Susan in FL

I'm curious... What do you mean by "the biggest piece" and what do you mean by "such small sizes of meat"? Thanks!

This was our Thanksgiving dinner menu. Hors d'oeuvres, with Korbel Sparkling Chardonnay: Apricot Canapes (Maytag Blue and pistachios on dried apricots) Fifi's Pickled Shrimp Belgian Endive stuffed with homemade smoked fish (marlin) dip/spread Soup, with Lois Gruner Veltliner: Celery Root Bisque with Thyme With a little Beaujolais Nouveau just to carry on the tradition and then Meridian Pinot Noir: Tur-duc-hen! Turkey, duck, and chicken gravy (made from a stock using turkey necks, and broths of duck and chicken made earlier ) , but of course! Mashed Potatoes with Chive Cream Green Beans with Wild Mushrooms Roasted Cauliflower Sweet Corn Pudding Spinach and Hearts of Palm Salad Dessert, with Campbells Rutherglen Tokay and Noval Porto Special Reserve: Brownie Cheesecake We had company so I didn't take many pictures, and I didn't spend as much time photographing as I usually do like getting out the tripod and all that. I guess that's my excuse, for not being pleased with the quality of these. The table, before nightfall: The appetizers: Turducken, just out of the oven: The main course: Our dessert, but the picture was taken (my breakfast) this morning:

Percy, you posted that while I was compiling my post, or else I would have commented before now. I saw that in the dinner thread, and, well, you know how I react to shots of your egg creations....... That does look delectable.

I'm looking forward to seeing how the Breakfast Thread Gang will use Thanksgiving leftovers to break the fast. I thought I might get original with some Tur-duc-hen and eggs, but instead I couldn't resist leftover brownie cheesecake with my coffee.

I did something like this recently, and several times in the past. Like you, I keep trying to refine and improve; and I think the last time I made it, it was the best. It was the first time I used homemade puff pastry, and that was a big part of the difference. Here's a photo of how it turned out, so you can see that the pastry was crispy. It was just the way we like it, and the pastry was definately the best of any Beef Wellingtons we've made. The beef filet steaks weighed 8 ounces. I did sear them first, and then on the sheet of pastry I placed the pâté -- Les Trois Petits Cochons (Three Little Pigs) Mousse to be exact -- and then put the seared steak on top of the pâté, and then wrapped it with the seams on the bottom to cook with the pâté on top of the steak of course. I wrote it down this time so I would remember. I am all the time forgetting this! I roasted them for 20 minutes at 425 degrees. I don't know how accurate our oven is so this might not work for you. I think our oven is slow. They came out medium-rare/medium. I've nicknamed these Steak Diane Wellingtons because we enjoy a Steak Diane -type sauce with it, and dispense with duxelles on the inside. I hope this gives you some ideas that will help.

Thanks for the good news(Happy Thanksgiving)!

Thanks for the further feedback, Katie. I have one more question that I forgot to include in that long post last night (I was soooo tired). I planned to serve bubbly with the starters. Now that I found both Viognier and Gruner Veltliner, I'm not sure which to serve with the soup course. Knowing the two I'm choosing from, which do you think would go better with the celery root bisque with thyme? My thoughts for the main course were to offer choices, Pinot Noir and Reisling -- both California -- and the traditional Beaujolais Nouveau. It's just one other couple, BTW, and Marge tends to like sweeter wines. Do you think the Viognier would best be left as a choice for the Turducken and sides? Then of course the dessert wine, coffee, and tea to be offered with dessert... and lots of water throughout.

...Always a nice treat! Sounds good -- wish I would take time to do that right now.

I'm going for easy. It's a layer of brownie under a layer of cheesecake, with some dark chocolate drizzled on top. And, a nice dessert wine to match -- or so I am hoping.

