Thanksgiving 2016

As I have for quite a few years now, I prepared Thanksgiving dinner for the family yesterday. I generally try to cook some things that are proven hits, mixed with some new ones that seem promising. Sometimes I try the new ones before the holiday, like these hasselback style butternut squash with bay leaves,

Hasselback style butternut squash

sometimes not.

This year's hors d'oeuvres consisted of bar nuts, courtesy of the Union Square Cafe Cookbook and now Food52 Genius Recipes, my renowned (if inevitable) ricotta, sun-dried tomato and lemon zest crostini,

Rcotta, sun-dried tomato and lemon zest crostini

shrimp with toasted garlic, from Tyler Florence (no photo), spinach and dill hummus, topped with dill, toasted pine nuts and olive oil, from Food and Wine, served with my own pita toasted with za'atar and sumac,

Spinach hummus with dill, toasted pine nuts and oil; pita with za'atar

and cheese gougères, from Clotilde Dusoulier's Chocolate and Zucchini, with a food processor technique for mixing the chou pastry from Jacques Pépin's Essential Pépin.

Cheese gougères

For the main event, I made turkey breast, porchetta style, from a recipe in The New York Times, with chicken sausage and stage stuffing from Kenji Lopez-Alt's masterpiece, The Food Lab. The turkey started out like this, after I broke it down and stuffed the breast and also the boned-out thighs,

Turkey, with porchetta style breast and thighs, before cooking

and turned into this:

Turkey, after roasting

Sides were the hasselback style butternut squash pictured above, a very mustardy and spicy cranberry mostarda, from Food and Wine, and hashed Brussels sprouts with lemon and poppy seeds, from the Union Square Cafe Cookbook.

Hashed Brussles sprouts with lemon and poppy seeds

Finally, desserts: Marie-Hélène's Apple Cake, from Dorie Greenspan's Around My French Table and now Food52 Genius Recipes,

Marie-Hélène's Apple Cake

and and incredibly gingery, light and moist Fresh Ginger Cake, from Davis Lebovitz's Ready for Dessert, served with crème fraîche.

Fresh Ginger Cake

No one left hungry.

Bobby Jay

France -- Cool Old Products

When I went to Europe after my sophomore year of college, I was overwhelmed by a lot of things, most notably the art that I saw in museums and churches, the churches and old cities themselves, and generally the length and presence of the history of the numerous countries and civilizations I encountered.

Since then, I love to see products, especially food products, that have long histories. Better still if the same brand has been in existence for centuries.

Here are a few that I found during a recent trip to France.

Each of these products has a lot of history -- culinary and regional -- and a stylish box to match. But for me, the best find of the lot are Les Macarons de Joyeuse. The card inserted in the box recites the following legend (my translation so bear with any awkwardness):

Joyeuse, a medieval town, owes its name to the emperor Charlemagne, who in 802 named it after his beloved sword, lost during a hunting party and later found at the site where our towns walls stand today.

On September 24, 1581, Duke Anne of Joyeuse, a favorite of King Henry III, married Marguerite of Lorraine, the king's sister-in-law. There followed fifteen days of grandiose celebrations organized by Catherine de Médicis, the costliest in the history of France, at which a number of hitherto unknown refinements were introduced: the first court ballet, "Circe, or the Comic Ballet of the Queen," was presented, and during the banquets a new pastry made with almonds from Italy, macarone, was served. Seduced, the duke introduced his duchy to these "macarons," of which the taste and tradition have been transmitted to the present day.

In 1867, the Joyeuse pâtissier André Maurice Pellier adapted the recipe to a new baking method It is this secret recipe that the Maison Charaix is still using today in an artisanal manner, selecting only natural ingredients in order to retain the taste of the original macaron.

And it works. Every time I have one, I feel the presence of Anne of Joyeuse, Henry III and Catherine de Médicis. And I feel joyeux. No Oreos these.

Bobby Jay

Giant Cannelé de Bordeaux

Giant cannelé de Bordeaux

For years I have loved eating and making cannelés de Bordeaux, which I learned at Ateliers des Chefs in Paris. These wonderful fluted confections are caramelized on the outside and contain a vanilla rum custard interior. The contrast between the textures is the thing.

Generally they come in three sizes, small (about 3.5 cm high), medium (about 4.5 cm high) and large (about   5.5 cm high). I make the small ones because I like the high proportion of crispy caramelized exterior to soft interior that they afford. Contrary to those who say you need to use copper molds, I make mine in inexpensive silicone molds with great results. Here's an example of my usual cannelés:

Mini-cannelés

Recently, however, we went to Michel Trama, an inn and two-star restaurant near Toulouse, and were served a gigantic cannelé suitable for at least four persons (although J and I nearly polished it off ourselves).

I determined to make this. The first order of business was to find an appropriate mold. Hunting around in Bordeaux, I soon realized that there is no official cannelé pan of this size, but we found a kugelhopf pan (for making an Alsatian cake of the same name) and carted it home. The hollow middle means that the dough is never more than about 7 cm thick, and generally less, not so far from the 5.5 cm of a large normal canelé.

Recognizing that the cooking times for my minis would not work at all, I guessed: a clear failure. So based on what I learned, I guessed again, and this time nailed it. The result is above: a crispy exterior and delightful custard inside. I am looking forward to serving it at a post-Thanksgiving dinner party for six in just two weeks.

Bobby Jay