Looking for a new side dish to incorporate this year. Already do a corn casserole and brussel sprouts with pancetta and parm on top of the traditional fixings. What do you guys have as a unique/surprise side?
garlic, bread crumbs, sliced stems and butter filling the mushroom caps.
I loved stuffed mushrooms. Great call.
You can do mashed sweet potatoes like Boston Market. Recipes are online. I made that one time and it came out awesome. You basically cook sweet potatoes and then peel off the skins and put them into a large bowl. You add heavy cream and whatever else you'd like like spices. Then for the topping you take butter, oats, brown sugar, and cinnamon and just mash it all in a bowl. It gets very sticky. You just top off the mashed sweet potatoes after they are in a pan with the mashed up topping and bake it. You can add marshmallows too but there is already enough sugar for me.
When going traditional I pretty much load up on that,turkey legs, and mac and cheese when available. Have had the fancy crusted mac and cheese a few times over the years and I love it.
Both are decently sized projects, but hey, it's Thanksgiving!
1. Corn chowder, for lack of a better name for it (not so secret ingredient: bacon!). I make enough to freeze some, so it's a staple for a month or two. Lots of corn, carrots, diced potatoes, did I mention a couple pounds of chopped bacon (I cook that first and drain the grease). Oh, and there's bacon. Might consider re-naming it bacon chowder.
2. Everyone does stuffing, but I make mine based on the recipe of one of my high school buddies' moms - she used sweet sausage, I use hot Italian sausage. I leave out celery (not a fan), but I dice carrots and red peppers (not hot). Use the Stovetop boxed mix as the base, add chicken broth and go. I cook it all first then it's been a tradition that the kids (now 22 and 20 - been doing this for 10 years or more) take a portion of the stuffing and ... stuff it! Gets nice and crispy on the edges - my favorite part.
Scalloped potatoes look killer!
Beezer, we make a corn chowder with bacon and sausage that we can basically thaw and reheat all winter. Such a good go to meal. Also my wife makes a very similar stuffing to the one you describe (she includes diced granny smith apples).
10-12 White Castle® Sliders, no pickles
1 1/2 cups Celery, diced
1 1/4 teaspoons Thyme, ground
1 1/2 teaspoons Sage, ground
3/4 teaspoon Black pepper, coarsely ground
1 or 1/4 cup Chicken broth (See Directions)
Directions
1. In a large mixing bowl, tear the Sliders into pieces and add diced celery and seasonings.
2. Add 1 cup chicken broth, toss well
3. Add ingredients to Casserole Dish and bake at 350 degrees for 35 minutes.
4. Or to stuff the ingredients into the cavity of the turkey, prepare ingredients as noted above, but reduce chicken broth to 1/4 Cup, then cook as you normally would.
5. Makes about 9 cups (enough for a 10-to-12-pound turkey). Note: Allow 1 Slider for each pound of turkey, which will be equal to 3/4 cup of stuffing per pound.
1 cup orange juice
12 ounces fresh cranberries
1 juice orange, pitted and finely chopped (skin and all)
1 tart apple, cored and chopped
12 dried apricots, chopped
1 ¼ cups honey, approximately
½ teaspoon ground cardamom
Preparation
1. Place orange juice, cranberries and chopped orange in a saucepan, bring to a boil and cook over medium heat until berries begin to pop.
2. Add the remaining ingredients and cook about 10 minutes, until thick. Adjust sweetness if desired.
Green bean casserole from scratch with mushroom gravy, totally homemade no condensed soup. Topped with crispy fried onions. Superb.
Corn soufflé - I don’t typically make this but my wife does and it’s always a hit and has been for decades.
Mashed potatoes, butter, and scratch gravy. I make an all day gravy that is lights out the best I’ve ever had, and nothing beats mashed potatoes with a pad of butter topped with little gravy
Brussels sprouts - shallots bacon and butter. The best combo there is. Halved and seared in a cast iron pan finished with a pad of butter it’s the only way to make them. They come out crispy flavorful and delightful
If you're constipated you want some of That White Castle Stuffing
https://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/ina-garten/smashed-sweet-potatoes-recipe-1940513 - ( New Window )
I loved stuffed mushrooms. Great call.
