JIM SAYS:
Columns Published in the Opelika-Auburn
News Our Thanksgiving Feast
Published November 30th, 2007
On Wednesday at Jimmy’s, we were busy getting Creole fried turkeys for the customers who had ordered them for Thanksgiving. We spent a couple of days seasoning and frying lots of those great birds.
Toward the end of the afternoon, a good friend asked me, “Did you fry a turkey for yourself?” I told her not this time. I had to confess I didn’t know what I was going to do for food for that night and Thanksgiving Day.
One of the great things about not planning ahead is that you get the opportunity to pick from what you have and create a new experience. I pulled a few things from the fridge at home and packed a cold bag. After service at Emmanuel we headed
for a short stay at the lake.
Thanksgiving turkey, that’s the thing. That night I opted for another “T” – tuna. It proved to be just right for a late dinner.
The tuna was lightly salted and seared. Never cook good tuna beyond medium rare. If for some strange reason you want tuna cooked more, buy the purple stuff or just open a can. You’ll spend less money and be happier.
There was a partial container of coconut milk that I reduced with a small chili pepper. I placed slices of the beautiful red-centered tuna on it. I thought, Gordon Elliot, the king of food alliterations would be proud – Thai Tuna for Thanksgiving.
With that tasty dish we had a flavorful Pinot Blanc from Alsace. It went
really well with the tuna.
Thanksgiving Day lunch was a treat too. I had a whole bunch of asparagus to use. So I opted for making an entire lunch of just asparagus. What a great treat
and fun to try.
Since blanched asparagus is so easy to use for making lots of dishes, that’s the quick road I took. Boil the trimmed spears in salted water for just a couple of minutes
and plunge into iced water. That’s all it takes.
My goal: tuna four ways.
The easiest thing was placing a couple of the chilled spears on thin lemon slices and setting a few oil-cured olives at their side. A splash of olive oil finished
them off perfectly
An equally good cold preparation was to use some sun-dried tomato seasoned hummus centered on a couple of more spears. You never can tell what
you might find in the fridge.
On the hot side I placed a few spears in a buttered dish and set a slice of aged
white cheddar on top and melted the cheese is the oven.
For the fourth I wrapped the spears in left over puff pastry and baked them
until lightly browned.
Since the drought has plants dead or confused, my tarragon was blooming again after dying down a few months back. A cluster of flower-top herbs made for a tasty and attractive complement to the asparagus.
All this made for a very pretty plate. Just eight asparagus spears each made for a lunch full of flavor and so interesting with the texture differences.
A Riesling was a great wine choice. It was so good with the meal and to sip after.
That night called for poultry. In this case it was chicken. A couple of days before, I had picked up a 2-pound Tyson natural bird at Kroger. When I see a small chicken, I get it and figure something out later. It was the only one I saw.
The inside was seasoned with Kosher salt and thyme. A halved lemon was tossed in for flavor. More Kosher salt was sprinkled over all the skin. Roasting a 425 oven took just over 30 minutes. A sauce made from the pan juices and a dash of Dijon was perfect.
Along side we had a sauté of red pepper & tomato and slices of ripe pear. The cold of the pear set well against the cooked foods.
A bottle of Estancia Meritage was so good with this. This is a very reliable red wine that is good to have around. At under $30 it is a very good value. Ours was a 1994 – an outstanding year in California.
The next morning I was out at seven to get lunch ready for the guests coming to Jimmy’s. We had just a few of turkeys to do for folks picking them up for
pre-game feasts.
A traditional Thanksgiving – no. A good one – yes. The bleak outside and low water didn’t dampen our spirits. The good food and a day together was the treat we wanted. I wonder what Christmas goodies we will have in just a few weeks?
November Wine Dinner – Scallops
Published November 23rd, 2007
There’s hardly anything more festive in the food world than scallops – especially the really large sea scallops. When you have festive food, a party often follows. That’s what happened on this past Sunday when a group of us gathered for Jimmy’s November Wine Dinner.
Scallops are such a treat. When properly cooked they have a wonderful texture, a distinctive aroma and a subtle yet powerful flavor that make them a unique
and interesting seafood.
