eG Foodblog: slkinsey's Thanksgiving Week Diary

[M. Lucia]

Thanks!

I think I will try cooking the cauliflower in milk and then adding part milk and part vegetable stock (I want to keep some of the light delicacy of it). For an everyday dinner I might garnish with some roasted cauliflower florets and drizzle with oil.

I'm getting out the chinois.

[slkinsey]

Yesterday was the big shopping day.

First, we got up bright and early to visit the Greenmarket down in Union Square. There are, to be sure, a lot of problems with the NYC Greenmarket. Many years ago it was one of the best farmer's markets in the country, but the Greenmarket has stagnated under the weight of internal politics and internecine conflict while other markets have caught up and passed it by. It really is a shame when one thinks of how much better it could be. That said, it is still the best place in the City to get really high quality produce fresh from the farm. It's not inexpensive by any stretch of the imagination -- even for New York City -- but I am glad to pay extra not only for the best, but also to support local farmers.

So... the first stop was to pick up the cauliflower for the soup and a cabbage for the dressing rolls. These guys down around the bend always seem to have the biggest cauliflowers, so I went looking there first. Look at the size of these things!

They also had enormous cabbages. You can barely see that guy's head up to the left there, but it gives some sense of the size of these vegetables. These cabbages are around twice the size of his head! Whereas I might normally prefer a smaller cabbage, which will usually be more tender, it is important for me to have large leaves since I will be using single leaves to roll up little bundles of dressing.

Next was over to the other end of the market for the people with the best Brussels sprouts. This was their last say at the market for the season, so it's important to stock up. For the underlayer of the soup, I had decided I would go with either spinach or fennel, depending on what looked better at the market. Well, the fennel looked woody and not so great. On the other hand, this farm was selling huge bags of beautiful prewashed spinach. So it's going to be spinach.

After that, it was over to Ronnybrook Farm Dairy for creamline milk and heavy cream. Ronnybrook's milk comes in bottles directly from the farm. It is not homogenized and it is pasteurized at low temperature. The cows are not given hormones. Their milk is so much better than any supermarket milk, it's almost an entirely different product. Any time I am making something where the quality of the milk will make a difference, I try to use Ronnybrook milk whenever possible.

After Ronnybrook it was over to Paffenroth Farms, one of the best vegetable farms in the Greenmarket. They had beautiful onions:

I also picked up some really nice carrots. In the bast I have used their red carrots, which are red throughout and stay red when cooked, but this time I bought regular carrot-colored carrots:

Finally it was over to Knoll Crest Farm for several dozen eggs. These are among the best eggs one can get. I actually prefer the European style, which is largely a function of diet and unavailable here, but Knoll Crest eggs are primo. As you can see, they are very popular. There is always a long line, which is only partially due to their incredible slowness at the counter.

Here's the whole haul from this Greenmarket trip, laid out on the counter before being put away.

To further illustrate the size of the cauliflower, here is a side by side comparison of a cauliflower and an extremely large ferret.

I also bought the following at Fairway, but since I didn't want to be elbowed to death by octogenarian UWS ladies for blocking the aisle, I didn't take any pictures in the store.

[slkinsey]

My last trip of the day was to my favorite wine shop, Nancy's Wines.

I'm one of those guys who loves wine, has pretty good taste in wine, but just doesn't have the time or money to really keep up with what's happening with wine. What I like is having friends and stores I trust that know a lot about wine, understand my tastes, and help me make choices. Nancy's Wines has always fit the bill for me. Their approach is one that accords very well with my philosophies when it comes to wine: good, even great wines don't have to cost a lot; wine is something that is meant to go with food, so choose and value wines accordingly; stray from the beaten path to that unusual wine or pairing when possible. Luckily, these three principles often feed into each other. Funky, largely unknown wines that go great with food are often not very expensive.

I usually go down to Nancy's and consult with Evan Springern, who has always helped me choose wonderful wines for Thanksgiving. As it turns out, Evan doesn't work for Nancy's any more (he works for a distributor now), but he hangs out there a few days a week and helps people anyway. It's fun for us, because he always remembers our Thanksgiving list from the year before. What I really like about Evan's taste (although this could be said of everyone at Nancy's) is that he has a real fondness for unusual, undiscovered, funky, underappreciated, etc. wines.

Here's what we decided on:

Marinated Crudités

Cranberry Bellini

(Using Cava Brut Riserva, Sumarroca, NV for these. It's a drinkable cava, and only around $11/bottle.)

