Thanksgiving Round-up

I ended up staying with my girlfriend’s family for the entire weekend, and I had an absolute blast. The entirety of Wednesday (5pm-10pm) was spent drinking 11 (12?) bottles of red wine with six other people, of which I partook of a solid 14 glasses or so. This is impressive both because I’m not normally a fan of red wine and because I don’t really drink that often. The clear winner of the evening was the first wine we tasted, which I believe was an Ass Kisser from Rocland Estates (waiting for confirmation) was a 2010 A.S. Kiken from Reverie Winery.

As for the actual Thanksgiving dinner, I went ahead with the Broccoli-Cheddar soup, which was a hit, and the Butter Knots that my cousin Katy has made for years in Buffalo. The recipe for them is listed at the end of this post and I HIGHLY recommend you give them a go.

The rest of the day was spent drinking more wine, grazing on leftovers, and catching up with friends who made guest appearances during the evening.

Friday morning I woke just before 7am and drove off into the lovely, dense fog of Huntington Beach to find the local Verizon Wireless store so that I might finally enter the era of smartphones. Sadly, Verizon was the only carrier NOT putting the Samsung Galaxy S3 on sale (boooo!) but I went ahead and got it anyway. It came loaded with tons of apps, none of which I know how to use, so I’ll be spending a good chunk of today online researching them and playing around with the phone.

Friday evening turned into a culinary wonderland, as my girlfriend’s parents treated everyone to dinner at Old Vine Café in Costa Mesa. A bevy of four-course tasting menus, with a specific wine paired to each individual course. I went with the Comfort Tasting Menu which included the following:

First
~Seasonal Greens, Hearts of Palm, Artisan-Cured Ham & Crispy fried Artichokes Tossed in Creamy Tarragon Dressing, garnished with Aged Pecorino.
~Paired with a 2010 Domaine de Bernier Chardonnay, France

Second
~Porcini Mushroom Macaroni & Creamy Artisan Cheeses.
~Paired with a 2007 Dragani Montepulciano D'Abruzzo, Italy

Third
~All-Natural Australian Lamb Meatloaf with Sauteed Spinach & Peppercorn Demi Glace.
~Paired with a 2004 Chateau Jean-Pierre Gaussen Bandol, Bandol France

Last
~Pear & Cream Cheese Tart with a Savory Pate Brisee Crust.
~Paired with a N.V. Törley 'Fortuna' Doux, Hungary

It was AMAZING.

Saturday was spent reading, playing board games and watching both ‘Brave’ and The ‘Perks of Being a Wallflower’, the latter of which I highly recommend you seeing when you have a chance.

Okay, that’s it for today. The recipe for the butter knots is below the cut. I’ll have more interesting tidbits for you tomorrow.


Butter Knots

1/4 cup (1/2 stick) of butter
1 cup milk
1/4 cup ricotta cheese
1 tsp salt
3 TBL sugar
1 package active dry yeast
1/4 cup lukewarm water
3.5-4 cups all-purpose flour

Glaze
1 large egg

1. In a sauce pan, heat butter and milk until butter beings to mel. Whisk in ricotta cheese, salt, sugar. Cool to lukewarm (95-105)

2. In a large bowl, dissolve yeast in warm water. Let stand until foamy, 5-10 minutes.

3. stir ricotta mixture into yeast mixture. using a heavy duty electric mixer fitted with the paddle attacment and set on low speed, beat in flour, 1/2 cup at a time, utnil a stiff dough forms.

4. Place dough in a large greased bowl, turning to coat. cover loosely with a damp clothe and let rise in a warm place utnil doubled, 1 hour.

5. Grease a baking sheet. Turn dough out onto a floured surface and knead until smooth and elastic, adding more flour to prevent sticking. Divide dough into 24 equal pieces.

6. Roll each piece into a finger-thick rope about 12 inches long. Tie into knots.

7. Place knots, 2 inches apart, on prepared baking sheet. Cover and let rise in a warm place for 30 minutes.

8. Preheat oven to 425. Brush knots with beaten egg. Bake until golden, 8 to 10 minutes.

9. Transfer baking sheet to wire rack to cool slightly. Turn knots out onto rack to cool completely.