I was our first foray into married holiday feasts. It started off with bang. Literally, BANG was the sound the waffle maker made as it made contact with the floor. It was our first time to use it, and we failed to do any greasing of the iron before pouring the batter on….. which Daniel did at least three times. Each time he had to dig a desperately clingy waffle out of the iron with chopsticks. Thinking I would help by wiping it down with a paper towel, I caused the whole contraption to fly off the counter and land loudly on the floor, and now we have a waffle maker with a loose handle. Eventually we had breakfast, and it was delicious in spite of ourselves. Waffles with sauteed pink lady apples.
Lunch went smashingly well and without major incident. The turkey went in the oven before we even had success with waffles. It was a glorious, eleven pound bird rubbed liberally with Herbes de Provence and butter. We roasted the bird over a rack of vegetables and quince. We used the pan drippings with mushrooms to make rich and rustic gravy. Brussels sprouts roasted with bacon in a cast iron pan (a la Williams Sonoma see recipe below) made a nice accompaniment with a choice of two potatoes, Daniel’s incredibly fattening mashed potatoes with chives and my baked sweet potato with sea salt (Grandma Ratzlaff always roasted a couple in foil for hours so they were almost caramelized inside). And finally, Thanksgiving without homemade bread would be no Thanksgiving at all. So we had homemade parker house brioche rolls which are rich and buttery and wonderfully golden. We really love our brioche and you’ll see it make an appearance at Christmas. We didn't forget dessert. We did a cranberry studded pear apple crisp.
So our first holiday together and I would say our first big success. Thanks to the visit from my parents we had our feast on our beautiful china dinnerware, all gifts from family and friends. And to top it all off we had a wonderful ’08 Graham Beck Chenin Blanc.
Cast iron brussels sprouts with bacon
Adapted from Williams Sonoma
I love brussels sprouts. There is so much prejudice against them but cooked well, they are so incredibly delicious. They roast up nutty and rich. Add a little bacon and its like savory candy. These would be perfect with a little sauteed bread crumbs in oil with a little shallot.
6 oz bacon, diced
5 shallots, minced
4 lb. brussels sprouts, outer leaves removed, trimmed and halved lengthwise
2 Tbs. chopped fresh thyme
salt & pepper to taste
Preheat oven to 425* F
In a cast iron pan (or ovenproof saute pan) over medium heat, cook bacon until crisp (5-8min). Add shallots and cook until soft (2 min). Increase heat to med-hi, add the sprouts, thyme, salt and pepper and stir well.
Transfer the pan to the oven and roast until fork tender about 25 minutes, stirring after 15 minutes. Serve immediately topped with sauteed breadcrumbs. Serves 6.
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