The Third Annual Huffington Post "Tell Us What You're Cooking For Thanksgiving This Year That You Didn't Cook Last Year"

It's November again, and this year we're giving you lots of time to send your Thanksgiving recipes to the "Third Annual Huffington Post Tell Us What You're Cooking for Thanksgiving This Year That You Didn't Cook Last Year."

What we're looking for is not the thing you cook year in and year out, but the recipe you're trying this year for the first time in order to give yourself the illusion that your Thanksgiving dinner this year is slightly different from your Thanksgiving dinner last year. This, in turn, is meant to make you believe that you are capable of change. Underlying all this is the implicit understanding that Thanksgiving should not be meddled with too much, and that even a small alteration in the basics can cause problems with children. Once we went to a Thanksgiving at my sister's house, and the stuffing had porcini mushrooms in it, and my eight-year-old had a meltdown and I was in complete sympathy.

This year we're going to cook our turkey the high temperature way, the easiest way to cook a turkey there is: salt & pepper the turkey, cook in a 450 oven, and drain occasionally. No brining, no basting. I swear, it works. It's a miracle. And it takes only 2 1/2 hours to cook a 14-16 pound bird. I mentioned this method last year, but I see from reading the newspapers that there are lots of food writers who still insist that you brine a turkey and baste it forever. I don't get it. The high-temperature method of cooking turkey is the food equivalent of an epidural, and why anyone would go on having a long painful experience when a short painless one is available mystifies me.

This year, for a change, we're adding some sausage to our traditional stuffing recipe -- we use Pepperidge farm herbed stuffing in the cellophane bag with blue trim, celery, onion, twice as much butter as is called for on the package, stock, and a pound of crumbled hot breakfast sausage we plan to buy from Flying Pigs Farm at the Union Square Market.

Anyway, send in your recipe. Then we'll select and post our ten favorites Thanksgiving week. (And please be sure to type out fractions--1/2 cup, for example--because symbols won't display correctly.) Then we'll select and post our ten favorites Thanksgiving week.

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Comments

[Idytme]

Bless you for understanding that a cut up turkey, roasted at a high temp will give you the best tasting bird. That is where I throw out tradition, although that is relative, since we have been cooking this way for about 15 years. When I was a child I used to harass my Mom about doing something new on T-day. When it was my turn two host, I did. We presented about 12 different turkey dishes, gnocchi, stir fry - and no one ate them *including us*.
Although I am adventurous with food, it has taught me that traditions are wonderful. There are now only two days a year we do not experiment, Christmas and T-day. OK, so you play with a side or two. NO ONE NOTICES. You have to have the perfect gravy, turkey, stuffing and mashed potatoes. Nothing else matters. A side dish isn't important -which allows you more room to play, but NO ONE WILL REMEMBER IT. They do (or we do) remember if your turkey was dry or not, your stuffing perfect, your mashed potatoes over or under salted - too drab, over whipped (did you put them in a mixer?), your gravy was too thick or under seasoned. Did you use that nasty crouton stuff that you buy in the store that makes your stuffing taste too medicinal?
Don't b*tch at me for saying this stuff, cause we always cook the meal. A traditional meal, with a few, very few flairs.

[seppoyank]

I've put together some advice for vegetarians who will be at non-vegetarian Thanksgivings. It can be found here: http://www.ehow.com/how_5677469_enjoy-thanksgiving-vegetarian.html

This is especially good advice if you want to avoid those darling relatives who spend the whole meal worrying out loud about what you are going to eat :)

[Billie]

I don't eat meat as a rule, because I love animals and hate the cruelty of corporate factory farm slaughterhouses. And buying organic is expensive in this economy. However, on Thanksgiving I splurge and get a free-range, organic bird that has been humanely raised on a farm nearby. I'm not doing turkey, instead, I'll be serving a roast chicken brushed with rosemary and butter and stuffed with couscous, walnuts and raspberries. Big salad. Leek soup. A loaf of Italian bread to dunk in olive oil. A hearty, peppery red wine. Apple and cherry pies. And, hopefully great conversation! (No Twittering allowed at my feast!)

[nolookpass]

Try adding balsamic vinegar to the Olive oil and you can sprinkle black pepper and parmesan cheese as well. I love that stuff. Homemade Italian bread or home made sour dough bread is great with that too.

[LateeLady]

One of the different things I'm doing this year is adding a homemade pumpkin cheesecake to the menu. Other than that, this year, it is traditional fare - roasted turkey and homemade cornbread stuffing, baked mac & cheese, southern style green beans/bliss potatoes, etc

[skye2run]

This year our family took some time to learn where our food ACTUALLY comes from (thanks Jonathan Safran Foer!). As a result , we will not be making turkey... we will be making a Celebration Roast, which is not made from meat... because if people took a moment to learn about how turkeys are factory farmed, treated.... it's what we'd all be making !

[OdinsEye]

While turkey may have been eaten at the first Thanksgiving (it is not recorded by name, birds were just mentioned as "fowl" and could have included ducks and geese), much of the proteins were from venison and fish such as bass and cod. Some even seem to think lobster may have been eaten. And remember that the main methods of cooking would have been boiling, stewing, and roasting, little or no baking. So if your family wants to try an "original" thanksgiving, you could think along those lines.

[bekhuff]

Acorn squash. I used to have this when I was a kid. I remember Mom just cut the squash in half, buttered it, and put it in the oven. When the top was completely carmelized (aka burnt), it was done. Scoop it out and mash a bit and eat with garlic and butter.

