Rule Britannia

Jenni Messina, the Anglo-Indian owner of Dallas’ Jennivine’s Restaurant and Culinary Center, has made her business a success by recharging her native English cookery with Southwestern flavors and produce. In his buffet for twelve, Messina’s warm English salad is dressed with a British standby—Stilton cheese—but bits of juicy jicama and sorrel add Tex-Mex animation. At the center of her holiday menu is roast tenderloin of beef, smothered with a fresh-cayenne-pepper sauce. Following this are deep-dish tributes to autumn: braised red cabbage and sugar snap peas. Dessert is a sumptuous bread pudding, studded with raisins and drizzled with spoonfuls of bourbon-zapped crème anglaise.