You can do mashed sweet potatoes like Boston Market. Recipes are online. I made that one time and it came out awesome. You basically cook sweet potatoes and then peel off the skins and put them into a large bowl. You add heavy cream and whatever else you'd like like spices. Then for the topping you take butter, oats, brown sugar, and cinnamon and just mash it all in a bowl. It gets very sticky. You just top off the mashed sweet potatoes after they are in a pan with the mashed up topping and bake it. You can add marshmallows too but there is already enough sugar for me.
similar recipe to the one I use. Used to make it for the kids, now I make it for me, lol.
link - ( New Window )
1. Corn chowder, for lack of a better name for it (not so secret ingredient: bacon!). I make enough to freeze some, so it's a staple for a month or two. Lots of corn, carrots, diced potatoes, did I mention a couple pounds of chopped bacon (I cook that first and drain the grease). Oh, and there's bacon. Might consider re-naming it bacon chowder.
2. Everyone does stuffing, but I make mine based on the recipe of one of my high school buddies' moms - she used sweet sausage, I use hot Italian sausage. I leave out celery (not a fan), but I dice carrots and red peppers (not hot). Use the Stovetop boxed mix as the base, add chicken broth and go. I cook it all first then it's been a tradition that the kids (now 22 and 20 - been doing this for 10 years or more) take a portion of the stuffing and ... stuff it! Gets nice and crispy on the edges - my favorite part.
Beezer, we make a corn chowder with bacon and sausage that we can basically thaw and reheat all winter. Such a good go to meal. Also my wife makes a very similar stuffing to the one you describe (she includes diced granny smith apples).
This could make its way on to more than just the Thanksgiving Menu
And copying off the OP, some roasted Brussels with Pancetta with a final drizzle of Balsamic
10-12 White Castle® Sliders, no pickles
1 1/2 cups Celery, diced
1 1/4 teaspoons Thyme, ground
1 1/2 teaspoons Sage, ground
3/4 teaspoon Black pepper, coarsely ground
1 or 1/4 cup Chicken broth (See Directions)
Directions
1. In a large mixing bowl, tear the Sliders into pieces and add diced celery and seasonings.
2. Add 1 cup chicken broth, toss well
3. Add ingredients to Casserole Dish and bake at 350 degrees for 35 minutes.
4. Or to stuff the ingredients into the cavity of the turkey, prepare ingredients as noted above, but reduce chicken broth to 1/4 Cup, then cook as you normally would.
5. Makes about 9 cups (enough for a 10-to-12-pound turkey). Note: Allow 1 Slider for each pound of turkey, which will be equal to 3/4 cup of stuffing per pound.
Ingredients
1 cup orange juice
12 ounces fresh cranberries
1 juice orange, pitted and finely chopped (skin and all)
1 tart apple, cored and chopped
12 dried apricots, chopped
1 ¼ cups honey, approximately
½ teaspoon ground cardamom
Preparation
1. Place orange juice, cranberries and chopped orange in a saucepan, bring to a boil and cook over medium heat until berries begin to pop.
2. Add the remaining ingredients and cook about 10 minutes, until thick. Adjust sweetness if desired.
So I make sure there are 2 different stuffing's each year.
Last time we hosted a fat Thanksgiving, around 20 people, I roasted one turkey, SMOKED another. Fucking phenomenal.
Unfortunately, scaling way back. 8-9 people tops, and the 4 outsiders and Billy have all been tested - awaiting results.
Maybe. What did you say last week?
Corn soufflé - I don’t typically make this but my wife does and it’s always a hit and has been for decades.
Mashed potatoes, butter, and scratch gravy. I make an all day gravy that is lights out the best I’ve ever had, and nothing beats mashed potatoes with a pad of butter topped with little gravy
Brussels sprouts - shallots bacon and butter. The best combo there is. Halved and seared in a cast iron pan finished with a pad of butter it’s the only way to make them. They come out crispy flavorful and delightful