| A crock of this cheese served with knackebrod, French bread, or rye is the perfect nibble with a micro-brewed beer, a warm glass of Julgogg or a Missouri or Michigan claret. A wonderful gift from your kitchen, as well. The winter salad dressing uses bottled Maggi seasoning, a condiment with German origins.
As a side dish or brunch dish, Cornhusker's Casserole is a savory yet mellow quiche that features both corn and hominy. Early prairie gardens featured vegetables with good keeping qualities like sweet potatoes and pumpkins and crops that could be grown in cooler spring and fall weather, like Swiss chard. Apple-smoked bacon from Wisconsin can provide a truly regional flavor to the bundles.
Game birds like wild turkey, quail, or pheasant were traditional Thanksgiving fare on the prairie. Moist and tender guinea fowl, the "watch chickens" of the Midwestern farmyard, might persuade you to forgo turkey this holiday.
Native persimmons ripen throughout the prairie in early fall, their orange flesh becoming mellow and more readily available. This light "nouveau prairie" version of pot pie is the perfect end to a Thanksgiving meal in which we're all tempted to over-indulge. The Vanilla Bean Syrup and the Pastry Cream can be made up to three days in advance and stored in the refrigerator.
Photo: Kansas City Star |
