Give turkey the bird
Thanksgiving offers a bounty of non-traditional ways to stuff yourself
Pity the poor turkey. It gets frozen (then thawed), brined or massaged, tied up, stuffed, roasted (or deep-fried), basted, carved (poorly, most of the time) and then eaten (sometimes for days on end). And then, after eating all that turkey and all of those trimmings, you have a burning desire to watch a football game, which you do for, oh, about five minutes before falling asleep on the sofa with assorted relatives, some of whom you haven't seen since last Thanksgiving.
The ritual of "Thanksgiving means turkey" needs to be re-examined. Do we really need to eat turkey on Thanksgiving? Who says? Why have we singled out this bird to be the star of the Thanksgiving table?
Benjamin Franklin was so in love with the turkey that he proposed it be our national bird. And when the eagle was chosen instead, he sulked for a bit then went out and flew a kite (football was not on TV back then).
Oh, yes, there was a lot more than turkey on the table when the Pilgrims sat down with the Wampanoag Indians lo those many years ago. In fact, venison, duck, goose and pheasant were all part of the first Thanksgiving feast. Yes, there was turkey on the table, too, but it was wild turkey cooked on a spit, so you can forget about the stuffing because there wasn't any.
It seems to me you can still give thanks for all of your blessings and not feel obliged to go hog wild over turkey. Nothing bad is going to happen to you should you choose to eschew turkey in favor of, say, duck.
Do I eat turkey on Thanksgiving? Of course I do. I have a son-in-law who worships turkey with the same reverence as Ben Franklin, but in an entirely different way. He is a mad cook who injects the bird with liquids I am afraid to ask about. I stand by with the fire extinguisher while he drops a really big turkey into gallons of oil that is so hot it singes the wings of seagulls flying overhead. Meanwhile, my daughter is in the kitchen cooking the other turkey the old-fashioned way -- in the oven. I still like the roasting method over deep-frying, but I wouldn't tell my son-in-law that because I might not get invited back next year. Hmmm, now there's a thought. Then my wife and I could go to a really nice restaurant and eat venison, or prime rib, or fish, or ... head straight for a Thanksgiving buffet. Ah, yes, here is where the turkey takes a back seat to something like a dozen other choices. Ham, prime rib, lamb, salmon, eat infinitum.
If you are up for getting out of the kitchen this Thanksgiving, let me recommend some buffets and restaurants where you can indulge in some non-turkey cuisine.
So here's to a tryptophan-free Thanksgiving meal.
Pat Bruno is a local free-lance writer, critic and author. E-mail brunoeats@aol.com.
Here's what you can enjoy:
• Choice of soups: roasted squash with maple pepitas or creamy corn chowder.
• Organic field greens with champagne vinaigrette.
• Choice of entrees: Roasted veggie turkey (oven-baked tofu with chestnut stuffing and veggie gravy) or beef Wellington (pastry crust with seitan, mushroom pate and tofu filling with green peppercorn sauce).
Or: Pumpkin ravioli with hazelnut cream sauce and fried sage.
Or: Stuffed squash with seitan-veggie-wild rice filling and white wine glaze.
Or: Holiday raw plate:• Sides include cranberry relish, chestnut cornbread stuffing, green beans, wild rice pilaf and maple mashed sweet potatoes with pecans.
• Dessert choices include pumpkin pie with maple ice cream, ginger-spiced cake with cream cheese frosting, and vegan chocolate pumpkin cheesecake.
• Choice of beverages (coffee, tea, spiced cider, lemonade, natural sodas). Organic beer and wine are priced separately.
The price is a reasonable $36.95 for adults, $20.95 for children. Carryout full meal is $26.95. Seatings are at noon, 2, 4, and 6 p.m. Reservations are required. Call (773) 935-6696; www.veggiediner.com.
Coco Pazzo Cafe (636 N. St. Clair, 312-664-2777) will be featuring non-turkey specialties such as salad with warm mushrooms, applewood-smoked bacon, butternut squash and goat cheese; risotto with duck confit and savoy cabbage; pappardelle with wild boar ragu, and baccala alla Livornese (fresh cod with tomatoes, olives, capers, escarole and roasted potatoes). Finish it off with a pecan crostata with caramel and cinnamon gelato. Entree prices range from $18-$22. Visit www.cocopazzocafe.com.
Three of the Rosebud restaurants -- Carmine's, Rosebud of Highland Park and Rosebud on Rush -- offer quite a delectable approach to going cold turkey on Thanksgiving. A fine way to start is the famous Rosebud fish salad, a tempting medley of seafood that includes scungilli, calamari, shrimp and octopus tossed with olive oil and garlic. Next up would be a platter of perfectly al dente rigatoni alla vodka. For a meat dish, go for the classic chicken Vesuvio (an alternative would be the pork chops Calabrese). A side dish of sauteed spinach adds nicely to this arrangement. And for dessert, Rosebud makes one of the best tiramisus around.
The particular selection of dishes I chose allows for a white wine for the first two courses (Principessa Gavi) followed by a white wine with a bit more oomph (Terre di Tufi). See all the menus at www.rosebudrestaurants.com. Entrees range from $18.95-$36.95. Rosebud on Rush, 720 N. Rush, (312) 266-6444; Rosebud of Highland Park, 1850 Second, (847) 926-4800; Carmine's, 1043 N. Rush, (312) 988-7676.
At Bin 36 (339 N. Dearborn, 312-755-9463), I have staked out three courses of creative fare for my Thanksgiving feast. I start with confit of duck rillettes, followed by slow-roasted prime rib with truffled hollandaise sauce. Sides to the prime rib are spaghetti squash and butter-whipped potatoes. My dessert choice is a holiday treat of warm date pudding cake with brown-butter ice cream. The cost is $40 for adults, $19 for those age 12 and under. Service is from 3-9 p.m. Visit www.bin36.com.
Think Pinot Noir and Shiraz. These two red wines hold their own against anything that a traditional Thanksgiving feast throws at you. Either of these wines will pick up on the array of flavors that are part of Thanksgiving eating.
The whites I recommend are Viognier (the low acidity is perfect for the complex flavors that will be coming at you from all directions) and Sauvignon Blanc (crisp, herbal).
A nice, all-purpose Thanksgiving table wine for the budget-conscious is an extra-dry rose (or, in a real pinch, a Beaujolais Nouveau). You can usually pick up these for around $10 a bottle.
If you are really into the wine scene and are looking for the perfect wine to serve with dessert, you have to follow the basic rule for choosing a dessert wine: The intensity of the wine should be greater than the sweetness of the dessert. Not an easy call. However, to my taste, the one dessert wine to deal with that challenge is Moscato d'Asti. Its low level of alcohol makes it the perfect dessert wine.
Pat Bruno