I know that Turkey is the traditional Thanksgiving protein, but it just doesn’t do anything for me – especially the breast which is just so much insipid white meat. I know that others love it, and I respect their tastebuds. Mine lean toward dark and red meats and the occasional, delicate white fish or toasted cricket.
That said, Susan and I have been cooking a goose and/or duck for Thanksgiving for many years. There’s a Texas Thanksgiving tradition that involves cooking a goose, if memory serves. Now and again, we have cooked a standing rib roast for this holiday. I call it Roast Beast (in honor of the folks in Dr. Seuss’s Whoville).
Yesterday, I made Emeril Lagasse’s Jalapeno-Cranberry relish. This afternoon, I roasted a 3-rib standing rib roast. Susan heated some oven-roasted vegetables and a pan of purple, rosemary potatoes. She made cornbread stuffing and some homemade cranberry sauce too. I warmed up some King’s Hawaiian buns.
We had invited a couple whom I have known for at least 55 years, and they brought a homemade flan. He and I were employed by an Austin tech company back in the 60s and 70s, and we were in Computer Science graduate school back in the early 70s. His wife and I had some professional history as well; she’s a chemical engineer and industrial hygienist.
I had planned to take pictures of my friends and our meal, but we became so immersed in conversation that I never took the pictures. I did manage a shot of the table setting before they arrived and another shot of the rib roast remnants after the meal was over. It wasn’t what I had planned, but it was better than having no record of the event.
Yum.