Remember when you were a kid at the table on Thanksgiving Day and you just let the cranberry sauce platter keep passing you by (that gelatinous stuff that sliced like beet colored congealed gravy and wiggled)?
Things have changed-now YOU’RE the adult who cooks Thanksgiving Dinner or at least contributes to it. You can make any kind of turkey sauce you want! Wait for it: It doesn’t even have to be cranberry. It’s true.
Fruit and Meat. They are 2 wonderful food items that really do great things for each other. I didn’t know this as a kid-but as a wine drinking adult who loves to concoct new and better twists on old classics in order to pair them with well….. more wines..I’ve seen the light! For instance, I soak my favorite Turkish Chicken in dried fruit and water overnight, I make apple compote for my pork loin, and I even use marmalade or jam on certain duck dishes. As mentioned in preceding blogs-fruity meat items are often incredibly good with pinot. If they are heavier meats-they can also be amazing with the right Syrah (and yes-ours is the right kind of Syrah).
Maggie-one of our blog followers, mentioned in an earlier post a delicious sounding tangerine cranberry sauce with port. I’m sold-but the question is: which one do I make this year? Will everyone like it?
What are your favorite twists on the old classics? Are your efforts to improve mediocre (and just plain bad sometimes lets be honest) holiday foods unanimously applauded or simply subjected to the suspicious and squinchy eyed inspection by the old school family members who ask ‘why you can’t just be normal for godsake and go open up a can of the real stuff already……? ‘
{ 3 comments… read them below or add one }
and how did your dinner turn out?
M-
Great! I started off the morning with some sparkling gewurtzraminer mimosas while my boyfriend and I waited and basted, waited and basted, waited and basted…….
Then-I baked a healthy hot spinach and artichoke dip with veggies and crostini dippers for a starter and opted for a cranberry-orange sauce with ginger for the turkey. The ginger added a little kick! I did one red wine and one white wine gravy to suit everyone no matter what was in their glass. We all really enjoyed the Michel-Schlumberger Chardonnay and Pinot Noir with dinner. It’s back to the gym this week of course-
How was your husband’s wine pairing extravaganza? Any favorite new vino you tried for the first time this holiday?
B -
It was again interesting. Good thing he rented glassware, I think each guest had 9 glasses infront of them! Your Syrah went very well with my fruit and nut savory stuffing, as well as with the roasted turnip and squash dish (which was a pleasant surprise! I didn’t think anything would pair well, although the dish is delishious) I believe (although I’m not sure the bottle made it’s way to me – your Chardonnay was a big hit with the butternut squash & apple soup with cranberries. Both were very wonderful, and will make it onto next years table.
I think the (biggest surprise) wine of the holiday was a Georgian wine, (Teliani Valley) Kindzmarauli, and of course you can’t forget bubbles & Billecart-Salmon’s Brut never disappoints. Also it was our first year being Pinot Noir free, since neither of us our big fans.
One thing we do, is honor our family members who are elderly or passed and no longer with us, so there is always a small glass of manishevitz infront of each person I’ll take any food pairing ideas one may have on how to make that less painful to get down – this year I used the knock it back like a shot method.
(Ps – if you cook the bird breast side down in a little sodium free broth, with some apples, celery, onions and spices, you don’t have to baste it but once, which leaves more time for other things with your boyfriend *wink*)