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Episode 58

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Published on:

28th Oct 2024

WELCOME TO OUR KITCHEN: We're talking about beverages for the holidays!

A lot of people have pretty set menus when it comes to Thanksgiving and the winter holidays ahead. But what do you serve to drink?

A long-standing question! And we've got some answers. We're Bruce Weinstein & Mark Scarbrough, authors of three dozen (and counting!) cookbooks. We've developed and published tens of thousands of recipes in our career--which started out with gigs at WINE SPECTATOR. We've got lots of ideas about what to serve with your holiday meal.

Thanks for joining us. Here are the segments for this episode of COOKING WITH BRUCE & MARK:

[00:57] Our one-minute cooking tip: Start planning now for what you want to serve. Watch for sales now and catch things you can freeze while those things are cheap.

[03:42] Our guide for what to drink at Thanksgiving. We know the standard wine answer: Pinot Noir. But there's so much more. Even mocktails.

[13:35] What’s making us happy in food this week? Chocolate almond horns (look for them on Instagram reels or our TikTok channel) and new, small ice cream stores!

Transcript
Bruce:

Hey, I'm Bruce Weinstein, and this is the podcast

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Cooking with Bruce and Mark.

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Mark: And I'm Mark Scarborough.

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And together with Bruce, my husband,

we've written lots of cookbooks,

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we've published tons of recipes.

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Oh, God, 12, 000, 13, 000 copywritten

recipes, something like that.

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And of course, this is our food

and cooking podcast, and we are

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delighted that you're a part of it.

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on this journey with us.

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As is typical, we've got

a one minute cooking tip.

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We're all about holiday meals.

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So our one minute cooking tip is going

to be about prepping for a holiday meal.

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We're gonna talk about, uh, first

thing about holiday meals, at least in

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my opinion, that is what you serve to

drink with that Thanksgiving dinner.

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So we're talking to the U.

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S.

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audience where Thanksgiving

is coming up in Canada.

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You can roast a turkey and take our

drink, uh, recommendations as they come.

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And then we'll tell you what's

making us happy in food this week.

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So let's get started.

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Bruce: Our one minute cooking tip.

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It is never too early.

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early to start planning

holiday meal menus.

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Mark: Oh God, it makes me so nervous.

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Okay, here's the thing.

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Just saying that.

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Bruce: But you may need to order something

special from your butcher department.

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It might take them a

week or two to get it.

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It's true.

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Or like us, this Thanksgiving,

we're not doing turkey.

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We're doing prime rib.

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So what I'm doing Prime rib

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Mark: and salmon.

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Bruce: And salmon.

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And I am watching the store specials.

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We've talked about this before

too on Cooking With Bruce DeMarc.

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I watch the flyers and the store

specials because sometime between now

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and Thanksgiving, Rib roasts are going

to go on sale, and if I wait to the last

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minute, they'll be really expensive.

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And if I could save 20 or 30 bucks

on a roast, I'm going to do it.

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Mark: Right.

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Yeah, exactly.

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I, I think that the reason I shudder

when Bruce said this is because there

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used to be this old thing, Ah, God,

from Martha Stewart, about, about

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rehearsing your your Thanksgiving

dinner and people would actually back

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in the day and this is Particularly

s early:

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They would do planning rehearsal

dinner So they would cook to the

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entire dinner before Thanksgiving day

to rehearse it and and I I'm telling

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you, that made me so insane that I just

thought, I'm going to a restaurant.

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I am not making a meal

that I have to rehearse.

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There is just no way.

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So you should know that a Thanksgiving

is easier than you think it is.

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We'll talk about this on down

the road, but you can throw a

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frozen turkey in an oven and come

out with Thanksgiving dinner.

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So it's easier than you think it is.

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And as Bruce says, start

watching the sales now, get that.

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Turkey in the freezer get if you're going

to do a roast beef or a pork tenderloin

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or a pork loin or whatever You're going

to serve a rack of pork We've certainly

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served racked of porks at both of our

families houses for the holidays Whatever

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you're going to do make sure that you

start now One stuck up on pumpkin and

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stuck up on things when it's on sale.

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You're gonna need in the summer

Sales in the weeks ahead so that

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Thanksgiving doesn't break the bank.

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Bruce: And also one other point.

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Remember to ask who's ever coming to

your house for Thanksgiving if they

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have any food allergies or intolerances

or even things they don't like because

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there's nothing worse than putting out

a big holiday spread that you worked

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all day on to find that a couple of

your guests can't eat anything you made.

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Mark: Right.

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That's part of pre planning.

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Okay.

