Let’s review, shall we?
Thanksgiving 2009
Thanksgiving has long been called by Ro and I our favorite holiday. I qualify it as such with mixed emotions in that there are elements of preparation, e.g., the vegetable chop, which I embrace with a modicum of enthusiasm. Thanksgiving is a MAJOR production in our household, something we plan for weeks in advance. It can be taxing, if not exhausting, to put it all together but it has always been worth the (substantial) effort. It’s a big deal because we go all out. And I think anyone out there who is a dedicated foodie knows what I’m talking about. Thanksgiving represents the ultimate opportunity to express your culinary inclinations. Pushing it to the limit is almost encouraged by the scale of food produced. I made a tarte-tatin for dessert with 5 different apples and 4 different pears. Rochonne’s Brussels sprout hash not only forever improved my perception of the sprouts, their crunchy al dente leaves were a superb palate cleanser, of great value given the likes of a four potato gratin, macaroni and cheddar, and rye bread dressing on the plate. That said, Ro and I dialed the menu down a bit relative to 2008. After all, it was just the five of us, for the first time that we could remember. Ro graciously conceded the cranberry sauce to me after years of our friendly competition. She liked the Cointreau-and fresh orange juice-spiked version I came up with. Here is what occupied our place setting for five on a beautiful clear and cool Thanksgiving evening in the Desert:
THANKSGIVING DINNER CELEBRATION
NOVEMBER 26, 2009
THE CAMERON AND ROCHONNE SIMMONS FAMILY
CAMERON – ROCHONNE – ALEXANDRA – FRANCESCA – CHANDLER
THE SIMMONS FAMILY RESIDENCE
GILBERT, ARIZONA
First Course
Sonoran Crab Corn Chowder
Parmesan Sausage Blankets
Second Course
Caramelized Bosc Pear Salad
With Butter Lettuce, Walnuts and Cranberry Blue Cheese
Wine and Beverage
Canadian Whiskey and Ginger Ale Cocktails
NV Piper Sonoma Blanc de Blanc Sparkling Wine, Sonoma County
Spiced Apple Cider
Main Course
Dry-Brined Cedar-Planked Fresh Hen Turkey
Honey Glazed Ham
Four Potato Gratin with Smoked Sharp Cheddar and Monterey Jack
Candied Whipped Sweet Potatoes
Rye Bread Dressing
Macaroni and Cheddar
Mixed Greens with Ham
Brussels Sprout Hash
Yukon Gold Mashed Potatoes
Roast Garlic and Shitake Gravy
Cranberry Sauce Cointreau
Main Course Wines and Beverages
2007 Clos du Bois Sonoma Reserve
Russian River Valley Chardonnay
2007 Kenwood Vineyards
Russian River Valley Pinot Noir
Martinelli Sparkling Apple Juice
Evian Water
Perrier Sparkling Water
Desserts
Fall Orchard Medley Tarte-Tatin
featuring Golden Delicious, Fuji, Gala, Pink Lady, Jonagold Apples,
Bosc, Green D’Anjou, Bartlett, Red D’Anjou Pears
Rum Raisin Walnut Spice Cake
Coconut Buttermilk Pie
Pumpkin Pie with Pecan Streusel
Vanilla Bean Ice Cream and Fresh Whipped Cream
Dessert Wine
2005 Seigneurs de Monbazillac
Monbazillac, France
I dry-brined the turkey as I did last year. I prefer this method to wet-brining because its technique is simpler to manage. You merely coat the turkey with kosher salt. I use about 1 ½ tablespoons per pound. The trick is you need to do it at least 3 days in advance of cooking for the moisturization cycle to complete, whereby the salt pulls fluid from the turkey, which is then reabsorbed. Dry-brining helps the turkey stay moist, which is particularly valuable for the breast meat. I have not given up on wet-brining – whole turkey immersion in a salt water bath – in that I like how is “kosherizes” the fowl. You can see a lot of impurities, blood and the like, in the water you remove the bird from. After roasting I put it breast down on a cedar plank and smoked it over coals, then brushed it with a honey butter glaze.
Post-dinner Ro and I talk about the stars of the dinner. I thought everything shined as always but I particularly recall the rye bread dressing (first time I made the dressing with rye bread), the salad, the Piper Sonoma, the turkey and ham, the gratin, sweet potatoes, etc., etc., etc. Ro’s coconut buttermilk pie was delicious.
A note on wine and beverage. Ro and I chose Canadian whiskey and ginger ale for our cocktails this year. It was a drink we enjoyed during the fall season leading up to the holiday and we decided to feature it before the meal. The Piper Sonoma Blanc de Blanc sparkling wine, primarily made with chardonnay from, in my opinion, America’s best sparkling wine appellation, added an elegant touch to the salad and appetizer plates. For the main course wines, I went for the classic Burgundian pairing – as I often do on Thanksgiving - of chardonnay and pinot noir. Sourced from the Russian River Valley, I chose the Clos du Bois Reserve Chardonnay and Kenwood Vineyards Pinot Noir, both from the highly-regarded Sonoma 2007 vintage. Go for premium water on Thanksgiving. I’ve long loved the French Alpine essence of Evian and it was nicely chilled and refreshing. The Monbazillac is Sauterne-like. I love well-chilled late harvest desert wines, whether they be the white Bordeaux sauvignon blanc-Semillon blend, Riesling, or viognier. The white Bordeaux Monbazillac paired exceptionally well with the candied apples and pears of the tarte-tatin.
