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Cooking Thanksgiving Dinner in My Tiny Parisian Apartment
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Cooking Thanksgiving Dinner in My Tiny Parisian Apartment

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• Since moving to Paris, one of my favorite traditions has been sharing what I grew up eating every Thanksgiving — with a little French twist, of course. 🥰🇫🇷
And this year we had five guests, so my tiny kitchen and I had quite the feast to prepare!

My Paris kitchen may be small, but she is mighty, and I’m endlessly grateful for her. ❤️ This year’s simple-but-special menu was:
• Chicken en croûte with homemade rough-puff pastry
recipe – https://youtu.be/sfg1rTE8J-Y?si=6hvR_4qVztsO0muq
•Honey-glazed carrots
•Aligot (the dreamiest cheesiest mashed potatoes)
•Kabocha & butternut tart with toasted meringue
dough recipe – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lim8jVjpOYs&t=11s

All recipes are in my pinned comment!

It was cozy, a little chaotic, and full of all the warm fall feelings — the kind of Thanksgiving I hope makes you feel right at home, wherever you are.

🎥✂️ A huge merci to Chloé Finch (@chloevfinch) for filming AND editing this video and being one of our lovely guests! She brought this tiny-kitchen Thanksgiving to life so beautifully.✨ Check out her work → https://www.chloevfinch.com/

If you make any of these recipes, tag me on Instagram @ainsleydurose — I’d love to see your creations!

🛍 Links & Mentions
→ Shop my outfits: https://shopmy.us/shop/ainsleydurose?Section_id=337424&tab=collections

→ Shop my apartment: https://shopmy.us/shop/ainsleydurose?Section_id=337425&tab=collections

→ Baking tools, cookware & kitchen favorites: https://www.amazon.com/shop/ainsleydurose

→ All other links: https://linktr.ee/ainsleydurose

🎥 Watch next:

• My Paris Apartment Tour →   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A1V2sIq5yeo&t=6s
• Honest Q&A: Moving to Paris, Le Cordon Bleu etc → https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7lwNxTCNa-0&t=2s
• How to Make a Pear & Almond Tart → https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lim8jVjpOYs
• How to Make a Tarte Tatin   → https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sfg1rTE8J-Y

Follow along:
Instagram → @ainsleydurose
TikTok → @ainsleydurose
My café → @caferevelotion

For collaborations or inquiries → ainsleydurose@gmail.com

Music: “Piano Jazz” by PulseBox
Licensed via Pixabay Content License
Track: https://pixabay.com/music/traditional-jazz-the-jazz-piano-143632/

#Thanksgiving #ParisVlog #TinyKitchen #CozyVlog #CookingVlog #ParisLife #FallRecipes #FrenchCooking

50 Comments

  1. @ainsleydurose

    Recipes below !All tools are linked here – https://amzn.to/4pDoa2n

    Timetable:
    1. Make rough puff pastry
    2. Make tart crust and prefake crust
    3. Make pie filling and bake and decorate with meringue or whipped cream and leave in fridge till serving.
    4. Bake chicken and leave to cool completely (can be done the day before and left in the fridge)
    5. Boil potatoes and peel carrots.
    6. Add pastry to chicken and bake.
    7. Make the carrots.
    8. Finish the alight (has to be made last because it has to be served hot or less it doesn’t stretch as the cheese starts to cool)

    1.Chicken en croute

    Rough puff pastry recipe https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sfg1rTE8J-Y
    (Make the day before and roll out to 3mm thick and leave in fridge till chicken is ready)

    * Chicken: 1.5 kg
    * Seasoning: butter, olive oil, salt, black pepper
    * Herbs: dried + fresh (thyme, rosemary, parsley, or whatever you like)
    * Inside chicken: half a lemon + herbs
    Instructions
    1. Preheat oven to 200°C (400°F).
    2. Rub chicken generously with butter, oil, salt, pepper, and herbs.
    3. Add lemon + herbs inside the cavity.
    4. Roast for 1 hour 10–15 minutes until just cooked and skin is golden.
    5. Baste once halfway through, then every 20 minutes until done.
    6. Let rest and cool fully — IMPORTANT so the pastry doesn’t melt.

