Pomegranate and Pickled Shallot Vinaigrette

I've made this pomegranate and pickled shallot vinaigrette a couple times recently and it is worth remembering for winter salads (when pomegranates are in season), hence this post. If I don't record this idea, it will disappear into the ether as my mind continues its unending quest for new foods and flavors.

Pomegranate and Pickled Shallot Vinaigrette

Pomegranate and Pickled Shallot Vinaigrette

This is a simple dressing that I typically make (as you see in the photo above) in a nearly empty mustard container using up the dregs of mustard in that container. I love whole grain mustard a lot and have a constant supply of jars that I have nearly emptied.

FWIW, I use Plochman's Stone Ground mustard; it's reliably stocked here in town and it comes in a reasonable size for someone who goes through a jar every two weeks. At the restaurant we used Maille whole grain mustard, but even though I prefer it, we can't get it here in Central Oregon.

Although you can make this dressing in your blender, I find that making it directly in the mustard container using an immersion blender is most efficient. If you're serious about cooking, investing in a good (say Waring Pro) immersion blender is a worthwhile expenditure (currently less than $150). There are applications such as making salad dressings and smoothing out soup on the stove top for which it is an invaluable tool.

The following recipe yields about a cup of dressing, enough for 2-4 salads. It will scale in pretty much direct proportion. This recipe uses a classic vinaigrette ratio of 1 part vinegar to 2 parts oil. You can certainly adjust that to your taste. I find that the Sherry vinegar and the pomegranates have enough acidity that I want to tame it with a bit of sugar. I use agave nectar because it blends in beautifully. You could use any source of sugar: honey, brown sugar, maple syrup, etc.

1/3 cup Sherry vinegar
2/3 cup extra virgin olive oil
1 tablespoon whole grained mustard
1 pickled shallot (see recipe below)
1/4 cup pomegranate seeds
1 teaspoon agave nectar
1 pinch salt

Blend all ingredients well. The mustard will keep the dressing emulsified for a few hours. I find putting the lid on the mustard jar and shaking the dressing well will bring it back together, another reason I like the mustard jar method of making dressings at home. And of course, you can store any leftover dressing in the jar in the refrigerator.

Pickled Shallots

I never use a formal recipe for brines when I am making small batches of pickles. I make a brine that tastes good to me at the time and use that. For me, it's all about balancing acidity, sugar, and salt in a brine that tastes great.

Pickled Shallots

I start by peeling shallots, slicing them into rings, and placing them in heat-proof containers such as the half-pint canning jar that you see in the photo above. Then I make a brine that suits my taste, bring it to a boil, and pour it over the shallots to cover. The shallots can be eaten once they cool, but they do continue to get better as they sit in the brine. I make these pickles in small batches and I do not refrigerate them. I make no attempt to seal the containers either as this pickles are not designed for long storage. The jar that you see above, I made 4-5 weeks ago.

Basic Pickle Brine Ratio

Here is a basic pickle brine that you can use as the basis for your brine. Mix up a batch, taste it, and adjust it to your liking. You can flavor it with herbs and spices as you like. When I make pickles, I put fresh herbs directly in the jars with the ingredients to be pickled. When I use spices and dried herbs, I boil them in the brine for a while to extract their flavors.

1/2 cup apple cider vinegar

1/2 cup water

1 tablespoon kosher salt

1 teaspoon granulated sugar

This recipe makes a cup of brine. You can scale it in direct proportion for any amount of brine you desire. At the restaurant, we would make gallons at a time. We had a pickle shelf in our walk-in that was four-feet wide, six-feet tall, two-feet deep, and was loaded from top to bottom with pickles that we used for garnishes and on our charcuterie plates. There was almost nothing we wouldn't pickle in an effort not to waste a single thing that our producers brought to us.

Thanksgiving 2015

The Big Meal: Roast Turkey Thigh, Haricots Verts, Dressing, Gravy

Yesterday marked the seventh Thanksgiving that Ann and I have celebrated together. And it marked the quietest and most relaxed Thanksgiving that we have celebrated. Most of our circle of friends who celebrated with us in the past have moved away, my daughters are off and gone, and Ann's parents are getting to the point where they just don't want to make the drive from McLean, and who can fault them for that?

Table for Three, Please

That left just Ann and me and Carter, who was more focused on having to work Black Friday sales at his job at the mall that evening than he was on celebrating with us. Progress though this year: he left his cell phone in the kitchen when he joined us at the table for dinner.

Herbs from our Garden

Unlike years gone by, I did very little in the way of advance prep and that was limited to a quart of turkey stock that I made from a half dozen turkey necks on Wednesday and a pint of the meat that I pulled off the necks. Just cooking for three, we scaled the menu and the portions way back and that really reduced the prep load, so I just prepped everything Thanksgiving morning in a slow, leisurely manner.

Ann and I started the morning after our obligatory coffee in the sun room by walking about the back yard collecting herbs from the various beds: chives, sage, rosemary, and thyme. For the second year running, the parsley plants that I bought at the farmers market immediately bloomed and went to seed upon planting them. Though they were tiny, they acted like second year plants. Note to self, no more parsley from the market. I brought home a bunch of parsley from the restaurant. At least until it snows, it looks like Beth will have plenty of parsley, but damned if I don't miss being able to go out the back door and cut some at will.

