 November means Thanksgiving to a lot of us, and Thanksgiving means turkey, cranberry sauce, sweet potatoes, rich desserts, and warm nights spent with family and friends. (But no marshmallows, says this month’s chef. There’s much more that can be done with a sweet potato.)If you’re looking for something a little different this season, a more intimate celebration with a spicier turkey and, for that matter, spiced up sweet potatoes, check out this dinner for two, compliments of Jonathon Strand, the chef at Rutherford’s Premier Events and Catering. Rutherford’s was originally known for its barbecue when it started in the 1980s, says owner Jan Blevins. Now it caters every kind of event, from barbecue to formal, ethnic and themed meals, to casual events. Strand’s been with Rutherford’s for just over a year. Once a glass-blower in Portland, Oregon, he started as a prep cook in an assisted living facility and moved up quickly to sous chef, then worked at Bon Appetit in Portland. When he moved back to Nevada he worked as the ex-ecutive chef for Barone and Reed Food Company before he arrived at Rutherford’s. Strand created this holiday meal for NevadaHome. It includes a spicy turkey breast with a glorious cranberry sauce that starts with fresh cranberries and proceeds to get them sauced, mashed sweet potatoes with toasted walnuts, and red chard with pearl onions.
“To me, cooking is a spiritual experience,” says Strand, who moves around his kitchen with an obvious love of what he’s doing. “It brings people together with the intention that joy will be felt, good conversation will be had, and spirit and body will be rejuvenated and sustained. So think happy thoughts while you cook.” While thinking happy thoughts and cooking up a storm of not-quite traditional holiday fare, you might want to dress up your table as well. The turkey can be beautifully served on the cedar plank it roasted on, and the sweet potatoes can be served in an elegant tureen, a bowl placed inside a wicker basket or a hollowed-out pumpkin. Leaves are plentiful in the Truckee Meadows and can dress up a centerpiece. Or pick up silk grape vines in fall colors to wind around fat gold and brown candles. Pomegranates, gourds and small pumpkins gathered in the center say Thanksgiving, as does a cornucopia with fat green and red grapes spilling out of it. Best of all, you'll have all the smells of turkey and sweet potatoes and cranberry sauce filling the house. Bon Appetit!
 The Recipes Turkey Breast on
a Cedar Plank Allow approximately 45 to 60
minutes. Preheat oven to 400.
1 teaspoon fennel
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1 teaspoon black pepper
3 teaspoons brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon ground garlic
Crushed red pepper or chilies
Extra virgin olive oil
Boneless turkey breast with skin on Directions Oil the cedar plank with olive oil. (The turkey can be roasted in a pan, but the smell and taste of a cedar plank is nutty, warm and wonderful.)
Grind the fennel, salt, pepper, and brown sugar in a coffee grinder or with a mortar and pestle until it’s a fine dust.
Place the turkey breast, skin side up, on the plank. Drizzle olive oil over the turkey then dust liberally with the spices. You might want to add a little more brown sugar on top because, as Jonathon Strand says, “Who doesn’t like brown sugar?” Sprinkle with crushed red pepper or chilies and add more olive oil over this if you like.
Cook the turkey in the 400-degree oven until a meat thermometer reads 160. Remove from oven and let sit another few minutes. Sweet Potato Mash Takes approximately
20 minutes.
3 yams
1/4 cup heavy cream
4 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons salt
Pinch of cinnamon
Pinch of nutmeg
1/2 cup toasted walnuts
1 ounce Southern Comfort bourbon liqueur (optional) Directions Chop roughly and boil the chopped yams until fork tender (You can add an extra 1 ounce of Southern Comfort to the liquid while heating, if desired.) Drain the sweet potatoes.
Heat the cream, butter, salt, Southern Comfort and spices over medium heat (not boiling, just warm). Whip liquid ingredients once the butter has melted. Add to the sweet potatoes and whip until mixed, preferably in a standing mixer. Chunks of potato should be no more than 1/4 inch. Sprinkle servings with toasted walnuts.
Cranberry Sauce
1/2 cup Chambord raspberry liqueur
3 to 4 tablespoons whole cranberries Directions In a sauté pan over high heat, carefully pour the Chambord and add the cranberries. Catch the Chambord on fire. (If it won't light, a tablespoon of vodka should do the trick, and the alcohol in the vodka will burn off.) Keep moving the pan over the heat until liquid reduces to 1/8 the original volume. You’ll have a gorgeous, jewel-like, bubbling cranberry syrup with whole cranberries. Keep warm until ready to serve. Pan-seared Red Chard Takes approximately
10 minutes.
Olive oil to coat the pan
Salt to taste
White pepper to taste
1/8 cup chicken stock
Handful of red chard
Pearl onions Directions Coat a sauté pan in olive oil. Quarter the pearl onions, sauté lightly and add the greens. Toss over medium heat for approximately 3 minutes; then add the chicken stock and simmer until al dente.
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