With such a large number of people, it took a while for everyone to get acquainted. A nice Chardonnay made it a fun time for all.
Most people have had oysters on the half shell – raw or cooked as in Oysters Rockefeller. Clams and Mussels in the shell are the norm. We’ve all had
shrimp in the shell.
But what about scallops in the shell? That’s a pretty unusual sight. Not true on Sunday at Jimmy’s. In fact we had scallops is the shell three ways.
One scallop was served with a fennel puree, another with fresh tomato and roasted garlic and the last with butter and capers. The shells were beautiful shades of purple and lavender. There were so many tastes and textures on one plate.
With our first course we had a Pinot Grigio from C.A. Montini. This was a full-bodied wine from this often lack-luster grape. It allowed the flavors to show through yet provided a nice support to the scallops.
The next course proved to be the most popular of the night – Scallop and Salmon Sausage with Andouille and Grits. Pink and white flowed through the sausage and flavors mingled as the Andouille cream blended with the grits. The crunch of the bread crumbs coating the sausage links contrasted with the creamy grits to perfection. This was a powerful dish from the often-tame scallop.
To balance all of these flavors we had a Wall Cellars Zinfandel from California. This is a very nice wine at a bargain price. It’s worth getting a couple to keep on hand.
A screw cap makes it even better.
Next came an unusual soup and an equally unusual wine. The soup was Scallop and Pumpkin. The wine was a Hungarian Tokaji from the well-known
Vintner Kiralyudvar.
Now Tokai is usually quite sweet. This was a “sec” version however. It was somewhat dry yet a full-flavored white wine. It had plenty of character to please the red wine folks too. It had lots of complexity to fit so well with the soup.
Now to the soup – rich seafood stock and pumpkin mixed with poached chopped scallops and their liquid. This was a beautiful fall hue and just as full
of flavor as color.
The featured course was sea scallops. They were big beautiful orbs weighing in at two ounces each – that’s eight to a pound. They were seared and served in a pool of lemon zest and garlic infused cream.
Along with the scallops were creamed spinach, butter-poached Chanterelle and olive oil and salt marinated brown Honshimeji mushrooms. These were great flavors and textures together, not to mention fine companions to the scallops.
With the sea scallops we had a Heartland Shiraz from Australia. This wine had an earthy fruitiness that accented the mushrooms perfectly and brought out the richness of the tender scallops.
For dessert we had an apple and pear tart. Long rectangular puff pastry tart shells were filled with a cream cheese pastry cream and the fruit. They were glazed and chilled before serving. These slices were topped with bleu cheese crumbles.
What a great light sweet to end a rich meal made from a subtle ingredient.
A Vouvray from Pierre Chainier was poured with the tart. This slightly sweet wine made from Chenin Blanc was so good with the dessert. This wine would also be perfect as a summer outside wine - lots of nose and flavor to last and last.
Wines like these can be acquired from folks like the ones at The Brass Brassiere and Christine’s. The Kroger stores and World Market are also a source.
So what is the verdict? I suppose applause for the food tells us most everything. The guests were so pleased. One diner said, “You paired two red wines with scallops. They were perfect. I didn’t think that was possible.”
People stayed and talked about the dinner and family and told many good stories. Memories were relived and enjoyed. Wine was sipped and food re-savored.
Handshakes and hugs ended a great evening of scallops done many ways. Wishes of holiday joy echoed as folks left and went to their cars to go home and re-tell the thoughts of a dinner well enjoyed and new friends met and remembered.
Thanksgiving Goodies
Published November 16th, 2007
Thanksgiving is a holiday strongly associated with tradition. To some it is a more important family time than Christmas. Whatever the case or size of your family, a festive meal or two will be an important part of your time together.
So why not try something new this year? Sure you can go all the way and make everything different. No doubt that is my favorite solution. Otherwise take a small step and try just one new dish.
If you don’t want to take a big step and replace something major, try a small side. If you don’t want to go there, add a condiment of some sort.
