DETROIT – Whether you’re cooking up your first Thanksgiving celebration or continuing a family tradition of 50+ years, it’s not a bad thing to look around for new dishes, new flavors, and new ways to spruce up your holiday feast. We’ll leave the big bird preps to you, but rounded up some delicious side dishes.
Local 4 -- working with the Mirepoix Cooking School -- is running through a few recipes that might give your family and friends something to ooh and aah over this year.
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Here’s a look at the recipes Chef Daniela shared with us for our Saturday morning newscast.
YOU GOTTA HAVE STUFFING!
Would any Thanksgiving meal be complete without some version of stuffing? There are many variations. This one is called Sausage, Walnut & Ciabatta Stuffing. Here’s what you need to know if you want to make it yourself.
Serves 8-10
Ingredients:
- 6 tbsp. (3/4 stick) butter, divided
- 8 oz. Italian sausage
- 2 large onions, chopped
- 2 carrots, peeled, chopped
- 3 celery stalks, chopped
- 2 tbsp. rosemary, chopped
- 3 garlic cloves, chopped
- ¼ cup parsley, chopped
- 1 loaf day-old Ciabatta, cubed
- 2/3 cups Parmigiano Reggiano, grated
- 1 cup walnuts, chopped
- 1 cup chicken stock
- Salt/pepper
- 2 eggs, beaten
Directions:
Preheat oven to 350°F.
Butter a large casserole dish.
Melt 2 tbsp of butter in a large sauté pan. Remove the sausage from its casings and sauté until crisp and golden, breaking up into small pieces. With a slotted spoon transfer the sausage to a large bowl. Melt the remaining butter in the same pan with the sausage fat and add onions, carrots, celery, rosemary, and garlic. Sauté until onions are tender, about 12 minutes. Gently stir in parsley. Transfer onion mixture into the bowl with the sausage. Add bread, cheese, and walnuts, and toss to coat. Add enough stock to stuffing mixture to moisten. Season stuffing to taste with salt and pepper. Mix in eggs. Transfer stuffing to buttered pan. Covered with butter foil, bake for 30 minutes, uncover, and bake for 15 minutes until top is golden.
HOW ABOUT A VEGGIE SIDE DISH?
Up next, here’s a veggie side dish that takes you away from the green bean casserole so many people love to serve. Why not try Roasted Carrots with Pangrattato? By the way-- pangrattato is a fancy way of saying crispy toasted bread crumbs.
Serves 6
Ingredients:
- ½ baguette, sliced and stale (preferably a couple days old)
- 6 garlic cloves, minced, divided
- ½ cup Parmigiano Reggiano, fine grated
- 3 tbsp. dried parsley
- 10-12 large carrots, whole or halved lengthwise
- 6 tbsp. extra virgin olive oil, +
- 4 tbsp. butter
- Goat cheese
- Salt and Pepper to taste
Directions:
Preheat oven to 425°F.
Pulverize the stale bread in a food processor. In a non-stick pan add 2 tbsp. olive oil and the breadcrumbs. Move with a rubber scrapper continually on low heat until breadcrumbs start to look golden and crispy. Add a bit of the garlic, cheese, and dried parsley. Toast until combined and remove from the heat.
Line a baking sheet with tin foil. Evenly spread extra virgin olive oil over each carrot half (depending on how big they are, you can keep thinner/smaller ones whole). Arrange on a baking sheet and sprinkle with salt and pepper.
Roast for 20-25 minutes until tender (test with a fork).
Melt the butter in a saucepot. Add the rest of the garlic off the heat and stir to combine. Drizzle over the cooked carrots.
Sprinkle over the top of the carrots along with the goat cheese and some fresh parsley.
MIXING UP YOUR MASHED POTATOES
Another popular choice for many Thanksgiving meals is the creamy taste of mashed potatoes. Chef Daniela offered Mashed Potatoes with Boursin.
Serves 8
Ingredients:
- 6 garlic cloves, smashed
- 5 sprigs fresh thyme
- 2 tsp. black peppercorns
- 1 stick unsalted butter
- 4 cups + whole milk
- 6 Russet potatoes, peeled and chopped
- 1 Boursin cheese block
- Salt & Pepper to taste
Directions:
Smash garlic cloves and place in a medium saucepan with thyme, peppercorns, butter, milk, and 1 tbsp. salt.