    Once baked, let it cool completely, then add puff pastry and cover. Add egg wash then add decorations as you like. Bake in a preheated oven at 200°C (400°F) till golden brown, usually 20–30 minutes, depending on your oven.
    Let rest 10 minutes before cutting.

    *Because the chicken is already cooked, the second bake is mainly for crisping pastry. You don’t want to overcook the chicken inside, so bake only until pastry browns!

    2.Aligot (No Ricer, No Food Mill Method— Just with a Sieve Method!)

    Ingredients
    * 1 kg floury potatoes
    * 400–500 g Tome fraîche (thinly chopped or grated)
    * If substituting: 50% low-moisture mozzarella + 50% young mild cheddar or Cantal
    * 200 ml whole milk
    * 2–3 garlic cloves
    * 100 g butter
    * Salt and pepper

    Instructions
    1. Cook the potatoes
    * Peel and boil in salted water until fully soft — they should break apart very easily when poked. Drain well.
    2. Make garlic-infused milk
    * In a small pot, gently heat the milk with the garlic until hot (not boiling).
    * Keep warm on low heat.
    3. Mash the potatoes by hand
    * While still hot, mash the potatoes with a hand masher until fairly smooth.
    * Don’t worry if tiny lumps remain — the sieve will fix this.
    4. Pass the potatoes through a sieve
    (Your key step since you don’t have a ricer/mill)
    * Place a fine-mesh sieve over your warm pot.
    * Using a spatula, press the mashed potatoes through the sieve.
    * Take your time — this makes them silky and ricer-smooth.
    5. Add the butter
    * Return the sieved potatoes to low heat.
    * Stir in the butter until melted and absorbed.
    6. Add the hot garlic milk
    * Slowly pour in the warm milk while stirring until creamy but still thick.
    7. Incorporate the cheese
    * Add the Tome (or substitute cheese mix) in 3–4 additions on medium heat, stirring vigorously with a wooden spoon or stiff spatula.
    * Use long, pulling motions — this develops the stretch.
    * Keep stirring until the aligot becomes shiny, elastic, and forms long ribbons when lifted.
    8. Season & serve hot
    * Add salt and white pepper to taste.
    * Serve immediately while molten and stretchy.

    Tips for success with your setup
    * Keeping everything hot but not boiling is essential.
    * Add cheese gradually so it melts smoothly.
    * If it feels too stiff, add a splash more hot milk.
    * If it feels too loose, keep stirring over low heat — it will tighten and stretch.

    3.Carrots
    -peeled small carrots
    -2 tbsp butter
    -2 tbsp honey
    -splash or so of water
    -salt and pepper and fresh herbs like thyme

    Melt butter with honey and add water, bring to a boil and add carrots with herbs and salt. Cover with lid and cook on medium till carrots are cooked through. Remove lid and cook over medium high heat till carrots are caramelized. Sprinkle over with fresh chives or parsley.

    4.Kabocha Butternut Tart with Toasted Meringue (9inch pan)

    Tart crust recipe – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lim8jVjpOYs&t=11s
    I prep bake the crust till nice and golden brown.

    Filling
    -1 kabocha
    -half of a butternut
    Cut, and deseed squashes and cover in foil. Bake in a preheat oven at 180C/350F oven till a fork is easily able to go through flesh. Let cool.

    Remove the flesh from the skin, and blend together. You only need about 315 grams of blended squash.

    -1 egg and 1 yolk
    -75 grams brown sugar
    -175 grams heavy cream
    -60 grams sweetened condensed milk
    -1 tbsp of melted butter or 20 grams
    -2 grams salt
    -splash of vanilla
    -2-3 grams cinnamon
    -2-3 grams ginger
    -pinch of nutmeg – 1 gram
    -1 grams of allspice

    Mix together everything except egg. I like to do this so I can taste the batter to check if I want to add more spices or not. Then mix in the eggs. Pour through a sieve into a cooled prebaked crust. Place in a preheated oven at 180C/350F for about 30 -35 minutes (more or less depends on your oven) just until the filling sets, sides have puffed up, but a slight wobble remains. Let it cool completely before adding meringue .

