Thanksgiving treats
Boca Raton chef Browne puts some flavorful heat in the Thanksgiving eats
Turkey Day goes Tex- Mex. And for dessert: Pumpkin flan.
Growing up in the small town of Waxahachie, Texas, Scott Browne remembers Thanksgiving preparation started months in advance.
His grandmother, Sandra Browne, would pit Browne and his cousins against each other in a race to see who would be the first to fill their bucket with pecans that had fallen fromthe tree in her front yard. Nightswere spent in front of the TV — cracking, bagging and freezing the nuts slated for pies and stuffing. He realizes now that it was great busy work for the grandkids.
Many times Browne traveled back to Texas.
But with his demanding schedule as general manager and executive chef at Uncle Julio’s Fine Mexican Food in Boca Raton, Browne now stays put. For the past few years, he’s spent Thanksgiving Day with his staff or — as he calls them, his “restaurant family” — playing soccer or football at a neighborhood park before enjoying a potluck dinner and a holidaymovie.
But his childhood Thanksgivings in Waxahachie hold many fond memories.
He grew up in a family of hunters, so itwasn’t uncommon for Browne, his cousins, uncles and father, Scott, Sr., to provide the turkey for the Thanksgiving table. Next to the holiday centerpiece, there might have been a glazed duck, a bacon- wrapped, jalapeno- stuffed grilled dove or even a hearty tomatobased deer stew. They were all part of the local game.
One of his fondest memories is peeling potatoes, knowing whatwas to come of them made the task more pleasurable and less work. “I guess it’s all the fresh butter and milk that made my grandma’s mashed potatoes one of my favorite Thanksgiving dishes,” he says.
This year on Thanksgiving Day, he’ll end up on speaker phone cooking and talking to his mother, Maria Rosa Lopez, and asking for grandma’s guidance while their dishes.
Although Browne’s Texas family won’t be present, his dining room table will reflect his roots with treasuredfamily recipes enhanced by his own culinary flair. Browne and his newly engaged fiancee, AdriaMcKinney, will host their first Thanksgiving dinner together establishing the next generation of family traditions.
Their Tex- Mex spread will have all the essential holiday components, but with a slight twist. You don’t grow up in Texas and then work for a decade as a chef in aMexican restaurant without adding some heat to your Turkey Day meal.
Authentic Mexican ingredients put a modern spin on the typical scripted menu, adding elements of surprise with flavorful results. A nice change signifying the couple’s delicious, adventurous beginning together.
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