Giving Thanks for Good Beer!

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TURKEY A LA VARENNE – POULET D’INDE A LA FRAMBOISE FARCY A  LA ESTHER ARESTYSeason a 10-12 pound turkey (in our case a bigger bird—  a free range turkey from the Lincoln Park Green Market farmstand of Meadow Haven Farm) and stuff it with any stuffing of your choice. Roast at 350 degrees allowing 20 minutes per pound.  Spread softened  butter over the breast and drumsticks and cover these parts with wet cheesecloth to prevent the bird from browning too soon. After it has roasted for 2 hours, pour over it the following mixture, which has been prepared beforehand and simmered for a few minutes in a small saucepan; 2 tablespoons melted raspberry jelly; 2 tablespoons lemon juice, 1/4 cup of hot water and the rind of half a lemon. Baste the turkey with this mixture at 20 minute intervals. You will find that this is similar to basting a ham, and the result is a surprising and delicious variation on roast turkey. If more basting liquid is needed, add fruit juice, or a little more of the raspberry jelly, thinned with hot water.  To follow La Varenne all the way, add grated lemon rind and a 1/4 cup of vinegar to the pan juices for a gravy.Here's a suggestion - by way of  Jeff Holland blogging for Omnivore Atlanta from Garrett Oliver - Thanks, Jeff and Garrett!Brooklyn Brewery’s Garrett Oliver, author of The Brewmaster’s Table, a book celebrating the pairing of beer and food, finds that bière de gardes, the earthy, country-style ales brewed in the border region between France and Belgium, are the quintessential Thanksgiving beers, and it’s not necessarily because they pair well with turkey. “Well, let’s face it–the Butterball is a sideshow; modern turkeys don’t really have much flavor,” Oliver writes. “[But] both [the stuffing and the gravy] have strong herbal flavors, which anchor the match with the beer’s herbal flavors. Then the caramelized malt meets the brown turkey skin, the biscuity malt flavors match the lightly nutty flavor of the meat, and the carbonation lifts everything, so you don’t realize you’re eating so much.”Oliver recommends Castelain, a richly aromatic bière de garde from Bénifontaine, in northern France. Brewed  in a similar manner to Anchor Steam, using a lager yeast at room temperature for fermentation, followed by a cold lagering to keep the tastes clean and smooth, Castelain is light in color, with a balanced character that is not overwhelmed by the rich flavors of the Thanksgiving table. Earthy spices of fennel, licorice, hay, and lavender permeate the nose, while the flavor is citrusy and sweet in the center with a crisp, dry finish.

WOULD LA VARENNE HAVE APPROVED OF BELGIAN BEER WITH HIS RASPBERRY JELLY GLAZED TURKEY?We suspect he would.  At our house, we will be trying out LaVarenne's  17th century  French recipe for Turkey  with Dupont's Biere de Miel and Avec les Bons Voeux . This is what the "Belgian Experts" recommend for Thanksgiving 2009:Dupont's Biere de Miel has been called the Sauvignon Blanc of beers and a wine lover's beer.  It has honey floral notes that are great with turkey  as well as the vegetables of autumn that have a frost intensified sweetness.  We think that, paired with food, Biere de Miel is an even tastier beer.  Serving Avec les Bons Voeux de Saison Dupont on Thursday evening is our way of kicking off the holiday season. Akin to a rich Pouilly Fuisse - Bons Voeux is a very deep, rich malty beer that is not at all sweet.  Its astringency is a lovely palate cleanser for the rich Thanksgiving meals.  It'll be fun to see which of the two Dupont ales our friends prefer.We're offering Scaldis Prestige as an aperitif and digestif.  This is a wild beer - very big and strong with cognac caramelized notes.  There is a wonderful marriage with the wood.  A kind of malo lactic woody back note that has a red fruit acidity emerging.  Snow is predicted for Thanksgiving in Chicago - so a warming beer like Scaldis will be especially welcome.We expect both Dupont beers will pair nicely with the raspberry glaze on the turkey.  An explanation of the derivation of this recipe follows:Many moons ago I was working on a new business development project for an ad agency that was in pursuit of the Lipton account.  I came across news of the cookbook collector and culinary historian  the elegant, urbane and delightful, Esther Aresty. I phoned her up and she invited me to come for a visit. At the time we met (in the 80’s) she was living in Princeton and had one of the most important collections in the USA of incunabula on food and cooking  Esther ushered me into her all white bookcased library to peruse. Learn more about the remarkable bon vivant...I feel very lucky to have met her.Aresty's book The Delectable Table: The Joys of the Table from Rome to the Renaissance, from Queen Elizabeth I to Mrs. Beeton, The Menus, The Manners and the Most Delectable Recipes of the Past Masterfully Recreated for Cooking and Enjoying Today is one of my all-time favorites.  We will try  a turkey recipe from 17th century France from LaVarenne, the founding father of modern French cooking. Aresty explains in hr book that this recipe was devised for fighting men (the nobleman departed for battle accompanied by his chef, a mobile stove, and the best of table furnishings). We will brook no fighting at our holiday table.One last thought... Matt Simpson, who runs The Beer Sommelier, a beer consulting business, favors saisons for Turkey Day. Saisons are the Belgian version of the French bière de garde, made by farmers to serve their fieldworkers during the summer. Initially low in alcohol, the style has become more refined and more spirituous. These bright, simple ales with hints of citrus and spice are well-balanced and refreshing, without being one dimensional. “It’s all about balance,” says Simpson, “you never want one side of the equation to overpower the other. The perfect thing about saisons is that they are a little bit dry and acidic so they go well with the main course. They’re not obtrusive, not lacerative with their hops, so they go well with turkey, but have enough flavor to stand up to stuffing, maybe ham, something deeper into the meal. And they go extremely well with cheese. You can start with them before the appetizer and go straight through to dessert.”