Chris Ward's Red Meat Thanksgiving

Not a fan of turkey?

Chris Ward, consulting chef for Allen Brothers, dropped by with some red meat Thanksgiving options:

• Chris Ward's Cornbread Dressing

Corn bread

Ingredients:
1 cup yellow corn meal
1 cup flour
4 tsp baking powder
½ tsp salt
1 cup thick buttermilk
1 whole egg
1/3 cup bacon drippings

Method:
Preheat oven to 425°. In a large bowl, mix corn meal, flour, baking powder and salt. Add milk, egg and bacon drippings. (May need a little extra milk to make a smoother batter.) Bake in a preheated, greased cast iron 8-inch skillet. Bake for 20-25 minutes. Remove from skillet and cool.

Dressing

Ingredients:
To 3 quarts of water add the following:
Turkey or chicken neck, tips of wings and gizzard
One medium onion, thinly sliced
2 ribs of celery, thinly sliced
One bay leaf
Salt and pepper
1 tbs butter

Method:
Simmer all ingredients for one hour or until meat is tender.

Toast 3 slices of white bread, including crust.

Assemble:

In a large bowl combine:
Crumbled corn bread and white bread
Cooked celery and onion removed from the juice with a slotted spoon. Add to the breads.
Add broth until moist
Add salt, pepper, ground thyme and ground sage to taste.
Add one or two whole eggs to get the desired consistency.
Add some turkey neck meat and gizzards that have been finely chopped.
Place in buttered casserole
Bake in 350° oven until hot all the way through and a bit brown on top

• Asian Pear and Gorgonzola Salad
(Serves 4)

Ingredients:
2 firm Asian pears - peeled, seeded & halved
3 ½ cups of red wine
1 cup of orange juice
1 cup of sugar
½ vanilla bean
1 cinnamon stick
1 dried star anise

Method:
In a sauce pan, combine the wine, orange juice, sugar, vanilla bean, cinnamon tick and star anise. Bring the mixture to a boil over high heat and reduce the heat to a simmer and poach for 45 minutes or until the pears are tender.
Strain the liquid from the pears. Return the pears to the trained liquid and refrigerate. These may be made up to 7 days in advance.

Glazed pecans

Ingredients:
1 ½ cup sugar
½ cup water
½ cup pecan halves

Method:
Place the sugar and water over high heat and cook until the sugar caramelizes. Add the pecan halves to the sugar and cool for 1 minute. Pour the caramelized pecan mixture onto a non-stick pan and allow the mixture to cool about 1 hour to properly chill. When the mixture is cool, roughly chop the caramelized pecans.

Arugula salad

Ingredients:
1 cup arugula
½ cup frisee
½ cup gorgonzola
2 tbl champagne vinaigrette

Assemble:
Remove the cooled Asian pears from their cooking liquid. Slice into ¼ slices. Toss the greens with the champagne vinaigrette and place the dressed greens over the sliced pears. Sprinkle roughly sliced gorgonzola cheese around the pears. Then randomly place the candied pecans around the salad. Serve immediately.

• Roasted Prime Rib
Preheat oven to 425°

Ingredients:
1 - 4 rib Prime Rib Roast (Export) 8 to 9 lbs
1 ½ tbl kosher salt
1 ½ tbl coarsely ground black pepper

Method:
Rub the prime rib with salt and pepper. Place the seasoned prime rib into a large roasting pan. Cook for 1 ½ - 2 hours or until a temperature of 125° is reached. Remove the meat from the pan and allow it to rest for 30 minutes. The prime rib should be 135° or a perfect medium rare. Slice in 1 slices and serve.

-- For more information, visit www.allenbrothers.com