Most of the year they toil over hot stoves, preparing barbecued ribs worth a drive across the county, buttery pastries, tangy ceviche, thick slabs of pork or other favorite dishes. But next Thursday, it’s time for Lake County’s chefs and restaurateurs to sit down and eat.
Now, you might expect culinary professionals to demand exotic meals on the one holiday dedicated to food. They might call for pheasant in place of the lowly turkey, for example. Or perhaps they reach for little known regional delicacies — a St. Louis gooey butter cake, for example — instead of pedestrian pumpkin pie.
For the most part, however, Lake County chefs celebrate just like the rest of us: turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes from age old family recipes.
“The way mom and grandmother cook makes everything taste better,” explained Roy Iversen, chef at O’Meara Bros. Brewing Company in Lakeport. “No matter how well you follow the recipe, it never turns out the same.”
Maybe the childhood memories win out over taste acquired through experience. Julie Hoskins, manager at Chic Le Chef in Hidden Valley Lake heads straight for the stuffing, preferably the bit that absorbed all the drippings.
Oh, man — if I get it before the other guests, I’m in heaven,” she said.
Robert Cabreros, chef and instructor for the Yuba College culinary arts program in Clearlake, agrees. He prepares stuffing from cornbread, with chicken stock and family secrets.
“It’s really just leftovers — stale bread,” he pointed out, speaking of the origins of the side dish. “But there’s something comforting about that.”
For Thanksgiving Cabreros expects to work as he recreates the full Julia Child turkey preparation. But, he added, “stuffing is my favorite.”
Hoskins plans to brine and bake a turkey, prepare mashed potatoes from scratch and finish with a unique dessert of roasted bananas and sweet potatoes, pureed and topped with a streusel. But the highlight is always the same, stuffing spooned from inside the bird.
“I know it’s so bad for you,” she said, “but it’s so good.”
For Carl White of Danny’s Roadside Kitchen in Lower Lake, the turkey and stuffing is fine. But he waits all year for giblet gravy.
“It’s an old, old family recipe,” he explained. “It takes about 30 hours to make.”
The gravy draws its flavor from a slowly cooked carcass, hours of reduction, careful cooking of the giblets and seasoning that allows flavors to concentrate. He even enjoys it the next day, after it thickens into what amounts to a spread for leftover sandwiches.
“Sweet potatoes, turkey — you can have that all year,” White observed. “But giblet gravy you only make once a year.”
Iversen, the chef at O’Meara Bros., also sets his sights on the sides.
“Turkey is always good,” he noted, “but my grandmother had this recipe for baked corn …”
It is a simple affair, just creamed corn, an egg or two, bread crumbs and spices baked in the oven. After some time, it develops a crispy crust over the rich filling.
“That’s Thanksgiving for me,” Iversen said.
Still, there are chefs who twist tradition just a bit — or obliterate it completely.
John Arslanian of Lucerne’s Fresh & Bangin’ Eatery jokes about turducken, but his holiday favorite does involve two different meats. For the past 15 years his mother has prepared a roulade of turkey and pork stuffed with — you guessed it — stuffing.
“I like getting all the layers in one bite,” Arslanian said. And he offered a solution for combining two dry meats in one dish.
“If you wrap it in bacon you don’t have to baste,” he concluded.
But Merrilee Cahill of Mutt & Jess in Cobb will happily scoot turkey, gravy, stuffing and mashed potatoes to the side.
“I like all of those,” she said. “But I fill up on artichoke-jalapeno dip and save room for dessert. That’s the important thing.”