– – –

Raw Kumamoto Oyster With Cucumber Granita

Mantanía Moschofilero, Tselepos, 2003

(This has in years past been sweeter than what we would ordinarily want, but apparently this vintage is drier and lemony with mouth-puckering acid)

– – –

Cauliflower Soup With Curry Oil

Montlouis Sur Loire "Dionys," Domaine Alex-Mathur, 2002

– – –

Tuna Carpaccio With Mixed Herb Salad

Rheingau Riesling Trocken, Weingut Robert Weil, 2003

– – –

Brussels Sprouts Four Ways

- crème brûlée

- gratin

- sautéed with guanciale

- shredded "slaw"

Vin de Table Gamay "Le P'tit Tannique Coule Bien," Domaine Thierry Puzelat, 2003

– – –

Lemon-Thyme Sorbet

Moscato d'Asti "Bricco Quaglia," Azienda Agricola La Spinetta di Giorgio Rivetti, Piemonte, 2003

– – –

Turkey Two Ways With Cornbread Dressing, Foie Gras And Black Truffle Carpaccio

Vino De La Tierra El Terrerazo "Mestizaje," Bodega Mustiguillo, 2003

Syrah, H. Coturri & Sons, Crane Vinyards, Sonoma Valley, 2001

[docsconz]

The wine I'm most curious to hear about is the Coturri syrah. When their wines are good they are great. If they have had a flaw it has been unevenness. I was at the winery in 1997. It was literally a garage operation.

[slkinsey]

I've almost always liked everything by Coturri. Their wines are often funky and unusual. Probably my favorite American winemaker, or one of them anyway. But, yea, they're totally hippies over there.

Here are some reviews of Coturri wines. As it so happens, the lead review is of this very wine by Robert Parker, who says: "The bottle of 2001 Syrah Crane Vineyard I tasted was quite stable, dry, and well-endowed, its deep, rustic, chewy, black fruit notes are intertwined with earth and loamy soil characteristics.  Fragrant, well made and clean, it should drink well for 4-5 years. Score 87 pts."

The really nice thing? 17 bucks a bottle.

[Boris_A]

Not that it is of any importance, but I believe the "Bricco Quaglia" is made by Giorgio Rivetti/La Spinetta, not by Dante Rivetti. An outstanding Moscato.

[slkinsey]

Not that it is of any importance, but I believe the "Bricco Quaglia" is made by Giorgio Rivetti/La Spinetta, not by Dante Rivetti. An outstanding Moscato.

←

Right you are. I have amended above. Not quite sure how to list that one, though. And I agree, it's an outstanding Moscato.

[Papaya]

Can I just say that I'm almost as excited for your Thanksgiving dinner as I am for my own?

Everything looks and sounds delicious, and it's really cool to see it come together step-by-step.

Good luck & enjoy!

[KatieLoeb]

Sam:

I particularly like the pairing of the Montlouis with the Cauliflower soup! That sounds like a great combo with the curry oil!

As an aside, I might have gone for an Austrian Gruner Veltliner with the Brussel Sprouts, just because Brussel sprouts can give wine a funny "off" taste, much like asparagus. Gruner is the only wine that seems to be able to overcome that, but perhaps they didn't have any? It's certainly not most peoples first thought.

[slkinsey]

Yesterday wasn't quite as busy as I had planned. I was tired from all the activity on Saturday, and besides, the Jets won, the Giants were starting new quarterback and the Packers also won. Whenever the Jets and Packers both win, all is right in the world. Much time was spent in front of the television watching football in between various cooking tasks.

Sunday I had:

Make pie crusts

Make cornbread

Make cucumber granita

QA cucumber cups

The pie crusts were first. I've been using a variation of a technique ewindels developed following a commend I made several years ago to the effect of "I wonder what would happen if we froze the butter and grated it on a box grater." So, first I froze flour, butter and lard, and grated the fat into the flour with a box grater. Then I rolled the fat and flour together with a rolling pin several times, chilling the mixture in between rollings. After that, I added sour cream and "turned" the dough several times until it came together. I'll blind bake the crust for the pecan tart this evening.

The cucumber granita couldn't have been easier. Just peel and seed two large English cucumbers, cut into sections, puree with a little salt and white pepper, freeze and break up roughly with a fork.