Bring mixture to a simmer over medium-high heat, stirring occasionally. Immediately remove from heat, cover, and let sit for at least 30 minutes.
Boil potatoes until soft. Drain and work fast while they are warm.
Return garlic mixture to a simmer, then pour through a fine mesh sieve to remove solids. Add potatoes and milk mixture to a stand mixer with the whisk attachment or alternately, smash with a potato masher. Mash potatoes to the desired consistency while adding the milk mixture a little bit at a time. Taste and season with more salt as needed.
Add pieces of Boursin and swirl into the potatoes.
Cover and keep warm until ready to serve.
FORGET CANNED CRANBERRIES!
Many of us rely on the convenience of canned cranberries as one way to cut down the workload, but if you’re looking to up your cranberry game, you might consider this homemade Cranberry Relish.
Serves 12
Ingredients:
- 2-12oz bags fresh cranberries
- 2 tsp orange zest
- Juice of 2 oranges
- ¾ cup sugar
- ½ cup red onion, minced
- ¼ cup fresh mint, chopped
- 1 tbsp fresh ginger, minced
Directions:
Pulse fresh cranberries in a food processor until coarsely chopped. Transfer to a large bowl. Peel orange, remove pith (white parts) and cut into small segments. Add oranges to cranberries along with orange zest, orange juice, sugar, onion, mint, and ginger. Cover and let stand at room temp for 2 hours. Can be made a day in advance.
WHAT ABOUT THE APPS?
Before you get to the holiday feast, you’ll probably want to serve up some appetizers. If you’re looking for something new, how about a Marsala Flambeed Fig Tart? This is a tasty mashup of some really sweet and savory flavors.
Serves 6
Ingredients:
- 1 package (2 sheets) puff pastry, defrosted
- 4 tbsp. extra virgin olive oil
- 1 large onion, sliced
- 1 heaping cup dried figs, sliced
- 1 cup sweet marsala
- 2 tbsp. brandy
- ½ cup blue cheese
- 1 cup arugula, rough chopped
- Balsamic glaze
Directions:
Preheat an oven to 400°F.
In a large pan, heat the olive oil and onions. Salt and pepper the onions and sauté for 15-20 minutes, stirring frequently, until the onions are very soft. Add the marsala and brandy together in a measuring cup. Add the figs to the onions and carefully pour in the marsala/brandy mixture and immediately light on fire. Let simmer on low until the marsala is absorbed into the figs. Remove from the heat and let cool.
Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
Unfold the pastry dough and cut circles with a large biscuit cutter. Place the pastry circles on the sheet pans, score the border and prick the pastry inside the scored lines with a fork. Brush with a bit of olive oil and bake for 10-15 minutes until pastry is golden. Remove from the oven and set aside.
Add the fig mixture to the top of each pastry round, top with a bit of blue cheese, chopped arugula, and drizzle with balsamic glaze.
FINALLY-- HOW ABOUT SOME GRAVY?
Finally, if you’re looking for a new spin on Thanksgiving Gravy, look no further. This is how Chef Daniela suggests you add even more zest to that turkey.
Makes 2-3 cups of gravy
Ingredients:
- 1 pan of leftover drippings from the turkey *make sure this is a snug pan
- 1 tbsp. unsalted butter
- 1 large shallot, minced
- 2 garlic cloves, minced
- ½ cup marsala
- 4 cups stock
- ¼ cup Worcestershire sauce
- 2 tbsp. soy sauce
- 2 tbsp. cornstarch
- 2 tbsp. cold water
- Salt and pepper to taste
Directions:
Separate fat from the top of the drippings and discard or set aside for future use.
In a pan, add butter, shallot, and garlic and sauté until soft. Add the marsala and let the alcohol burn off. Add the drippings, stock, Worcestershire sauce, and soy. Let the mixture reduce down until flavors are concentrated. Do not add salt yet. This can be very salty and you don’t want to overdo it.
In a measuring cup, add the cornstarch and water. Mix immediately until cornstarch is dissolved. When the gravy flavors are to your liking, add the cornstarch/water mixture and whisk until the gravy thickens. You can add another cornstarch mixture if you like your gravy thicker. Taste for salt after the gravy thickens.
No matter what you serve this Thanksgiving, the folks at Local 4 and the Mirepoix Cooking School wish you a Happy and Delicious Thanksgiving.