Ok, so we’ve finally reached the end of this thing. What you see to the left is the completed plate that I put together according to Chef O'Connell's instructions. There are a couple of things to note here. First, I just don’t quite have that artistic eye that makes this plate really sing. That’s something that I clearly need to work on. Second, the flavors in this thing are amazing. The  combination of the Tomato Coulis with the Wild Rice Pecan Pilaf are just extraordinary and the Portobello coupled with the Tomato and Shallot Fondue provide a wonderful counterpoint.

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Ms Cocktail is kind of funny sometimes. Not funny ha ha, but funny strange. You see, she loves rice in all of its forms. Short grain, long grain, Basmati, Jasmine, even Forbidden rice, she loves it. Except for wild rice. With wild rice she is like a six year old, turning her nose up at it, showing disdain even at the mention of it.

That all changed when she had the wild rice in this recipe.

The rice itself can be made up to two days ahead of time and kept in the refrigerator. Then all you need to do is to sauté the vegetables and rice at the very end to warm it up.

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This is something that while part of this particular recipe, it is also something that you should know how to make as both brown butter and it’s cousin black butter, are remarkably versatile and useful in various dishes. Coloring the butter adds a richness to the flavor that isn’t there at the beginning.

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It was my friend Chef Phil Young that introduced me to a wonderful tool in the kitchen several years ago, a mandolin. It is essentially as flat board with a blade about half way down it that can be adjusted to varying thicknesses. What this allows you to do is to take any reasonably solid food object and shave it to a thickness of your liking. It is a tool that will make preparing these vegetables very easy and quite interesting. They are also something that you will find remarkably useful in other dishes as well.

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This is yet something else that can be prepared ahead of time. You are roasting the shallots to caramelize the sugars inside without actually browning them. The hardest thing about working with shallots is that when you purchase them, very often there are two or three bulbs inside the paper shell. So when counting them, you need to count not how many you bought, but how many are actually there. Except for this dish where you want the entire bulb to be counted as one.

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I actually learned this technique from Chef Hump Astorga who now works at Chrysalis Vineyards. It is an excellent way to make up for the lack of good tomatoes in the winter. You can almost always find fresh plum or Roma tomatoes in the mega marts and this technique really helps to concentrate the flavor. They can be stored in the refrigerator for about a week after roasting so these can easily be made ahead of time and the skins slipped of when your ready to use them.

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In the past several years I have gone from a “make stuff you can survive on” kind of guy to one who can make some very memorable culinary experiences at home. Over this time, I’ve chronicled some of my successes here at At Least I’m Enjoying the Ride. I hope that you all have been able to translate some these recipes and stories into successes of your own.

During this time, I’ve noted that there are several things that make the difference between an average meal and a spectacular meal. I’d like to share them with you now.

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Since we’ve been married, Ms Cocktail and I have engaged in a fun little southern tradition on New Year’s Day. The tradition is that on New Year’s Day you are supposed to eat black eyed peas and collard greens. The black eyed peas symbolize coins and the collards symbolize paper money and together they are supposed to help ensure financial success in the coming year.

For most of this time, we’ve made Hoppin’ John with Collard Greens on the side. This year, we decided to change things up a bit, we made my Brunswick Stew with deep fried collard green on the side.  This is a very whimsical and fun way to prepare collards, it is not meant to be a traditional side, more of a garnish. However, you get this wonderful explosion of collard green flavor without a large amount of greens in your mouth, making this something that you should have as part of your repertoire.

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The traditional manner of cooking a turkey for the holidays is to shove it into the oven and slowly suck every last drop of moisture out of the breast while minimizing the amount of consumable meat available on the dinner table. Let’s not forget that the inner cavity has been shoved full of stuffing that makes certain that one of the family members will find the remaining salmonella for that not so fresh holiday feeling.

Well, I’m here to tell you that while you can still cook the turkey in the oven, there is a better way.

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It seems incredibly simple, so much so that you would think I wouldn’t have to write it up. However, I’ve seen plenty of people that do not know how to properly boil an ear of corn, so here goes. Shuck the ear of corn, removing all the outer leaves and all of the silk. Break off any of the stalk that may still be on the end. Fill a large pot with enough water to completely cover the corn to be cooked. Bring the water to a boil and add the ears of corn to the pot. Boil for five minutes, not one second more. Remove and enjoy. For a properly cooked ear of corn, butter and salt is very optional.