We asked Westside Provisions District chefs, friends and fans to pass along their wisdom, reveal their methods and share family secrets to help you create an Ultimate Thanksgiving Dinner. We hope you’ll enjoy these recipes. Please feel free to share your own in the comments!
Sweet Potato Biscuits
Andrew Smith, Executive Chef of Ormsby’s provides this delicious recipe.
Yield: 16 biscuits
2 cups all purpose flour
1/3 cup yellow cornmeal
2 ½ teaspoons baking powder
½ teaspoon salt
1/3 cup chilled butter, cut into small pieces
1 cup mashed cooked sweet potato
½ cup fat-free milk
1 Tablespoon orange zest
2 Tablespoons honey
¼ cup melted butter
As needed cinnamon sugar
Preparation
Preheat oven to 400°.
Combine flour, cornmeal, baking powder, and salt in a bowl; cut in butter with a pastry blender or fingers until mixture resembles coarse meal. Add sweet potato, milk, orange zest, and honey; stir just until moist.
Turn dough out onto a heavily floured surface; knead lightly 5 times. Pat dough into a 9-inch square; cut into 16 squares. Place biscuits on a baking sheet. Bake at 400° for 20 minutes or until golden. Remove from oven and brush biscuit tops with melted butter. Sprinkle lightly with cinnamon sugar.
Meme’s Pound Cake
“Bon Appétit, Y’all” Author Virginia Willis shares the secret to her Grandmother’s famous pound cake
This cake has been a constant in my life and it has been my birthday cake many times. Our family holidays would not be complete without it. The best part is the crispy, dark-brown sugary edges. Much to my mother’s consternation, more than once, little pesky elves raided the opaque Tupperware cake container and nibbled away those tasty bits.
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature, plus more for the pan
3 cups White Lily or other Southern all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt
1 cup whole milk, at room temperature
5 large eggs, at room temperature
1 vanilla bean, split and scraped or 1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract
1/2 cup solid vegetable shortening, preferably Crisco, at room temperature
3 cups sugar
Preheat the oven to 300°F. Generously grease a 16-cup (measure to the rim) bundt pan with butter. In a bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, and salt. Set aside. In a large liquid measuring cup, combine the milk, eggs, and the scraped vanilla seeds. Set aside.
In the bowl of a heavy-duty mixer fitted with the paddle, cream together the 1 cup of butter, vegetable shortening, and sugar on medium speed until light and fluffy. Add the flour and milk mixtures to the butter mixture in 3 batches, alternating between dry and liquid, occasionally scraping down the sides of the mixing bowl, beginning and ending with the flour mixture. Fill the prepared pan with batter (it should be no more than two-thirds full).
Bake for 15 minutes. Increase the oven temperature to 325°F and bake an additional 45 minutes, or until the cake is golden brown and pulls away from the sides of the pan. Remove to a rack to cool for 10 minutes. Invert the cake onto the rack to cool completely.
This cake will stay moist in an airtight container for up to 1 week.
Makes one 10-inch cake
Reprinted with permission from Bon Appétit, Y’all: Recipes and Stories from Three Generations of Southern Cooking by Virginia Willis, copyright © 2008. Published by Ten Speed Press, a division of Random House. Photo credit: Ellen Silverman © 2008. For more about Virginia visit www.virginiawillis.com
Cimino Farm’s African Squash & Carolina Gold Rice Risotto, Benton’s Country Ham
Chef Ford Fry of JCT Kitchen‘s absolutely delectable Risotto recipe
Ingredients:
2 lbs. African Squash
2 Tbs. EVOO
Kosher Salt to taste
2 Tbs. Real maple syrup
2 Cups Carolina Gold Rice
3 Tbs. Butter
1.5 Qts. Chicken Broth
Kosher salt to taste
2 Tbs. Minced Shallots
1 tsp. Minced Garlic (NOT THAT JAR STUFF!!!)
3 oz Dry white wine
1 Stick of butter
3 Tb.s. Finely chopped Italian parsley
Benton’s Country Ham (Thin slices)
Method:
Pre-heat oven to 400 degrees. Split the squash in ½ lengthwise and scoop out the seeds. Coat with olive oil and season to taste with salt. Roast flat side down on a sheet tray for 30-45 minutes or until soft. Peel and discard skin. Puree the squash and maple syrup in your blender until smooth.
