A week from Thanksgiving and I used up the last of the turkey I was able to take home from my holiday in California. My family kindly accommodated me by buying a free-range turkey. My mom roasted it with her amazing chestnut-chanterelle mushroom stuffing. It makes me happy just to think about it. The first meal I made with it since coming home was a big turkey pot pie, which turned out beautifully. Tonight, I made turkey and rice soup with stock I made the other day. I'm hoping it will cure the impending illness that I feel is creeping up on me. Not likely. The rest of my soup was pretty traditional...celery, onions, carrots, and peas. I also added the universal herb in my house: herbes de provence.
For dessert, because I never forget dessert, I made a French quatre-quarts (directly translated, it means four-fourths) which is basically a pound cake-but better. It's made with a total of four ingredients...imagine that. You start by weighing three eggs; usually it will come to about 180g. Then, you weigh out the same amount of the sifted flour, sugar, and butter. Melt the butter and mix it really well with the sugar. Separate the eggs, adding the yolks to the butter and sugar mixture and reserving the whites in a bowl to the side. Vigorously stir the yolks into the butter and sugar. Gradually mix in the flour until smooth. Stir in about a 1/2 tsp. of salt. Then, whip the whites with a pinch of salt until stiff peaks form. Gently fold this mixture into the batter. Pour into a greased loaf pan and bake 45 minutes at 350 degrees. It's deliciously simple and just plain delicious. My godmother always added rum soaked raising into the mixture which is also wonderful. It's also just perfect on it's own. Mine came out a little toasted-I think because I used a stoneware loaf pan...or maybe because I left it in a minute too long. That won't stop me from enjoying every slice of it though!
