Turkey Redux: Part 1
February is a dreary month. The reality of winter sets in, eclipsing all remnants of holiday cheer. I begin to crave “hearty” meat ‘n carb combos like pepperoni pizza and lamb ragù. What better way to combat Seasonal Affective Disorder than to distract yourself with memories of better months? And so we bring you Thanksgiving: A Retrospective.
Every November, a week or so before the big day, pesky thoughts of moderation creep into at least one family member’s head, and we consider changing the menu (do we REALLY need 3 pies for 5 people?). But, gluttony always triumphs, and the menu survives, unscathed. Here’s the rundown.
Turkey, gravy, stuffing, cranberries, sweet potatoes, smashed potatoes, creamed onions, haricots verts, key lime pie, pecan pie, and pumpkin chiffon pie
The bird resting:
My plate, round one:
Eleven Madison Park
This year marked a milestone birthday for me, and I commemorated the day with dinner at Eleven Madison Park. We began with cocktails at the bar, sat down at our table at 8:45, wavered between the “Three-Course Prix Fixe” and the eleven-course “Gourmand,” and lumbered out the doors, eleven courses later, around 1:00 AM. The Gourmand is a blind tasting, meaning chef’s selection, no written menu. Kudos Daniel Humm—our meal was superb. The restaurant sent me home with two boxes of petit fours and this personalized print of the menu:
Blini
I post this picture in honor of Valentine’s Day. CAR is engaged! To celebrate, our family gathered in Boston with a bottle of champagne, a tin of caviar, and batch of homemade blini. I was in charge of the blini and selected this recipe because it doesn’t call for yeast. Highly recommended.
“Caviar and Salmon Blini Tortes,” Gourmet, February 2008
2 tablespoons buckwheat flour
3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon sugar
1/8 teaspoon baking soda
1/8 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup whole milk
1 large egg, separated
1/2 stick unsalted butter, melted and cooled, divided
“Whisk together dry ingredients in a bowl. Add milk and yolk and whisk until smooth. Beat egg white with a clean whisk in another bowl until it just holds soft peaks. Fold into batter along with 2 tablespoons melted butter.
Brush a 12-inch nonstick skillet with some of remaining melted butter, then heat over medium heat until hot. Working in batches of 6 or 7, drop 1 level tablespoon batter per pancake into skillet and cook until bubbles appear on surface and undersides are golden, 45 seconds to 1 minute. Flip over and cook 1 minute more. Brush blini on both sides with some of remaining melted butter, then transfer to a plate and keep warm, covered with foil. Brush skillet with butter between batches.”
Sandwiches
I concur with Liz Lemon’s sandwich theory. Sandwiches = universal happiness. I also admit that the yuppie cookware/kitchen utensil phenomenon has gotten out of hand. Case in point:
Herb Chopper : PUT DOWN that Williams-Sonoma catalog and use a chef’s knife
Electric Egg Cooker: PUT DOWN that Williams-Sonoma catalog and boil some water
Nonstick Burger Press: PUT DOWN that Williams-Sonoma catalog and shape the patties with your hands
That said, I swear by my Breville Ikon Panini Press. It may only serve one purpose, but the result is mighty tasty. Assembling a sandwich, hot or cold, doesn’t require a recipe. But when you eat sandwiches several times a week, it’s easy to run out of ideas. Here are some simple combinations that are sure to kick any sandwich-making slump:
Pepper turkey + spicy tomato chutney + goat cheese + arugula
Pepper turkey + American Spoon Cranberry Mustard + sharp white cheddar + arugula
Smoked turkey + Stonewall Kitchen Old Farmhouse Chutney + brie + arugula
Rotisserie chicken + brie + roasted bell pepper + sautéed Spanish onion + arugula (inspired by Flour Bakery)
Spicy Italian chicken, turkey, or pork sausage + sautéed bell pepper + sweet and hot pickled peppers + provolone
Prosciutto + fig spread + fresh mozzarella OR goat cheese + baby spinach
Black forest ham + Stonewall Kitchen Old Farmhouse Chutney + sharp white cheddar + arugula
Chorizo + quince paste + manchego (best served hot)
Soft-shell crab + pesto + provolone + sprouts
Smoked whitefish + mustard + provolone + sprouts
Grouper + mustard + swiss + sauerkraut on rye (= a grouper reuben, best served hot)
Italian tuna + fontina + radicchio + red onion + Tabasco (best served hot)
Italian tuna + red pepper spread + taleggio + arugula
Stone Crabs
