Thanksgiving for Two (Stuffing/Dressing Recipe)

2020 has been an unprecedented year in so many ways. Thanksgiving, which typically sees the highest volume of travel all year, has been particularly emblematic of how this pandemic has changed how we live our lives. Yet, there is still much to be thankful for in my life, not the least of which is the resurgence of this blog. With this 75th post of 2020, this year surpasses 2012 as the most productive year of No Free Lunch. Like many people, we stayed home for Thanksgiving but still put together a traditional feast for just the two of us. In a way it was a nice to give Thanksgiving a test run with just us before we host one day. It turned out to be a silly amount of food, but there's nothing wrong with having leftovers for a few days. In this post, I'll talk about what we had with a focus on the most iconic of Thanksgiving side dishes. 

I am, of course, talking about "stuffing," also known as "dressing." Despite the name, it's typically made in a casserole dish instead of inside a turkey. This is both safer and allows for making as much as you want. We definitely overdid it a bit and made enough for a whole family. In retrospect, we could easily have halved it and still had plenty of leftovers. Our version was loosely inspired by Kenji's recipe and Adam Ragusea's video on the topic. 

With just the two of us, I roasted a whole chicken rather than a turkey. It's not something I do often and don't yet have a lot of confidence. The age-old difficulty with a whole chicken (or turkey, for that matter) is that the breast is best at a much lower temperature than the thighs and legs. I tried Ragusea's method of cooking the chicken breast up on the stove before moving it to the oven. This was much simpler than other methods (like spatchcocking) and did the job well. This also makes it very easy to make a quick and delicious gravy in the same pan. 

We rounded out the dinner with Michael Solomonov's kale and apple salad. Ariel first made this to go with our brisket for Rosh Hashanah this year and it quickly became a family favorite. 

Of course, no Wai family Thanksgiving could be complete without party salad! It's a true Upper Midwest treat. Ariel even talked her parents into adding it to their table this year. As I hear, it went over well. I hope everyone was able to make the best of these unusual circumstances and celebrate in a safe way that will enable people to come together next year. Cheers, and happy Thanksgiving!

Steamed Egg with Shrimp (蝦仁蒸蛋)

I'm back today with another take on a Pei Mei recipe, this time from volume II. Steamed egg is a Chinese homestyle classic, but one with which I don't personally have much history. I think I've had it a few times, many years ago. It's certainly unlike anything else I've cooked in recent memory. The texture is silky smooth and the whole bowl jiggles like Jell-O. It's basically a savory custard, which isn't a common thing in Western cuisine. The name of the dish in Chinese is xiaren zhengdan, which translates to "shrimp meat steamed egg." 

As this is unlike anything I've cooked before, I stuck fairly close to Pei Mei's recipe. I did consult a few other sources, including Souped Up Recipes and the Woks of Life. The cooking time is the trickiest part here. Pei Mei says to steam on high for 2 minutes and low for 20 minutes. After about 10 minutes on low, I checked the eggs and they were still completely raw. I then turned it back up, so in the recipe, I'm recommending staying on high for about 9 minutes. I added the shrimp only for the last 3, to make sure they didn't get overcooked.

I used my homemade Chinese shrimp stock to pair with the shrimp on top. This gave the eggs a subtle shrimp flavor, which was quite pleasant. Chicken stock, again in the Chinese style, would also work well, I think. There are many variations to this dish, with different toppings and flavorings. I'm definitely going to try it again and play around with it more. I served with rice and stir-fried broccoli to round out a perfect meal for two.