Giada at Home (2008–…): Season 1, Episode 6 - A Family Thanksgiving - full transcript

- Wow.
- Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday.

Does it look good.
Yeah.

I love the food,
the tradition

and just hanging out
with my family.
Is anybody ready for dessert?

And every year, a few
of us get together

and play a game of bocce ball
on the beach.

It's sort of the Italian
version of bowling...

I'm gonna head on out
and start cooking.

But it gets pretty competitive,

so I like to escape early
and start cooking.

This year I've come up
with a menu



that won't take me
all day to make.

The star, of course,
is my spiced turkey breast--

succulent and tender,
with a spicy crust

that's loaded with
texture and flavor.

And to that, my sweet
and savory bread pudding--

a family favorite
that really hits the spot.

And for dessert,
poached pears in honey,

ginger and cinnamon syrup.

It's a sweet and elegant finish
to the holiday.

But my family's not completely
off the hook.

I've asked everyone to bring
a little something

to fill out the table. It just
makes the holiday more fun.

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Ohh!
And I get the point.

So the competition
was getting fierce out there,

so I had to retreat
to the kitchen.

You know, every year
i like to do something

a little untraditional,
and I thought it'd be really fun

to do a nice spice rub,
actually, on the turkey.

So I'm gonna start
with two cloves of garlic.

And my whole family,
pretty much,

only eats white-meat turkey.
So I figured,

what was the point
of cooking a whole turkey

when nobody really
eats the dark meat?

So I figured, you know what?
I'm only gonna do

a turkey breast this year.
Make it easy on myself,

get to hang out, play a little
bocce on the beach

and hang out with my family
a little bit more

by just making a turkey breast.

So we're gonna start
with two cloves of garlic.

And let's grab some spices.

So I'm gonna do some oregano,

some chili powder, cumin

and allspice.

We'll do all four of those.

And I want to get

the measurements just right,

so we're gonna start
with 2 teaspoons of cumin.

And it's nice
and warm and spicy,

and it'll be really good
on the turkey.

And we'll do

1 teaspoon of allspice...

And 1 tablespoon

of oregano,

right in there.
The oregano is really nice.

It's still in that warm family.

It's hearty, so it works really
well with the other spices.

And 2 teaspoons of chili powder,

'cause we're gonna give it
a nice warm kick.

Already they smell really good.

Nice and warm--what you want
the holidays to smell like.

We need a little mustard,

we need brown sugar,

and I need some chicken stock,

which I'll use in a minute.

So we'll start
with the brown sugar,

and I need a tablespoon.
A little sweetness,

and that little bit
of molasses flavor, too,

which I really like,
and a 1/4 of a cup of mustard.

And I like to use
the ground mustard

'cause I like the seeds in it.
It gives a nice texture

on top of the bird.

And mix this all together.

Here we go. Now we need
a little bit of moisture,

so we're gonna add
a teaspoon of olive oil.

And that should
just about do it.

Mix it all together.

It smells really good.
The wine in the grain mustard

gives it so much flavor.

All right, so now
let's grab the turkey.

So the deal with the turkey--

I basically bought
a 4 1/2-, 5-pound turkey breast.

And what I want to do
is just put the rub right on it

and use my hands

and just kind of massage it out

and create a nice crust.

And then it kind of
just mixes in,

and I just put a little bit
under the skin in the back, too,

just so it kind of gets
right onto the white meat.

All right, so there we're done.
I'm gonna wash my hands.

Hands washed.
Let's get the veggies.

I'm gonna grab some cipollini
onions and some carrots,

which I think will work
really nice with the turkey.

We're also gonna grab
some parsnips

and some butternut squash,

which I'll keep
to use in a minute

for my sweet and savory
bread pudding.

Right now I just
need the carrots.

Get rid of those.

The cipollini onions,
i basically just peel them

like you would any onion.

And, you know, if you don't
want to do cipollini onions

or you can't find the cipollini
onions, it's no biggie.

You can just use pearl onions,
if you want to,

or a regular onion
and just cut it up.

We'll save that
and use that in a bit.

And I take my carrots
and I just cut them in chunks,

just like this.
I just toss 'em right in there.

It adds a nice color, too.
Flavor and color.

All right, so we got all that.

Now we need a little bit
of chicken broth,

about 2 cups of chicken broth
to keep the turkey

nice and moist through
the cooking process.

