Mmmm... Thanksgiving feast

Yining and Summer Brother joined Real Brother and me for Thanksgiving this year. I decided to forego turkey for the second year in a row, and chose rack of lamb as our protein. Entertainment activities included a marathon Rock Band session during prep, and mahjong for beginners after dinner, before dessert. I had a ball; I hope everyone else did too!

Rosemary Roast Rack of Lamb

I cooked three racks of lamb (about eight chops per rack) for four people and we finished them all. Meat-tastic!

Pretty simple to cook, actually. As with all roasted meats, the trick is to let it fully come to room temperature before you apply any heat. Give the lamb a quick rub with salt, pepper, and finely chopped fresh rosemary. After a good sear in a hot skillet, pop it into a 400° oven for about 15 minutes. The meat should still have lots of give to the touch. If you have a meat thermometer, La Martha's meat temperatures chart calls for 145° for medium rare, before resting.

Something delicate like lamb is very sensitive to cooking time and the smallest variation in temperature. Our first rack rested the shortest amount of time, and came out the slightest bit underdone in terms of texture. I think it had the best flavor of the three racks, though. The second rack (in the turned-off oven an extra 5 min) was a touch overdone. I think if I had kept it under foil on the countertop, it would have been perfect. The last rack (in the turned-off oven an extra 5 min and rested 5-7 minutes more than the others) was plainly overdone. It was still pink in the middle, but had lost the pliant texture of the first two. The flavor was also much more pungent - it was quite gamey and tasted almost like liver, inexplicably.

(In the interest of full disclosure: I actually stuck the lamb in the oven without searing, as the recipe called for, saw that it looked pretty anemic and unappetizing, and then seared it on the stovetop ex post facto. Worked fine.)

Buttered Green Beans

Wash and trim the green beans. Sauté in butter until cooked but still crisp. Salt and pepper to season. (How easy is that?)

Roasted Butternut Squash, Carrots and Potatoes

Peel and cut up the squash and carrots. I used fingerling potatoes and they didn't need to be peeled. Make sure everything is in about same-sized chunks for even cooking. Toss with salt, pepper and a glug of olive oil. Into a 375° oven for 20-30 minutes.

Balsamic Mushrooms

Mushrooms shrink A LOT! Buy way more than you think you'll need. I used baby portobellos this time around, but you can also use regular white button mushrooms.

Sauté the mushrooms in olive oil; season with salt and pepper. You want to really sweat out most of the moisture in the mushrooms. If your pan is a bit crowded and you can't evaporate the liquid quickly enough, you can just pour it out carefully.

When the mushrooms are mostly cooked and shrunken, add a few tablespoons of balsamic vinegar and heat a few minutes to reduce. Done! The balsamic gives the mushrooms some pizzazz. This side was a real hit with Summer Brother. Also good at room temperature and out of the fridge, in the summer.

Sweet Potato Pie

I'm not going to write out the whole recipe, since it wasn't particularly successful. You can get the source recipe here.

Here's the rundown:
- I couldn't be bothered to mess with my own piecrust, so I used a Whole Foods frozen pie crust, baked blind. Worked out great. It's a pretty salty crust, but I like it that way.
- Since I could only find white sweet potatoes, I used half sweet potatoes and half yams to get that orange-y color.
- I put in just the smallest pinch of cinnamon since it makes me gag. I replaced it with a dash of vanilla extract (maybe ¼ tsp?). I couldn't taste the vanilla at all, so think maybe ½ to 1 full tsp next time.
- I used half the amount of allspice in the recipe, and it was still WAY too strong. It was a new jar and pretty fresh, but I'd still use caution next time.
- It tasted too eggy - more like a sweet potato quiche than a sweet potato pie. Fewer eggs next time. (3 eggs in this particular recipe. The Alton recipe my sister used called for 5 eggs!!)