I always go a little crazy during Thanksgiving. I cook as though the fleet just docked and they are all coming to brunch and dinner. This year is no different, except it is more. So far George (Pam's husband) and I are doing two turkeys and a ham the night before--this is new and I'll let you know how that works out later AND as we have the last few years we have "the roast". Tom likes my cooking. He's married to my niece Mary Susan and he is particular about his food. I've gotten him over some of his food sillies such his aversion to bread pudding. He is however, on my mind when I think of rib roast for special occasions. He loves the roast. Today, just when I was ready to throw aside my TASTE OF HOME magazine (which can be awesome or really bad) I was scanning it and everything looked wonderful! Now Taste of Home has hooked up with Sam's Club and they have begun to do some exciting things. It is funny because two weeks ago at Sam's I ordered a slab of rib roast cut into two eight pound roasts. One for Thanksgiving and one for Christmas Day. I pick them up on Wednesday before the big day. I'll put one in the freezer and then I go to work on the biggest roast. I cut slits all over the poor thing. I insert garlic, which I love, but it hates me, into each and every slit and there are many on an 8 pound rib roast. I make a slurry of olive oil and fresh herbs and rub the roast with this all over its surface. I then layer a bed of onions in a roasting pan with some other tasties like carrots and celery and kohlrabi sprinkle olive oil, salt and pepper over the bed, lay the roast on top with a good helping of kosher salt and pepper and a good shake of a special honey red pepper seasoning. Then I take (what ever is left over) red wine, pour it over the meat with a little more olive oil, cover it well with plastic wrap and leave it in a cool place until an hour before roasting on the day. I roast it to 130 degrees and let it rest (and me too) for 20 minutes--it cooks a little more and reclaims its juice back to where it belongs inside the roast and not on the cutting board. So, the plan is one platter of sliced white turkey meat covered in gravy, one platter of dark turkey meat with juice from the roasting, and one platter of ham covered with a special glaze. That's just dinner however, which will be a candle light affair because of the late arrivals from New Orleans.
So far for the brunch I have ready these soups: ham and bean; barley and mushroom; chicken and vegetables; chili several ways; chicken and fat noodles; beef stew; pork/vegetables; cheddar cheese with broccoli soup, and, a pasta ears soup. The pulled pork for sandwiches is ready as well. I have four casseroles ready so far and several fruit breads.
One thing that caught my eye in Taste of Home, but I can't do for this crowd of thirty, is the shredded Parmesan cups filled with Cesar salad. When I find the directions again, I will list how to do it here. So far it has eluded me.
The other thoughts I have are for starters and sides. Sweet potato bacon wrapped bites appealed to me as a starter or a side.
Yiiikes! Somebody stop me!
Why do I do all of this? Read on:
Famous TV cooks make mistakes like the rest of us. I have to laugh when Ina, the Barefoot Contessa, says she likes to surprise guests. Just when they think they are coming to her house to eat something exotic, she serves them spaghetti and meatballs. She says they find it delightful. (I doubted that very much.) But, I tried it anyway on a frequent guest who did antique shows here in town and stayed and ate free, which is saying something if one has to pay four nights in a motel and the cost of eating for four days...and to say nothing of a friend that comes with him to stay as well. This went on for years, several times a year. I always made food to please. I never felt used because normally one of the guys bought some of the things I had brought over from London and Paris. So, having heard Ina say her bosses were coming to dinner and she was serving meatloaf, in the Hamptons I might add, I thought that sounded catchy and fun. Mashed potatoes, peas, and meatloaf were on the menu for a dinner AFTER the show closed, which was winter late to boot, after 9:00 pm. As we sat down to the table the hand rubbing, the cutlery snatching, the gleam in the eyes appeared on cue. I served, sat down and started asking about the show--who was there, how was the crowd, did you sell well? Each question was answered in one syllable while the one guy was stirring the food around on his plate actually snarling at it! Finally I asked, don't you care for meatloaf? No, he said, it was not what I was expecting. I get this at home. So after that, that is where he ate (and slept) as far as I was concerned. So, Ina, when you say this kind of thing on TV, simply because you don't want to exert yourself, you lead us astray and we don't like it. It is not cute. And, by the way, I don't think your guests like it either. (I saw the startled reaction of the 'birthday boy' when you served his high end guest spaghetti and meatballs.)
That is why I go all out for my family and guests no matter the occasion. Can you imagine Tom's face if he showed up for brunch on Thanksgiving day and the only thing I had was one soup, one kind of cracker, and bread pudding for dessert?