So we're gonna cook it
at 350 degrees for 45 minutes,

just like this, to get
a nice crust going

on the top of the turkey.
Then I'm gonna cover it

with a little bit of tin foil
and cook it again

for another 45 minutes.

There we go. Let's pop
this in the oven.

Bye-bye, turkey.

All right, so now that
the turkey is in the oven,

I'm gonna get started
on the veggies

for my bread pudding.

It's a sweet and savory
bread pudding,

and I'm gonna use two things
that I like a lot,

butternut squash and parsnips.

So what I want to do is just

add the butternut squash
right in there.

Now during Thanksgiving time,

you can find peeled
and cut butternut squash,

and I think it's the best thing
in the whole world.

So I don't have to worry
about it, and again,

it makes making a Thanksgiving
meal a lot easier.

So a little salt,
a little pepper.

And I like to get a head start
on it, 'cause it needs

about five minutes or so
to sort of start to soften,

'cause it's not gonna cook all
the way through in the oven

if you don't start cooking it
a little bit ahead of time.

And to the butternut squash,
I'm gonna add some parsnips.

And so they're kind of
like potatoes

in the starch department,
but they look and sort of

have the same taste as carrots.

So I really like 'em.

We'll add the parsnips.

Everything should be
about the same size

so it all cooks
at the same time.

So now I take all the parsnips--
and they smell really good,

sweet--

and a little salt

and a little more pepper,
just to flavor them.

So we'll cook these down
for about five minutes.

And up next, I'm gonna start
on the yummiest, most rich part

of my bread pudding,
a delicious cream sauce

that turns this dish
into true comfort food.

Bocce ball on the beach
is a Thanksgiving tradition

in my family,

and while they play,
i cook some family favorites.

Is giada making the bread
pudding this year?

Always.
Awesome.

So my butternut squash
and parsnips have been cooking

for five minutes,
so they're nice and soft.

Just turn off the heat
and let it cool,

while I start on my challah
bread for this bread pudding.

It's gonna be so good.
And I love using challah

'cause it's so rich and buttery,
so it really add a lot of flavor

and texture and that yummy-ness
to the bread pudding.

And I know someone in my family,

my brother Igor, who's gonna
be very excited about this.

I don't make it every year.
So I kind of switch it up,

you know, and make different
things every year, but I know

he loves this, so he's gonna be
very excited about it.

And I'm just gonna cut it
in about 1-inch cubes.

If you can't find challah bread,
you can always use brioche

or sourdough bread
or even just sliced white bread.

No biggie.

All right, so time
for the custard.

Let's grab eggs, cream
and Brandy.

We need eight eggs
to make this nice and rich.

All right, last egg.

All righty, so now I'm just
gonna break up my egg yolks,

give it a quick little whisk.

So now time for a little cream.

Grab my measuring cup.

We're gonna need
3 cups of heavy cream.

Now you can't
cut corners with this.

It's gotta be the rich cream.

It just gives the bread pudding

a whole different flavor.

3 cups of heavy cream.

And it's Thanksgiving,
so you gotta go all out,

you just do.
A little bit of Brandy,

about 3/4 of a cup of Brandy.

And I want each dish to kind of
stand out on its own,

and the Brandy makes it special,
and it makes it very festive

and very holiday-like.

And a 1/4 cup

of vegetable oil.

And you need a little
vegetable oil just to kind of

keep everything nice and moist.

So we're done with that.

Now just give it
a quick little mix,

and we're gonna add

some brown sugar,

3 tablespoons of brown sugar.

You want that nice sweetness of
the brown sugar right in there.

Two and three.

We're done with that.

Get rid of those.

Give it a quick little whisk.

And now,

to really make
it holiday flavored

and a wonderful aroma
to everything,

some ground cinnamon,

2 tablespoons
of ground cinnamon.

And I love cinnamon.

It's very Thanksgiving-ish.

And I know it sounds like a lot,
but really and truly

it goes so well with
the butternut squash

and the parsnip.
It's super yummy.

So we're just gonna give this
a quick little mix.

I love the smell of cinnamon.

Just mix that all together.

And a little bit of thyme,
just a few leaves of thyme.

It's really just for
a little bit of color

and some fresh flavor.
And it's nice and hearty,

so I think it's very much part
of the Thanksgiving flavors.

It smells nice and lemony,
and a little bit goes a long way

with the thyme,
so just need a little bit.

All right,
so now take the bread,

and we just pour the custard

right over the bread.