I also made cornbread for the dressing. It's important to make it early so it has time to dry out before it's used in the dressing. I had some chicken fat in the freezer, so I used that for the fat in the batter. Figure it will give everything an even more poultryesque flavor.

Today I have to drop by Zabar's after work for a brioche and some ring molds and cutters, then make the pecan tart and the cranberry puree for the bellini. bergerka will pick up additional glassware from ewindels. Hopefully we'll have enough time left to go swimming with the ferrets.

As an aside, I might have gone for an Austrian Gruner Veltliner with the Brussel Sprouts, just because Brussel sprouts can give wine a funny "off" taste, much like asparagus.  Gruner is the only wine that seems to be able to overcome that, but perhaps they didn't have any?

←

Hmm. I've never really experienced any off taste for Brussels sprouts. But I have heard that there may be a substance in Brussels sprouts that some people are able to taste and others are not. This is genetically mediated, much like the ability to smell "asparagus pee." Anyway, for sure Nancy's has Gruner Veltliner. That wasn't the issue. Rather, I'm not sure it would make sense to go from the Riesling in the previous course right to a Gruner Veltliner, which is a somewhat similar wine. Also, with the richness coming from the crème brûlée, plus the gruyere in the gratin and the funky porkyness from the guanciale, I thought it made sense to go in a red direction. But it is a somewhat quirky course for wine pairing.

[KatieLoeb]

But it is a somewhat quirky course for wine pairing.

It is that. The other option might have been a nice glass of sherry. Since the serving for sherry is smaller it prevents guests from getting overfilled on liquids with the soup too. Soup is always a hard pairing because of that IMO.

[slkinsey]

[The Brussels sprouts course] it is a somewhat quirky course for wine pairing.

It is that. The other option might have been a nice glass of sherry. Since the serving for sherry is smaller it prevents guests from getting overfilled on liquids with the soup too. Soup is always a hard pairing because of that IMO.

Good points. I didn't consider sherry because I'm not sure about following the sherry with the lemon-thyme sorbet and Moscato d'Asti, both of which are sweet. You also make a good point about the soup. I should mention, though, that the soup will be both small and thick, and that I'll be serving only a 1/3 or 1/4 pour with the soup. All the portions and pours will be small, otherwise everyone will be three sheets to the wind and stuffed to bursting by the end of the meal... and this is the voice of experience talking here, as that would accurately describe my first try at this format for Thanksgiving dinner around 3 years ago.

[winesonoma]

The wine I'm most curious to hear about is the Coturri syrah. When their wines are good they are great. If they have had a flaw it has been unevenness. I was at the winery in 1997. It was literally a garage operation.

←

In January Coturri will be releasing what may be the best wine they ever made; a Syrah, Movedere, and Grenache Blend. I tasted it today at lunch and it is spectacular. My partner is the grape grower. I'll post more as I get label info.

[slkinsey]

Well, as it so happens, I am the foodblogger this Thanksgiving week as well. We'll see how (and if!) I manage to fit meals in around all the Thanksgiving preparation.

Lunch today was in the office. A scallion tuna salad sandwich, a can of diet Cel-Ray, a big bottle to lemon Perrier and a volume of the complete works of William Faulkner.

For dinner this evening, I was in a bit of a bind. I've really had to clear out my freezer in order to make room for stuff I need to put in there for Thanksgiving. One container I had in there was a bowl of frozen egg yolks left over from when I used the whites to clarify some stock. So... if you're in the slkinsey household and life gives you egg yolks, you make egg yolk pasta.

For a condiment I wanted something simple that worked with fresh pasta. In times like this, I always turn to what I call "sugo rosso Bavusiano" because I was reminded of it by JosephB, who is also a great proponent of this preparation. All you need is a can of San Marzano tomatoes, a nice lump of butter, and a medium onion cut in half. Start it all together in a cold pan and bring it slowly up to temperature. Once it starts looking like this -- in around 30 minutes, it's ready. Toss out the onion (it's given its flavor to the sauce) and you're good to go. An incredibly sweet sauce, and nothing is better for gnocchi. It also works well for fresh pasta if you want to use a tomato sauce.

The pasta went into plenty of salted water for a while, and then into a pan with the condiment.

From there, it goes to the plate.

[Pan]

That looks beautiful, Sam! But couldn't the onion be used for something, rather than just being tossed?

