Thanksgiving Lunch

I couldn’t resist! I know I said I’d be a spectator….for dinner. No one said anything about lunch. I was all set to go to my mother-in-law’s place and went out to pick up some things to bring…and there’s where I derailed. I stopped by the Turkish store nearby and picked up some incredible pistachio baklava sweetened with a special kind of honey from a flower. Then I dropped by the wine store and found my favorite wine from Chile! It was on sale for under $10. It’s the Casillero del Diablo Carmenere from Concha y Toro. They can’t even grow this grape in Europe because of a disease that plagues the Carmenere grapes. They can only make this wine in Chile. I was in the Casillero del Diablo in Chile where this particular wine ages and learned all about the fable they invented to keep thieves out. When their barrels of wine kept disappearing, the owner of the vineyard invented the tale of the haunted basement. Knowing that the people were very superstitious even in the face of poverty and hunger, the owner spread the word that the devil lived in the basement. When word got out that the devil resided there, people stopped taking the wine. Who wants to be caught stealing from the devil?

Right next door to the wine store is the grocery store. I was starting to get a little hungry for a late lunch and I caved.”Just a salad,” I thought, “And A. can have the leftover blackened cajun chicken.” But then I walked passed the chopped turkey meat, picked up a red onion, cilantro, goat cheese, flat bread rolls and I knew that in under 45 minutes I would be having a delicious lunch. And I can honestly say that of all the things I’ve posted here so far, this has got to be my favorite Without further ado, I present to you my quick and easy:

Chipotle turkey burgers, with red onion, goat cheese, dates, cilantro and purple fig satongo chocolate.  I don’t know if my description of this can do the dish justice. Take about a pound of chopped turkey (97/3 lean) so it’s not too dry. Add an egg and some bread crumbs as a binding agent. Throw in the red onion chopped finely, be sure to save some as a garnish. Use coarse salt, pepper and chipotle pepper to add a smokey flavor with a hint of spice. Add some herbs, cilantro, rosemary, thyme or whatever you like. Mix it all together and form into burgers. Cook on the stove over medium flame until thoroughly done on the inside and golden brown on both sides.

Meanwhile, on a flat bread roll I spread goat cheese with garlic and herbs on one side and the purple fig satongo chocolate spread on the other. Throw the burger on the bread once it’s a golden brown on both sides. Top with red onions for crunchiness and juiciness, dates for texture and sweetness and cilantro to complement and cool the chipotle heat. Serve with the best Chilean wine you ever had and finish with the best baklava you’ve ever tasted in your life and your lunch will outshine your dinner.

This meal was so good because of both the textures and the flavors. The heat from the chipotle powder was cooled by the goat cheese. The herbs from the goat cheese were brought out by the cilantro over the burger. The chocolate in the fig spread complemented the sweetness in the dates. However, it wasn’t too sweet or mushy because the texture and sweetness was cut by the acidity of the savory crunchy raw onion.

This meal literally took 30 minutes to make and it is completely unfair that it is so good and that now, I get to go eat a dinner that I’m sure I will have to post.

Happy Thanksgiving everyone. Thank you for reading, for your encouragement and friendship. I wish you all the best as we enter the holiday season. Happy eating.