Wine and Food

If you're looking for something a little different this year, here are a few traditional English side dishes that will make Thanksgiving dinner extra special and delicious.

Chestnut Stuffing:
This traditional stuffing recipe, using fresh or canned chestnuts, is rich and incredibly tasty.

2 cups whole chestnuts
1-1/2 cups butter
1 onion, chopped
1 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. pepper
2 tsp. poultry seasoning
2 (1 lb.) bread, cut into cubes (day old is best)
3 eggs
1/4 cup milk

Pierce the chestnuts and place in a saucepan. Cover with water and bring to a boil, then reduce the heat and simmer for about 25 minutes, or until chestnuts are soft. Drain, cool and peel the chestnuts then chop coarsely. (you can also substitute two cups of canned chestnuts.) Preheat oven to 350. On the stovetop, in a medium saucepan, melt the butter. Stir in the chestnuts, onion, salt, pepper, and seasoning, and fry gently for about 3-4 minutes. Transfer to a medium sized baking dish, and mix in the bread. Beat the eggs and milk together, and drizzle over the mixture. Gently mix together until everything is well coated. Stuff your turkey, or place in a greased casserole dish and bake at 350 degrees for 30-45 minutes until the top is crisp and lightly browned.

Carrot & Turnip Mash:
An easy and luscious side dish that you'll want to cook all year round. It also freezes very well.

2lb carrots
2lb turnips or rutabagas
Cream or milk
Butter
Salt
Pepper

Boil the carrots and turnip and mash using the cream, butter, salt and pepper according to taste.

Brussels Sprouts With Walnuts:
One of our favorite sides, this flavorful and unusual dish is always a festive hit at Thanksgiving.

2lb Brussels sprouts
8 tablespoons butter
1/4 cup onion, sliced thinly
2 tablespoons minced garlic
3/4 cup roughly chopped walnuts
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

Boil salted water and add the Brussels sprouts. Cook for about 5 minutes until crisp and tender. Drain, then cut the sprouts in half. In a large saucepan, melt 6 tablespoons of butter over a medium-high heat. Add onion and garlic, and cook for 1 more minute. Add the sprouts and cook for 5 minutes, or until golden brown. Remove from the pan. Add the remaining 2 tablespoons of butter to the pan and add the walnuts, stirring for two minutes until golden and fragrant. Add salt, pepper and sprouts and stir well. Serve immediately.

Turkey Tip: Remember to always allow your turkey to come to room temperature before cooking, as chilled items will upset your cooking times.

Wine and Food Pairings by Paula Getzelman, Chalk Ridge Vineyard.

We're so lucky that we can grill almost 365 days here in the San Antonio Valley! And if you're like so many this year, you still have a lot of green tomatoes on your vines that haven’t ripened. When you have friends coming for dinner and you want to share the cooking chores with the guys, here's a menu that allows you to do a lot of the preparation ahead of time, let the men grill the ribs and use up some of those green tomatoes, too!

I like to serve Syrah with this menu...the spicy, peppery notes pair well with the spices in the ribs, and it's not too overpowering for the Spaghetti Squash Pancakes and the Fried Green Tomatoes.

Grilled Dry Ribs
Fried Green Tomatoes
Spaghetti Squash Pancakes
Caesar Salad with Polenta Croutons
Apple Squares


GRILLED DRY RIBS, Serves 6

4 cups white distilled vinegar
4 cups water
1/3 cup Seasoning Rub
2 slabs pork loin back ribs (approximately 2 pounds each)

Seasoning Rub Recipe
1/2 cup salt
1/4 cup pepper
1 T. garlic powder
1 T. oregano
1 T. celery seed
1 T. paprika
1 T. chile powder

Mix vinegar, water and seasoning together to make basting sauce.

On a hot grill, start ribs bone side down, until bone side is golden brown. Baste 2 times with basting sauce then flip slab and cook meat side down until this side reaches a nice golden brown.

Baste again and sprinkle with dry Seasoning Rub; cut into individual servings.


