[Sca-cooks] Report on Thanksgiving experiments...OP

[kingstaste at mindspring.com]

I, too got tapped to make gravy, after the first batch that had been brought
in was deemed 'not quite right'.  Mine was a simple affair with a blonde
roux made with the turkey fat and turkey pan drippings.  It was declared
"wonderful".  It seems to be a mystery, but really isn't all that hard, once
you get the hang of it.  Probably just lots of people that don't ever make
it except on Thanksgiving and one or two other special occasions, and they
just don't develop or loose the knack of turning out something that should
be relatively simple.

My contributions to dinner were a salad of mesclun mix and romaine hearts,
dressed with a vinaigrette of shallots, honey, red wine vinegar and olive
oil, topped with crumbled bacon and goat cheese rounds dipped in herbs de
provence and breadcrumbs then fried.   I also made some curried mashed green
bananas (been dating a Jamaican, what can I say), and an experiment at
gluten-free baclava.  I took Spring Roll wrappers, hydrated them, then fried
them for the layers, then mixed chopped walnuts and a syrup of honey, agave
nectar, orange flower water and powder douce.  Tastes very yummy, although
the rice wrappers are chewier than phyllo, they aren't too far off the right
texture.
We also had an Alton Brown turkey (he's really made a splash here, hasn't
he?), and the usual suspects including dressings, pies, cranberry things,
greens, mashed red potatoes, sweet potatoes with big, whole marshmallows
toasted on top, and more.  All in all, a wonderful spread, spent with good
friends.
Hope this foodie holiday was very good to everyone here - and let me say it
again - I'm very thankful for each and every one of you, especially to
Gunthar who continues to let us hang out in his virtual living room!
Christianna


So, naturally, about six people came up to me and made a point of
coming up to me and saying, "My... God... that... was the _best_
gravy I have ever eaten in my life!"

Which, naturally, opens up a variety of touchy questions... I didn't
do anything bizarre to the gravy. It was just... gravy. Maybe my
version of acceptable gravy (I wouldn't have served it had it not
been acceptable) is unusual, but I thought the reaction was a little
extreme. Unless everything else was bad and people were trying really
hard to be nice? The only thing I can think of that was even remotely
unusual was the fact that the pan drippings from the brined,
unstuffed turkey were probably pretty powerful, and the stock I'd
used was homemade "meat tea" made from actual soup chickens. Brown
roux made with a mixture of butter and olive oil, and mirepoix (two
parts onion to one part each carrot and celery) in the bottom of the
roasting pan doubling as both aromatic and roasting rack.

Have I lived all my life without realizing that gravy is some sort of
big mystery, or is my family just nuts? I mean, yes, they're nuts,
but I wasn't aware of this particular facet of the group nuttiness...

Adamantius