Giving Thanks.

The Thanksgiving lovelies have come and gone, leaving a smile in the corners of one's mouth and a pleasant feeling in the tummy.

Popular culture often makes gathering with The Family around the Thanksgiving dinnertable out to be a fate worse than death, complete with insults, inane arguments, pettiness, lack of charity, frustration, exhaustion and stress.

Yet it seems to me that just as often there are families that actually enjoy hanging out together, throwing together a big meal and, well, giving thanks.

We, the Pepper family, joined my brother (Mr. T) and his family for an extended Thanksgiving fest. We usually end up with a crowd of about sixteen, including assorted little ones, but everyone chips in a dish here and there and, before you know it, the meal is assembled.

In addition to all the traditional fare, my sister-in-law's sister (Auntie Dac) always contributes a fabulous baked salmon in a Dijon sauce. She makes it in a Saladmaster electric skillet and claims it's a snap:

Fish + Dijon mustard + honey + finely chopped jalapeno peppers + salt + pepper.

Right in the pan it goes and twenty minutes later you can dig in.

And, oh, she usually throws a few thin slices of lemon on top as well.

It's amazing how frequently a strong and rustic flavor such as Dijon mustard is coupled with fish, especially salmon and kingfish. Of course, salmon dishes often gravitate toward strong flavors because the flavor of the fish itself is quite robust.

You know how sometimes the recipe on the box turns out to be wonderful?

I once bought one of those smoking bags with real wood chips at Trader Joe's. There was a recipe on the box for smoked salmon. You made diagonal slices in the salmon about one inch apart, first in one direction, then in the other. Then you filled the openings with bleu cheese and sprinkled the whole fish with lemon pepper. Then you smoked it.

And, let me tell you, that fish was indeed smokin'! YUM!

Dijon mustards are made with black or brown seeds---surprisingly, most of these seeds are grown in Canada (they are even shipped to Dijon, France, for mustard making). While the French mustard, named after the town of Dijon, is most famous, there are many domestic varieties as well.

The herbed Dijon mustard with Chardonnay pictured here was the Gold Medal Winner at the 2002 Napa Valley Mustard Festival.

*** You can make your own flavored wood chips for smoking and your own smokebox. Chef Paul of Forewinds Hospitality tells you how.