Lamb

(listening to "Ain't Misbehavin" by Fats Waller)
It is difficult for me to choose one favorite food, but lamb comes to mind when I ponder the question. It tastes good, it brings up happy memories, and it is a relatively forgiving meat to cook.

Turkey is okay, but I chose lamb as my traditional Thanksgiving main dish in 1995 when I spent my first T-day in San Diego with my brother Bryan. Living with him was a formative culinary experience; we both love food. His then-wife would occasionally whine about our flying in the face of tradition. She liked bland, non-threatening food like cereal. Anyway, Bryan and I enjoyed ourselves in the kitchen. Thanksgiving was obviously even more enjoyable when he and I both managed to get the day off from work. We would start cooking and drinking and nibbling early on.

A bottle of Beaujolais Nouveau was typically open by 10 a.m., and a glass of it accompanied my mirepoix preparation for the sauce. The meal typically occurred mid- to late afternoon.
("Furnace Room Lullaby," Neko Case and her Boyfriends)

Leg of Lamb with Rosemary Prune Sauce

I use my Lodge five-quart dutch oven for this sauce. I usually ended up with more than enough sauce (even when people put some of it on the garlic mashed potatoes), but it forms a good foundation for lamb stew later.

Sweat in olive oil (or in bacon fat if you're feeling naughty):
A couple of carrots, roughly chopped
A couple of ribs of celery, " "
An onion, " "
8 or 10 cloves of garlic, bashed on the cutting board but not necessarily chopped
Add:
A few glassfuls of acceptable dry white wine
A big handful of prunes (they don't have to be pitted)
six rosemary branches - roll them on the cutting board with your hands to bruise them and get the aromatic oils going
A generous spoonful of Better than Bouillon, beef flavor (bouillon cubes are a bit harsh and salty)
Freshly ground black pepper
Coarse Kosher salt

Keep this at a very, very low simmer. Stir it occasionally. Keep drinking wine, or it will explode. Make your other dishes. Eat some interesting cheeses and hors d'oeuvres, and perhaps drink a nice Belgian lambic. Taste the sauce regularly and add more wine to keep it liquid.

Get yourself a nice leg of lamb. Bone-in is good because it has been minimally handled. Salt and pepper it, and stick a meat thermometer in it. Roast it in a 350 degree oven until it reaches 160 or so for medium rare. This will probably be a couple of hours. Use a roasting pan and pour the drippings into the prune sauce every so often.

By the time I put the lamb in the oven, my sauce has been simmering for several hours. I like to spend time in the kitchen. Remove all the solids with a strainer. Discard them. Reduce the resultant liquid a bit if there's still a lot, and adjust the seasonings. Add a bit of brandy if you like, but watch your eyebrows. I've never made it exactly the same twice. I used to thicken it with cornstarch, but I have come to prefer the results of roux.

Put some of this sauce on a slice of the lamb and on the garlic mashed potatoes (I usually make those on T-day). Asparagus is nice on the side, or perhaps a salad of mixed greens with balsamic vinaigrette, gorgonzola, strawberries, walnuts and avocado. Pinot Noir goes very nicely (Sanford, Acacia, Santa Barbara Winery, Saintsbury, Mondavi, Gary Farrell, et al), but a good Chateauneuf-du-Pape is awesome, too (Les Closiers and Chateau de la Gardine are the only ones I can remember at the moment). A good merlot or cab will not disappoint, either. Fresh bread is a must. If you're lucky enough to be at the table, you will then eat my brother's pumpkin cheesecake or lemon tart or some other evil treat. With hot, strong coffee and a good cordial or port. Perhaps a cigar and a good single malt Scotch (16 year-old Lagavulin or 12 year-old Glenfarclas). A fuzzy, fat-dumb-and-happy state is normal. The house is an absolute mess, but no one cares by this point.