Cooking

Thanksgiving Sides Recipes

My residency all pitched in to cook/cater/potluck a Thanksgiving lunch during Wednesday noon conference before the holiday. Due to budget constraints and also my desire to have more home-cooked food, I volunteered to cook about half the sides to supplement our Wegman’s turkey dinner for 10 to 12. To stretch that to 25-30 people, I made these recipes for Brussels sprouts, butternut squash, potato salad, and chicken, but in double or quadruple quantities. Separately, for Thanksgiving itself, I learned to make stuffing.

Disclaimer: as usual, these are mostly ingredient lists with no secrets here. As I become more comfortable cooking, these “recipes” are probably less suited for general use…

Brussels Sprouts, 3 ways

These mini-cabbages have really turned around their reputation from decades ago when they were the laughingstock of veggies. That’s why roasting >> boiling. The key is a dry oven (meaning reheating other Thanksgiving simultaneously is ill-advised (as I learned the hard way)). I’ve also made a balsamic bacon nut version. 

Roasted Sprouts Base
  • Toss 1 lb Brussels sprouts halved in 2 tbsp olive oil, salt, pepper.
  • On preheated foil-line baking sheets, arrange sprouts cut side down. Roast at 450 F for 25 minutes, tossing near the end, until deeply caramelized.
Honey Glazed Sprouts

This is the Bon Appétit recipe. It’s extremely good. I’ve learned that extra glaze doesn’t keep well, as it splits.

  •  Roast the sprouts as above.
  • Meanwhile, cook 2 tbsp honey until deeply amber and foamy, about 4 minutes. Whisk in 2 tbsp sherry vinegar, ½ tsp red pepper flakes. Add 1 tbsp butter, pinch salt, and cook on medium heat until glossy and thickened, about 4 minutes.
  • Toss finished sprouts and ½ scallion chopped with the glaze. Garnish with lemon zest.
Parmesan Garlic Sprouts
  • Toss 1 lb Brussels sprouts halved in around 2 tbsp olive oil, salt, pepper.
  • Grate ½ oz Parmesan. Toss in 2 tbsp bread crumbs. Grate 3 cloves garlic, distributing well. Add to sprouts.
  • On foil-line baking sheets, toss sprouts haphazardly. Roast at 400 F for 30+ minutes (reduced temperature for cheese), shaking around halfway through, until coating is golden brown.

Roasted Butternut Squash

Featured before here. The hardest part of cooking butternut squash is peeling and cutting it. No judgment if you purchase pre-prepped squash.

  • Peel and dice a 2-lb butternut squash (a non-trivial task).
  • Coat with 1 tsp salt and 1/2 tsp pepper in 2 tbsp olive oil. Add 2 medium shallots peeled and quartered and 1 tsp rosemary chopped to a pan.
  • Bake at 450 F for 35 minutes, stirring in middle, until caramelized on a couple sides and tender.

Potato Salad

  • Cut down 2 lb red potatoes into 1” chunks. Place into heavily salted cold water, then bring to boil and continue boiling until soft (but not too soft), about 5 extra minutes after boiling, or 20 minutes total. Drain.
  • Dice 2 stalks celery, ¼ large red onion. 
  • Combine ½ cup mayonnaise, 1 tbsp apple cider vinegar (or other acid), 1 tbsp dijon mustard, ½ tsp paprika, salt, pepper.
  • Combine when potatoes have cooled. Garnish with chives and paprika.

Baked Chicken Thighs

  • Dry brine 4 chicken thighs: coat with salt and pepper and place in fridge on an uncovered rack from 12-24 hours.
  • Arrange in a pan. Drizzle with oil and sprinkle over 1 tsp various chopped herbs, like sage, rosemary, thyme.
  • Bake at 350 F for about 40 minutes (internal temp 160-170). Rest at least 10 minutes.

Part 2: For Thanksgiving proper the next day, I cooked more batches of sprouts and squash and the main event: stuffing. Honestly, I’d never cooked stuffing before and I still don’t really get the deal with stuffing… we bake it on the side instead of stuffing it into the poultry? Why is it called stuffing? Why bring chicken (stock) to a turkey fight? And do you serve stuffing alongside a Chinatown roasted duck?

In any case, stuffing was requested, thus stuffing was made.  We combined a couple recipes, starting once again with Bon Appetit.

Stuffing

  • Cut/tear 1 lb sourdough (about half a huge loaf) into 1” cubes, about 12 cups. Dry, either by leaving out overnight or baked in a low oven for an hour.
  • Saute ½ lb Italian sweet sausage, 1 bulb fennel, and 1 onion in 1 stick butter in batches.
  • Combine with dried bread, 1 tsp dried thyme, 1 tbsp rosemary, 1 tbsp sage, and ½ cup parsley chopped, 2 tsp salt, 1 tsp pepper. Let cool. 
  • Whisk 2 eggs and 2.5 cups chicken stock. Stir/drizzle in, in stages if necessary. Spread everything in a 9×13” tray. Dot with little cubes of butter.
  • Bake at 350 F covered for 40 minutes. Uncover, then bake until top is browned, about 30-40 minutes longer. Garnish with parsley and fennel fronds.

Thankful for a great residency, great friends, great family, and good health all around.