Restaurant Review - Comfort and joy

Food, for most of us, is inextricably linked to the holidays. It just isn’t Christmas until you’ve had grandma’s creamed spinach or mom’s mystery-spiced (or spiked) eggnog. We wanted to know what holiday foods the professionals look forward to all year. Are the city’s best chefs and bartenders traditionalists, or do they bring as much creativity to their holiday tables as they bring to their restaurants’ menus? What seasonal dishes comfort them? Creative Loafing consulted Atlanta’s experts to get their take on the best classic and creative holiday dishes, and to find out what foods and drinks make the holidays for them.

For Aaron Russell, co-chef at the Chocolate Bar in Decatur, the holidays do mean those American staples, such as his mother’s green-bean casserole. “It’s a trend to take classical dishes and add new twists to them, especially in the professional world,” he says. “But at home, I wouldn’t want to have the classics changed.”

Kevin Rathbun, chef and owner of Rathbun’s, Krog Bar and Kevin Rathbun Steak, wishes he could add new twists to the staples at home. “My wife and I’ve been married 17 years, and she’s a traditionalist,” Rathbun says. “So I argue every year with her about trying to do something new and exciting, but she’s always got to have the basics.”

For the Rathbuns, the basics include a sage-and-thyme roasted turkey, oyster dressing and baked macaroni-n-cheese. When Rathbun does get to play around with dishes, like at annual dinners for the staff at his restaurants, he loves to make hot sausage and cornbread dressing. His favorite winter food, though: Nantucket Bay scallops that come into season in the beginning of November. “Starting Nov. 1, my favorite food in life is Nantucket Bay scallops,” Rathbun gushes. “I like to eat them raw like candy with nothing on them. They’re just spectacular.”

Nicolas Bour, executive chef at the Farmhouse at Serenbe, puts a spin on the classics at his restaurant and at home with his cranberry sauce: “Every year, I bring the turkey and the cranberries. I’m known for my cranberry mostarda with organic cranberries.”

But Bour’s also a sucker for the traditional comfort foods. “My favorite thing to have is the sandwich the day after, with the turkey, bread, a little bit of mayo, mustard, and cranberry sauce,” Bour says. “It’s the best thing about Thanksgiving, or any holiday for that matter.”

The best thing about the holidays for Linton Hopkins, executive chef at Restaurant Eugene, is the goose his mother makes every year. “I am a petulant son,” he admits. “That roast goose is the best and I demand it every year.” Hopkins is also a fan of his mother’s mushroom casserole and foie gras; it seems haute cuisine runs in the family.

At his own table, Hopkins sticks with seasonal ingredients such as root vegetables and chestnuts. “Chestnuts are one of my favorites,” he says. “I get them from this farm right here in Georgia.

“My belief is that we’re attached to these icons a lot of time, that may or may not be in season,” Hopkins says. “For me, everything is about what’s the best that’s local and seasonal, and that defines what my holiday meal is.”

If you’re more concerned with what to drink this holiday season, take a cue from mixologist Lindy Colburn, the woman behind Beleza’s cocktails. Colburn infuses her drinks with fresh ingredients, such as the real pomegranate she uses in her holiday mimosa. “This is probably going to make me sound like a lush, but on the holidays when I’m cooking, I start out with the passion-fruit-and-pomegranate mimosa in the morning and then I’ll have a mulled cider after dinner,” she says.

For holiday parties, Colburn recommends sticking with the classics: “I love all the old-fashioned nogs and punches. It’s also nice to send people off with a warm cup of something.”

Cocoa is all the rage at home for Crawford Moran, the biermeister at 5 Seasons Brewery. “I’ve got two little girls, so hot chocolates and apple ciders are the ticket at our house,” Moran says.

When Moran does brew beers for the holidays, he likes to go with seasonal flavors, such as the pumpkin beer he made for the brewpub. “I’ve always enjoyed drinking pumpkin beers at the holidays, but this is the first year that I’ve actually made one,” he says. “I got close to 100 pounds of just beautiful pumpkins from a small, local organic farm and I used a few of the traditional pumpkin-pie spices.”

At home, Moran also opts for fuller-bodied Belgians. “I’m the cook at my house, so for Thanksgiving and Christmas dinners, I always serve big Belgian beers,” he says. “They’re just so full of flavors and complex characteristics that really go nicely with typical holiday foods.”

Greg Best, Creative Loafing’s 2007 Critics’ Pick for best mixologist, plays with holiday spices in cocktails and punches. “One of my favorite things to do is just to take a nice bottle of bourbon or rye and drop a stick of cinnamon stick in it, some cloves, some peppercorns, and let it sit for a week or two,” he says. “That makes the perfect autumn/winter-based spirit for a number of cocktails.”

Best also likes to work with fresh cranberry juice to make drinks such as the party-favorite poinsettia. “We’re on this fresh-squeezed cranberry kick,” Best says. “They have such a different character than the cranberry juice we’re all used to.”

You may not be up for squeezing your own cranberry juice, but Best’s recommended poinsettia is easy enough to make with the sugary store-bought kind. “It’s a really simple, simple cocktail,” Best says. “I’ve yet to break it out at a party where it didn’t go like wildfire.”