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Before we get to the next segment

of this podcast, let us say

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that we have a Facebook group

cooking with Bruce and Mark.

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You can join that group and join the

conversation with us at any time.

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And we'd love to know what's

going to be on your holiday table.

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We'll talk more about that there.

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But now as we're heading into

the holidays here in the U S

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let's talk about what to serve.

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on Thanksgiving to drink.

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Bruce: Since we're ramping up

for Thanksgiving, Mark says we're

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going to talk about what to drink.

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Absolutely.

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Turkey is notoriously

hard to pair with wine.

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It is like asparagus.

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It's just one of those foods that

Doesn't really go with anything, but

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that's not why we're serving prime rib.

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Mark: Well, no, we're not.

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Bruce: We just love prime rib and we

will be splurging on a ridge geyserville

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for my family who's coming for the

first ever Thanksgiving in our house.

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Mark: Yeah.

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Okay.

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All the above.

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No, we're not not having turkey

because of wine problems.

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It's ridiculous.

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I don't actually believe

that turkey is hard to pair.

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I think that that's a myth that

has been perpetuated by food

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writers because I think there's

a lot of things you can drink.

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Of course, the standard answer is Pinot

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Bruce: Noir.

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And

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Mark: people always turn to Pinot Noir.

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And that's because it's light.

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And that's because it's a red wine

with a bit of substance to it.

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But it's still light.

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It's not going for a cab Sauvignon.

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It's not going for a Merlot.

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It's not going for a big Bordeaux wine.

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It's going for a lighter taste,

but you should know that Pinot

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Noirs are a bit expensive.

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They've become very popular.

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It used to be kind of a not popular

wine in the United States, in Canada

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too, but they've gotten expensive.

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So you should think about other

wines as well, like Gamay's.

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There's a G A M A wine.

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There's a great Pinot Noir.

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Red wine that you could serve with turkey.

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Bruce: I mean, often you'll find

it served as a Beaujolais Nouveau.

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And I find those a little too light

and a little too watery, but you can

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go to your wine store and look for a

100 percent Gamay based Cru Beaujolais.

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It'll be a few more dollars,

but it's going to be a wine

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that has a little more body.

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It'll go beautifully with the

turkey because it is high in acid

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to cut through the fat of the meal.

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Yeah.

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But low in tannins is

still soft going down.

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Mark: So just as a general rule,

if you just want to think this out

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and you want a lighter red, let me

encourage you to stay away from,

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uh, uh, Spain and France and Italy.

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Just in terms of when you walk.

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inside a liquor store and head to a

couple other places, head to Greece and

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look at what kind of Greek red wines

are available, ask the staff for help.

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And also, and this is easier to do north

of our border, but head for the Canadian

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wines, particularly the wines from the

Okanagan Valley out in British Columbia.

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Head for those wines and they're a lighter

choice to make for that Thanksgiving

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turkey if you're intent on red.

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But remember.

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The sun does not set and rise,

or rise and set, on red wine.

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Um, Bruce and I are grand fans,

as you probably know from this

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podcast, of effervescent wines,

of sparkling wines, of bubbles.

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We love champagne, and

champagne is our first choice.

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And it is a great choice with turkey.

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Bruce: We used to think that champagne

was just for celebrations, and yes, the

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holiday is a celebration, but we mean,

you know, toasting before dinner, or like,

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but now, we love to drink it with a meal.

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Of course.

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Because it seems So obvious.

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But we were writing for Wine Spectator

years ago, and we did an article

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that included a stop in champagne.

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And we were tasting all these champagnes.

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We were in this restaurant.

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We were handed the champagne menu, which

was, oh, I don't know, 12, 14 pages long.

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And we both looked at each

other like, wait a second.

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Champagne is wine, and it seems so

obvious, but it is, and you get the subtle

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differences from every champagne maker.

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And a lot of

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Mark: champagne is made from Pinot Noir,

so there's your Pinot Noir connection.

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Not all, but a lot.

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We would encourage you to skip, in

your wine choice, the Chardonnays.

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They're just too big and heavy.

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Instead, think about lighter and more

floral white wines like Viogniers.

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Oh, gosh, yes.

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Um, we tend to love The True Shard

Vineyards Roussan, R O U S S A N E,

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something like that, or R O U S S A N N E.

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Something like that.

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Something like that.

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The Roussan from True Shard

Vineyards is a delicious, light,

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floral, honeyed white wine.

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Bruce: So good with turkey.

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Mark: It's so good with turkey.

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We even think that dry

Rieslings are a great choice.

