tel: 512 280-1192 Friday, Dec 13 2013
Nursery Notes: 25% off living trees, 50% off metal art, 25%
off pottery, 50% off antique roses; great selection of veggies,
1015 onions in stock. | We were sorry to cancel last Sunday's
gathering... but with the icy weather, it seemed safer for us all to
stay at home. We were especially sorry not to be able to enjoy the
dulcet tones of Celtic harpist Doc Grauzer. His recordings are
available here: www.docgrauzer.com
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How to Draw a Garden Plan: amidst all this chilly weather, what
better time to get out tracing paper, pencil and measuring tape,
and make plans your 2014 spring garden. Michelle Slatalla at
Gardenista tells how: http://tinyurl.com/kexroo7
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Central Texas Gardener KLRU TV. Are you new to gardening,
just new to Texas, or looking for new drought-tough plants? Mary
Irish puts us on the right path with her latest book, Texas Getting
Started Guide Sat. noon, 4 p.m. or Sun., 9 a.m. www.klru
Mick's blanched green beans, sauteed in butter and turkey fat.
Thanksgiving at the Winslows
by Mick Vann
(Every year chef/author Mick Vann cooks up a Thanksgiving
feast at the home of Diane and Chris Winslow, owners of the
nursery. Luckily this year Mick wrote about every detail of the
feast on his Gustidude blog. Below is an edited version.)
'Princess Di' (Diane Winslow), the Martha Stewart of Manchaca,
and I had been cogitating about the menu, and made some grand-
iose plans, but as the day approached, we came to our senses.
The turkey was originally going to be brined, spatchcocked, and
grilled, but our head griller, CBoy (Chris) insisted on non-grilling.
It didn’t get butterflied and brined because it wasn’t thawed in time
so instead, it got its cavity stuffed with celery, carrots, onions, garlic,
thyme, sage, and parsley, and then settled down to a long, warm
golden-brown slumber at 350°F, with a frequent basting of butter
and turkey schmaltz.
The ham got crisscrossed-slashed and baked, and then got a fini-
shing glaze of habanero-pineapple jam, apricot jam, German
mustard, brown sugar, and roasted garlic. I fought my way into the
Super-HEB in Kyle and procured the last few packages of fresh
turkey thighs, and a package of chicken necks.
They would join the turkey neck in the pot with celery, carrots,
garlic, onion butts, and herbs, for some rich, slow-simmered turkey
stock. I used it to make the dressing, this year made with sausage,
onions, roasted garlic, celery, sage, thyme, parsley, walnuts, dried
cherries (plumped in the turkey stock), day-old French bread cubes,
a couple of bright gold-yolked RW yard eggs, and that turkey stock.
CBoy declared it the best dressing he had ever eaten, which speaks
volumes, considering his advanced age.
There was a dish of baked sliced red sweet potatoes and apples,
topped with toasted pecans and a spiced topping of butter, honey,
brown sugar, and dark rum; a nice little combo. Di made her famous
slaw of cabbages and broccoli stems, sweet onion, and a ginger-
lime dressing, garnished with toasted sesame seeds.
I blanched some beautiful green beans for 6 minutes, and then
sautéed them with butter, turkey fat, thick-sliced mushrooms, and
then finished them with roasted garlic and touch of turkey stock.
There was huge platter of fresh fruit (strawberries, raspberries,
pineapple, and red grapes). Nancy made some of her wonderful
cranberry relish, to go with the canned cranberry jelly that Havie
insists on (not bad on a PB and J by the way). While all that stuff
was cooking, Nancy had thrown together a nosh of her famous
slow-cooker chile con queso, scooped up with Frito’s.
There were store-bought rolls to pop in the oven and some soft
butter for schmearing, and Nancy brought one of her famous pine-
apple upside-down cakes, to go with one of HEB bakery’s finest
pumpkin pies (and some Blue Bell Homemade Vanilla).
The turkey came out very moist and tasty; ditto for the ham. The
meat from the turkey stock turkey thighs was saved for some
turkey mole enchiladas further down the calendar a bit. The
dressing was superb (as declared by CBoy), and the accom-
panying gravy rich and luscious.
All of the side dishes soared above expectations; same for the
accompaniments. We put a serious dent in the spirits supply, and
the crowd was especially jolly. UT even beat Tech. Many thanks
were given, and old friends reconnected, and epoxied together
with new friends. Nobody hit deer or got hit by deer on their
way out. All things considered, Turkey Day at Rancho Winslow
was a huge, delicious success.
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Stuffing with Dried Cherries, Sausage, and Walnuts
serves 6 to 8
1 medium onion, chopped
6 cloves garlic, minced
½ cup celery, minced
2 tablespoons butter
8 cups bread, cubed, let air-dry
1½ cups rich turkey or chicken broth (homemade, highly preferred)
¾ cup dried cherries, plumped 30 min in hot turkey stock, drained
1¼ cups cup cooked sausage, chopped coarsely
1 cup dry-toasted walnuts, chopped
¼ cup parsley, chopped
3 eggs, beaten
½ teaspoon sage
½ teaspoon thyme
½ teaspoon salt (or a little more, to taste)
½ teaspoon pepper
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Cook sausage in skillet until browned, breaking it up as it cooks.
Sauté onions, garlic, and celery in butter until soft. Transfer to
large bowl. Moisten bread with broth and add to sautéed vegetables.
Add remaining ingredients and mix well. If the mixture seems a
little dry, add a bit more broth. Transfer to buttered casserole and
bake 35 minutes at 350°F.
Note: Sausage can be ground breakfast sausage, Italian sausage,
or any type of cooked link sausage. To make it extra special, use
the amazingly good smoked turkey sausage from Billy Inman,
of Inman’s Ranch House BBQ in Marble Falls.
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Read more of Mick Vann's culinary ruminations atgustidude:http://gustidude.blogspot.com
Visit the website: www.itsaboutthyme.com Visit the nursery:11726 Manchaca Road, Austin, 78748 Like us
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