Thursday, November 24, 2011

Thanksgiving Sushi?


                 HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!!

I am having an "alternative" holiday this year. That basically means I didn't fly home to spend T Day with the fam so there will be no huge spread of turkey and dressing, mashed potatoes, soufflés, pies, greens, etc for me. I'm a little bit bummed about missing out on the big day with my family but I know I'll see them all soon. Thanksgiving dinner this year entails a reservation for two at a sushi restaurant in the Meatpacking District- I'm so NY. Just kidding but I am truly thankful for the "family" I've built up here and grateful I get to spend it with some of them this year. :)

But back to this post. Yesterday, with Thanksgiving and sushi on my mind, I came up with a brilliant plan! So without further adieu....


What you see here is homemade sushi made with turkey and cranberry sauce. Pretty simple. This was my first attempt at making sushi and I have to tell you, it was a little difficult because a) my sticky rice was, in fact, not so sticky (I don't know why... I bought short grain rice like the guy in the Japanese store instructed me to...?) and b) my knife was a bit dull which made cutting my rolls a little complicated. Those two issues aside, though, the rolls themselves tasted pretty good!

To make these, simply take your seaweed paper (rice paper is a better option but of course that occurred to me after I'd already made two trips to the grocery store for the ingredients) and lay it out with the "rough" side facing up. After you've boiled your rice, take a handful and spread it out evenly in a thin layer on the seaweed paper leaving a little room at the top. As I mentioned before, my rice wasn't very sticky but if yours is (as it is supposed to be), be sure to have a bowl of water mixed with rice vinegar nearby for keeping your hands slick when handling it. Take your "fillings" (in my case, oven roasted turkey and cranberry sauce) and place them together at the bottom of your rice-covered sushi paper. Then roll. Once you have the long roll, take your (sharp!) knife and cut it into five or 6 pieces. Done.

I had planned to add veggies like peas, asparagus, and mashed sweet potatoes to my sushi rolls but I could tell straight away that because my rice wasn't cooperating with me, I needed to keep it simple. I regret this now though because I really think it would've added to the flavors.

My sides were super easy to make: homemade mashed potatoes with (not homemade) gravy, peas and lima beans, fruit salad, and sweet potato fries (obviously not pictured... they were still baking). After cracking open a bottle of wine and indulging ourselves to my cooking, my roomie and I agreed that our alternative Thanksgiving meal, while a bit odd, was delicious!

Happy Thanksgiving to you and yours and THANK YOU for continuing to read LaFemmeFITalle. Let me know how you spent your holiday and if you'd ever try turkey sushi!




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