we often end up with a smorgasbord of dishes that cover every inch of the table and side board and take three days to prepare in every dish bowl and pan in our cooking inventory. There’s mashed potatoes for your wife’s side of the family, candied yams with marshmallows for the kids who never grow up and heart healthy sweet potato soufflé for the cautious. And those are just the potato choices! Add to that the stuffings, gravy and a half dozen vegetables and it would take a kitchen miracle to get it all to the table within 15 degrees of hot.

The obligatory prayer of Thanksgiving is followed by 20 minutes of: “Pass me the peas and I’ll send the creamed onions your way.” “ Send the dark meat platter clockwise and the white meat the other way.” “ The potatoes are too hot so just send your plate.” Dishes and bowls criss-cross the table for what seems like an eternity and the gravy congeals in the boat by the time the game of musical plates conclude and people are actually ready to eat their meal. You could set up a buffet line. That solves the problem for the first two or three people who fill their plates. But I have a more revolutionary idea: plate up the meal in the kitchen and serve it all at once to the diners as if they were at a restaurant. Each plate would contain a small stuffed fowl, accompanied by a serving of sweet potatoes, an array of glazed vegetables and a dollop of cranberry orange relish. Everyone gets to eat at the same time.

There are no serving bowls to clutter the table during the meal and the sink afterwards. Use the extra space for a bottle of wine and a basket of fresh rolls and the extra time for a longer post-pran-dial nap. If leftovers are your favorite part of the Thanksgiving food experience, you can always throw a bird in the oven just before you sit down to dinner. It will be ready to make into sandwiches by the time you wake up.

Ingredients:
6 poussin, 1 to 11/2 pounds each,
rinsed and dried thoroughly
1 lemon
salt and pepper
1 stick butter, melted
3 cups cornbread stuffing

Cornbread Stuffing:

1/2 pound breakfast sausage
1 large onion, chopped
1 large Granny Smith apple, peeled, cored and chopped
3 tablespoons butter
1/2 teaspoon ground sage or poultry seasoning
3 cups cornbread stuffing
1/2 cup chopped pecans
1 cup chicken stock

Cranberry Orange Relish:

4 cups cranberries
1 large navel orange
(including peel and pulp)
1 cup sugar
1 can crushed pineapple, drained

Directions:
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Rub the outside of each poussin with the lemon and season inside and out with salt and pepper. Fill each bird loosely with 3/4 cup of the stuffing and secure the legs with twine. Baste with the melted butter and roast for 20 minutes. Reduce heat to 350 degrees and tent with foil for the next 20 minutes. Remove the foil, brush again with butter and allow to cook until the skin is crispy and the internal temperature is 170 degrees.

Cornbread Stuffing:

Brown the sausage in a large skillet, breaking the meat into small pieces. Remove from the pan and drain the excess fat. Add the butter to the pan and cook the onion until soft. Add the apples and cook until they begin to soften. Return the sausage to the pan along with the chicken stock and use a wooden spoon to scrape the flavorful bits from the bottom of the pan. Add the cornbread and pecans and toss until well mixed and moistened. Poussin are young chickens that weigh between 1 and 11/2 pounds. Order them through your butcher or substitute small Cornish game hens, which are the next size up.

Cranberry Orange Relish:

Place cranberries and orange in a meat grinder or food processor and mix until finely chopped but not pureed. Stir in the sugar and crushed pineapple. Cover and refrigerate at least 3 hours or overnight.

More Recipes
Magazine Home
Printer Friendly Page

TOP 10 ESSENTIALS FOR COOKING
Here's my top-10 list of kitchen essentials for a well-equipped kitchen:

1. An 8-inch chef knife and 3-inch paring knife. Make sure they are high-carbon stainless, forged knives. Avoid the "82-knife set."

2. Cutting board. I favor nylon or bamboo. In either case, make sure it is lightweight and at least 12-by-20-inches.

3. Measuring cups and spoons. You'll need a 2-cup and a 4-cup liquid measuring cup, a set of measuring cups for dry ingredients and a set of measuring spoons. Stainless steel is the most durable.

4. A 12-inch nonstick skillet with cover. Tri-ply such as All-Clad is the best for even heating. This pan does everything from omelets to sautés.

5. An 8-quart stock pot. This is essential for boiling pasta, steaming vegetables or making large batches of chili, soups and stews.

6. Colander. Get stainless steel with firmly riveted handles.

7. A 3-quart covered saucepan. This rounds out your pots-and-pans inventory for small boiling projects and heating canned soups.

8. A four-sided cheese grater. Freshly grated cheese is a big flavor boost for your cooking. This tool is also useful for grating vegetables and shredding lemon zest.

9. Sheet pan. This inexpensive pan has raised sides and can be used to bake cookies, breads and pizza, or to roast vegetables and meats.

10. A 6-quart slow cooker. This is a working couple's best friend. Ten minutes of prep in the morning yields a dinner entree and loads of leftovers. The models with the thickest insert provide the slowest, most-even cooking. Be sure it's at least a 5-quart capacity.

- Chris Fennimore