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#1209 - Jerry's Italian Thanksgiving

November 19, 2013 - Radio Kitchen - Jerry's Italian Thanksgiving

We've got Thanksgiving coming up, and it's mandatory for a food show like this to give you some tips.  And so we will.  Chef Jerry Pellegrino of Waterfront Kitchen is simply not a big fan of turkey, so what does he end up doing in late November every year?

What he does, quite often, is to recall the Thanksgiving Dinners he had as a kid in New York.  The extended family would get together and sit down as early as 11am and go all day.  The first course would be the cold antipasto plates:   slices of cured meats and salamis, garlicky bread and savory dips, and caprese salads.  The next course would be the hot antipasto:  warm foccacia,  crostini with savory spreads,  warm pancetta salad, and roasted eggplant slices and roasted peppers.

The ladies would then bring out a wonderful soup such as Acquacotta or Ribolito.  This would precede the main course of small roasted birds, such as a game hen.  Finally, the vin santo would be brought out along with a great assortment of Italian pastries.  After dusting the crumbs from their chins, the gentlemen would retire to play cards and the women would tend to tidying the kitchen.  By then it would be after 6pm, and they would have been feasting for over 7 hours.