Ooh, nice. Get it all in there.

There we go.

And then I just kind of
toss it all together.

Grab the spoons,

and the bread slowly
absorbs the custard.

And you
want to be really gentle,

because I want to have it
nice and chunky.

I mean, that's what, to me,
bread pudding is all about,

the nice big chunks of bread.

And want to add...

The parsnip and the butternut
squash that's cooled.

And again, give it
a quick little toss,

just to make sure that
all the veggies

get mixed into the custard.

Oh, my goodness.
They're all gonna love this.

It's gonna be so good.

So now I grab my baking dish,

and I've already
buttered the dish.

And put that in there,
and pour the whole mixture

into the baking pan.
There we go.

And I put the baking pan
on top of a baking sheet.

That way if anything drips
in the oven while it's baking,

this catches it, and my oven is
nice and clean. Spread it out.

We're gonna bake this at 400
degrees for 40 to 45 minutes,

until the top is nice
and golden brown.

Then there's always room
for dessert,

and my poached pears
add a touch of elegance.

Bocce ball on the beach

is a Thanksgiving tradition
in my family.

So while the competition
heats up, I cook some
family favorites.

I love poached pears,
and I thought it'd be

a really nice way to end
the Thanksgiving meal

and make it really elegant.

So I'm just gonna finish peeling
the rest of my pears here.

Last one. And I cored
all of them.

So we're gonna put
the pears back here,

and I'm gonna get started
on my poaching liquid.

So I'm just gonna grab my pan,

and let's go grab
some dessert wine.

So I've got some Moscato.

Now Moscato is an Italian
dessert wine, which I just love.

It's very refreshing,
and it's slightly sweet.

It tastes so yummy.

So we're gonna mix it
with a few other things,

one of them being honey.
There we go.

Leave that there,
and we're gonna use--

ohh. It has this
beautiful aroma--

this whole bottle
of Moscato wine.

It's kind of a traditional
poaching liquid,

except I'm gonna add one
untraditional ingredient

right at the end to it.

But I love doing it with this.

It just makes it
so fruity and festive.

Okay, so now
that we've got that,

I'm gonna grab honey,
'cause it's slightly sweetened
with honey,

so it'll
be good with honey,

some cinnamon sticks
and some vanilla bean.

Now because the Moscato
has little hints of honey,

I thought it'd be really nice to
add a little more honey to it.

2 tablespoons, so I just
squeeze it in there.

Yummy.

And two cinnamon sticks.

And I just drop them in there,
and as it simmers

for about 15 or 20 minutes,
all the powdered cinnamon

comes out into
the poaching liquid.

And in cooking school and when
i worked in restaurants,

we used a lot of
poaching liquids, and we made

all different ones, but this
was one of my favorites.

So I take the vanilla bean,

and I just cut it in half,

just so the seeds
from the inside

can come off into
the poaching liquid.

Just like that.
So as it simmers,

in slowly infuses in there.

And for something special,

the ginger. Now the ginger
is a little bit different,

and I really like it in here.

Again, it's that warmth
without adding spice, you know?

It works so well.

So I just want to peel
all of the skin off of it,

and then I just chop it.

So there, and then
some simple syrup.

And it's just 2 cups of sugar
and 2 cups of water.

I dissolve the sugar
in the water.

All right, so now I just want
to give it a quick little stir.

There we go.
And turn on the heat.

I just want to kind of move
the honey around,

'cause I want the honey to melt
into the poaching liquid.

So grab the pears,

and take the pears--

I take 'em by the stem--that's
why I like leaving the stem--

and I just gently place them
in the poaching liquid.

Just want to be gentle
with them.

There we go. And then you
just bring the poaching liquid

up to a boil
and then down to a simmer,

and let the pears simmer
for about 15 or 20 minutes

until they're nice and tender.

While these cook, I'm gonna go
set up the Thanksgiving table.

I like to keep it casual,
but elegant.

Place mats in
a warm seasonal tone,

white dishes to
really showcase the food

and simple stemware
for an uncluttered look.

A couple of candles
to add sparkle,

but low and simple
so there's lots of room left

on the table
for big platters of food.

So the table's set,

and I can smell the pears.
Ooh, they look beautiful.

All right, time
to take the pears out.

And what I do is I let
the poaching liquid reduce down

for another 15 minutes
so it's nice and thick,

and then I can serve it
with the pears.

