S.L. Kinsey's Thanksgiving recipes

[TrishCT]

I don't know if this has been noted on this site already, if so my apologies. Also, if this is on the wrong board, etc... do your thing....

In the food section of today's Danbury News-Times (in CT) there is an article by Bill Dailey of the Chicago Tribune about artfully rearranged Thanksgiving meals. It gives Mr. Kinsey's recipe for a cranberry-champagne cocktail and it mentions his brussels sprouts creme brulee, gratin, slaw and simple saute.

[Gifted Gourmet]

In the food section of today's Danbury News-Times (in CT) there is an article by Bill Dailey of the Chicago Tribune about artfully rearranged Thanksgiving meals.  It gives Mr. Kinsey's recipe for a cranberry-champagne cocktail and it mentions his brussels sprouts creme brulee, gratin, slaw and simple saute.

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more here from the Chicago Tribune

[alacarte]

Nice!!!

We're ALL coming over for Thanksgiving dinner this year!

[TrishCT]

OMG...I finally read the entire article.... in addition to Sam, Melissa YOU are mentioned as well as our buddy Jaymes. I was so busy prepping for T'day I only skimmed the article initially.

COOL JOB!!!

[KatieLoeb]

Nicely done, eGulleteers! YAY us!

There are so many brilliant cooks on this site (read the blogs if you don't believe me or if you're new here) that I'm not at all surprised that we got some recognition in a nationally reknowned publication. Heck - this is the first place I look for inspiration, so it follows that others would start to see this site for the incredible resource that it is.

I remain awed and humbled daily by the genious that comes here to play.

[SobaAddict70]

Here's dinner.  Later on, when I have a chance, I'll post about the logistics of dinnertime execution.

Here is a shot of the centerpiece ewindels did for the table.  I absolutely could not have pulled this dinner off without the assistance of Ed and Kathleen.  They poured the wine, cleared dishes and took plated courses out to the table as I finished them.  Having reliable and expert assistance like this is really vital.

The first course was:

Marinated Crudités

Cranberry Champagne Cocktail

Here is a shot of the cocktail.  Unfortunately I don't have any pictures of the vegetables.  The cocktail I would rate maybe a 50% success. It really didn't work quite right in this style of champagne glass, and the raspberry puree didn't mix quite as much as I would have liked.  Maybe it should have been thinner?

Next course was:

Kumamoto Oyster On The Half-Shell With Cucumber Granita

Mantanía Moschofilero, Tselepos, 2003

This worked very well.  It's a nice, light ad festive way to start the meal at the table.  Everyone thought the cucumber cups were cool, and it looked nice.  This picture doesn't really capture, unfortunately, how neat it looked on the slate.  On the other hand, I was able to open all the oysters without stabbing myself.

Next was:

Cauliflower Soup With Puréed Spinach and Curry Oil

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

This was a huge hit.  No one stirred up their soup, the curry oil worked its magic, and the spinach purée was a very cool transition.  A few people were even surprised to find spinach a the bottom of the bowl.  The wine match was brilliant, as several people remarked.  Here's a few looks:

Soup bowls filled with spinach purée waiting to be topped with cauliflower soup

Finished portion at the table

Getting to the bottom of the bowl

Next was:

Tuna Carpaccio With Mixed Herb Salad

Rheingau Riesling Trocken, Weingut Robert Weil, 2003

As I said upthread, I wish I could have used prettier tuna.  Nevertheless, the tuna was delicious.  The salad was dressed with integrated lemon/olive oil and a touch of vermouth vinegar.  There were a few (desalinated) salt-preserved capers strewn about.  The salad was tarragon, basil, oregano, mint and parsley.  It worked very well, and the riesling was just the thing to go with it.  Slightly moving in a fuller direction, but with killer acidity to refresh.

Next was:

"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

The lighter red wine worked wonders against the richness of the crème brûlée, the savoriness of the gruyere in the gratin and the porky fattiness of the guanciale.  Around the plate is a marjoram vinaigrette.  This is the course that really had me smiling.  It was a bit of a risk to design a whole course around Brussels sprouts, and I wasn't sure how it would work.  Well, it worked extremely well.  Each "way" showed a completely different side of the Brussels sprout.  The crème brûlée in particular was a revelation.  Most everyone was a little bit suspicious at the prospect of a Brussels sprout crème brûlée, but everyone smiled, laughed and loved it once they tried it.  The lightly vinegared "slaw" was a nice crunchy contrast to the other preparations, while the gratin played on the whole "cheese sauce" thing on top of the slightly funky flavor of fully cooked Brussels sprouts.  The sautéed Brussels sprouts with guanciale brought out the nutty quality of browned brussels sprouts, and of course guanciale is a killer match with just about anything.

Here is a shot of the last few bites of crème brûlée:

After that it was time to rest the palate with a refresher course:

Lemon-Thyme Sorbet

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

This is fairly straight forward.  Passing the thyme through a fine sieve this year really solved the problems I have had in the past with the thyme being slightly gritty in this dish.  I drizzled a tiny bit of Farigoule thyme liqueur over every portion as well.  The Rivetti moscato is a very good one, slightly frizzante.  A tiny glass went well with the sorbet.  The gold gelato spoons my mother's family bought in Italy some 50 years ago when they were living there.

Finally came the turkey:

"Turkey Two Ways"

Cornbread Dressing, Foie Gras, Black Truffle Carpaccio

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

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

This was by far the best this dish has ever been for me.  The sauce was so intensely flavored, it was like a turkey demi-glace.  The wines are fairly big wines, and matched well with the big flavors here.  I loved the Coturri Syrah, although perhaps not quite as much as their Albarello.  Here's a few pictures putting together a plate.

First goes a base of sautéed portobello mushrooms

Then in goes some of the shredded dark meat.

On top of that goes a few slices of white meat, the foie gras and black truffle.  Then the ring mold is taken away, the stuffing role placed up at the top and sauce poured around.

A little parsley dusting and here is the finished dish

Next it was time for dessert!

Bourbon Bread Pudding

Cranberry Cheese Cake

Pecan Tart

Sugarless Apple Pie

Coffee

Here are some pictures:

The bourbon bread pudding.  Really did well with the bourbon caramel this time.  Nice and dark

ewindels' cheesecake.  Always a big hit

The pecan tart.  Steen's cane syrup made all the difference

bergerka's sugarless apple pie.  Don't miss the sugar one bit.  Very nice.

Of course, if one is doing imitation haute cuisine, there has to be a second course of dessert.  No lollipops, but instead we had ewindels' chocolate truffles and palmiers. 

I opened up the liquor cabinet as well.  My father brought a very nice bottle of Poire William, and Eric_Malson brought a bottle of Glenmorangie "Port Wood Finish" and a few bottles of Orujo (Spanish grappa, but with a funky, musty quality).

All in all a wonderful evening and a big success.  I'm exhausted, but couldn't be more pleased.  Cocktails started at 6:00, we sat down to the oyster course at 8:00, and we started dessert at midnight.  Guests left around 1:30, I collapsed at 2:30 and bergerka was doing kitchen cleanup triage until 4:00.

More later...

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Thanksgiving Haute Cuisine

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Soba

[TrishCT]

Nice looking spread. Guess Sam didn't serve the Jones Brussels Sprout soda with the creme brulee....