for the love of turkey

A rite of passage for the married man - carving up a turkey in your own house with the in-laws present for holiday dinner.

 

Alvy Singer to Annie Hall:
"What did you do, grow up in a Norman Rockwell painting?"

One of my favorite lines in the movie Annie Hall.  I did not grow up in a Noman Rockwell painting which is probably why the holidays were and are so awkward for me. 

I don't have a lot of memories of the big Thanksgiving and Christmas dinners growing up - some vague recollections of nice plates and gold plated silverware coming out every so often.  But not the organized dinners involving "kiddie tables" (or "auxiliary table" as I like to call it because I'm really too old to be sitting at the "kiddie table") because the dining room table is maxed out like my wife's family is used to.  In fact, until we started dating years ago, I hadn't really been at a regular Thanksgiving or Christmas dinner. 

Thanksgiving as a young adult was at the Denny's in Cedar Rapids, Iowa.  It was at college for freshman and sophomore years.  It would be me with my books and the Thanksgiving feast that consisted of:

- pressed turkey
- powdered "mashed" potatoes and gravy
- cranberry sauce out of a can (still my favorite side dish to this very day!)
- frozen dinner roll and the individually wrapped pat of butter
- foodservice stuffing
- cigarette smoke wafting over from the Denny's Lounge (do they even have those anymore?)

All this for the low price of about $7 and I didn't have to do the dishes!

I love the food served at Thanksgiving and Christmas - even if my association with it is more from Norman Rockwell paintings instead of actually being a participant at these dinners growing up.

But without fail, over the years, I've grown to love the Thanksgiving and Christmas dinners we share as an immediate and extended family.  Even though it wasn't a part of my growing up, I'm grateful that the daily evening meal as a family and the large scale extended family meals have become normative for my kids.

What touched off some of these memories for me in college was probably lunch today.  There's a cafe near my office and they publish their menus for the whole week.  I would be lying if I didn't say I wasn't looking forward to today's Thanksgiving lunch - served in the very festive cardboard to go container...

my take on She-Crab Soup



my finished product - She-Crab Soup

On a pretty cold and rainy day, I decided on a whim to head out and pick up the ingredients to make She-Crab Soup.  This is a must for me to order when I'm in the South.  I'm on a quest to find the best She-Crab Soup in the Low Country (so far, it's Frank's in Pawleys Island, SC).  My other ongoing quest is to find the best Lobster Roll (so far, it's Haraseeket Lunch & Lobster in Freeport, ME). 

I found Emeril's recipe to be the one with most of the ingredients I had in the pantry.  And, it did not call for crab roe.  I just didn't have the strength to search high and low for it, so that eliminated a bunch of recipes.  Emeril's was the easiest to work with - though you can easily get by on just 1 pound of crabmeat.  The original recipe is here on Food Network's website.  Here's what I ended up doing...

She-Crab Soup

Ingredients
4 tablespoons butter
4 tablespoons flour
2 small onions, finely chopped
6 ribs of celery, finely grated
1 tablespoon minced garlic
Salt and pepper
1 quart whole milk
1 cup cream
1 tablespoon Frank's Red Hot sauce
2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
2 pounds crab meat, picked over for cartilage (you can easily get by with just 1 pound)
2 hard boiled eggs, finely chopped (I upped it 1 from the original recipe)
1/2 cup sherry
1 tablespoon finely chopped parsley

Directions
In the top of a double-boiler, melt the butter and flour together. Cook the mixture for 3-4 minutes for a blond roux. Stir in the onions, celery, and garlic. Season with salt, pepper, and mace. Cook the vegetables for 2 minutes. Whisk in the milk, cream, hot sauce, and Worcestershire. Bring the liquid up to a boil and reduce to a simmer. Simmer the soup for 15 minutes. Stir in the crab meat and continue simmering for 10-15 minutes. Reseason if necessary. Sprinkle the chopped eggs in the bottom of each bowl. Ladle the soup into each bowl. Drizzle the soup with the sherry. Garnish with chopped parsley.

(Constantly shouting "BAM!" when a new ingredient is added to the double boiler is completely optional)

Osteria di Tramonto

outside of Osteria di TramontoThis is way overdue but while my wife was enjoying her 10th anniversary homecoming, I decided I would eat at Rick Tramonto's restaurant. I've not been able to make it over to Tru in Chicago just yet but he and Gale Gand opened up this temple to Italian cuisine in the 'burbs and thought it was worth a trip. Plus, his new restaurants were featured in last season's "Top Chef" and you know what a sucker I am for that TV show.

On a side note: eating alone is something that I don't mind doing. However, I've found that lunch is easier to pull off without looking too awfully sad. Plus, if you bring a book or a few manila folders, you look busy and most people don't make a fuss.

So, I went out to Osteria di Tramonto for an unforgettable lunch experience. The price was right and it wasn't all that busy. The restaurant is huge and beautiful... take a look...

the main dining room of Osteria di Tramonto
Rick Tramonto's steakhouse kitchen -- as seen on "Top Chef"
Rick Tramonto's steakhouse dining room -- as seen on "Top Chef"
the amazing wine collection at Tramonto's
another view of the amazing wine collection at Tramonto's OK, enough pics of the place. Now on to the food! For my first course, I enjoyed Beef Carpaccio, olive tapenade, garlic aioli, sea salt and I paired it with a glass of Cesarini Sforza Trentino NV Brut Rose. This starter is probably constructed for 3 or 4 people. However, I skipped breakfast for this meal. I was able to polish this off with no trouble. The beef was razor thin and the salad on top of it seemed a bit fussy at first, but it paired well with the beef. A good decision to start the meal, I thought.


For my entree, I enjoyed the Papardelle with Meat Sauce (veal, pork and pork ragu, fresh ricotta) which I paired with the Cesari "Mari" Valpolicella Ripasso Veneto 2006.
This entree was just genius. The pasta was so fresh and prepared at a perfect al dente. The fresh ricotta was a perfect counterpoint to the bold meat sauce ... anytime veal and pork are paired together, just count me in! The wine that I had with this entree (billed as a baby Amarone) was a great accompaniment -- it just went together perfectly!

I finished up the lunch with a mini apple tartlet. I forgot to take a picture of it because it looked too delicious to let it just sit there. It didn't last long.

This place is definitely worth a trip back the next time I'm in the area.