Just because the holidays are traditional doesn’t mean your dining room offerings have to be predictable and boring.
Members of the Capital City Club in Atlanta can always tell when the holidays are in the air. No, it’s not the sound of jingle bells or the sight of brightly decorated evergreens that gives the first clue; it’s the cinnamon-orange scent of Executive Chef Brant Good’s spiced cider gently simmering on the burner.
Good brewed his first pot of cider at Capital City about five years ago; it was such a hit, members now start asking around mid-November when they’ll be able to savor their first seasonal sip (the answer is “right after Thanksgiving”). At the club’s bar, a spicy mulled wine is similarly enticing to those who prefer alcoholic wakeups of their holiday senses.
Stuff of Legends
No alcohol is served at one of the most popular bars on the Turkey Day buffet at Normandy Farm and Blue Bell Country Club in suburban Philadelphia. But Executive Chef Jim Coleman—host of the national public television series, “Flavors of America,” as well as “A Chef’s Table” on public radio—stirs up plenty of holiday spirit by giving members and guests all the ingredients they need to design their own dressing (or stuffing, as it’s known in his part of the country).
For his dressing bar, Coleman prepares chafing dishes of up to four different “base stuffings” by moistening cubes of sourdough, cornbread and other homemade loaf varieties with turkey stock or other liquids—at least one should be made with a vegetarian broth, he suggests. (Coleman makes these stuffings extra moist, so they’ll hold up in the chafing dishes. A chef at the station ladles in more stock, kept warm in a bain marie, to maintain just the right amount of moisture.)
Displays of about 20 different ingredients—ranging from dried fruits to sautéed wild mushrooms, caramelized artichoke hearts, kalamata olives, sun-dried tomatoes, nuts, turkey, lamb or pork sausage—allow guests to mix and match combinations. Do-it-yourselfers are free to experiment, while less adventurous souls can ask an attending chef to fold together their selections.
Instead of one big bird, Coleman features turkey cooked two different ways on his holiday menu. He prepares one in a small smoker box and submerges the other overnight in a simple brine made from one cup kosher or sea salt per one gallon of water. If the turkey takes up too much room in the refrigerator, it’s usually cool enough on the East Coast to let it soak outside in a tightly covered pot. If the weather’s too warm, a camping cooler does the trick.
After thoroughly washing off the brine, Coleman stuffs the turkey cavity with a mire poix of celery, onions and carrots, along with whole lemons or limes pricked with a paring knife. Instead of cooking the stuffing inside the bird, he prepares his en casserole. His secret to moist stuffing: Baste it with the juices from the turkey pan several times as it cooks.
Scooped and seeded acorn squash halves also make cozy, convenient vessels for stuffing that Coleman makes by tossing stock-moistened fresh bread crumbs with apples, currants, corn kernels and herbs. For those who prefer their stuffing cooked inside the bird, he rolls up a whole, pounded-thin turkey breast with a colorful sweet and sour toss of orange juice-plumped dried cranberries, dried bread crumbs, onion, celery, nuts and herbs.
At the Capital City Club, besides roasted turkey, Good also offers one that’s deep-fried, Cajun-style, injected with a mixture of butter and savory spices and served with a tasso ham gravy. “There’s no basting required and the turkey comes out extra moist and juicy,” he explains.
While stuffing certainly goes hand-in-hand with the holidays, other sides can also play a major role in making the season’s eatings stellar. In the South, grits go with just about everything—especially when they’re combined with cheddar cheese and tongue-tingling jalapenos, then fried into crispy little cakes.
Good goes out of his way for great grits, settling for nothing less than the whole-grain kind he gets from a more-than-100-years-old grist mill on the Chattahoochee River. The grits are so rich and thick, they’re often called “Georgia ice cream,” he notes, and are great combined with dried cherries as a side for duck breast.