Thanksgiving Mise en Place

Once a chef, always a chef. The reason we are so efficient in the kitchen is that we have everything in its place and ready to go before the flame goes on. In the restaurant kitchen, we spend all day getting ready for four hours of dinner service. At home, I spent 20 minutes getting ready for an hour of cooking: mirepoix for the dressing (leeks, onions, celery), ingredients for the pancetta-pecorino butter for the turkey (sage, rosemary, shallots, garlic, pancetta), chives for the mashed potatoes, and herbs for the dressing (sage, thyme, and parsley).

Ann put on some oldies from the 1960s on Pandora and we worked away in the kitchen, in no sort of rush. We had no agenda really, but by 1pm, it became clear that we were getting really hungry and so we put a move on things and ate at 2:45.

Roast Turkey Thighs with Pancetta-Pecorino Butter

Some years ago, Ann found a recipe for a pancetta-pecorino compound butter that we used under the breast skin of the turkey and it turned out so good that we have made it every year since. This year, it went under the skin of the turkey thighs and then all over the thighs, into the mirepoix for the dressing, and as the base fat for the gravy. It's really good stuff: butter, finely minced pancetta, shallots, garlic, salt, pepper, pecorino, olive oil, rosemary, and sage, all tossed into the food processor. Can be made a long time in advance and would be something awesome to keep in the fridge most of the time.

Gravy is Awesome

Once the turkey had cooked, I put the dressing in the oven. Ann makes the same dressing every year because it is wonderful: toasted cubes of bread, saltines, mirepoix (onion, leek, celery), herbs, stock, and milk. This year, I might have deglazed the mirepoix pan with a glass of Chablis while Ann wasn't looking (because we can NEVER change a recipe: we have to follow it to the T) and some turkey stock to get up all those browned bits of pancetta-pecorino butter that also wasn't in the recipe.

While the dressing cooked, the turkey rested and once it had cooled, I started making the gravy by taking the fat off the roasting pan and adding it to some of the compound butter. A little flour went into the pan until I had a nice light brown roux, then in went the drippings from the roasting pan, the pint of turkey neck meat, and the turkey stock. A few more minutes on a low flame, a touch of salt, and done. Ann: "I could eat a bowl of just this!"

While I was making gravy, Ann made a batch of mashed potatoes. We have a running mock argument about them each year as I really don't see the need for mashed potatoes and dressing in the same meal. She disagrees. I need some cranberry sauce with my meal or it isn't Thanksgiving and she does not. We enjoy our little verbal sparring. ;)

Ann put a bunch of green beans tossed in olive oil, salt, pepper, and pecorino on a sheet tray and once the dressing came out of the oven, I put the beans under the broiler for about five minutes just before we ate.

It was a quiet Thanksgiving dinner, just the three of us at the table with the dogs curled up below, low stress and calm with few dishes to clean up. But I won't lie: we missed our friends and our family. It wasn't the same without them.

Thanksgiving 2014

And another Thanksgiving is in the books, for Ann and me, our 6th, this one a good bit smaller than in years past. But though it was smaller, it is always a pleasure to gather with friends and family at the table to celebrate another year. It was really easy this year. With it snowing on Wednesday, there wasn't any business at the restaurant and I was able to prep most of the meal at work, letting us go slow and relax on Thanksgiving itself.

Ann and her Parents

Who is That Photo Bombing the Girls?

Appetizers: Turkey Rillettes, Galantine, and Cornichons

A Really Nice Right Bank Bordeaux

Ann Always Sets a Beautiful Table



Apple Cider-Brined Turkey Thighs Only This Year; No White Meat for Us

Ann's Bread and Saltine Cracker Dressing

Ann's Bistro Mash: Half Sweet Potatoes, Half Red Skin Potatoes

Sweet and Sour Brussels Sprouts with Pork Belly

The Obligatory Cranberry-Orange Sauce

Sweet Potato Tart with Cassis Cream and Black Walnut Streusel

And a 1991 Port to Finish off the Meal

Thanksgiving 2011—Spectacular Eats

Let's get one thing clear from the start. Although Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday, planning the menu and executing it is Ann's thing. She plans and plans and plans and plans for at least two months for Thanksgiving. Me, in my officially designated role as The Kitchen Bitch, I just prep tons and tons of mirepoix, herbs, shallots, and vegetables and do all those things that Ann does not want to do. This is a long-winded way of saying that all kudos go to Ann.

And kudos are due her in spades this year. Our dinner, with family and friends, was spectacular; I would not have changed a dish and I would gladly eat this very same meal for years to come! And kudos are also appropriate for the table: she sets a gorgeous table as you see below.


And now on to the food:

We started the day just after noon with sparkling wine and oysters, a hardship to be sure! The oysters were super-briny Wellfleets from Cape Cod. I love these oysters, but the shells are very soft and are prone to flaking apart (just like Chincoteagues), making them a bit touchy to shuck. Sparklers included Bailly-Lapierre Crémant de Bourgogne, Schramsberg Blanc de Blancs, and Schramsberg Blanc de Noirs. As much as I like Schramsberg, I have to say that the Bailly-Lapierre blew it away.