Don’t worry about trying to make what you think is everyone’s favorite dish every year. If it’s not there, don’t worry. They are mostly grownups. They will get over it. Who knows? They might enjoy a meal without it for a change.
Since to many folks more variety, rather than a higher quality or more exotic choice, means a better feast, a special dish is a great idea. Combine that with lots of buffet or family style meals and something that takes up a small space on an already too full plate is a good thought.
The special condiment or seasoning is a great choice. Just a spoonful can add a new dimension to your meal without asking you to replace what you perceive
as somebody’s favorite dish.
All of us are familiar with the ubiquitous cranberry sauce. To some it’s best right out a can – complete with the ridges on the side. It’s not against the laws of
nature to make your own.
Cranberry and orange are great companions. The same is true for tangerines and kumquats. Any of these can help make a cranberry sauce special and different.
Since cranberry sauce is basically cooked chutney, lots of other fruits can be used to make a special condiment. When you add to that, fresh chutneys,
the options expand greatly.
First, you can certainly purchase bottled chutneys or other condiments. Your favorite grocery or a spot like World Market will have Thai, Chinese and Indian sauces that will give you options to this part of your meal. Lots of these will go well with roasted meats like turkey and ham. Just a couple can make your feast special.
Another option is using some fancy preserves or jam. Grape, apple and strawberry aren’t the only options out there. A favorite of mine is quality fig preserves. They are perfect for pork or poultry and offer a good color, flavor and texture
contrast to cranberry.
Since you can make your own cranberry sauce, it’s just as “OK” to make your own chutney. Cooking one down is fine, but making chutney from raw or slightly cooked ingredients is great and different. It allows you to taste the ripe fruit and it
retains a nice bite to the texture.
The very popular tomato relish we make at Jimmy’s is really chutney. It is a combination of long and slight cooking. The tomatoes are cooked for some time. The liquids used are cooked longer and reduced by half. The other solid ingredients are cooked only 15 minutes so they keep their crunch.
You can find nectarines this time of year and certainly plenty of apples and pears. All of these make great fresh chutney. Since you can mostly leave on the peel, they are quick to use and keep a nice color. If they are hard, just cook slightly,
cool and move on.
An important thing to remember about any recipe is that, for the most part, it is flexible. If you don’t like something, leave it out. If you want to add something or more seasoning, do it. Just keep the overall ratios and quantities about the same. This is much more important in baking.
So make your Thanksgiving meals more special this year by adding a new taste or two. Purchased or homemade sauces or chutneys make a perfect addition to a feast and are so easy to add. On top of that your family and guests will remember that special touch much more than another endless side dish.
Orange Cranberry Sauce
You can make your own cranberry sauce from fresh, cooking them down and adding sugar. But in this recipe we use canned whole berry cranberry sauce. The other ingredients will make the final sauce seem fresh and very tasty.
2 15 oz cans whole berry cranberry sauce
2 fresh navel oranges
1 TBS Creole seasoning like Tony’s or Zaterain’s
3 TBS prepared Horseradish
Cut the oranges into 8 pieces each and remove any seeds. Place the pieces with the rind on in a food processor and process until almost smooth but still a little chunky.
In a bowl add in the oranges, cranberry sauce, Creole seasoning and horseradish. Stir until thoroughly blended. Chill and stir again before serving.
Fresh Fruit Chutney
Use apples, pears or nectarines – or better still a combination of two or more of these. Make sure to toss the cut fruit in lemon juice to keep it from browning. Pears work better if they are peeled. If you don’t want fresh crunchy chutney, cook it down, covered. It will be just as good but soft and yummy.
2 to 4 cups of chopped fruit – fingernail size
2 cloves minced garlic
2 finely chopped green onions including the tops
1 fresh or bottled chili pepper
1 lemon, juiced
2 TBS sugar
2 TBS vinegar
1 tsp Kosher salt
Mix all the ingredients together and let stand a few hours before using. You may omit the pepper or substitute a little hot sauce or pepper sauce. Blanch the garlic for a minute if you don’t want the strong raw taste. For even more color add some finely chopped red bell pepper or jarred pimento.