And I can smell the turkey, too.

So next, my turkey gets
the finishing touch,

a quick and easy gravy
to top off the holiday.

In my family, it wouldn't
be Thanksgiving without a game

of bocce ball on the beach,
and while they play,

I put the finishing touches
on our holiday dinner.

Dinnertime! I hear
the dinner bell.
Dinnertime.

Hopefully, everybody's
done playing bocce,

because dinner
is just about ready.

And I know they're gonna
be starving when they get here,

so I gotta hurry this up.

Look how pretty this looks.

Everybody's bringing a little
something, so we're gonna

have some cranberry sauce,
some cornbread.

Okay, so now

I'm gonna grab

this hot baking dish,

and now what I want to do

is pour the remainder

of all of the cooking juice

in here to make gravy.

So pour it all in there.

Ohh. Yummy, yummy, yummy.

Get rid of this.

And we're gonna add
a little bit of flour to this.

So we'll grab a whisk,
and what I want to do

is slowly add the flour.

So let's turn on the stove.

We're gonna add
2 tablespoons of flour.

You kind of want
to add the flour

and then quickly start whisking,

so that way, you can kind of
dissolve the flour

into the cooking liquid.

And the flour will thicken this

and create a really
delicious gravy.

And it's gonna take about
five minutes to thicken up.

And we are ready to sit down
to our Thanksgiving feast.

- Hey.
- Hey, you guys.

happy Thanksgiving.
Hi, juju.
How are you, buddy?

Hi, guys. Mwah, mwah.
Hey.

Ooh, you brought stuff.
Hello, happy
Thanksgiving.

You brought
something, too.
For you. Of course.

Do I ever come
empty-handed? Come on.

Give me a break.
All right, you
and Todd sit down,

you guys come with me.
Come on back here. Help me out.

Hi, baby. Hi, baby.

All right, I'm gonna
bring the bread pudding out.

Igor, this is
your favorite thing ever.

This looks so good.
Ooh. That
looks so yummy.

Look at this.

All right you guys,
who wants some wine?

I do.
Okay, some white wine.

Is that too big
of a glass for you.
No.

Does it look good?
Looks great.

How is she doing, honey?
Do you want me

to hold her for a bit?
Why don't you serve yourself,

and I'll hold the little
munchkie. The little munchkie.

Hi, little munchkin.

- Go ahead, start.
- Juju, you hungry, honey?

- A little.
- For you, buddy.

Thank you.
Here we go.

Here, giada.
Thank you. How was
your game, you guys?

Who won by the way?
'Cause I heard stories.
Very--

no, no, no.
It was very close...
I did.

- But he won.
- Todd won.

It's 'cause I beat him
the last time.
We let Todd win.

You let
Todd win?
I have more
practice.

Giada, what's on the
outside? This looks really good.

There's a crust on the outside.
It's a spice crust.

Allspice and cumin,
a little garlic...
Mmm.

Oregano. All good stuff.

You know what?
I'm gonna go put her to bed.

I'll be right back.
You guys continue eating.

- Say good night. Good night.
- Good night.

Good night, baby.
She's gonna
go to bed.

She's going to
go to sleep.

Not me.
Not you, no you're a big boy.

Only jade is going to sleep.
Not you, honey.

I'll be right back.

- Here you go.
- Thank you.

Yummy, yummy.
Oh, these veggies are so good.

Are they good?
Mm-hmm.

Julian, what are
you doing, buddy?

- Are you done eating all these?
- Nice.

Mm-hmm.
Okay.

Ooh. Bread
pudding's good.

Mmm. That is so good.

Is that everything
you've been waiting for?
All day.

For the last 24 hours.
Every minute.

All right, so is anybody
ready for dessert?
I am.

- I know somebody over there is.
- Mm-hmm.

Julian, do you want
some ice cream?

- Yeah!
- Yeah!

Ice cream.

Look at this. Is that
a pear? I love pears.

Look what I got for you!
Oh, a big boy one.

All right.
So ice cream for everybody.

Fantastic.
Yummy.

And these are
poached pears, you guys.
Mmm.

I thought it was an elegant
way to end the holiday.
Mmm. Very sophisticated.

Look. Ice cream.
Is it yummy,
yummy?

Well, thanks
for coming over, guys.

Oh, thank you.
happy Thanksgiving.

Thanks for
coming over.
happy Thanksgiving.

- This is so good.
- Thank you.