“Risotto” method: Heat broth in one pot and season to taste with kosher salt. In another pot, melt (3 Tbs.) butter and sweat the shallots and garlic on medium high heat. Add rice and cook while stirring for about 5 minutes. Deglaze with the wine. Once the wine is dry, begin adding the chicken broth a ladle at a time, while stirring, until the rice is almost just cooked. Add the squash puree and cook until the rice is just cooked. Fold in the remaining butter and parsley. Spoon onto plate and top with thinly sliced country ham.
Serves 4 large or 8 appetizer portions
Roasted Beets with Honey and Red Wine Vinaigrette
James Beard Award-Winning Chef Anne Quatrano of Bacchanalia, FloatAway Cafe, Quinones and Star Provisions, serves a version of these beets at FloatAway Cafe and often includes them on her own Thanksgiving Table at Summerland Farm.
1 lb. beets – trimmed
1 teaspoon honey
1 tablespoon vinegar
1 cup water
Scrub beets and trim tops – reserve the tops for braising.
Place beets in roasting pan, add water, vinegar & honey.
Season with salt & pepper.
Cover with parchment lined foil and braise in 300 degree oven for 2 to 3 hours – depending on size of the beets.
To test doneness pierce beet with a knife – if the beet offers little resistance it is done.
Remove beet from liquid and let cool slightly, with clean cloth rub the skin free.
Allow to cool and dice.
Toss in vinaigrette.
Vinaigrette
1 tablespoons honey
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 tablespoons vinegar
1 shallot peeled and finely diced
1 tablespoons candied ginger finely diced
Salt & pepper to taste
Whisk together honey and vinegar – we like red wine vinegar.
Add shallots, ginger and slowly whisk in olive oil.
Season with salt & pepper. ( 6-8 servings)
Chef Patric’s Collard Greens
Collard Greens are a must-have side on any Southern Thanksgiving Table. Chef Patric Bell from West Egg Cafe serves up this simple, fool-proof method for cooking the perfect collards.
1 Vidalia onion, sliced into thin spears
2 quart chicken stock or broth
1 tsp. red pepper flakes
2 Tbsp. kosher salt
1 Tbsp. coarsely ground black pepper
1 smoked ham hock (optional)
1.) Combine all ingredients in a large stock pot, cover, and bring to a boil.
2.) Reduce heat to slow and simmer for 1 ½ hours, or until collards are tender.
Gina’s Sausage & Sage Stuffing
WSPD fan Gina Henschen sent us her prized Sausage and Sage stuffing recipe. “My Mom, Roz, always starts dropping hints about wanting a batch of this stuffing as soon as the first nip of fall creeps into the air. It’s easy-peasy to make. You can dress it up by choosing artisan bread and house-made sausage, or you can stick with simple ingredients you can find in any grocery store.”
1 Stick Butter
1/2 Onion — diced
3 stalks Celery — diced
1 cup Chicken Stock
1 lb. Jimmy Dean Sage Sausage
1 loaf White Bread
Rubbed Sage (about a tablespoon)
Parsley — chopped (to taste)
Salt & Pepper (to taste)
The day before, cube 1 loaf of white bread (preferably a “bakery” loaf – not Wonder Bread.) Spread on a baking sheet and stick it the oven to let dry out (leave the oven off!)
On baking day:
• Butter a baking dish and a piece foil. Set aside.
• Dice half an onion and 3 stalks of celery. Set aside
• Melt one stick of butter. Set aside.
• Make one cup chicken stock (or open a damn can). Set aside.
• Brown one pound of Jimmy Dean Sage Sausage & transfer to paper towels to drain.
• Drain off all but 1 tbsp. of the fat from the pan, add a tbsp. melted butter.
• Over low heat sauté the onions and celery until they’re soft (about 15 minutes; season with salt & pepper to taste).
• Toss the bread, sausage and veggies together in a BIG bowl. Season with rubbed sage, parsley, and salt and pepper.
• Drizzle most of the stock and butter (leave some of each) over the mixture and toss again.
• Transfer the mixture to the buttered dish.
