The First Annual "Tell Us What You're Cooking This Year For Thanksgiving Dinner That You Didn't Cook Last Year"

Here's the deal about Thanksgiving dinner at our house: it's the same every year, except for one thing. Every year one thing changes.

Sometimes we try something new and it stays forever, like the apricot jello mold that's been a guilty pleasure of our Thanksgiving dinner for at least fourteen years.

Sometimes it's something that makes the cut for several years -- like sweet potatoes with pecan praline -- and then, for no real reason, falls off the menu never to be spoken of again.

And sometimes it's a mistake, like the pearl onions in balsamic vinegar, which turned out to be a dish that was far too full of itself.

Anyway, here's what we're doing on Huffington Post: the First Annual "Tell Us What You're Cooking This Year For Thanksgiving Dinner That You Didn't Cook Last Year."

Send in your recipe. Send in the thing you've never cooked before on Thanksgiving day, the thing that proves conclusively that you're up for change, that you're not your mother, that you're open to new ideas, that you're flexible and full of surprises and with-it food-wise, even though the truth about Thanksgiving is the exact opposite -- it's about ritual and tradition and the same-old same-old.

This year, in our house, we're cooking our version of Suzanne Goin's succotash. Of course Suzanne Goin doesn't call it succotash; in her book Sunday Suppers at Luques, she calls it sweet corn, green cabbage and bacon. We call it succotash because we throw in some lima beans and way more butter:

Cut 6 thick slices of bacon into small pieces and cook in a casserole until crispy. Remove and drain. Melt 1 stick of butter in the remaining bacon grease and add 1 sliced onion and some salt and pepper. Saute for a few minutes, then add half a small green cabbage, sliced, and cook until wilted. Add 2 packages of cooked frozen lima beans and 2 packages of frozen corn. Cook about 5 minutes, stirring, till the corn is done. You can do this in advance. Reheat gently and add the bacon.

 

Comments

[waltwis]

Yams by any other name become:

Jolly Bob’s Sweet Potato Salad

4 medium sweet potatoes, peeled and cut into ¾ inch pieces
½ each red, yellow, and green bell peppers, seeded and cut into ½ inch dice
½ large red onion cut into ½ inch dice
4 to 6 tablespoons finely chopped fresh parsley

Dressing:
3 T Dijon mustard
3 T ketchup
1 T minced garlic
¾ C olive oil
4 T cider vinegar
1 T Worcestershire sauce
Juice of 1 large lime
Salt to taste
Plenty of freshly cracked black pepper

[sparkandy]

There are so many great recipes here. I'm going to wait a few days, then print them off for my cookbook.
Thanks for this opportunity to see and test what other people like.

[dougbob]

here's a veggie dish that's both simple and delicious.­..apologie­s to patrick oconnell, from whom i stole the basic concept.

Ingredients

1 LB Brussel Sprouts
1 TBl Salt
1 Pommegranite
1 Stick Butter
1/4 tsp white pepper or sweet paprika
2 Tsp Lemon Juice
1 Shallot, Minced

Method

Start a large pot of water to boil. Add TBl Salt to Water.

Cut off Stems of Brussel Sprouts & Peel off the leaves.

Cut Pommegranite in quarters & remove seeds, put aside.

Blanch the leaves in boiling water (1 minute should do); shock the leaves in ice water. Drain leaves, pat dry & chill.

In a small sauce pan, melt one tablespoon of butter over medium heat; saute shallot for a couple of minutes until it turns opaque; add pepper & lemon juice, saute one more minute. Then whisk in butter, one tablespoon at a time, whisking constantly.

To serve, place chilled leaves on plate, scatter pommegranite seeds over & top with warm sauce.

[clevelandchick]

I usually buy dessert but this year I'm going to make it. Saw a sinful one on the Food Network, Paula Deen's gooey butter cake...kind of a cheesecake on top of a regular butter cake. Of course I'll be adding pumpkin.

[hawkseye]

Thanks for this post, Nora.
I was going to reply to someone's discussion of pork for dinner with lots of sides and asking if anything else was needed. A vegetarian guest was going to want some bread, I think.
Anyway, I couldn't find that entry again.
Happy Thanksgiving to all!

[Halsey]

I am a vegetarian...love the smell of turkey in the oven...even tried last year to eat a bit..but..­man..flesh­..yewww...­"BUT"...
I could LIVE on mashed potatoes..so that's what I'm bringing to the perverbial table..
with a small twist...

first..the mashed potatoes themselves...with 1/2 and 1/2 (not milk :-)...and IRISH butter..(hey..it's a holiday)..­..then...a­dding some grated white (New York of course..even tho I live in CA)...chedddar and 1/4 cup pureed smoked chipotle pepper...(not spicy..as there are children in the room)....

I will also blanch asparagus (peeling OFF the lower covering..)..then quickly steam with BUTTER..tossing to maintain al dente...

[Boadicea]

We're on a mission to eat more raw food at our house, so we picked up the cookbook published by Sarma Melngailis and Matthew Kenney, the owners of the popular New York restaurant "Pure Food and Wine." The book is called Raw Food, Real World, 100 recipes to get the glow. Pick it up, it will change your mind about raw food, honestly!

We're going to do the Lime Mousse Tart on pg 243 and the creamy carrot soup with lime on pg 136. These will replace the lemon meringue pie and cooked carrot soup we usually serve.

