Monday, November 19, 2007

Alton Brown To The Rescue!

I've been sitting here, freaking out over what to make for Thanksgiving dinner. I've never prepared it before and even though it's only going to be for the five of us and my friend C, I was still dithering and chewing my bottom lip and fretting over what to cook. Then, last night, I watched Iron Chef America (I love that show. It's so cheesey. Not as cheesey as the original, but still, high on the cheese scale.) and one of the chefs prepared venison. I thought, "Aha! I could do that!" But alas, the recipes from Iron Chef American are not posted online. At least not online anywhere that I could find. So I started thinking about meals and what constitutes a good holiday meal.

Everyone does turkey. It's been done to death. Besides, I'm allergic to it or something - I get a migraine and I puke whenever I eat it, so since I'm the one fixing the meal, I figure I should at least be able to eat the meat, right? It's only fair. My stove, my meat choice. So nyah.

*ahem*

Anyway. Not doing turkey. What else is there to do? Goose, but I hear that stinks when it's cooking. Duck, which I love but everyone else is sort of meh about. Pork tenderloin, but again...meh. I do those a lot for every day meals. I wanted something special, something that would knock peoples socks off. Then I thought, "Oooh, one of those roasts with the paper hats. And maybe Yorkshire pudding, too. Very Dickensian, very festive. Yes. Ok. That's settled." So I did what I always do - I went to the Food Network website. And I came across a recipe for a Dry Aged Standing Rib Roast with Sage Jus and my mouth watered and I said, "Ooooh, yes, indeed, I'll have that recipe, thank you very much." And it's a recipe from my one of my chef-y crushes, Alton Brown.

He's got that geek-cool thing down to a science. And he's in front of a diner.

Granted, he's no Anthony Bourdain....

But does Anthony Bourdain have a KitchenAid mixer that has hot rod flames on it? Huh? I bet he doesn't.

So, anyway. Now that I have my chef fix for the day...I have my Thanksgiving Day dinner sorted, all thanks to Alton Brown.

Here's the menu:

Butternut squash soup (laced with cream, apples and cider - yum)
Standing Rib Roast
Roasted garlic mashed potatoes
Pan roasted asparagus
Cranberry sauce (home made, not that crap from a can)
Apple streusel
and the obligatory pumpkin pie.

12 comments:

Anonymous said...

Wow, sounds yummy! I just couldn't do without the turkey, though.

Shannon said...

Aw, I wish you wrote this before Jeff went shopping. We have a big fat turkey in our fridge. The standing rib roast sounds better. There's always Christmas.....

If not a mother... said...

I'm such a sucker for turkey on Thanksgiving. ;)

But Greg has got the rib roast down pat. He's done it for both his parents and my parents for special occasions. (And even got my dad to experiment and have it turn out as pink throughout as Greg has done.)

Anonymous said...

Soo wish I lived closer and could stop by for dinner:)
Enjoy your Thanksgiving.

Jess said...

Happy Thanksgiving!
It sounds like your guests will be licking the plates clean.

Mamma Sarah said...

Sounds oh so yummy. Alton is fantastic and I use his brine/roasted turkey recipie EVERY year and it's the best around. It's so good that T-day is now MY holiday... :-D

Unknown said...

Are you going to dry age it? I dry aged a prime rib roast last Christmas and it was a pretty nasty process but tasted wonderful! I was so worried about it going bad just sitting in the fridge, rotting, but it was awesome! I forget which chef I stole the process from, maybe it was Alton Brown. Just try to stick it in a fridge without any other food it in, it might pick up the smell. Change the towels and ignore the 'scent', it'll be great. Good luck with it:)

TSintheC said...

Mb - what's the address? I'll be there. I'll even bring real whipped cream for the pies.

Fairly Odd Mother said...

Mmmmmmm. . .I love Alton Brown too! I may try the rib roast for Christmas even though I don't eat meat (gotta satisfy those carnivores in my life).

I think your menu sounds fabulous even if I do love that 'crap in a can' cranberry sauce! lol

Lea said...

hey there missy, you best be keeping your hands off my men! heeheehee.
I thought I was the only one with Alton nerd love and Bourdain (he is SO Mr., "I don't give a fuck"...LOVE HIM) passion!
Have a great time cookin like crazy, you have a fantastic menu planned.

Allison said...

Dood, can I come to your house next year?

Major Bedhead said...

To the turkey crowd - I'm allergic, thus the no turkey thing. My stove, my meat choice. And holy shit, it was expensive. $70. For a roast. Granted, it's 10 lbs of prime rib, but still. It better be good.


Deborah - yep, it's dry aging as I, um, type. I'll let you know about the smell. I don't have an extra fridge so hopefully it doesn't stink too bad.

hotfessional - Behind The Tofu Curtain, MA. Just ask at the toll booth.

Lea - I have long lusted after both men. Just so we're clear on ownership.

Allison - Of course. But you'll have to put up with the Shriek Sisters.