It’s tradition at ThanksGavin (the 4 day feasting our family engages in each November) for one of my cousins to host the Friday Night dinner, which is like thanksgiving night all over again (but with different food). This year, Matt and his wife Andrea handled BOTH nights!
Shrimp Cocktail with home-made Cocktail Sauce.
Home-made Trout Dip. Very lovely smoked trout flavor and great creamy texture.
Toasts for the trout dip.
A pile of Snake River Farms beef.
Tomohawk steaks.
New York Steaks.
Sliced steak.
Salmon.
Home-made Béarnaise sauce for both the steaks and salmon.
Cauliflower Gratin. Covered in a Béchamel sauce that was infused with cheese then baked.
Crispy sliced potatoes.
Sautéed Mushrooms. Just like a steakhouse.
Sautéed Spinach.
Caesar salad made with my “famous” classic Caesar Dressing (includes anchoives and raw egg yolks of course).
My personal plate, avoiding the carbs.
The dessert spread returns the leftovers from Thanksgiving the night before.
Satisfaction!
Archive for ThanksGavin 2022
And so we come to the traditional ThanksGavin Feast in its 2022 incarnation.
The main and kid’s tables.
Cute decorations this year.
And cute name tags.
The turkey straight out of the Green Egg.
Two turkey’s actually.
Mozzerella and Pepperdew appetizer.
The main spread of vegetables.
Salad dressing.
Kale Salad with a nutty dressing. With a meal like this a little fiber is always welcome!
Home-made cranberry jelly.
My mom’s home-made Cranberry Chutney.
Braised Leeks with Cheese. I’m really quite fond of leeks and probably ate at least 25% of this.
Roasted Beets.
Baked Sweet Potatoes.
Mashed Potatoes.
Brussels Sprouts with Walnuts.
Breads.
The “Turkey Station.”
Turkey. This is only part of the two birds, but you can see how well cooked it is with juicy smoked meat and a nice skin.
Just a portion of the delicious Challah Stuffing.
Vegan Gravy.
Regular gravy made from browned turkey wings.
Flounder Cakes that tasted exactly like crab cakes.
My 2022 Thanksgiving Dinner Plate. This year I was on a serious diet and so avoiding the carbs. I did have to cave in and pile a little bit of stuffing in the middle, but otherwise I avoided all the potatoes, beets, bread, etc and just piled on the meat and veggies. #thanksgiving
My brother’s plate, which had a different selection.
The main dessert spread.
The hot dessert spread.
Pecan Pie. My mom bakes the best pecan pie. I use part of the recipe (minus the crust) in my pecan pie gelato.
Filo Dough and custard.
Pumpkin Pie.
Grandmom’s brownies — they live on decades after her passing.
Grandmom’s blondies. I actually like these even better than the brownies.
Whipped Cream. I made whipped cream again. Just cream, vanilla, and a bit of powdered sugar.
Sweet Milk Gelato’s amazing Butterscotch Sauce. For the third year “running” (2019, 2021, and 2022 as 2020 was canceled) I whipped this up. Overcooked it slightly this year and it was a touch chewy. Still tasted amazing though.
My dessert plate. Sadly, the wine weakened my resolve and I broke down and had a little dessert. I didn’t finish the plate though and took about 1/3 of what I’d normally take.
Buster had Pig Ear for dessert.
Restaurant: China Gourmet [1, 2]
Location: 2842 St Vincent St, Philadelphia, PA 19149. (215) 941-1898
Date: November 23, 2022
Cuisine: Cantonese Chinese
Rating: Pretty decent Cantonese
As part of the traditional ThanksGavin progression of meals we go out on Wednesday before Thanksgiving and this year we returned to China Gourmet, which we’d visited on Friday night the year before.
Cantonese banquet hall — Philly style.
Fairly typical interior that is pretty much straight out of the SGV. It sure was quiet on this wed night.
The menu. Clearly they do a lot of takeout.
Peanuts on the table.
Vegetarian Spring Rolls. Nice and crispy.
Hot and Sour Soup. Not a bad version with a good texture. A bit goopy (corn starch). Could have used slightly more white pepper and black vinegar. They had red vinegar on the table but that was too sweet.
Shrimp with lobster sauce. The goopy lobster sauce was actually pretty tasty and the shrimp texture was great. There weren’t ENOUGH shrimp, but hey.
Lobster with ginger and scallion. This was two tiny lobsters. The meat was succulent and the sauce very silky so a nice version of the wet lobster type.
Whole flounder steamed with soy and scallions. Very light moist fish with lots of meat. Quite nice.
See all that meat?
“Peking duck.” Cantonese Roast Duck with the buns but still quite nice (and quite fatty). Not that crispy but delicious.
Stir-fried snow pea leaves with garlic. Very solid garlic green.
Steamed broccoli.
Stir fried mushrooms with tofu and snap peas. The tofu was delectably soft and the veggies firm and delicious. Very nice dish.
Sliced Pork with Okra. I haven’t had this exact combo but this was a very nice pork dish with tender and flavorful meat and crunchy veggies.
Cumin lamb. This certainly wan’t the typical cumin lamb — in fact I could barely taste any cumin. The meat was very tender with some good “moutony” flavor.
Plain Lo Mein.
Veggie Fried Rice. A bit too charred for my taste.
Fruit.
Really a pretty good place, on par with a medium level SGV Cantonese. Not the best ever, but not Chinese American either (at least the way I ordered). Everyone enjoyed it too so my “something for everyone” ordering seemed to have worked out.
For more LA dining reviews click here.
To see more ThanksGavin meals check here.
