My Curated Thanksgiving Day Dinner--A Food List
This year I am giving in to the power of a holiday.
All of the day-long or weekend-long cooking shows with a Christmas or Easter or St. Patrick's Day or Thanksgiving theme have never been popular at my house. Then there's the Top Ten or Five You Won't Want to Miss or Twelve Holiday Food Hacks or Your Favorite Celebrities Cook at Home lists that we are reminded we cannot live without! My husband and I have our traditions and traditional foods for each holiday, so we've never needed someone to come up with ideas for a million different sides or yet another way to brine and baste and roast a turkey! But, because my cooking coaching clients admit to needing a lot of help, I've decided to give in to the theme trend. So, here is my first curated Thanksgiving Day Dinner LIST to help you in planning what you'll be cooking this year.
There are enough sides on my list to fill up a rhinoceros, but you're not a rhinoceros, so pick two or three for your table and email one or two to that friend or family member who is eating gluten- or dairy-free. They need tasty side dishes too!
After perusing cookbooks and scouring the internet, here are the options that I've assembled for you to choose from for your Thanksgiving day table:
THE SIDES (the best part)
FOR PRE-DINNER MUNCHING
I redirect you to my own healthy holiday finger foods to keep hungry tummies from growling while we wait for all of the turkey-slicing and water-pouring and cork-popping. My favorite is the Texas Hummus made with pre-cooked pinto beans. It's the tastiest and easiest thing you'll dish out this Thanksgiving!
THE MEATS
All of the day-long or weekend-long cooking shows with a Christmas or Easter or St. Patrick's Day or Thanksgiving theme have never been popular at my house. Then there's the Top Ten or Five You Won't Want to Miss or Twelve Holiday Food Hacks or Your Favorite Celebrities Cook at Home lists that we are reminded we cannot live without! My husband and I have our traditions and traditional foods for each holiday, so we've never needed someone to come up with ideas for a million different sides or yet another way to brine and baste and roast a turkey! But, because my cooking coaching clients admit to needing a lot of help, I've decided to give in to the theme trend. So, here is my first curated Thanksgiving Day Dinner LIST to help you in planning what you'll be cooking this year.
There are enough sides on my list to fill up a rhinoceros, but you're not a rhinoceros, so pick two or three for your table and email one or two to that friend or family member who is eating gluten- or dairy-free. They need tasty side dishes too!
After perusing cookbooks and scouring the internet, here are the options that I've assembled for you to choose from for your Thanksgiving day table:
THE SIDES (the best part)
- Williams Sonoma's STUFFIN'S--Using a muffin tin, this recipe helps you to create portion-sized stuffin' muffins, hence the name, Stuffin's
- Smitten Kitchen's SWEET POTATO ROAST--This popular blogger and cookbook author has a beautiful and different roasted sweet potato dish. I'd definitely give this one a try. Look at that gorgeousness!
- Martha Stewart's SAUTEED RADICCHIO WITH HONEY & BALSAMIC VINEGAR--Just saying this makes me want to eat it!
- Martha Stewart's SAUTE-STEAMED SWISS CHARD--Okay, I'm a vegetable lover, so I'm sneaking in one more. It's a good thing for my vegetarian and vegan friends!
- Southern Living's SAVORY CORN PUDDING--And what's not to like about a light and lightly sweetened savory custard with corn? Seriously!
- Ina Garten's ROASTED WINTER VEGETABLES--Peel, cut, season, roast and eat. How easy is that? One of my go-to favorites. I often put a different spin on this by adding beets, but I could have this once a week...with a roasted chicken, of course!
- Food & Wine's SAUSAGE & FENNEL STUFFING--The combination of ingredients! And so beautiful to behold.
- Chef Carla Hall's ROASTED PUMPKIN SPOONBREAD--A cornbready type of souffle that can be topped with toasted pumpkin seeds for a tasty textural contrast.
- The New York Times' ROASTED CAULIFLOWER GRATIN WITH TOMATOES & GOAT CHEESE--Perfect dish for a vegetarian table, but it's still a fabulous side.
- Rachael Ray's CHICKEN AND BUTTERNUT BAKE--Perfect for those who lack the confidence to roast a turkey or who may be dining alone but still want the holiday flavors.
- The New York Times' SLOW COOKER PUMPKIN-PARMESAN POLENTA WITH SAGE--Wow! A great way to keep polenta hot and ready for a big meal! Some of us cannot manage entertaining people, slicing turkey, plating the cranberry sauce AND cooking polenta at the last minute. This is perfect and delicious.
- And, because we don't have a white potato dish on this list, I offer my version of Potatoes Dauphinois to help push you into the post-meal TV-watching coma.
FOR PRE-DINNER MUNCHING
I redirect you to my own healthy holiday finger foods to keep hungry tummies from growling while we wait for all of the turkey-slicing and water-pouring and cork-popping. My favorite is the Texas Hummus made with pre-cooked pinto beans. It's the tastiest and easiest thing you'll dish out this Thanksgiving!
THE MEATS
- Ina's ROAST TURKEY & GRAVY WITH ONIONS AND SAGE--The goddess of tasty but uncomplicated cooking makes it easy and delicious one more time. If you're a first time roaster, go with Ina Garten. Her recipes will always help you get it done!
- Sauveur's ROASTED FRESH HAM WITH ORANGE GLAZE--One of the easiest roasts to master in the kitchen is a pork roast (a.k.a. fresh ham). A simple recipe with complex flavors and enough of it to feed a crowd.
THE SWEET STUFF
- Epicurious.com's PECAN-CRANBERRY GALETTE--A free-form dessert is always a cook's best friend. This one has the T-Day flavors baked right in!
- Epicurious.com's 3-INGREDIENT CARAMEL APPLE TART--Did someone say only three ingredients? That's a dessert worthy of making it to many food and foodie lists!
- Saveur's APPLESAUCE SPICE CAKE--Easy and fast and moist and spicy and just right after a big dinner. I'd recommend a cup of coffee and eating it in front of a fire.
- Garden & Gun, Chef Dolester Miles' SWEET POTATO PIE--From their recent food issue, this one is easy to make but features lots of amped-up flavors! And chef Miles was named this year's Jame's Beard Award Pastry Chef, so you know this is going to be one very tasty pie.
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