Mother's Day Menu

Why not prepare a good old-fashioned Mother's Day lunch?  Planning well in advance makes for an enjoyable time for you and your family. Sure, you can go out to a restaurant, but for me, even as a restaurateur, some meals are just better in the warm and familiar surroundings of home. Now I don't mean skimp -- you must pull out the best china and your finest platters and encourage everyone to "dress up," as we say in the South. 

Instead of giving Mom cut flowers, consider a small flat of fresh herbs -- ones she can place in pots or in the ground outside the kitchen back door. If tended with a little care, this is truly a gift that will keep on giving. Each time your dear mother goes to snip a few fragrant herbs she will think about her child's lovely gift.

Now for the menu details.... Prepare as much as possible the day before and figure out a menu that will not leave you breathless. I suggest calling your favorite grocer and ordering your main course. A whole leg of fresh pork is a great dish to feed at least 20 hungry ones. A couple of legs of lamb could be fantastic, or for something a little lighter, I suggest a fresh, naturally raised breast of turkey. I just got off the phone with Whole Foods, and the butcher said that with a couple of weeks' notice, he would be happy to bring in a fresh whole turkey or just the breast. Here's my menu:

Soft-boiled farm egg with watercress sauce (recipe courtesy of my dear friend and fellow chef, Scott Peacock.

Salad of watercress, Bibb and spring lettuces with lemon and sherry vinaigrette

Roast turkey breast with spring vegetable rice pilaf

Spicy horseradish sauce

Strawberries with strawberry sauce, vanilla ice cream, and cookies

Consider some champagne -- maybe even a rosé from a small "grower" champagne house like Margaine or Gaston-Chiquet.

Try a cru Beaujolais for the main course like a Fleurie from Chignard or a Morgon from Thevenet.

The turkey can be purchased on Friday, air-dried (that is, stored uncovered) in the refrigerator, and then rubbed with lots of salt and pepper and herbs and roasted on Sunday morning.

The sweet peas, asparagus, favas, and bulb onions can all be trimmed, peeled, or otherwise readied on Saturday so that on Sunday all you need to do is blanch and then combine with the sautéed onions and toss with the rice.

The horseradish sauce is better if made the day before, so grate lots of fresh horseradish, combine with apple cider vinegar, salt, and pepper, and mix in heavy cream.

For the rice, just simmer a little chicken broth, add the rice, and bring to a boil. Adjust the heat to low, cover and cook about 16 minutes until the broth is absorbed. Meanwhile, soften the bulb onions in some butter. When ready to serve, add the peas, asparagus, and favas to the onions and then toss with the cooked rice and serve along with the roast turkey breast.

The dessert speaks for itself -- purée some strawberries with sugar and lemon, quarter some more berries and toss with a little sugar. Serve with some Haagen-Dazs vanilla ice cream and lemon butter cookies. 

Wish dear ol' Mom a very happy Mother's Day! Here's to you my Mother dear, Marie, smiling down from heaven.