Griffith - The Texas Holiday Cookbook, 2nd Edition

A lot can happen in 15 years.

Since this book was published in 1998, food and cooking have become as much entertainment as sustenance. Reality shows about restaurants, chefs, products, and culinary travel abound. Recipes are easily accessible online yet, somehow and in a big way, cookbooks continue to be in demand. It is the permanence of bound pages with stories, recipes, and luxuriant photographs that link our families and our culinary traditions. I dedicate this work to both change and continuity.

Stephen Butt and Central Market for their appreciation of this book and for providing a carte blanche welcome to the ultimate Texas food market. No retailer has any better understanding of the Texas mystique when it comes to all things culinary.

Publisher Rick Rinehart, of Taylor Trade Publishing, for his visionary faith in this book and enthusiasm for the update; editor Karie Simpson for her diligence and sharp eye; Kalen Landow for her marketing; and Alden Perkins for her finishing touches.

Dedie Leahy, my friend and agent, for putting together the deal. Thank you for believing in me, encouraging, collaborating, and cheering me on. Working as art director, Dedie, along with her husband, photographer Rick Turner, have worked tirelessly to make this book a stunning visual reality. I owe them much.

Chef Stephan Pyles who wrote the foreword to this book. His understanding of and knowledge about Texas cuisine surpasses all understanding, and I am honored to have his generous words in this book.

Louise Griffeth for her generosity and gracious welcome to photograph in her beautiful home.

Betsy Moon, friend and colleague, for her good-spirited diligence and great assistance.

Elaine Corn, my longtime friend and a fellow cookbook author, for her brilliant ideas and indomitable spirit.

Food stylists Tonia Lyle, Martha Gooding, and Kris Ackerman, who made the recipes in the book look as appetizing as I intend the recipes to be.

Jeff Seigel, wine curmudgeon and founder of drinklocal.com, for his insight about wine, beer, and spirits in Texas.

Danny Sikora for his insightful consultation and elegant menorah.

Dedies friend, Janet Watts, and my friend, Andrea Alcorn, for opening their cabinets and loaning us elegant pieces for photographs.

T hanksgiving begins the winter holiday season, a time for feasting, merriment, family, entertaining, giving, and, hopefully, some receiving.

But before all the other holidays begin, concentrate on the feasting. I think Thanksgiving has always been my favorite holiday, says chef Stephan Pyles, a native Texan, well-known chef, and acclaimed cookbook author, because the food was the main thing.

THE CLASSIC
TEXAS
THANKSGIVING
MENU

(take your pick)

The native of Big Spring in West Texas has adapted his memories of regional favorites in his various cookbooks and the menus at his renowned Stampede 66 restaurant where he has contemporized traditional Texas cooking. He remembers feasts with turkey, enchiladas, stuffed jalapeo peppers, and the rest of the trimmings. My familys table was derivative of West Texas, with its Mexican, Southern, and German influences, recalls Stephan.

Indeed, Thanksgiving is the most American of holidays, and it is the one where food is the symbol of the holiday. While Texans, like most other Americans, base their Thanksgiving traditions on the Pilgrim feast of thanks that took place in 1620, Texans can also look to their own history.

The documented Texas Thanksgiving, a meal shared by indigenous Texans and exploring Spaniards, is thought to have been celebrated circa 1598, which predated the more famous Massachusetts Thanksgiving by more than 20 years. Historians believe Indians and the Spanish explorers dined on turkey, venison, pumpkin, and corn together. Sounds a lot like the Chesapeake Bay menu, minus the oysters. And many contemporary Texas menus, for that matter.

Thanksgiving offers an excuse for a truly enjoyable, casual family party. In many families, everybody brings something. The day is wonderful for cooking, visiting, eating, visiting, cleaning up, visiting, and watching some football before everyone heads home and into full winter holiday mode.

My familys Thanksgiving was often spent on a hunting lease in South Texas, near the town of Pearsall. One year, we added rattlesnake to our holiday table. It happened like this. My dad (who his grandson, Kelly, persuaded us all should be known henceforth as Eddie Boy) was easin on down one of the rough, dusty ranch roads, flanked by cactus and mesquite, in his pickup. He heard a loud thump on the drivers side front tire. He threw on the brakes and jumped out to see what hed hit.

What he saw, was what had hit himactually had hit his truck. Lucky for him.

As he opened the door and stepped out, he was startled to see a rattlesnake, easily six feet long and three inches in diameter, strike the tire again.

Eddie Boy dispatched the snake with a shotgun. He brought the big rattler back to the camp house for all to see and shake their heads over the dozen rattles. Someone suggested, probably as a joke, that we have rattlesnake for Thanksgiving.

He took up the challenge. If butter and garlic can make snails taste good, why not rattlesnake? Eddie Boy flaked the white meat from the ribs and sauted it in butter and garlic. It looked and tasted a lot like crab.

Although rattlesnake has never again graced our Thanksgiving table, that was one side dish weve never forgotten.

Dotty Griffith

I n Texas, the most difficult part of the Thanksgiving meal is timing. It is common to plan the serving time based on kick-off time. The Dallas Cowboys have played on Thanksgiving Day for 40 or so years. And in recent years, the Houston Texans have taken snaps on Thanksgiving as well.

For many Texans, football is as much a part of the day as turkey and dressing. Some Texans like to eat before the game; others after.

The key is making sure that the turkey and everything that goes with it are ready at the same time. For that you need to know how long it will take to thaw the turkey, have a hurry-up method in mind (just in case), and calculate the roasting time. Try to do as much in advance as possible, so that all you have to cook on the big day is the turkey. Just about everything else should be a reheat or a last-step finish.

T exans are often on the move for Thanksgiving. If you draw turkey duty and you want to prepare it at home for taking to the host or hostess of the day, roast and carve it ahead of time. Store sliced turkey in refrigerator storage bags or ovenproof baking dish. Gently reheat in dish covered with foil at 300 until heated through (30 to 45 minutes) basting with a small amount of chicken or turkey stock to retain moisture. For a recipe.

R oasting the turkey is the simplest part of the meal. Heres where Ill address the question, To brine or not to brine? Go for it if you like. I cant promise that you will think it was worth it. But I can tell you that brining a turkey takes time, refrigerator space, and some planning. Brining kits help. Frankly, I dont believe that brining makes or breaks a turkey. Thaw it. Put some oil on the skin. Roast it, basting now and then, and I think youll enjoy your turkey and youll be following the golden rule of enjoyable holiday cooking, KISS (keep it simple, stupid), wherever possible. The following techniques and recipes will put a turkey on your table. Go ahead and brine if you want but I dont.