Here it is nearly Christmas and I haven't told you about Thanksgiving! Kris and I went to the Zinc Bistro over at Kierlands, a resort and shopping area about a mile from the house. Every year they have a special Thanksgiving Day menu, which is a six course meal.
1. AMUSE - spiced pumpkin veloute. This was more than an amuse, it was essentially a cup of pumpkin soup. Very rich and creamy.
2. ROAST CORN AND KING CRAB CAESAR - romaine, crab remoulade, gougeres. A lovely caesar salad with extremely fresh crab.
3. WHOLE ROASTED POUSSIN - Bobs braised rainbow chard, pancetta, confit leg, gizzard and sherry "gravy". The poultry course had perfectly crisped skin and a rich gizzard sauce. It was amazing.
4. MAINE LEMON SOLE, OYSTER STUFFING - vermouth glaze, black trumpet consomme. Another winner, the sole was cooked perfectly and the black trumpet consumme fit the dish well. Kris had her black trumpet mushrooms off to the side, which I thought meant she was saving them. Turns out she didn't know they were edible. So she got to eat all her black trumpets at once! They are one of my favorite mushrooms.
At this point our server realized he hadn't changed out our silver, but after the fish course he insisted. We got fresh silver after each course from this point on. He also recommended a Shiraz. We had been drinking white (a Pinot Grigio for me and a Reisling for Kris) but he thought we should switch to red for the main course. No problem! He brought us the bottle and I read the lablel, which told me nothing of course, but wine is all about the ceremony anyway, especially at $14 a glass!
5. SORGHUM BRAISED LAMB SHANK - and winter root vegetable ragout, horseradish and dill creme fraiche. The lamb shank was meltingly good, perfectly carmelized and very rich. The creme fraiche cut the richness a bit, but even so Kris had to bring some home. It was a very filling main course, and as a bonus it was Kris's favorite meat. The Shiraz went well with it, so it was a good choice. Score another one for our server.
6. MIN PIES - apple caramel, walnut chocolate, sweet potato bourbon. The dessert course was a set of 3 pies. The sweet potato tasted much like a pumpkin pie, so if the walnut could stand in for pecans, we had all three traditional Thanksgiving pies. Neither of us could finish these, but they traveled well and we had them the next day.
This was a very generous tasting menu, almost too much for us to eat. As it is, we skipped breakfast and lunch the next day! Our server was great and really took care of us. His wife was a chef and he was going to a 10 course Thanksgiving dinner that night with her! I don't think I can come up with 10 courses (let's see: amuse, cheese, bread?, salad, soup, pasta, fish, poultry, main, dessert). Maybe they do two main courses, I dunno. In any case, our 6 course made for a fun Thanksgiving. Unless we have friends or family around next year, we might do it again!