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Bruce: I know, you're going to have

people at your table that are going to

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think blue nun, sugary filled bottle.

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Mark: Uh, and all that, those

really, really sweet wines.

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We're talking

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Bruce: about dry Rieslings and you

want them because they will have a lot

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of minerality and a lot of acidity.

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And we were up in the Finger Lakes,

uh, last year visiting a friend of

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ours and we went to one specific winery

because I wanted to try a Petnat.

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Now Petnat is a sparkling

wine, a naturally fermented

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Mark: wine.

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Bruce: It's something Marc and I have

talked about many times on the podcast.

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And so we went into this.

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We sat down at the table.

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She brought us over the pet net,

which wasn't on their regular

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tasting menu, and it was disgusting.

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None of us liked it.

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It tasted like

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Mark: bad grapefruit juice.

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It tasted like carbonated

grapefruit juice.

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It was really awful.

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It was disgusting, but we

should say that the Finger Lake

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region of New York is Rieslings.

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Bruce: So we tried theirs.

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And we bought a case

because it was so good.

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Mark: So if you're heading into the

liquor store and you're thinking about

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Riesling, think about, for example,

the New York Finger Lake region.

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Think about not so much German

Rieslings, but Austrian Rieslings.

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Think about ways that the other places,

besides kind of the cliched Riesling,

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there's a lot of great Rieslings going on.

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currently being made in Oregon, in the

US, you kind of head for those regions.

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Um, and again, I would say for white

wines, head to Greece one more time.

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I say for white wines to go into

your liquor store and head for

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Greece and see what they have.

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Ask the help there.

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They are always knowledgeable and you

know, listen, they don't, they don't.

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underwriters, and they

have nothing to do with us.

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But for our money, shout out to Total

Wine, the giant chain across the U.

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S., because the staff in Total

Wine are super knowledgeable

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about their ginormous selections.

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Bruce: And let me say about one

third category of drinks that

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you should consider serving at

your Thanksgiving table, whether

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you're making turkey or prime rib

or fish, and that is hard ciders.

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Because hard ciders are

something that Mark and I are

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becoming very familiar with.

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We went on a big cider tasting

quest all through Quebec.

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The ciders there are a national

drink, they're a national treasure.

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They are dry, they are

interesting, they're complex.

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We had one that was made with sea salt

and one that was made with quince.

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And if you can find a dry,

dry cider, try serving that.

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That

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Mark: one made with sea salt.

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sea salt with sea salt and kelp.

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And it was a it was a cider, a

hard cider, an alcoholized apple

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cider with sea salt and kelp in it.

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And it we had it for we brought our

own bottle to a really nice restaurant.

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And it It was so fantastic.

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Even the staff had to taste our

bottle of sea salt and kelp cider.

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Fortunately, we had a second bottle.

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So, uh, cider is a great choice.

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And also let me say on our way out here

that please don't forget the mocktails.

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There are a lot of people, including

yours truly, who don't drink much anymore.

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I might drink occasionally and I'll

certainly drink at Thanksgiving,

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but I don't drink very much anymore.

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And, um, mocktails are

Always appreciate it.

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Bruce: So let me tell you how to make my

favorite, a non alcoholic Moscow Mule.

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Now Moscow Mule is normally

vodka and ginger beer.

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So the way I do it is I make

a simple syrup which is equal

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parts sugar and water by volume.

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Mark: By volume.

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So in other words, for

US residents, a cup.

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Or if you don't live in the US and you

work in metric, just pull a glass out of

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your cabinet and fill it with sugar and

then fill that same glass with water.

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Bruce: And bring that to a boil

with a fresh rosemary sprig.

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Let it boil for about 10 seconds.

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Turn it off and let it cool.

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Then use two tablespoons of that syrup

with one tablespoon of fresh lime juice.

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Mix that in the glass at ice and

top with non alcoholic ginger beer.

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That is An amazing mocktail.

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And

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Mark: very refreshing, very open.

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We love this stuff, these mocktails.

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Uh, I like a lot of the

new non alcoholic liquors.

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Not all of them do I like, but some

of the ones that don't try to be.

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Like, I tend not to like non alcoholic

bourbon, but I like the ones that

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are just their own craft creation

of, you know, rhubarb and gentian.

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Mm hmm.

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various flavors, and they're not actually

trying to mimic any distilled spirit.

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And I tend to like those a lot.

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I mix them with tonic.

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It's a non alcoholic alternative.

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Yeah, exactly.

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And I think that that's a really

important thing at Thanksgiving is

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to have something to drink for people

like me who don't drink every day

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and don't want to drink every day.

