Thanksgiving avec brio - A Modern Versailles Party
Clockwise: Grilled Lamb Chops, Macaroni & Cheese, Prime Rib, Oeuf au Caviar, Grilled Oysters with morel mushrooms and seaweed caviar.
Center: Raspberry Sorbet with gold chocolate shell
I adore Thanksgiving. Many of the family members in our immediate circle don't seem too interested in planning a menu for a Tuesday evening, much less a large, elaborate meal. As a child, that lack of interest in the holiday allowed me to indulge my uninhibited epicurean fantasies on a group of family members who did not pick the wheat but only ate the bread.
I have themed most of my Thanksgiving dinners for an added touch of panache. What makes a themed dinner so special? Well, when you're meal planning and trying to come up with a menu, you instantly have lots of creative - and fun - ideas. Meal ideas are no longer a struggle. It also adds a layer of excitement to an already highly anticipated meal. We had a Cajun smoked turkey in the past for our Vieux Carré (Old Square) Thanksgiving. I created Sausage-Chestnut Stuffing based on a 1950s vintage Thanksgiving menu. My favorite Thanksgiving memory was the year I made oyster stuffing as an homage to the first Thanksgiving.
With my siblings getting older and my Thanksgiving plans incorporating smaller parties and more friends than blood relatives, I have been able to step outside traditional Thanksgiving dishes for 'Friendsgiving' parties. Instead of turkey, I'd prefer beef or lamb dishes, and I'd rather use Balducci’s products than Campbell's. For this year's dinner party, I decided to combine the best of both worlds and invite my family and friends. It is scheduled for the Saturday before Thanksgiving so most of my immediate family can attend. In addition, since it's not a Thanksgiving meal per se, I'm not restricted to a Thanksgiving menu. This menu took a lot of time and research to translate and update original recipes to appeal to western palates. I was so proud of myself after the extensive research, updates, and scouting out sites to order these ingredients from that I wanted to share them. Please let these recipes inspire your holiday dinner plans, or at the very least, a special evening.
Appetizers / Entrée
Since the 16th century, soup has always usually been the first course of a meal. According to the Versailles: Treasures of the Palace exhibition menu, Louis XV started his meal with four different kinds of soup. I found it very interesting that the traditional recipe for Lobster Bisque cooks the shells in cognac before using the liquid as a base for the creamy soup. VIDEO INCLUDED 😊😊😊
Oeuf Au Caviar
You will wow your guests with this eye-catching way to start a dinner. It doesn't take much effort either. In my opinion, osetra caviar would not be a good choice because it is more expensive, and there is no need for heavy cream, vodka, and caviar to compete for attention. Instead, I used White Sturgeon caviar. Seaweed caviar, which is incorporated into one of the later dishes, can also be used to make this recipe vegetarian. Recipe here.
Fall Salad with beets, feta, kale, and walnuts
As I discovered during my research, salads were quite common at traditional royal dinners. It never occurred to me that raw vegetables would be a very important component of a feast in the mid 1700s. Further, Lois XIV was so concerned with vegetables that, when he discovered the man organizing his feasts was taking him for a ride, the man was jailed and Lois the XIV stole his gardener. 😂 😂 😂
Main dishes / Plat principal
Prime rib, traditionally a Christmas dish, takes center stage during holiday season and for good reason. Among beef cuts, it is the king. A bone-in prime rib roast is also called a standing rib roast because it is placed majestically on its rib bones in the roasting pan during cooking. Rich, juicy, tender, and beautifully marbled with fat, this roast is a feast for the eyes and the stomach.
There is nothing better than lamb lollipops when it comes to savory treats. At the end of their long bones, they have a knob of tender meat. As a fun appetizer or plated dinner, they make a pretty presentation.
Grilled Kumamoto oysters with morels and seaweed caviar
The French have always loved oysters. Even today, France ranks first in Europe for oyster consumption and exports, producing 150,000 tonnes each year. In the off-season, ordering fresh morel mushrooms can be extremely difficult. Fortunately, rehydrating dried mushrooms is simple and results in an incredibly tasty broth that you can save for later.
Sides / Plat d'accompagnement
Poached quince
The quince season lasts from October to December, and crops are as small as demand. Raw, its sauterne scent is the real seduction: honey, pineapple, and antique roses. In order to release the delectable flavor, however, a good deal of cooking is required. It's worth it to me, since watching the fruit turn a sunset hue of rose-orange is a small miracle.
Desserts / Dessert is a French word so… there’s no translation. A fun fact - the word is derived from a verb that means 'to clear the table.'
Non-alcoholic kings delight (dark chocolate ginger mousse with espresso syrup)
These days, I'm a sober sally. Back in the not-so-distant past, I was a bartender for 10 years and a pretty big party animal (I'm pretty sure you can still find some pictures of me online making bad decisions while drunk and... well, let's just say 'wired'). Anyway, I digress. King's delight is a cocktail that combines ginger liqueur and espresso liqueur. You can find the alcoholic recipe here. If, however, you would like to create a non-alcoholic version of this dessert for a cleaner dining experience, I recommend this modification.
Black lemon and raspberry sorbet with gold chocolate
Among these recipes, this one is my favorite because it is almost 100% original. Black lemons are very popular in Persian cuisine. They are actually dried limes, not lemons. Black lemons have an incredibly earthy citrus flavor, and I felt that, with some food coloring and a light and refreshing raspberry taste, the contrast of a black sorbet with a gold syrup shell would be opulence personified.
Assorted French chocolate
The only store-bought item on the menu. Ultimately, I decided to order from Compartes , located in Los Angeles, but any assorted chocolates are great for a dessert-tasting menu.
What suggestions or modifications would you make to the recipes? Did anything stand out as particularly appetizing or terrible? I'm listening. Feel free to share your thoughts! Also, you can view photos of this holiday menu on Instagram @(insert IG handle here). Please share this article with your friends if you enjoyed it. Click here for a sharable link 😊
About the Author - Katherine Dollison is a digital marketer, website designer, and voice-over artist. She has created and optimized content and analyzed website, CRM, and social media performance over the past 10 years. In the past, she developed and maintained content for consulting firms, authors, and the gas and construction industries. Currently, she works full-time for one of the world's largest digital marketing companies, Publicis. Aside from that, Katherine has a wide range of voiceover experience. Aside from producing over 75 audiobooks, she also produced commercials for Hefty and other companies.