Younger Next Year!

[lilorphant]

Thanksgiving Martinis

Hubby and I experimented a while to get this right, so enjoy!

Ice, the best vodka you can afford, Pama (pomegranate liqueur), cranberry juice.

Fill shaker with ice, three shots of vodka, two shots of Pama, and six shots of cranberry juice. Shake, pour into martini glasses. Makes two.

[ZinDC]

There are so many "must-have" dishes that there is little room for innovation. I started herb-brining and smoking the turkey a few years ago, now I couldn't get away with doing it any other way. Family traditions are hard to shake off--creamed onions, mashed white and sweet potatoes, chestnut stuffing, green beans, pecan and pumpkin pies must appear. I add little things to the traditional dishes to make it more interesting for myself: brandy, orange zest and ginger to the cranberry sauce; roasted garlic, lemon and red pepper to the green beans. This year, I'm going to sneak a new condiment onto the table--quince mostarda-- and hope I don't get raised eyebrows, and I'm innovating on the appetizers--roasted figs that are stuffed with homemade lavender chevre, wrapped in prosciutto and dusted with fennel pollen; Michel Richard's Chicken Faux Gras.

[Cay]

Okay, All I'm doing different is roasting asparagus - it's totally simple and it makes an easy vegetable. Do it after the turkey is out.

Preheat oven to 425
Rinse asparagus & cut off woody stems
Spread out in glass/ceramic baking dish
Drizzle with olive oil, be generous
Salt & Pepper
Roast, uncovered, for 15 minutes

(You can do this with most veggies - carrots, beets, and yes, parsnips taste great this way. Cooking time will vary with type of vegetable.)

Hey Happy TGiving Huff Posters!

[woodsywizz]

OK, it's not 'cooking', but I'm going to open an expensive jar of Kalamata olives. They are the only [grocery-store available] olives worth eating. Salty, tangy, rich & earthy, they remind you that olives are historically the princely accompaniment to any meal in the Mediterranean ("Middle Earth") region. Accompanied by warm, crusty bread...one is transported.

[Patriciavdavis]

This year,it's desserts where I'm trying something new. I'm not a pie fan and never have been. Apple, pumpkin, pecan, I hate to bake them,and feel they are a waste of good calories because they're nothing more than disguised fruit and nuts. I prefer to eat an apple - the real thing, sparing my diet and saving my dessert calories for what I really want for dessert, which is CHOCOLATE CHEESECAKE! So, that's what I'm adding to my menu this year- a recipe that is divine, too. It's what I'm looking forward to eating on Thursday, apart from the turkey that is,another one of my favs.

[Newfycrat]

OK, this is our Big Secret in cooking Thanksgiving dinner. We cut up the turkey before we bake it. Just like it is done in restaurants.
I cut off both legs at the body (hip sockets), both wings (leaving the first section of wing to hold the turkey up) and the back. This goes on a pan into a pre-heated 400 degree oven (with baked veggies too if you like). You then turn the temperature down to 350 and cook for two hours and fifteen minutes for a 22-24lb turkey. The turkey is always moist, never dry and *never* over cooked. You can "re-assemble" it for the table, no one has ever noticed it wasn't the whole bird. This is also the perfect way never to run out of oven space.
The back and the neck go into a stock pot the night before along with other saved turkey bones with carrots, onions and celery to make a great stock.
We use the stock to make our dressing which we put in a *deep* pan lined with sausages on the bottom and turkey wings on the top (so the top is completely covered, we buy extra wings at the store). We cook this ahead of time (before the turkey) and it tastes just like it came out of the turkey - even better actually.
The only way you can ruin the turkey is if you accidentally buy one that has been injected with any salt water (a surprising number have). In that case you will have the world's worst gravy and a not so perfect bird.
We have been cooking turkeys this way for over fifteen years, and since my husband is an ex -Chef, we are the ones who make T-dinner every year.
For mashed potatoes, we add a couple of parsnips, turkey stock, half and half and butter. We normally use yukon gold potatoes. The parsnips add a great flavor but very subtle.

[nottoworry]

Great idea, and as a oldster in the family, I am always looking for ways to entice some of the "young and restless" descendents to my Thanksgiving dinner table some of the time.

I had heard of a "Turducken" a couple of years ago and determined to someday try one. This is a completely deboned turkey, stuffed with a completely deboned duck, and the duck is stuffed with a completely deboned chicken, hence the name "Tur duck en". The turkey, the duck, the chicken and all the space around them is stuffed with an elegant dressing of your choice (cornbread, sausage, etc.)

There are 2 sizes, but I had to order the large one. ($74. 95)

To offset the cost to my budget (I live with an income below the national poverty level) I asked all the cooks in my family to provide the rest of the dinner. I did offer to make the traditional pumpkin pie.

There are only a few of the stores offering this delicacy, mostly in Texas and Louisiana, with one in Tulsa, OK. They do have a website and will ship anywhere.

cajun@hebe­rtsmeats.c­om

Cooking is done in your home, but allow at least 5 days thawing time and 5 hours cooking time.

This is a first for us and everyone is looking forward to it.

[PhxJustice]

Sorry to say, I won't be cooking this year, so I don't have a recipe to share. What I will share is that I will be having a Thanksgiving buffet at one of the major hotels here in Phoenix. I know, cheesy, but when you want to take a break, that's the way to do it!