I have never made it myself, but we were shopping this morning and decided to just grab one and give it a whirl. Everything else is going to be "packaged" (Butterball, Stove-top, jar'o'gravy, etc.). We tried to implement a rule that we'd have one "package" Thanksgiving and one "from-scratch" Thanksgiving per year (I'm Canadian, but he's not, so we get both holidays!), but this is our busy time with work and the creative juices are just not flowing.

That said, we're also going to try dry-brining this time. Doesn't sound like a big deal, but supposed to draw the flavor deeper into the meat.

[terragazelle60]

My favorite way to have Acorn Squash is..half the squash,clean it out ( I save the seeds for planting) baste the top with loads of butter...spread on the brown sugar. Put cut side up in a casserole dish cover with alluminum foil, put in 350 degree oven for about an hour...or cover with plastic wrap and put in a microwave for about 20 min. Tastes like Pumpkin.

I love Acorn Squash... dice apples, throw in some rasins, a dash of nutmeg on top of the butter and brown sugar...yummy!

[msbadger]

Does cranberry sauce go well with grilled cheese sandwiches? Or shall we have it instead of jelly with the peanut butter? Seriously, no T-day dinner for us. No dinero.

[renoir]

cold marinaded cuke salad, cracked pepper rolls and orange flan for dessert

[nolookpass]

We are going to try a recipe from Emeril Lagasse. He had a recipe on his show called Sweet Potato and Russet Potato Augratin. That was the dish but not exactly sure what he named it. Looks really good and I am sure the two potatos will accent each other in this dish you cannot go wrong with cream and cheese and potatoes.

[lyta]

sounds good, got a link to recipe?

[nolookpass]

http://www.grouprecipes.com/sr/34521/emerils-scalloped-russet-and-sweet-potato-casserole/recipe/

I believe this one is it. Sorry for the delay

[ckfan]

Doing 2 things different this year:

1. Cajun Turkey - just learned that Popeyes sells pre-cooked, frozen cajun turkey. All you have to do is thaw it and heat it for about 2 1/2 hours (so they tell me). A friend does this every year and recommended it. He says it tastes great and once you go Cajun you won't go back. We'll see.

2. Garlic herb biscuits - I am not a biscuit lover, but my husband is. Making the biscuits from a Stonewall Kitchen mix. We'll see.

[Froggie99]

Nora, take it from someone who has cooked turkeys for many many moons - You may not like the results if you try to bake it at a hot temperature. In order to keep a turkey (especially a big, slightly older turkey) from drying out and becoming tough, you need to bake it at no more than 325 degrees. The slower the better. It's more trouble, but the results are worth it.

And you folks that want to deep fry a turkey, please be careful. Those things can go up like a rocket if not handled properly. Just being cautious.

[OdinsEye]

Pavo en Mole Ne.gr0 de Oaxaca (Turkey in Black Sauce from Oaxaca) - a complex sweet and spicy dish containing chilis, tomatoes, and chocolate. A recipe from my abuela.

[renoir]

will you share the recipe? then your abuela will be known and admired by many of us!

[pederstriannw]

since my husband has a severely limited diet, we're making pumpkin parfaits instead of pie this year. he'll use coconut milk, potato starch, sugar, and pumpkin puree (and cook like pudding) to make a custard we're going to layer with vanilla pudding made with coconut milk and trader joe's instant vanilla pudding. we'll see how it works. usually, he wants regular pumpkin pie made traditionally, with eggs and cream and wheat pie crust, but he just can't tolerate any of that stuff anymore.

[bekhuff]

It sounds great, actually. The only time I've ever really liked the crust on pumpkin pie is when it was homemade, and usually we're too busy and get something frozen. I have been tempted to just do pumpkin custard in ramekins.

The only thing I can't do without is cream. I would prefer fresh whipped cream --I don't even need sugar. But the kitchen is too small for a food processor/whipper, and I've tried whipping cream by hand and let's just say I don't think I'll do it again, LOL!

[iMissMollyIvins]

Anne Marie F's Potato & Bleu Cheese Tarts

Pie crust
3/4 lb. small red potatoes
1 cup heavy cream
1 large egg yolk
1/4 lb crumbled blue cheese (3/4 cup)
1 1/2 teaspoons finely chopped fresh thyme
1 1/2 teaspoons finely chopped fresh rosemary
Coarse salt for sprinkling
Prepare pastry per package instructions.
Divide into 6 equal pieces (or if making the pie version, just put into the pie plate), place into tartlet pans. Trim excess, leaving a 1/4 inch overhang, fold inward and press against side of pans to reinforce edge. Chill shells until pastry is firm (If using purchased tart shells or pie crusts, continue to next step).

Preheat oven to 350 F.

Cut potatoes into 1/4 inch thick slices and cover with cold water by 2 inches in a 1-quart saucepan. Simmer, uncovered, until tender (10 minutes). Drain and pat dry.

Whisk together cream and yolk until combined.

Arrange potato slices, overlapping slightly, in each tart shell, crumble 2 tablespoons cheese into each. Fill with cream mixture to 1/8" from top. Sprinkle each with 1/4 teaspoon each of thyme and rosemary and season lightly with salt.

Bake tartlets on a baking sheet until bubbling and golden brown, 45 to 50 minutes. Cool in pans on a rack 10 minutes, then remove from pans and serve warm.

Anne Marie suggests pairing these with a Merlot or an oaked Chardonnay. Enjoy.

[Freesia2]

Ooooh. That sounds wonderful. I am going to make that.(I also wondered because I like to experiment, and because blue cheese goes so well with beef, what would happen if you threw in a little shaved left over steak or roast, or even a little crumbled bacon?) Let me copy this before I type another key.

Thanks!

[seattleblue]

I've decided to make it easy this year and do nothing at all:) My roommate will probably go to his family's house giving me the place to myself and I would rather eat sushi takeout than a big turkey dinner.