Cindy Barry in the process of assembling her appetizers; here, green pea pesto on baguette.

And now for a couple of art shots before we proceed with the main meal.

A shot from the night before when Ann and I were prepping shallots and herbs for the big day.

And not to be forgotten, the 2008 SonVida Malbec from Mendoza. This is a great Thanksgiving wine. And the Williamsburg Pumpkin Ale for Bob. And a not so subtle plug for the restaurant.

And now for the guest of honor, before cooking. This free-range turkey was a bit small (12 lbs.) for the 12 people we were feeding, but it was delicious. A small bit of trussing helped open up the chest cavity for better air circulation. And we prepared it the same way as we have for the past three years because there is no better way: brined in apple cider for three days; stuffed between the skin and the breast with pancetta-sage compound butter, cavity stuffed with sage, thyme, and rosemary; and skin rubbed with olive oil, salt, pepper, and lemon thyme.

And the after shot. Roasted at 300F with the fan on until it hit 140F in the thigh and then basted once more with olive oil and finished at 400F with the fan on for 10 more minutes to brown the skin. Rotated every 30 minutes. Total cook time about 3:15. The reason I know all the details: fooling with the turkey is one of those few tasks delegated to The Kitchen Bitch.

And because there is never enough dark meat on a turkey for anyone at our table, here are 8 more thighs, also brined and roasted, along with the roasted neck and gizzard, both of which went into the gravy.

Speaking of gravy, here is my masterwork in action. Pan drippings from the turkey and the thighs, the leftover pancetta-sage compound butter, turkey stock that we made two weeks ago in anticipation of gravy, extra pancetta and sage, turkey fat from roasting the birds, and flour. Super incredible! The only issue—salt. Because the turkey had been brined, the drippings were already salty. No need for salt in the gravy.

And the vehicle to carry the gravy: Ann's incredibly delicious bread and saltine cracker (yes, you read correctly) dressing. Because she made one with and one without mushrooms (thanks, sweetie!), I spent a good while the night before prepping leeks, celery, and onions for the stuffing. The result is well worth it. This is a dressing for the ages, light, airy, and incredibly flavorful. Primo stuff!

Here are the gorgeous baby carrots just out of the boiling water. Big thanks to Bob Aberegg at Stoney Lane Farm in Hedgesville, WV for these beauties! The only downside to baby carrots: the prep work. It took me 35 minutes to prep all these.

And here they are after Ann glazed them with butter and agave nectar. A fresh carrot is an awesome carrot and these were so incredible that there were none left.

And from Kent Barley in Marlboro come these spectacular baby brussels sprouts, blanched and sautéed with pancetta and sliced shallots. Never was there a finer thing to grace a Thanksgiving plate! The sprout crop has been terrible this year and beg, beg, beg I had to, to receive these. Kent, my hat is off to you!

Ann's "bistro" mash, half redskins and half sweet potatoes. I wasn't sure I was going to like this amalgamation, but it turned out super and the old chef has learned a new trick. Not, not, not that I am of a mind to serve mash at Thanksgiving. Mash at Christmas, yes, de rigueur; mash at Thanksgiving, weird. This has been an ongoing mock battle between Ann and me for weeks (years?). According to a non-scientific survey at the dinner table, I am in the minority. Just about everyone else expects mash at Thanksgiving. Weird, I still say!

For some reason, cranberry sauce was not in Ann's plan. But it got there in the end! This is my old standby recipe of oranges, cranberries, and sugar. There is no finer or easier cranberry sauce recipe anywhere.

And before we move on to dessert, here's Patty filling up her plate with all the delish veg. I should give a shout out here to Beth and Gene Nowak of Mayfair Farm in Bunker Hill, WV, who supply almost all our fruits and vegetables for home and for the restaurant. Any vegetable not attributed to anyone else came from Freight Station Farmers Market thanks to Beth and Gene.

Now I am decidedly not a dessert person, so dessert rarely figures into my holiday planning. Of course it would not be Thanksgiving without way too many desserts. Thanks, thanks, thanks go to Jen and Dewi for their handiwork that made a fine dessert table in the company of Ann's pumpkin cheesecake.

Ann pulling caramel swirls through her maple-pumpkin cheesecake with spiced wafer and pecan crust. The cake as it appeared on the dinner table had piped rosettes of sour cream around the top edge. Very light and delicious, though I am a bit jaded about cheesecakes, having turned out many hundreds in the last year. Great job Ann!

Jen's molasses cookies. These are incredible. They looked so good that I sampled a tiny bite of one and they are easily the best that I have ever tasted. Bravo.

Spice cake cupcakes, as delicious as they are pretty. I failed to get a picture of the beautiful gingerbread cake baked in a Bundt (remember My Big Fat Greek Wedding anyone?) pan with homemade lemon curd.

And finally, pecan pie truffles from Jen and Dewi who outdid themselves. Four desserts? Who makes four desserts to take to Thanksgiving dinner? Awesome.