FRIED GREEN TOMATOES, Serves 6

4 large firm green tomatoes
Salt
2 cups vegetable or peanut oil, for deep-frying
1 cup half & half (or milk)
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup cornmeal
Salt & pepper
onion powder
cayenne, if desired

Slice the tomatoes 1/4-inch thick. Lay them out in a shallow baking pan lined with paper towels; sprinkle tomato slices with salt. Allow approximately 30 minutes for for the salt to pull the water out of the tomatoes. Drain tomato slices on fresh paper towels to dry.

In a skillet, heat the oil for deep-frying over medium high heat. Mix the flour, cornmeal, salt-pepper-onion powder and cayenne together in a shallow dish. Dip the tomatoes into half & half, then dredge them in the seasoned flour/cornmeal mixture. Deep-fry until golden brown. Place in a single layer on a rack in a warm oven until ready to serve.

HINT: Best served as soon as possible after frying.


SPAGHETTI SQUASH PANCAKES, Serves 6

4 cups spaghetti squash, cooked
2 eggs, beaten
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 cup grated red onion
1/3 cup grated Parmesan cheese
3 T. butter or olive oil
salt and pepper to taste
sour cream for garnish

Mix squash with onion, salt, and pepper. Fold in flour, cheese and beaten egg. Mix well, using a couple of forks.

Melt 1 tablespoon butter in a large skillet over medium-high heat.

Spoon 1/4 cup squash mixture into prepared skillet. With a fork, press to form an evenly thick cake. Repeat to fill skillet. Cook cakes until bottoms are lightly browned, turn over and brown second side. Continue until you've used all the squash mixture.

Keep the cakes already made warm in an oven set at its lowest temperature until you are ready to serve. Use additional butter or oil as necessary for cooking. Sprinkle pancakes with salt and pepper and serve with sour cream and/or apple sauce.


CAESAR SALAD WITH POLENTA CROUTONS, Serves 6

Dressing:
3 cloves garlic
4 anchovy fillets, chopped
1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
1 T. Dijon mustard
1/2 cup olive oil
Salt and freshly ground black pepper

Finely chop the garlic and anchovies in a food processor. Blend in the lemon juice and mustard. With the machine running, gradually blend in the oil. Season the dressing, to taste, with salt and pepper.

Polenta Croutons:
1 tube prepared Polenta (or make your own)
Vegetable oil, for deep frying

Cut the polenta into 3/4-inch cubes. Pat the polenta cubes dry with paper towels. Add enough vegetable oil to a heavy large frying pan to come 1-inch up the sides of the pan. Heat the oil over high heat. Working in batches, add the polenta cubes to the oil 1 at a time and fry until golden brown, stirring to keep the cubes separate, about 2 minutes. Using a slotted spoon, transfer the polenta croutons to a paper towel-lined plate to drain any excess oil. (The dressing and polenta croutons can be prepared 1 day ahead. Cover the dressing and polenta croutons separately and refrigerate. Re-warm the polenta croutons on a baking sheet in a 350 degrees F oven before serving.)

Salad:
3 small heads (or 2 large heads) romaine lettuce, halved lengthwise
1/2 cup drained oil-packed sun-dried tomatoes, cut into thin strips
1/2 cup pine nuts, toasted
1 1/2 oz. shaved Parmesan
Cut the lettuce into bite-size pieces. In a large serving bowl, mound the chopped lettuce. Decoratively scatter the sun-dried tomatoes and pine nuts. Drizzle with enough dressing to evenly coat. Sprinkle Parmesan and scatter the warm polenta croutons over and serve.


APPLE SQUARES, Serves 9

5-6 apples, peeled, cored, sliced
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup hot water

Place apples in a medium blow. Sprinkle sugar over, and then hot water. Mix well until sugar dissolves. Turn apples into an 8"x8" baking dish. In another mixing bowl, place the following ingredients:

1 cup graham cracker crumbs
1/2 cup flour
1 cup sugar
1/2 t. cinnamon
1/2 cup walnuts or pecans, coarsely chopped

Pour this mixture over the apples. Then drizzle with 1/2 cup melted butter. Bake in 350 degree oven about 45 minutes or until apples are tender. Serve warm with ice cream or whipped cream.