A beautiful and modern Thanksgiving menu

We have been busy cooking some delicious Thanksgiving magic here in the Mirabeau Kitchen!
We have created a delicious menu with fresh and colourful ingredients that will bring an air of modernity and a provençal vibe to your Thanksgiving table.
Our talented domaine cook, Ben, cooked up this deliciously festive menu and Sophie topped it off with a superb cranberry tart. Hope you enjoy cooking it, and even more so, sharing it with your loved ones and a glass or two of our pale pink.

Happy Thanksgiving!

MENU

Mackerel Rillettes & Thyme, Roasted Grape and Goats’ Cheese Nibbles

Roast Chicken with Rosé Cranberry Sauce & Roasted Autumn Veggies

Radish and Cauliflower & Roasted Romanesco and Plum Salads

Cranberry & Rosemary Pie

Nibbles

Both of these nibbles use the same toasts. Cut thin slices of baguette (around ½ cm thick), drizzle with olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Lay on a flat baking tray and put in the oven on 160°C until hard and lightly browned, about 10-12 minutes. As they’ve been in the oven instead of the toaster they’re dried out slightly, meaning they won’t go soggy.

I use these all the time for nibbles. These can be done in advance the day before so are great for parties – you can greet them with a glass of Mirabeau AND nibbles… check you out!

Mackerel Rillettes

Makes 20 Toasts. Can be done 1 or 2 days in advance. 

Ingredients:

For the rillettes:

• 4 smoked mackerel fillets
• 2 fresh mackerel fillets
• 120g softened butter
• 2 garlic cloves, cut in half
• 1 sprig rosemary
• 80g natural yoghurt
• ½ a grapefruit – juice and zest
• 1 fresh green chili, not too hot, seeded and finely chopped
• 5g fresh horseradish, grated (or you can use 10g horseradish cream)
• Pickled beetroot (2-4 per toast, see below)
• Dill – 1 tablespoon finely chopped and some fronds for garnish
• 20 baguette toasts (see above)

For the pickled beetroot:

• 150ml white wine vinegar
• 50ml cider vinegar
• 150ml water
• 50g brown sugar
• 1 tsp coriander seeds
• 1 tsp mustard seeds 
• 1 tsp fennel seeds
• 1 tsp pink peppercorns 
• 1 tsp black peppercorns
• 3 cloves
• 3 cardamom pods, lightly crushed 
• 1 bay leaf 
• 3 beetroots, sliced into matchsticks

Method:

Prepare the pickled beetroot:

Put all ingredients in a pan, bring to boil and pour over beets, so they’re fully submerged in the pickling liquor. Once chilled use a jar to keep for up to a month!

Prepare the rillettes:

Wrap the fresh fillets in foil with the garlic, rosemary, 20g butter – cut into chunks, salt and pepper. Bake on 180°C for 8 mins, remove and leave to cool, still wrapped. Once cool peel away the skin and discard with the garlic and rosemary whilst retaining the meat and cooking juices. Meanwhile whisk the rest of the butter until light and airy then add the fish, yoghurt, grapefruit juice & zest, chilli and horseradish. Mix until combined and all the fish has broken down. Season with salt to taste. At this point you can add more citrus or horseradish if you wish but go easy! Cover and chill in the fridge until required. To serve spread on toasts and garnish with pickled beetroot and dill.

Thyme Roasted Grapes & Goats’ Cheese

This can be done earlier in the day and be served cold or warm. 

Ingredients:

• 1 small bunch of red grapes (2/3 per toast)
• 1 fresh and very young goats’ cheese – ask at your deli / cheesemonger and explain what you want
• 1 sprig of thyme
• A few leaves of parsley to garnish
• 10 baguette toasts (see above)

Method:

Preheat oven to 160°C. Roast grapes with thyme until soft whilst maintaining their form. Lightly roasting fruit starts to break down the sugars and changes the taste completely but go easy… you don’t want jam! You should see them start to split slightly after a few minutes. Remove and squash with the back of a spoon. If they’re soft you’re good to go, if not return to the oven for two more minutes. Repeat the process until you’re happy then place on a cold plate in the fridge to stop the cooking process.