Chef recipes and recommendations

Kevin Rathbun’s Hot Italian Sausage and Cornbread Dressing

Cornbread

1 cup yellow cornmeal

1 cup all-purpose flour

2 tablespoons granulated sugar

4 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon granulated salt

1 cup whole milk

1/4 cup shortening

1 whole egg

Stuffing

1 pound hot Italian sausage

1 pound cornbread

2 tablespoons salted butter

3/4 cup yellow onion (minced)

1/2 cup celery (minced)

1 tablespoon garlic (minced)

2 cups, 4 ounces hot chicken broth

3 tablespoons salted butter

1 teaspoon granulated sugar

1 teaspoon ground black pepper

1 teaspoon granulated salt

1 tablespoon fresh sage (chopped)

2 tablespoons fresh parsley (chopped)

4 whole eggs

Cornbread

Preheat oven to 425 degrees, grease a square pan, 8-by-8-by-2, or 9-by-9-by-2 inches. Blend all ingredients about 20 seconds. Beat vigorously 1 minute. Pour into pan. Bake 20 to 25 minutes or until golden brown. Keep at room temperature.

Stuffing

In a saute pan, cook crumbled Italian sausage until cooked through, approximately 5 minutes. In a large bowl, add sausage and crumble in 1 pound of the cornbread. Set aside. In a separate saute pan add 1 tablespoon butter, onions, celery and garlic; sweat or slow-cook until tender. Add to sausage and cornbread mixture. In a small pot, heat chicken stock and butter until hot; pour over sausage and cornbread mixture. Add sugar, sage, parsley, salt and pepper, and mix all items together. Mix eggs together and mix into bowl; stir to incorporate and transfer to a baking dish. Place in a 350-degree preheated oven and bake covered for 20 to 25 minutes. Serve hot.

Note: My mother was a big fan of the Betty Crocker cookbook and this cornbread recipe is directly from there.

Nicholas Bour’s Organic Cranberry Mostarda

4 cups blackberry preserves

12 cups good-quality red Burgundy (wine)

1 star anise

1/2 stick cinnamon

4 shallots, chopped

2 garlic cloves

6 whole peppercorns

1/4 cup red wine vinegar

2 cups sugar

4 tablespoons strong Dijon mustard

2 pounds organic cranberries

Combine the red wine, preserves, shallots, garlic, cinnamon, sugar and star anise in a thick-bottom pot. Reduce this mixture until it thickens. Combine the mustard and red wine vinegar in a bowl with a whisk, and add it to the reduction. Add cranberries; remove from heat, cover and refrigerate overnight.

Linton Hopkins’ Brown Butter Creamed Baby Greens (6 servings)

2 pounds baby collard, mustard and kale greens, mixed

2 cups bechamel (see recipe below)

1 cup small-dice yellow onion

2 garlic cloves, minced

1/2 cup heavy cream

4 tablespoons whole unsalted butter

1 teaspoon chili flakes

Salt and pepper

1/2 cup smoked bacon lardons

Cider vinegar to taste

Destem, wash and tear greens into large strips. Heat butter in large skillet and cook until golden brown; add yellow onion and cook till onion softens (around 2 minutes), being careful not to burn butter. Add greens and toss until wilted; add bechamel and stir to incorporate. Add garlic, chili flakes and heavy cream. Season with salt and pepper and cook over medium-high heat until liquid reduces and coats greens. Stir often to prevent scorching. Add bacon, adjust acid with vinegar and serve.

Note: The weight of the greens can be deceiving. If the greens are fully mature, then the stem will outweigh the leaf; that is why I use baby greens. What you want is around 6 quarts of cleaned, torn greens.

Bechamel

2 cups whole milk

2 tablespoons whole butter

2 tablespoons whole flour

1 bay leaf

6 peppercorns

1 minced shallot

Melt butter, stir in flour and cook over medium-low heat for 1 minute. Slowly whisk in milk; add bay leaf, peppercorns and shallot, and bring to a boil while stirring. Reduce heat to low and cook 5 minutes, stirring all the while to prevent scorching. Strain and reserve.

Lindy Colburn’s Mulled Cider & Brandy

2 quarts organic unfiltered apple cider

2 cinnamon sticks

1 tablespoon whole cardamom pods

1 teaspoon cloves

4 whole star anise

1 teaspoon allspice

1 ounce lemon juice

1 ounce spiced muscovado syrup (see recipe below)

Torres 10-year brandy

In a pot, combine apple cider, cardamom, cloves, star anise and allspice. Bring mixture to a boil. Reduce heat and let simmer for 20 minutes. In a mug or hot beverage glass, pour in hot cider, 1 ounce lemon juice, 1 ounce muscovado syrup and 2 ounces brandy. Garnish with a cinnamon stick and star anise.

Spiced muscovado syrup

1 cup dark muscovado sugar

1 cup water

1 cinnamon stick

2 whole star anise

1 teaspoon cardamom pods

1 teaspoon black peppercorns

1 teaspoon cloves

Combine contents in a small saucepan over medium heat until the sugar is dissolved. Cover and let steep at least 2 hours or overnight in the refrigerator. Strain out solids and store in an airtight container.

Passion-fruit & Pomegranate Mimosa

2 ounces passion-fruit nectar

1/2 ounce Cointreau

1 ounce pomegranate syrup (recipe below)

Laurent Perrier brut champagne

Mix nectar and Cointreau in the glass and top up with champagne to 3/4-full. Slowly pour the pomegranate syrup down the inside of the glass so it sinks to the bottom. Serve in a champagne flute and garnish with fresh pomegranate seeds.

Pomegranate syrup

2 cups pomegranate seeds

2 cups sugar

1 cup water

Combine all ingredients in a saucepan over medium heat. Let simmer until the seeds burst open and all sugar is dissolved. Let cool and fine-strain into an airtight container.

Crawford Moran’s Holiday Beer Picks:

Corsendonk Brown Ale

Chimay Blue

Rochefort

Westmalle

Available from Green’s Beverages, 737 Ponce de Leon Ave. 404-872-1109.

Greg Best’s Poinsettia

1 ounce Cointreau

1/2 ounce cranberry juice

3-4 ounces brut sparkling wine or champagne

Assemble all ingredients in a champagne flute, and garnish with a small peel of lemon.