    Meringue
    70 grams egg white
    105 grams sugar

    Whisk in a bowl over a bain marie until the sugar has completely dissolved and the mixture it hot to the touch or it should be about 70-75C. Then take off and whisk on high till stiff peaks. Place in a piping bag with star tip and decorate as you wish!

    Bon appetit and voila!

  3. @Tatochka70

    I knew right away it’s Paris as soon as I saw her kitchen.
    We stayed in Paris in residential area just outside of the city., and we had same tiny kitchen. 😊

  6. @jewelzy09

    @ainsleydurose, how do you serve everything warm??

    Love your channel – really appreciating the level of skill and planning necessary to do this.

  10. @KathiChapin

    I love kabocha squash. Thank you for sharing your baking techniques. ♥️ Everything is simply lovely & looks delicious.

  12. @sarah-phillips

    Okay I need those potatoes. Thank you for sharing your feast! I was inspired to make a pumpkin pie tonight based off your recipe.

  14. @g-bgcg

    Your dinner looked amazing and delicious. I will have to try a Kabota pumpkin/squash for a pie. Thank you for sharing your Thanksgiving with us.
    Happy post Thanksgiving. 🦃🦃🦃

  18. @katerisdimitris8146

    je viens de vous decouvrir avec grand plaisir , je vous souhaite beaucoup de bonheur , une caresse a votre petit chien. Pensees depuis la Grece.

  21. @kennethmarburger9747

    Beautiful everything. The apartment, the dog, the food. It does something to U mood. The flea markets, cheese,meat, bread shop where U can buy wine r charming. Why couldn't we live like that. I especially love how the dog can go anywhere. Wish I was as organized in the kitchen as her.

  23. @eugeniedumas

    I really like your videos. I'm not un good cooker and I would like to know how to cook so many things and keep them hot, before to eat them ?

  26. @carriem2537

    Fantastic video! It was really cool to see a French twist on the traditional Thanksgiving dinner, and your chicken was gorgeous!

  29. @ЛюбовьНарциссова

    Боже мой, как это красиво и эстетично! Просто удовольствие смотреть вас! Я представляю, как это вкусно! Вы волшебница!

  36. @lucyniehaus7205

    Lovely video presentation!!
    Thank You for sharing this.
    I think I can smell the wonderful aromas coming from that small kitchen in Paris all the way here in the States!
    Merci. 🥰

  41. @crweber3408

    Thanks for this. I always learn a lot watching your videos. It never even crossed my mind to serve a bird en croute like that. That looks wonderful the way you did that. And I've got to try the aligot as well. I hardly ever use pumpkin for pumpkin pie either, but haven't tried kabocha yet. I will try it like you did. This is not the first time I've thought that one big difference between your baking and mine is that you are perfect when piping something out, and mine looks like the pastry bag exploded. Oh, and also, thanks for telling us what your secret ingredient is, I just saw below that it was from your mom. That's great. lol.

  44. @JenShea

    Oh, I came over from the Instagram video… hoping to learn about the macaroni recipe. Do you have it somewhere? It looked divine. Merci!

  45. @LisaAnnVanEs

    Ahhhh Paris !!
    Enjoy following your shorts , love the area you are in and around .
    You've made a beautiful spot for your family .
    Your little pup is precious .
    You bake with such care to your ingredients and the process .
    Happy Holidays to you and yours from the Hoosier State 🌲❄️

  48. @sharonbarrett5709

    Just discovered you about 30mins ago and you are a joy to watch. I know I’ll be binge watching your videos. 👏🏾👏🏾👏🏾👏🏾❤🤗

  49. @edithliptak5988

    You are a beautiful lady ! a brilliant pastry chef !!!! a wonderful wife !!!!! a talented artist !!!!!!! You deserve that all your dream will come true!!!!!!! ❤❤❤❤

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