Spread goats’ cheese on toasts, place the grapes on top (2/3 per toast)and garnish with parsley.

Roast Chicken

I like using chicken instead of turkey. Everyone likes it, it’s not gamey and much easier to cook. Simple is best. When choosing a chicken try to find out how old the chickens are at slaughter. 80 days plus is the gold standard and we don’t touch anything less. Speak to you butcher if you need help. 

Ingredients:

• 1.6kg corn fed, free range chicken
• 50ml olive oil 
• 50g butter
• salt and pepper 
• 1/2 lemon
• 1 bunch thyme

Method:

Preheat oven to 190ׄ°C. Put the lemon and thyme in the chicken’s cavity and season the skin all over with olive oil, salt and pepper.

In a pan heat olive oil to a medium / high heat and sear the chicken on the legs and breasts until evenly golden. Rub all over with butter and place in a roasting tin. roast for an hour basting every 20 minutes. To check if it’s cooked use a temperature probe and check the thickest part of the thigh is 72°C. If you don’t have one, the juices on the thickest part of the leg should run clear if cut with a knife. Remove, cover in foil and a tea towel and rest for half an hour (15mins at least) before carving. 

Mirabeau Rosé Cranberry Sauce

Goes equally well with chicken and tastes even better if done the day before!

Ingredients: 

• 1/2 bottle Mirabeau Classic
• 350g fresh / frozen cranberries
• 1 orange, peel (not zested) and juice
• 2 star anise
• 3 cloves
• 1 cinnamon stick 
• 20g lavender honey / regular honey
• 30g sugar 

Method:

In a hot pan add the wine, spices, peel and juice. Over a high heat bring to the boil and reduce by 2/3. Remove the hard spices and orange peel with a slotted spoon. Add the honey and dissolve then add the cranberries and sugar. They will cook quickly so keep a close eye and stir regularly. Once the cranberries start to break down, taste and add more sugar if needs be. Serve slightly warm but not piping hot. 

Roasted Autumn Veggies

Ingredients:

• 6 purple potatoes
• 5 heirloom carrots
• 9 baby beetroots (I like a mix of candied / chioggia, golden & purple)
• 2 red onions
• 5 baby leeks
• 4 cloves of garlic
• 4 sprigs rosemary
• 2 sprigs of thyme
• 30 ml olive oil 
• salt and pepper

Method:

Working lengthways, half or quarter your potatoes and carrots so they’re roughly the same size, and half your baby beetroots saving one whole for garnish. All your veg should be roughly the same width so they cook evenly. Quarter your red onions and trim your baby leeks so they look neat. Put all your veg in a roasting tray with a garlic clove (lightly crushed with the back of a knife) and herbs. 

Drizzle with olive oil, season with salt and pepper and mix well. Roast for 25-30 minutes. I like the veg quite crunchy so if you don’t, leave it in for another 10-15 minutes. Slice the beetroot you saved on a mandolin as thin as you can and use to garnish.

Side Dishes

The peppery radish side dish is an excellent accompaniment to to chicken and cranberry sauce. 

Radish & Cauliflower Salad

Ingredients: 

• 2 Japanese radish, different colours
• 6 small breakfast radish
• 1 purple cauliflower (use orange or green if that’s what you can find)
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 tabelspoon cider vinegar
• 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
• 1 teaspoon
• juice of ½ a lemon
• dill 

Method:

Slice your Japanese radish using a mandolin to about 1mm and set aside. Slice your breakfast radish as thin as you can or using a mandolin. Break the fleurets cauliflower down to a small size and slice some of the larger pieces on the mandolin to garnish.  To make the dressing whisk the mustard and olive oil together so it’s light and emulsified. Add the honey lemon and olive oil whilst whisking and season to taste. 
To assemble, coat the sliced radish in a little of the dressing and arrange on a plate however you want, it really doesn’t need to be perfect. Mix your mini fleurets and breakfast radish in a bowl and coat with the dressing. Re season if needs be. Arrange in the middle of the plate, garnish with the sliced cauliflower and squeeze some lemon juice on top. Garnish the whole plate with as much dill as you want… I love it!