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I know I grew up in the South

and there was always iced tea.

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I mean, Thanksgiving was the best.

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with the giant icy glasses on the table.

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The only time my mother ever used

her crystal iced tea glasses.

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But, you know, there are, there are

drinks beyond iced tea, let's say.

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Bruce: Yeah, we always had

cream soda and ginger ale.

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Mark: Oh, wow.

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Bruce: Okay.

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We had beverages by Hoffman's.

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Mark: Oh, wow.

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Okay, no.

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Um, No.

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So, uh, before we get to the

last part of this podcast, let

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me say that we have a newsletter.

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Uh, it comes out about

once or twice a month.

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You can unsubscribe at any time.

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I will not capture and cannot

sell your name or your email.

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You can find a way to sign up for that

on our website, cookingwithbruceandmark.

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com or just bruceandmark.

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com.

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You scroll down the page.

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It says, subscribe to our newsletter.

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newsletter.

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You fill that in the service

provider MailChimp then captures

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it, but doesn't show it to me.

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And also then they cannot capture it.

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I've set it up so they cannot hold

your email and they cannot sell

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you as part of a mailing list.

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So there you go.

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Try that at our newsletter and we'll

continue with what's traditional.

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What's making us happy in food this week.

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Bruce: Chocolate almond horns.

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Mark made these amazing almond paste

based chocolate cookies for me.

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We actually made a video of them,

which is on our TikTok channel.

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You can go check it out.

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And also go to our website, bruceandmark.

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com, and you actually see the

recipe and a picture of it there.

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They are dairy free.

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They're delicious.

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And it overcame

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Mark: my fear of the pastry bag.

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It was

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Bruce: so much fun to watch

Mark use the pastry bag.

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And he did it great.

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I'm terrified of pastry bags.

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You did it beautifully.

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I'm the writer and I

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Mark: do not, I do not pretend to

be able to operate a pastry bag.

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Tomorrow I'm making

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Bruce: him do black and white cookies.

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Oh

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Mark: no.

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I feel doomed as the writer.

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These things are too hard for me.

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I'd rather just do an old chocolate

chip cookie and be done with it.

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Okay, so, What's making me happy

in food this week is a new ice

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cream store, at least new to me.

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It's Tall Meadow Farms, and it's

near my house, and I'm telling you

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this not because I think you should

drive to New England and go to Tall

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Meadow Farms, although you can.

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It's near my house, and that's lovely.

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But um, I, what I'm saying this for

is to say to you that there are new

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small ice cream places all around you.

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This is one of the things that

entrepreneurial 20 and 30 year olds

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are very interested in opening.

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They're happening, they're

happening all around you, and

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you should stop in and help them.

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And there's another big ice cream store

that's open north of us in Massachusetts.

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Uh, you know, it's nice to stop in

and give them a little business.

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And besides, you can find

some ice cream that you like.

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And I'll have to say, Tall Meadow Farms

blew me away with their salt caramels.

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So look around you as you drive to work.

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There's an ice cream store around.

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You treat yourself to an ice cream

store and help a 20 year old out

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with their new business venture where

they're trying to make decent ice cream,

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uh, and make a business out of it.

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Okay.

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That's the podcast for this week.

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Thanks for joining in and being

a part of our food journey.

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We certainly appreciate your being with us

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Bruce: every week.

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We tell you what's making us happy

in food, so please tell us what's

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making you happy in food this week.

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I will pose that question every

week on our Facebook group,

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cooking with Bruce and Mark.

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So check it out, see what other people

are eating and let us all know what's

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making you happy in food this week

here on cooking with Bruce and Mark.

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About the Podcast

Cooking with Bruce and Mark
Fantastic recipes, culinary science, a little judgment, hysterical banter, love and laughs--you know, life.
Join us, Bruce Weinstein and Mark Scarbrough, for weekly episodes all about food, cooking, recipes, and maybe a little marital strife on air. After writing thirty-six cookbooks, we've got countless opinions and ideas on ingredients, recipes, the nature of the cookbook-writing business, and much more. If you've got a passion for food, we also hope to up your game once and a while and to make you laugh most of the time. Come along for the ride! There's plenty of room!

About your host

Profile picture for Mark Scarbrough

Mark Scarbrough

Former lit professor, current cookbook writer, creator of two podcasts, writer of thirty-five (and counting) cookbooks, author of one memoir (coming soon!), married to a chef (my cookbook co-writer, Bruce Weinstein), and with him, the owner of two collies, all in a very rural spot in New England. My life's full and I'm up for more challenges!