Staying On Course
To cleanse the palate after one of the many rich courses that can be part of a holiday meal, Coleman likes to serve a salad of asparagus and beets with peppercress, splashed with a zesty orange juice-sherry vinegar dressing. At the Colonial Williamsburg Inn in Williamsburg, Va., where holiday feasts are as traditional as they come, Executive Chef and Culinary Director Hans Schadler adds a touch of the exotic with an undeniably nutty chutney—the crunch comes from roasted cashews, pecans, almonds, filberts, Brazil nuts and pistachios. Schadler suggests using mango, papaya and fresh or candied ginger as the base, if you can get them. Otherwise, add the nuts to a jar of store-purchased chutney.
Tradition is also extremely important to the members of Alta Sierra Country Club in Grass Valley (near Sacramento), Calif., says Food and Beverage Manager Franca Nelson. So naturally, turkey and ham always take center stage on Executive Chef Antonio Ayestaran’s holiday table. But even the most tradition-minded members didn’t hesitate to gobble up the sweet surprise that Ayestaran served up as a holiday alternative one year. Since then, his elegant candied filet of salmon with Dungeness crab, apple relish and Frangelico buerre blanc has become a celebration staple at his club.
Many chefs find that a seasonal soup is an effective way to warm up a holiday dinner crowd. At the Colonial Williamsburg Inn, Schadler has a repertoire that ranges from a rich roasted pumpkin and shrimp bisque to a refreshing spin on the classic Southern gumbo, with chilled shrimp and crab.
Since the Capital City Club was founded in 1883, vichyssoise has been a house specialty. For the holidays, Good offers a signature version made with roasted sweet potatoes and garnished with essence of cinnamon oil and finely minced sugared pecans.
Harps and High Tea
In a season filled with special events, the holiday high tea at Heathrow Country Club in Central Florida is still an eagerly anticipated highlight, says General Manager Monte
Carmack. With the ethereal strains of harp music in the background, members peruse tasting portions of about 25 different delicacies prepared by Executive Chef Tommy Vitek and his staff.
The finger food buffet always includes an assortment of dainty tea sandwiches, with fillings that run the gamut from lobster to Vitek’s signature curried chicken salad. Other offerings include portabella mushrooms stuffed with blue cheese; asparagus wrapped with prosciutto ham; smoked salmon on pumpernickel with dill, onion and cream cheese; and bruschetta topped with yellow and red tomato and a drizzle of extra-virgin olive oil.
A culinary attraction that never fails to get attention is Vitek’s stuffed baked brie en croute, which he decorates with a bouquet of flowers crafted out of puff pastry dough, and surrounds with crispy crostini, Melba toast, frosted grapes and other colorful fresh fruits and blossoms. Vitek’s Brie stuffings can be as simple as balsamic candied walnuts or as elaborate as the all-time favorite, filled with a mixture of chopped broccoli, carrot, shallots, asiago cheese, white wine and almonds flambéed in Frangelico liqueur. “The flavor profile is incredible!” he exclaims.
Holiday Dinner and a Show
In Williamsburg, Colonial history provides Schadler with many of his culinary cues during the holiday season. He writes between 20 and 25 separate menus for Thanksgiving through New Year’s celebrations that are held in the Inn’s dining room, the property’s four 18th-century the
med taverns, and its conference center.
At one special dinner, guests are invited to join Thomas Jefferson (in the flesh) for a classic French feast that begins with a crystal-clear beef consommé with feather-light quenelles, and ends with a dramatic dessert of chocolate mousse with flambéed bananas. Literature lovers get a chance to take English-style tea or dinner with Charles Dickens (actually his grandson) and listen to readings from “A Christmas Carol.”
New to the Williamsburg schedule this year will be a Christmas Hunt Brunch Buffet, featuring an array of Southern specialties such as baked oysters with cornbread stuffing, spoon bread and corn pudding. Another new addition is a historic smorgasbord spanning the 16th through 21st centuries, with a sampling of entrees from each time period. A storyteller sets the scene with tales of each era.
