Shoes, Ships, and Sealing Wax

Thanksgiving Rehearsal

One of the nice things about living fifteen minutes (ok, twenty-five, with current traffic) from the house where I grew up is that the house is still occupied by my parents, and I never have to cook holiday dinners. I just show up at home in the late afternoon. Actually, that works pretty well with dinner any day of the year, but I try not to abuse it.

Anyway, this Thanksgiving dinner may be a big one (latest estimate was possibly 16 people) so I thought I should contribute something. Last year my healthy-crust pumpkin pie turned out well. This year my grandmother, who can't eat dairy, will be there, so I thought I'd try to tofu version of the pumpkin pie. That required a test run, though.

Also included among the possible guests are a few vegetarians. Since I've been moving toward that myself, I offered to bring Tofurky kielbasa (yes, the family always has kielbasa at holiday dinners, regardless of the rest of the menu. The Polish influence is strong. And yes, my grandfather might indeed be spinning in his grave at the idea of vegan kielbasa. And yes, I have had it, and while it isn't real kielbasa by a long shot, it isn't bad.) and a "traditional vegetarian Thanksgiving entree" called Three Sisters Stew.

The "three sisters" are corn, beans, and squash. Whether this is a real Native American term or a real traditional recipe I've no idea, but it sounded pretty good...but again, before offering this at a holiday table, I needed to do a test.

The recipe is all over the Internet, just Google "Three Sisters Stew." This was my adaptation:

Cut a 2-pound butternut squash in half and remove seeds. Put the halves cut-side up in a baking dish, add a little water, cover with foil and back for 40 minutes at 350 degrees. Cool, remove skin, and dice.

In a large, heavy pot:

Saute 1 chopped onion and 1 teaspoon of jarred minced garlic in 1 tablespoon of olive oil.

Add 1/2 a red pepper, seeded and cut into thin strips.

Add squash.

Add:
1 (15 oz.) can of pinto beans, drained
1 (15 oz.) can of corn, drained
1 (4 oz.) can of chopped green chilies
1 (15 oz.) can of diced tomatoes, undrained
1 cup of vegetable stock
2 teaspoons of oregano
1 teaspoon of ground cumin

Simmer for the length of the second half of a football game plus the post-game show.

Taste and add salt and pepper as needed. Just before serving, add two tablespoons of fresh cilantro. (I just held the cilantro over the pot and cut off little pieces of leaves with the kitchen shears.)

It was rather liquidy, so we ate it over brown rice. I think it could have used more cumin, and next time I may use frozen roasted corn instead of canned, to add a bit more flavor.

Overall, though, it passed the test, and I will take it for Thanksgiving.

Now the tofu pie...it was just the basic back-of-the-can pumpkin pie recipe, but using a package of silken tofu plus 1/3 cup of honey in place of the sweetened condensed milk. The consistancy was a little off, and the pumpkin/spice flavors were a little dilluted...if I try it again (depends on how Grandma feels about apple pie) I'll bump up the spices and honey a bit.

Now I need to start experimenting for Christmas.

Posted by Nic at November 7, 2004 05:08 PM