Christmas 2009
Christmas Breakfast
Mimosas and Orange Juice
Yoplait Fruit Parfaits
Cajun Fried Catfish
Buttered Cheesy Grits
Scrambled Eggs
Hash browns
Bacon
Biscuits
Cinnamon Buns
Christmas dinner is less intense than Thanksgiving. It allows Ro and I to focus on elegance and refined execution and gives us an opportunity to maybe do something a bit different than we did for the great November holiday. I made what I call “Turducken and One” – the brilliant Paul Prudhomme’s masterpiece of a stuffed boned chicken inside of a stuffed boned duck inside of a stuffed boned turkey, that I went one better by putting a stuffed boned cornish game hen in the chicken – for Christmas Dinner 2005. We typically do a smaller turkey and another protein, often beef. I found a New York Strip ROAST up Val Vista at Safeway that was one of the most beautiful pieces of beef I have ever seen. I sear-grilled it over charcoal, then finished it to medium in the oven. The strip roast added a different, very appealing taste to the plate. Ro’s mixed greens contained dark meat from the legs of the Thanksgiving bird I froze just after the holiday. My flourless chocolate torte with a glossy ganache glaze for dessert is now the classic way we finish our Christmas dinner. At dusk with the house aglow in Christmas cheer and in the company of Rochonne’s mother, this was our dinner menu the evening of December 25.
CHRISTMAS DINNER CELEBRATION
DECEMBER 25, 2009
THE CAMERON AND ROCHONNE SIMMONS FAMILY
MS. SHRYL HAYMAN
THE SIMMONS FAMILY RESIDENCE
GILBERT, ARIZONA
First Course
Cream of Celery Soup
Second Course
Mixed Greens Salad
Wine and Beverage
NV Piper Sonoma Blanc de Blanc Sparkling Wine, Sonoma County
Sparkling Apple Cider
Evian Water
Main Course
Dry-Brined Smoked Fresh Hen Turkey
Grilled New York Strip Roast
Four Potato Gratin with Smoked Sharp Cheddar and Monterey Jack
Candied Whipped Sweet Potatoes
Sourdough Bread Dressing
Macaroni and Cheddar
Mixed Greens with Dark Turkey
Roast Garlic Gravy
Cranberry Sauce Cointreau
Main Course Wines and Beverages
2000 Qupe California Central Coast Syrah
2007 Kenwood Vineyards Sonoma County Chardonnay
Sparkling Apple Juice
Sparkling Cherry Juice
Evian Water
Dessert
Flourless Dark Chocolate Torte with Ganache Icing
Vanilla Bean Ice Cream and Fresh Whipped Cream
Fresh Ground Jamaica Blue Mountain Coffee
Dessert Wine
Dow’s NV Ruby Port
Porto, Portugal
New Years Day 2010
Ro typically makes black-eyed peas and I do the gumbo for New Year’s. This season we did the peas for New Year’s Eve dinner and ate gumbo a good part of New Years Day. It worked out beautifully. I offered to do the stock for the peas. The pig’s tail I got from Lee Lee’s – a remarkable Asian supermarket in nearby Chandler – added tasty depth to the stock and the fresh – not dry – peas soaked it up nicely as they cooked. I added some crisped salt pork and Ro’s hot water cornbread was a delicious accompaniment as was Blackstone’s 2007 Monterey Pinot Noir..
The gumbo is the single dish that I put most effort into each year and I only make this type of gumbo – seafood and andouille - one time a year. It is inspired by a Paul Prudhomme (my greatest influence) recipe. I greatly expand from his “holy trinity” (bell peppers, celery and onions) to include leeks, shallots, fresh garlic, red and orange bell peppers, scallions, and fresh herbs. My stock – filtered water and roasted vegetables, shrimp and prawn shells, mussels and clams in shells, crawfish when I can find them, crab scraps, etc., brews overnight, at least 12 hours. This year I simmered my roux 3 hours to get it deep and dark on New Year’s Eve and let the combined roux-seasoned vegetable mixture blend overnight. I combined the boiling stock and roux mixture New Year’s Day morning and added the seafood – 5 different kinds of shrimp and prawns, including dried; whole crab parts, crab meat, smoked oysters and mussels in their liquor - and grilled andouille in the early afternoon. No rice this year, just saltine crackers. The gumbo tasted great while watching Oregon play Ohio State in the Rose Bowl and sipping sparkling wine. For desert, a slice of spiced rum raisin cake and vanilla ice cream with a shot of chilled Monbazillac.
Eat Well!
Cameron