Families get the royal treatment at the lavish Baron’s Feast, which features a whole roasted pig, plus after-dinner entertainment provided by magicians and jugglers. Do-it-yourselfers can learn some tricks of the trade for making memorable stuffings and sauces, professional-looking holiday cookies and gingerbread houses, and entrees for at-home entertaining at Williamsburg’s demo-packed “Breakfast with the Pastry and Culinary Chefs.”
In Florida, Heathrow Country Club’s wedding garden and gazebo becomes an enchanted forest, complete with garland-garnished evergreens and wooden gingerbread house and men, for a special brunch with Santa, reports Food and Beverage Manager James Upp. Always a sellout, the festive buffet features strictly kid-friendly fare, such as buttermilk pancakes and scrambled eggs. A special, 18-inch-high buffet table lets young guests serve themselves, while a standard-height set-up offers adults more elaborate options such as eggs Benedict and an omelet station.
To equip young diners with holiday-worthy table manners, Heathrow offers one-day etiquette classes (meal included) for 13- to 17-year-olds. These events—where the lessons last up to five hours and topics ranging from navigating multi-course silverware settings to savoring soup sans slurps are covered—have become a major hit with members.
The Best for Last—And Home
Whether holiday meals are presented buffet-style or on a table service menu, everyone expects the dessert course to be a special occasion on its own. Using recipes that range from homespun to super-sophisticated (and sometimes with inferences of both), the chefs never fail to live up to the sweet tooth-licking challenge.
Alta Sierra’s Ayestaran gives every dessert seasonal sparkle by stenciling on snowflakes and other appropriate designs with powdered sugar or cocoa. Alongside the European-inspired bouche de Noel, linzer tortes and petit fours on Capital City’s sweet buffet is always at least one fragrant, warm, all-American fruit cobbler and, perhaps, a pear and golden raisin skillet cake.
Heathrow’s Vitek loves to see the reaction of guests as they pick up a cocktail glass containing one of his chocolate raspberry martinis. Not a drink, the confection is a sophisticated layering of fresh fruit, simple syrup and Chambord; a thin crispy brownie disk; and chocolate mousse. Served in a six-ounce cocktail glass, the multi-textured treat is drizzled with white chocolate and crowned with chantilly cream.
Vitek gives homey bread pudding a holiday gilding with the addition of cranberries and golden raisins or white and dark chocolate chunks. Optional spoon-ons may include crème anglaise and a rum or bourbon sauce. Served in a decorative chafing dish, the warm pudding is the center of a galaxy of miniature cakes, tarts and other pastries set on risers in a swirl pattern around it.
Schadler gives the traditional Christmas trifle a tasty twang with the addition of sour cherries. And Coleman spices up his after-dinner dark, light and white chocolate fondues with dippers of cooked pumpkin and pumpkin pound cake.
While dining out eliminates the work from holiday dining for guests, it also leaves out access to the next-day (or later that night) turkey sandwiches. But Heathrow CC members don’t have to choose between no-fuss festivities and the ultimate midnight snack. In an innovative marketing move, the club began marketing its take-home holiday specialties as “leftovers to go,” says Catering Director Linda Helm.
The snack strategy has clearly been an “extended” success for Heathrow. Last Thanksgiving, somewhere between 400 and 450 dinners were served in the clubhouse—and members bought an additional 350 to 400 servings to enjoy at home.
Summing It Up
• Serving extra-special dishes during the holidays will boost covers and, over time, generate a healthy dose of anticipation for the seasonal favorites.
• Inject some personalization with a “stuffing bar,“ at which diners can mix their favorite embellishments into a basic dressing.
• Festive presentations can dress up the year-round standards for some extra cheer.
• “Leftovers to Go” is a popular takeout approach for diners who prefer their holiday turkey to be cooked by a chef, but miss the late-night turkey sandwiches.
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