single man's Thanksgiving Day dinner

When I pulled the boiling-hot turkey pot pie out of the oven, I needed to give it time to cool, so I decided I'd start with dessert and have myself an inverted or regressive dinner: dessert first, then the main course. That explains the order of the pics you see below.

Chocolate Bundt cake and the cooling pot pie:

I left the chocolate cake out last night. Lack of refrigeration erased the taste of the coconut oil.

rum cake and pumpkin pie

room-temp Death by Chocolate Bundt cake

You can almost see the chocolate chips that melted in the batter during the bake.

And here's the rum cake, with little blocks of "the so-called iced cream." French vanilla and vanilla.

food-porn angle

at last—the pumpkin pie

You probably noticed, above, how the pumpkin pie seemed a bit suntanned after coming out of the oven. It did sunbathe for a bit under the oven's top burner, but the result wasn't burned, and the darker area was soft and moist to the touch. The pie's texture (I ate the suntanned part first) was perfect. Great recipe, and a great piece of pie. Two more shots:

The first piece is always hardest to remove with a plastic cake spatula, hence the cracked crust.

a little sprinkle of cinnamon on the whipped cream

At last: the pot pie! I'm eating a second piece right now.

top view, with vents

A pie ought to be sliceable, not running out both sides. Let it cool a bit before serving.

like a Spartan holding up his shield before an attack

This was a great little dinner for one. Full of carbs, but what can you do? My ex-boss called the other day and joked that his Thursday dinner was going to be lamb skewers. My buddy Charles took me out to a lamb-skewer place once, and it was great, so I think there are worse fates than going to such a resto. The boss didn't sound too disappointed, either.

Second piece (Round 2):

In for a penny, in for a pound.

I'm not sorry at all, but I might be tomorrow. Happy Thanksgiving!

What goes into my pot-pie filling?

turkey (I chopped up some thin-sliced deli-style turkey this time)
frozen peas (added in toward the end of the filling-making process)
celery, pan-fried a bit to soften
mushrooms, pan-fried with oil, salt, pepper, and garlic powder
carrots, cubed and boiled in lightly salted water
potatoes, cubed and boiled in the same water
corn, from the can
onion flakes (the only way I'll tolerate onions)
onion powder (the only other way I'll tolerate onions)
savory Béchamel (butter, flour, heavy cream, milk, umami powder)
salt (very little), pepper
wee bit of garlic powder
sage (great addition; it evokes stuffing)

The pie crust is a standard one:

300 g medium-strength flour (중력 밀가루)
1.5 tsp. salt
about 300 g cold, cubed butter
ice water, added during blitzing in a food processor

Let the dough rest and hydrate in the fridge at least 30 minutes. Roll out half of the dough and flour liberally; lay it into your standard or jury-rigged (in my case) pie tin. Shovel on/in the pot-pie filling. Lay the other half of the prepped dough on top; crimp the two dough layers however you prefer to crimp them (fork, hands, tentacles). Paint the surface with egg wash. Add vents to prevent in-oven explosions. Bake at almost 200ºC for around 50 minutes. For the first 20 minutes, use both the top and bottom burners in your oven. For the rest of the time, use the bottom burner only to make sure the bottom crust is firm. In my case, the result was perfect. You do have to get to know your own oven, though. Every oven has quirks. All in all, a great pie, which I'll be having again tomorrow. Happy Thanksgiving!

ADDENDUM:

second piece of pumpkin pie (I have no willpower)

with ice cream this time