It’s Thanksgiving, a public holiday in the United States of America, or Thursday as it’s better known here in the UK.
With the Americanisation of nearly everything (think Halloween and Christmas), it’s a little surprising that we haven’t jumped on the bandwagon when it comes to Thanksgiving.
After all, who wouldn’t welcome a day off to eat a turkey dinner with all the trimmings, washed down with copious amounts of alcohol?
But hang on a second, we hear you say, won’t we all be doing that in less a month’s time at Christmas?
Granted, the food eaten at the Thanksgiving dinners across the Pond today will resemble what you will be eating on 25th December, but there are some differences. Squash and sweet potatoes (more on these later) are popular at a Thanksgiving meal, as are green bean casserole, biscuits (the American type not Digestives!) and cornbread.
However, it’s the desserts which are the most different. Pumpkin pie is widely regarded as the most traditional, although pecan pie, sweet potato pie, apple pie and cherry pie are also favoured.
So, the food sounds great. As does the alcohol, family time and watching an NFL game (not in that order of course – please drink responsibly folks).
The only issue we have with Thanksgiving is that because it’s always held on a Thursday, it means many people have to go back into work the following day.
Now that really is a Black Friday….
Here’s the recipe:
Sweet potato and cheddar cheese soufflé with maple crispy bacon
Maple crispy bacon:
- 120g diced pancetta
- 30g butter
- 30g maple syrup
Fry the pancetta in the butter until golden and crispy then add the maple syrup warm slightly and leave to one side.
Soufflé:
- 30g diced onion
- 150g Sweet potato mash
- 40g extra mature Cheddar
- 30g grated parmesan (extra for the moulds)
- 1 tbsp. chopped parsley
- 1 tbsp. salted butter (little extra soft butter for moulds)
- 1 tbsp. chopped garlic
- 1 tbsp. red wine vinegar
- 60g whole milk
- 4 egg whites
Soften a little butter and rub around the inside the mould. Then sprinkle in the parmesan and allow to chill.
Fry the onions in butter with the garlic until soft and golden. Then add the sweet potato and all the other ingredients and mix till the cheese is melted and you have a smooth mix. This mix now needs to cool as if you were to add eggs to this it will cook them straight away and ruin your mix. Preheat your oven to 180oC.
Once the mix is cooled, in a kitchen mixer whisk the egg whites to form semi stiff peaks. Then mix a quarter of the egg whites into the sweet potato mix as this will loosen your mix. Then carefully fold in the rest taking care not to lose any of the air you have just whisked into them.
Then fill the moulds and bake 180oc for 15 minutes.
Serve with a small salad and the crispy maple bacon.
About Chris Brown
Sous Chef of SK Foods.
Your food. Our Passion.