Roasted Romanesco and Plum

Ingredients:

• 1 head of romanesco
• 3 small unripe purple plums, sliced
• 1 handful of hazelnuts, slightly crushed 
• juice of ½ a lemon
• olive oil
• salt and pepper

Method:

Preheat oven to 180°C. Cut the individual fleurets whilst bringing a pan of water to the boil. Salt the water and blanch the Romanesco for 2 minutes and drain. (You can do this in advance and chill if required). Toast Hazelnuts in the oven until golden brown, about 10-15 minutes. Meanwhile slice your plums into small slices (12-16 per plum is good). About 15 minutes before you’re ready to serve, coat the romanesco in olive oil, season and put in the oven to roast. Next heat a frying pan over a medium / high heat and add some olive oil. Fry your plum slices for about a minute each side or until lightly browned. To serve put the romanesco on a plate and arrange the plums how you want. Sprinkle with hazelnuts and a squeeze the lemon juice over the top.

Cranberry & Rosemary Pie

Nothing says Thanksgiving like a beautiful lattice pie! We decided to switch the traditional pumpkin for the delicious and tart cranberries, which we paired with fragrant provençal rosemary. It’s a gorgeous dessert that is delicious served warm right out of the oven or served at room temperature!

Ingredients:

For the pastry:

• 320 g regular flour
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 tbsp caster sugar
• 200 g cold unsalted butter, finely diced
• A few tbsp of very cold water
• 2 tbsp of cider vinegar

For the filling:

• 100 g dried cranberries
• 100 ml Mirabeau Classic rosé
• A sprig of fresh rosemary
• 100 g caster sugar
• 100 g demerara sugar
• ½ tsp of salt
• ¼ tsp ground cinnamon
• A pinch of freshly ground black pepper
• 50 g corn starch
• 700 g fresh cranberries
• 1 pear
• 1 egg + 1 yolk
• Demerara sugar to sprinkle

Method:

Prepare the pastry:

In a large bowl, mix together flour, salt, and sugar. Incorporate the finely diced butter to the mixture with your hands, until it’s roughly incorporated. Do not overdo it, you should still have small pieces of uncorporated butter.
In a smaller ball, combine water and cider vinegar. Incorporate to the flour and butter mixture one tbsp at a time, and mix with a spatula. Add more of the ice water mixture until the pastry forms a ball. Shape into a disc and refrigerate for a couple of hours, or overnight.
Divide the pastry in two. Roll and line a 9 to 10 inch pie pan. Keep aside in the fridge, along with the rest of the pastry (which you’ll be using for the lattice work and decoration).

Prepare the filling:

Place dried cranberries in a bowl and cover them with the rosé wine and boiling water. Keep aside for 1 hour.
In a food processor, blend together caster sugar, demerara sugar, rosemary, corn starch, salt, cinnamon, black pepper, 2/3 of the fresh cranberries until roughly smooth. Transfer in a bowl and add the rehydrated dried cranberries, drained. Peel the pear and shred on the large holes of a box grater into the bowl. Mix well and incorporate the whole egg.
Spread the filling into the refrigerated pie shell, and make the lattice on top with the rest of the pastry – you can also cut out a few leaves to decorate the top of the pie. Refrigerate the pie for 15 minutes to set the pastry.
Preheat the oven to 200°C (400F). In a small bowl, mix together the egg yolk with a tbsp of water. Brush the top of the pie with the mixture. Sprinkle demerara sugar on top.
Place the pie on the lowest rack of the oven. Bake for about 20 minutes, until the pie begins to brown. Lower the oven to 180°C (350F) and move the pie to the center rack. Bake for about 25 minutes until golden.
Serve warm or at room temperature, et voilà !

Special thanks to the talented Vanessa from LPDV Ceramics for creating the gorgeous romantic coral ceramic hearts we used to dress up the napkins!