• Drizzle the rest of the stock and butter over the top.
• Cover with the buttered foil
• Bake at 350 for 30 minutes. Remove the foil and return it to the oven for another 15 minutes so that the top browns a little.
FIGO Pasta’s Infused Olive Oil
FIGO founder Sandro Romagnoli suggests serving good, artisan bread with his spicy infused olive oil as an appetizer, for an Italian twist on an American tradition
Recipe
½ liter of extra virgin olive oil
½ liter of canola oil or ½ liter of soy bean oil
8 claws of garlic
2 table spoon of red pepper flakes
3 springs of rosemary
3 springs of thyme
Method
Put all ingredients in a suitable stock pot and a simmer at very, very low heat for 2 hours.
After simmering for two hours, turn off the heat and let the mixture cool for two more hours.
Strain the oil and bottle it.
Makes 4 bottles of infused olive oil.
Donna’s North vs. South/Stuffing vs. Dressing Tastings & Table Decorating Tips
Westside Urban Market director of operations, Donna Rooks, has a keen interest in interior decorating and a Martha-Stewart-like eye for detail. She offers these words of wisdom for creating a Thanksgiving table that will be the envy of all your friends.
Last year, my partner and I invited both our families to our home for Thanksgiving. One family is from the north and the other from the south, so we had a lot of fun mixing and matching traditions. Yankees love “stuffing,” and Southern Belles are all about “dressing.” (Stuffing is made from savory ingredients and bread crumbs and is cooked inside the bird. Dressing contains similar flavors, but everything is well-mixed together, mashed into a casserole dish and served in blocks, like a casserole or a savory bread pudding.) We held a taste test and, as you can imagine, there was no clear winner. They were both great, and in fact, the entire Thanksgiving spread looked like something out of a magazine, if I do say so myself.
Even the smallest efforts help make a Thanksgiving table colorful and inviting. Start with fresh cut flowers, small pumpkins, gourds and candles. Individual “thank you” notes on the back sides of place-cards will bring chuckles and appreciative tears. I pinned simple name-cards to small pumpkins placed in the center of each plate, but you could also make paper leaves with names written on them or punch holes in a pre-made name card and tie it around your napkins with craft rope for a homemade napkin holder.
White Oak Pastures: Let’s Talk Turkey – Thanksgiving is Coming
While you may know us for our grass-fed beef, we have launched into a new venture this year with the arrival of our Free Range Bronze turkeys! We currently have several hundred turkeys here on the farm and will be taking orders this fall for your holiday table.
Our turkeys follow the same free range model that we practice with our cattle. They have been raised on pasture all of their lives, and never given any growth hormones or antibiotics. The turkeys also play an important role in our pasture management program.
White Oak Pastures practices the Serengeti model, which means large ruminant (cows) followed by small ruminant (sheep) followed by bird (chickens and turkeys). We do this to allow the grass to be grazed in three different ways.
Because we raise our turkeys in a natural setting, we cannot guarantee specific weights. Our turkeys will weigh an average of 15 pounds at processing, and will cost $7.49 per pound. Make sure to place your order at www.whiteoakpastures.com for this upcoming holiday season!
Turkey Tips from
Yeah! Burger’s Shawn Doty:
Yeah! Burger’s Chef Shawn Doty offers some helpful turkey preparation tips for a tasty turkey feats.
- Plan for 1 pound of turkey per person.
- For a safer and juicier bird, add the stuffing hot before you cook the turkey.
- Brining makes a turkey delicious. Submerge the turkey in cold water with a cup of Kosher salt and soak overnight in the refrigerator. The next day, remove from the water and towel dry.
- Try alternative seasonings to make a non-traditional turkey. For a savory alternative, make a marinade of 3 tablespoons chili powder, 3 tablespoons of oregano. Mix with ¼ cup of olive oil and 1 tablespoon of salt. Rub inside and out of the turkey. Cook normally.
- When cooking a free range turkey (like White Oak Pastures) remember that they are often very lean which may reduce the cooking time by 10%. For a proper temperature test, use a meat thermometer. Insert it at the deepest part of the bird, at the breast bone. The temperature should be 150 degrees. Remember that it will cook another 5 degrees after removing from heat.
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