Good food often tastes like the past to me. In fact, I think taste is my most nostalgic sense, even more so than smell. I spent the first week of December in Miami. Despite two recent articles in the New York Times and T Magazine lauding Miami as a gastronomical destination, the restaurants there disappointed me. Sure, I enjoyed my “Pulled Pork Sandwich with pickled red onion, creamy cucumbers & parsley sauce” at Michael’s Genuine Food & Drink, but not enough to forgive the 40-minute wait or the Pottery Barn-esque decor. Same thing at 8oz Burger Bar. The turkey burger was flavorful, but the TV-plastered walls and black leather banquette recalled a midwestern chain restaurant (the kind I would have begged my mom to take me when I was 12). My favorite meal came from Joe’s Stone Crab—an order of 5 large (albeit pre-cracked) stone crabs with “their famous” mustard sauce. I grew up eating stone crabs from Placida Fish Market near Boca Grande, Florida; squeezing the cracker as hard as I could with both hands to get at the meat inside; extracting the black-tipped claw slowly, so it came out in one piece; and dunking the flesh in my grandmother’s famous mustard sauce. Before my visit to Joe’s, I hadn’t eaten stone crabs for at least ten years—before my grandmother sold “the Beach House” on Gasparilla Island. Sharing my order of Joe’s claws with someone who had never eaten them before, I realized that, although stone crabs are delicious, they basically taste like other crabs. Unless they are infused with nostalgia. Then they are untouchable. 
Linguine with Clams
Most versions of this dish incorporate the clam shells. I prefer to to shuck the shellfish so you get more clam in each bite.
1 tablespoon olive oil
5-7 garlic gloves, diced
4 tablespoons chopped parsley
Red pepper flakes
2 dozen little neck clams
1/2 cup vermouth
Whole wheat linguine
1. Soak clams in the sink, scrubbing the shells until clean
2. Add the clams and vermouth to a large pot and steam, covered, until open
3. Turn off the heat, remove the clams and set aside, reserving the steaming liquid
4. Boil water for pasta
5. Heat olive oil in a large skillet (I suggest cast iron) over medium heat. Saute the garlic until fragrant (several minutes). Add parsley and saute for 1 minute, careful not to burn the garlic
6. Pour vermouth (steaming liquid) into the skillet, careful not to add any sand from the bottom of the pot
7. Add red pepper flakes to taste, and simmer the sauce until thickened (you want to coat the pasta, not create a broth), about 20 minutes
8. Add a pinch of salt to the boiling pasta water and cook linguine, stopping 2 minutes before it’s done (whole wheat pasta adds a nice nutty undertone to this recipe)
9. Remove the clams from their shells and cut them into pieces (kitchen shears work well). Return the clams to the skillet just before the liquid is fully reduced
10. Without straining, use a pasta spoon to transfer the linguine, along with some cooking water, to the skillet. Incorporate the pasta into the sauce and cook until al dente
Serves 3-4
Chicken Broth
Don’t Balk at the “Bawk”
Many soups, stews, and other recipes call for water as their liquid base. Water is flavorless. Substitute chicken broth instead—unless of course chicken clashes with the flavor profile of the dish (as with Bouillabaisse, par exemple).
Believe it or not, Swanson makes our favorite boxed broth. It packs more chicken punch than the Imagine or Pacific Natural Foods versions. Unfortunately, Swanson’s “Certified Organic Chicken Broth” is also difficult to find. Verified NYC locations thus far: UWS Citarella and Fairway aisle 9
Sugar Cookies
½ cup (1 stick) unsalted butter at room temperature
1 cup sugar
1 egg
2 tablespoons milk
¼ teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 ½ cups flour
½ teaspoon vanilla
Pecan halves
Preheat oven to 375°
1. Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper
2. In a large bowl, gradually cream the butter and sugar with a wooden spoon
3. After beating the egg with a fork, mix it into the butter/sugar
4. Add the milk and vanilla
5. In a separate bowl, mix the flour, baking power, and salt; then sift
6. Gradually incorporate the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients
7. Use a spoon to form cookies on the baking sheet, 2 inches apart (they expand)
8. Place 1 pecan half atop each cookie
9. Bake cookies for 10 minutes, or until slightly browned around the edges
Chicken and Dumplings
Nothing beats our grandma’s chicken and Bisquick dumplings with Wondra gravy. Best prepared in madras Bermuda shorts.