[slkinsey]

Back to Thanksgiving planning. Today I was met with the first substantial setback in the schedule. Went to Zabar's to buy a brioche loaf for the bread pudding, and they were sold out. I'll have to run over there tomorrow at lunch to make sure they don't sell out again. If they're sold out at lunch tomorrow, I'll either have to go at the crack of dawn on Wednesday, or use regular bread.

Anyway, tonight I made the pecan tart. The crust is baked blind, and the filling is Steen's cane syrup, dark muscovado sugar, eggs, bourbon and arrowroot. Oh, and pecans, of course. Extra pecans glazed with Steen's and butter go on top.

After the pecan tart, I made the cranberry puree for the cranberry bellini. Threw a bag of cranberries into a pot of boiling water. Waited until they all cracked (making cool popping sounds, by the way). Then ran them through the foodmill on the fine disk and pressed it all through a fine sieve. In the end, I had a tart catsup-looking puree that I thinned with simple syrup and funneled into a squeeze bottle.

I also took a look at the cucumber cup I put in the freezer last night to see how it would work for the oyster course. Looks good, and I'm satisfied. No weeping after 30 minutes.

Alas, there was no time to bathe the ferrets. Maybe tomorrow or Wednesday.

[slkinsey]

That looks beautiful, Sam! But couldn't the onion be used for something, rather than just being tossed?

It's given all its flavor to the sauce and it's quite mushy by this time, so I'm not sure what it could be used for why I'd want to use it (to make an ecological point?). Money wise, we're talking about a 15 cent onion.

It is a fairly standard technique in Italian cookery to use garlic or onion or celery as a flavoring agent for the sauce, removing the garlic or onion or celery once the sauce is finished and the flavoring agent has contributed its flavor.

[Pan]

I have two further questions, now that I've read the whole thread up till now:

(1) What exactly does QA stand for?

(2) Are you always this organized?! [awe emoticon, if there were one]

[bloviatrix]

Sam, can't you get the brioche at Silver Moon? It's a lot closer to you.

Edited November 23, 2004 by bloviatrix (log)

[jhlurie]

Show off.

[bleudauvergne]

(1) What exactly does QA stand for?

←

Dear Pan the musician, QA means to rehearse and go through your directors notes. In the business world, it would also mean to document your procedure to make sure that the end product or your transaction is going to run smoothly and the proper way each time. In short, what he means by this is Test.

Sam, the pie looks heavenly. My grandmother used to use chicken fat in her cornbread, and also in her biscuits. The browned crust is really the best, do have a taste. I also break out the cornbread and crumble it on a cookie sheet and let it sit for a day or two to dry out more.

I'm getting so much from your blog because we don't have to do Thanksgiving until Saturday and you're getting me all excited to get started.

[Pan]

(1) What exactly does QA stand for?

←

Dear Pan the musician, QA means to rehearse and go through the directors notes. In the business world, it would also mean to document your procedure to make sure that the end product or your transaction is going to run smoothly and the proper way each time.

←

Thanks, Lucy. We instrumentalists don't use that expression, and I was trying to figure out what the abbreviation was for.

[slkinsey]

(1) What exactly does QA stand for?

(2) Are you always this organized?! [awe emoticon, if there were one]

(1) QA is short for "Quality Assurance." Used as a verb it means, "go through everything and make sure it works the way it's supposed to work."

(2) No way, man! It's just that this particular dinner party demands this kind of organization. Otherwise, you're getting up at 5 AM on Thursday and trying to make everything in one day. My usual dinner parties are more on the Italian model: go to the market, see what looks good, to a starter, a starch course and a meat or fish course with some vegetables.

Sam, can't you get the brioche at Silver Moon?  It's a lot closer to you.

I love the Silver Moon, but you can't get an enormous brioche there the size of two loaves of Wonder Bread like they have at Zabar's. I could probably get them to make me something like that specially, but it would cost an arm and a leg.

[slkinsey]

This morning I had my usual wqeekday breakfast (when I have anything at all): A double cappuccino from the Rancilio.

Here is the machine in action:

And here it the finished product:

[tejon]

Ah, now this is why I love eGullet. Missed this blog until today, but now am enjoying it thoroughly. My Thanksgiving menu is a bit more traditional, but the planning and execution is just about the same, including minute to minute planning for the final preparations on Thursday. I love planning a meal - all of the details, the shopping lists, getting everything to run smoothly at once.

I'm making up the Turkey Two Ways again this year, and can smell the turkey stock as it reduces on the stove. Many thanks for the recipe - it was delicious, and made things much easier in the bargain.