I am thinking about thanksgiving, I will be cooking (at least for our family of 5 & possibly more just not sure yet). I have cooked the thanksgiving meal before, but i want to try some different recipes than what we always do. & i want to have enough time to try them out. Think modern classic thanksgiving. meaning i still want to do turkey, stuffing & mashed potatos but with different flavors, i am thinking rosemary turkey or something like that & i would like some different add ins to give typical sides some great flavor as well as some new sides & desserts too. Maybe even something like a pumpkin soup or something. So what are your great recipes for appetizers, sides & desserts??
My mom makes stewed pears for an appetizer that I love. I believe the recipe came from from the NY Times, either the paper or the cookbook. But just send me a message if you want it. Also parsnips are delicious (slightly sweet) roasted and can be mashed separately or mixed with mashed potatoes.
I make a potato and celery root soup very easy and butternut/acorn sguash soup is good also parsnip soup. Also fun side dish butternut squash crisp/crumble and roasted root veggies. I like to do a different stuffing every year. Dried pears and golden raisins in a classic stuffing is good once I did quince stuffing and a glaze on the turkey. Change up classic pies... pumpkin cheescake with gingersnap crust, apple and cranberry crumble pie, chocolate pecan pie. If you are interested in any of this I can send you the recipes.
I use an ancho chile rub on my turkey and it is fantastic. Anchos are mild, dry chiles that have a deep smoked flavor. Go to this web page if you are interested. It is the very best turkey I've ever had, that's why I keep making it. A tip is to wet brine your bird first, with a lot of salt, some sugar, citrus fruits, chile powder, onions and garlic. Serve up some chile and cheese spiced mashed potatoes and a chile infused edamame succotash (edamame instead of lima beans!)
Bon Appetit!
go to epicurious.com they have all kinds of unusual and yummy recipes. last year my son wanted mac n cheese at thanksgiving and i found a recipe with carmelized shallots and feta that is killer!!
I vertically roast our turkey on the Spanex rack and their Asian Spice rub is wonderful! It comes out juicy and perfect every time. I did a sweet potato banana mash dish a few years ago and everyone loved it.
http://find.myrecipes.com/recipes/recipefinder.dyn?action...
We used Williams Sonoma for Thanksgiving recipes one year and we have a family favorite from here- the Cranberry Chutney is AWESOME!
We have a couple of vegetarians in the family, and we are going to incorporate this recipe into the traditions (it's a crockpot recipe) starting this year:
Mediterranean Vegetable Stew
2 T olive oil
1 chopped red or yellow onion
1 to 2 coarsely chopped yellow, orange or red sweet peppers
2 large garlic cloves, crushed
1 or 2 yellow summer squash or zucchini
1 small eggplant, unpeeled, cut in 1- to 2-inch chunks
1 can Italian diced tomatoes
1 can of quartered artichoke hearts
1 can chickpeas, drained and rinsed
1 tsp dried rosemary
1 T dried parsley
Place all ingredients except olive oil in the crockpot. Drizzle oil over all and mix well (use clean hands or a wooden spoon). Cook on low for 6 to 8 hours or on high for about 4. Serve over couscous.
It's based on this recipe:
http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Mediterranean-Vegetable-Stew..., with some minor changes based on reviewers suggestions.
We tested it out on family several months ago and also on some vegan friends who came to dinner, and it was ooh'ed and aah'ed over.
I am also in the process of coming up with some new exciting dishes for this year's Thanksgiving! I looked through the most recent Taste of Home and found TONS of yummy things. I figure that as it gets closer, magazines will have lots of fun, different, yet classic ideas. I hope you get some good ones! :)
