Thanksgiving 2019

John Coltrane.
Candlelight.
Mature Pinot Noir.

Pinot Noir by Candlelight

Doesn't sound like the start of a Thanksgiving post, right? At least not one that I have written on this blog before.

But it is. This year all the kids were scattered to the four winds: Lillie in Philadelphia, Ellie in Madrid, and Carter in Virginia. That left Ann and me to our own devices. To be sure, we both were feeling a little down because of the lack of hustle and bustle, but we had a wonderful day.

It was the first time in a long time that we both got in the kitchen and cooked together. And it felt good, natural, and fun. We are not often in the kitchen at the same time. To be fair, as an ex-chef, I'm used to running a kitchen my way and that's not necessarily Ann's way. I'm slowly learning to share and focus more on the experience than the outcome. I'm certain that Ann will say I have a long way to go, but yesterday worked out pretty well.

Our menu was simple: roast pork and orzo. We don't each much meat at all, living day to day on beans and vegetables mainly, with a bit of fish for animal protein, so the pork roast is way out of our ordinary. As for the choice of pork, I'm pretty done with the whole turkey thing after decades of cooking them. What's a turkey if you don't have a crowd to share it with, anyway?

Photos follow, in the order that they were shot. They tell the story of a leisurely day.

Spice Mix for the Sausage

Cup of coffee in hand, I mixed up some spices for my sausage, the stuffing for the roulade of pork: ground fennel, paprika, granulated garlic, salt, and white pepper. This is kind of a classic seasoning for finocchiona. Didn't weigh, didn't measure, eyeballed it. I wet the spices with a copious amount of Sauvignon Blanc and mixed it in to the ground pork. I tested a small batch of sausage for seasoning and decided not to change a thing. The sausage went back into the refrigerator to mellow until I needed it later to stuff the pork rack.

Testing the Sausage for Seasoning

About noon, we started to get hungry, so we went into the kitchen to finish dinner prep and get a focaccia working for lunch. I diced up some shallot and celery for Ann to sweat as she was cooking the orzo for her casserole.

Ann Sweating Celery, Shallots, and Sage

I pulled together a quick focaccia and topped it with Kalamata olives, rosemary from the front porch, grated pecorino romano, a drizzle of olive oil, and a nice sprinkle of coarse salt.

Olive, Rosemary, and Pecorino Focaccia

Then on to the pork rack, which I frenched and then unrolled.

Frenched and Unrolled Pork Rack

Ann finished up her casserole by adding flour to the mirepoix to make a blond roux and then by adding chicken stock to make a sauce velouté. She added Gruyère cheese to the sauce, melted it, and then stirred in the orzo.

Orzo Waiting for the Oven

Once I finished prepping the pork rack, I laid on a layer of the sausage that I made earlier in the morning, making sure to leave plenty of room around the edges for the sausage to spread out as I rolled the roulade.

Sausage on the Soon-to-Be Roulade

By this point, the focaccia was out of the oven and we devoured it!

The Finished Focaccia, Cooling

All that was left was to roll the pork rack roulade and tie it with butcher's twine.

Pork Rack Roulade, Ready for the Oven

Late afternoon when we started thinking about food again, having crushed the focaccia earlier, we popped both the orzo and the pork roulade into the oven.

Orzo is Done

Pork Rack Roulade Cooling

Thanksgiving calls for a special bottle of wine, so I opened this '07 Pinot Noir. 2007 was one of those cool Oregon vintages that I love, along with 2011 and 2013 (and maybe 2019, though those wines are still undergoing malolactic fermentation and it's hard to say anything yet about the baby vintage). The wine did not disappoint with its overlay of tobacco leaf and leather.

A Fine 2007 Pinot Noir

We debated cooking some spinach to accompany the pork and orzo, but as it was, this was already too much food. In the restaurant, I would have turned the pan drippings into a wonderful sauce and would have garnished the plate nicely, but it just being the two of us, I opted for simplicity. The pork was wonderfully juicy and the orzo was a perfect foil for it.

Orzo and Pork Roulade Chop

It was a slow day, a calm day, a relaxed day. I feel like we hit a good balance in making a special meal without a lot of fuss. It was great to be in the kitchen with Ann. But still, all that said, I missed some of the bustle and having the family around. I'm sure Ann did too.