Brad, Katie, and All, My shopping today was amazing. I found Gruner Veltliner! After having never heard of it, I made a slight mental note and went on about my business of food and wine shopping after work today. I went to like five stores today minimum. Crossing off items from my lists as I found them, I got to the point of seriously looking for Viognier, some dessert wine -- I wasn't sure what, hearts of palm, shelled pistachios at a price I was willing to pay, and celery root. Then I narrowed it down to Viognier and celery root. Then I went to a wine shop and found EXP/Dunnigan Hills Viognier and bought it. Then I thought of another wine shop that just opened in our area and checked it out. ...Awesome! I overheard a conversation of the owner and another customer and she said the word Austrian. I jumped in and she was talking about Gruner Veltliner. I have no idea if it is any good, but it is Lois (Loimer?), very green, and I bought it. I traveled damn near 100 miles today looking for stuff, and my last stop when I was desperately looking for celery root (I see it all the time when I'm not looking for it), was Target. Target was the place I found the celery root. So anyway, it's a bit of a moot point now Dockhl, but my menu is Hors d'oeuvres: Dried Apricots with Maytag Blue & pistachios on them, Belgian endive leaves stuffed with smoked fish dip, and fresh local shrimp-something; Celery Root Bisque; Turducken!! and mashed potatoes with chive cream, a gravy of some sort, green beans and wild mushrooms, roasted cauliflower, sweet corn pudding, and heart of palm salad; and a brownie and cheesecake -type thingie for dessert. The dessert wine I found was Campbells Rutherglen Tokay. Comments? Good or bad... that's it. I love to shop, but I shopped 'til I dropped and I'm not going to shop any more for at least two or three days.

LOL, thus those of you unfamiliar with the sound of the Grind & Brew understand why it is one of our alarm clocks!

WOW. I've never even smoked, and I feel like I should have a cigarette after reading about your dinner in the OINK thread.

Oh my, count me among the speechless. That's the most amazing meal I've ever heard of. I've typed several things to say and deleted them all. I can't think of words worthy to compliment that.

Ling, the black chocolate stout is not sweet, but it is usually very, very yummy. It comes out in vintages, like winter brews and barleywines do. A cocoa flavor is a good way to describe it! If you get the opportunity to buy Brooklyn Brewery Black Chocolate Stout (BBBCS), give it a try. I would be eager to hear what you think of it! One of my favorite things to do with this particular stout is to make a stout float. I like porter floats, too, but out of all the combinations I've tried, I like the BBBCS with Breyer's Vanilla (or on some days, vanilla fudge) the best. That may be something that is up your alley! Well said!!

Welcome to eGullet, and welcome to the Florida Forum! The southern FL area was sadly assaulted. We are going to Key West for Christmas, and expect that the selection of seafood will be quite different than if those storms hadn't hit. However, I doubt the selection of liquid refreshment will be much different than usual. Thanks for posting, and hope to see you in some of the happier topics!

I don't know what that is. I do know Viognier, and I imagine I will have an easier time finding a California Viognier than a good French one. I should have included in my post a reminder that I do live in central Florida -- the Daytona Beach area to boot-- which is not exactly a land of upscale wine shopping options. I think this may be a good possibility. Thanks for your response, as well. I am running short of time, and will get back to you and let you know the rest of the courses I have planned.

Wow! Freezing gumbo does nothing but improve it, or at least so was the case for us tonight. Russ fixed dinner, which was heating up leftover frozen gumbo (which he made) from the end of July, and cooking rice and the fresh kale we still had on hand. This was wonderful! With it was Shiraz and the (last of the NASCAR season ) race in Homestead, FL. Here it was the first time around!

One thing I might add is the stove-top seasoning. In the early life of our cast-iron, after each time I used it, and a few times before, I rubbed olive oil into it with paper towels and let it sit stove-top on a low burner for 15 to 20 minutes. Then I turned the burner off and let it sit there and cool to room temperature, and then wiped it with a towel if there was still some oil in it. And of course, which I am sure you are doing, just rinse it out and wipe it off after use, using no soap.

Alina, beautiful! That looks delicious. We used leftover mashed gorgonzola potatoes from last night for our potato cakes this morning for breakfast. Yum!! So, it was the potato cakes, scrapple, eggs, and black chocolate stout on this cloudy morning: I thought I would take a shot of how I always mix up my scrapple and eggs. Yum yum!

I participated in the chili cook-off, making chili pretty much like I always have, with ground beef. However, next time I make it, I am using cubed chuck. I have a feeling I'll be a convert after that.

Holy Shit!!!

You are composing my where-I-want-to-go list for me. Thanks! ...All these places, and Stop Miami.

Ahhhh, the cheese..... It's all wonderful, but I was especially looking forward to seeing the first cheese plate. You made my day. Sign me up for a size medium.

I'm finally getting around to finalizing the menu for Thursday, and I'm undecided on the wine to go with our first course soup, Celery Root Bisque with Thyme. This is the recipe, although there is a typo/mistake online -- there are no croutons with this soup. We're serving bubbly with the hors d'oeuvres, and I thought of carrying that over into the soup course, but I would really rather have something different for each course. Can you help me, please?

You are so right. That is the ultimate compliment. Don't you just love it when that happens...