Thanksgiving Sides

As Thanksgiving (one of my favorite holidays) quickly approaches, many of us have already made or are in the process of making plans.  I, as I do most years, plan to take in all orphans, wanderers, and stragglers from my social group.  Given that it is sometimes difficult to travel on Thanksgiving I decided some years ago that I would have a place where all those unable to go home could go and not spend Thanksgiving alone.  To that end, I have hosted what I call Epic Thanksgiving over the past few years (pictures and another post later).  Yesterday I was speaking with my best friend about Thanksgiving and he was asking my opinion about how to make a good gravy.  As we spoke I also told him about some of the side dishes I was going to make.  He got so excited that he asked me to write down the recipes and send them to him.  Never one to jump on an opportunity to write in my blog, I agreed I would share my recipes with him and with all my readers.

During the years I have served Epic Thanksgiving I have made a side dish that is so popular, it is requested every year.  My sweet potatoes with blue cheese and bacon are so popular that one of my friends half jokingly requests a small casserole dish be made especially for him.  I ran across this recipe when I was working at Central Market and have made it my own.

2-3lbs sweet potatoes
1 cup milk 
1/2 lbs bacon (thick cut preferably)
2 cups blue cheese
Salt and Pepper to taste

1. Dice bacon into small pieces and render the fat. Remove bacon and save the fat.

2. Peel the sweet potatoes and cut into large pieces.  Boil in water until soft, as if preparing for mashed potatoes.

3. Warm the milk in a sauce pan.

4. Mix soft sweet potatoes with milk, bacon fat and salt and pepper.  Adjust the seasoning to your taste.  If you don't want to use bacon fat, butter can serve as a substitute.

5.  Spray a casserole dish big enough to hold all your potatoes with cooking spray. Add your potatoes and spread evenly.

6. Top with bacon and blue cheese evenly over the top.

7. Bake in a 350 degree oven until everything is hot and cheese is melted a bit.  This dish can be prepared a day ahead of time and just baked the day of serving.

My next side dish is something I will be making for the first time this year.  I usually change out the vegetable side for the meal. One of the previous years I made some balsamic roasted Brussels sprouts.  At work as of late I have made some balsamic glazed roasted butternut squash with kale.  I decided to make a hybrid of these two recipes.

2-3 lbs butternut squash peeled and diced.
2-3 lbs Brussels sprouts halved
1 lbs kale chopped
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/4-1/3 cup balsamic vinegar
1/4 cup olive oil
Salt and Pepper to taste

1.In a large pot bring about a half gallon to a gallon of water to a rolling boil.  While the water comes to boil, fill a large bowl a fourth of the way with ice.  Fill to half with water.

2. When the water is at a boil, drop in your Brussels sprouts.  Leave them in there just long enough for them to become fork tender and bright green.  Usually between 1-2 min.

3. Once they are tender, use a spider or slotted spoon to fish them out and immediately drop them into the ice water.  Once all your sprouts are cooked, you may drain them.

4. Using the same boiling water you can do the same thing to your kale.  The kale will take significantly less time in the hot water.  (Note, you will have to make a new ice bath or use the same one provided you did not  dump it out to drain your sprouts.)

6. After draining both the kale and the sprouts, dry them off with a towel.

7. Mix the brown sugar, balsamic vinegar, olive oil and salt and pepper together until smooth.

8. Toss the butternut squash and the Brussels sprouts with the sugar and vinegar mixture.  You can toss the kale too if you would like.  Just know it will result in crunchy kale which is not bad.

9.  Roast vegetables in 350 degree oven for about 20 min or until butternut squash is tender.  I usually check mine after 15 just to be safe.

10.  If you have not previously tossed your kale with everything do so now.  The heat of the other vegetables will heat up the kale.

11. Serve and enjoy!

Last, this is how I make my giblet gravy using the drippings from the roasted turkey.

1 cup flour
1-1 1/2 cups white wine
2 cups chicken stock or broth
Giblets from the trukey
Fat and drippings from the turkey, preferably still in the roasting pan.
Salt and pepper

1. Place roasting pan with fat and drippings over heat and get the fat hot.

2. Add the giblets and saute in the fat allowing them to brown.

3. Add the flour and mix with the fat to make a roux.  Allow to cook for about a minute. If the roux looks too doughy, add more fat, such as oil.  If it is too liquidy or fatty add more flour.  The roux should be smooth.

4. Add the wine and scrape the bottom of the pan to loosen all the tasty bits.  The liquid will become very thick from the roux.

5. Add the stock/broth stirring vigorously so as to avoid lumps.

6. Add salt and pepper to taste and strain your gravy.

7. For added flavor, take the giblets and chop them up and add them back into your gravy.

8.  If your gravy is too thick you can add more liquid to thin it out.  If the gravy is too thin, you can add a cornstarch slurry to thicken it up. 

9. If you gravy has a dough like taste to it, just allow it to cook a little longer over low heat.



So, these are my side dishes for this Thanksgiving.  You may ask why there is not recipe for a stuffing.  Well, my wife takes care of that.  If she is feeling generous, she may do a guest post and give up her family secrets.  I will post more about how I make my bird later.  For now, I hope you enjoy these and I hope they help.

Quick And Easy Alfredo

Part of my job duties at work are to have the sauces prepared for the make your own pasta bar.  These include marinara, alfredo, and pesto.  Today I will be talking about the alfredo sauce specifically.

Alfredo sauce is typically referred to a cream sauce that includes Parmesan cheese and butter.  However, the reality is classically there is no such thing as an alfredo sauce.  Usually the prepared dish was fettuccine alfredo which did not include a sauce.  Instead the noodles were tossed with butter and cheese.  As the cheese melted, it emulsified the liquids into a thick consistency.  Sometimes cream would be added in addition to, or instead of the cheese.

Today alfredo sauce is a completely separate entity and often sold in jars or otherwise prepared.  This is a shame given how easily alfredo sauce can be prepared at home.  At work I will prepare a big batch of several (6-8) gallons to have ready for the week.  I will then heat a smaller amount for the day's use.  I start with equal parts milk and heavy cream.  To save time you can also use half and half which is equal parts milk and cream.  I will then heat the mixture slowly over low heat.  I will prefer to use our large steam kettles. This help me avoid scorching the bottom of my sauce.

Once the dairy is at a simmer, at about 190 to 200 degrees, I start adding my spices and cheese.  For spices I used salt, white pepper (very important it be white), and nutmeg (just a smidge).  I will use good quality grated Parmesan cheese. For the 6-8 gallons, I usually used about 2 1/2 pounds.  You can use shredded cheese, but just know it will take longer to incorporate.  When adding your salt keep in mind that you want to add it sparingly at first since the cheese will also add saltiness to your sauce.  You can adjust the seasonings later.  Now, when you add the cheese, don't just dump it in all at once.  Add it a little at a time and stir the sauce until it is incorporated in.  Repeat this process until all of your cheese has been added.

After all of your cheese and spices have been added it is time to thicken the sauce.  Now, traditionally it is only thickened with cheese and some reduction of the dairy and you can certainly choose to do that.  At work I will usually used a cornstarch slurry to help it along.  While the sauce is still hot, I will stir in the slurry until the sauce has reached the desired consistency.  Now it is very important you add your slurry while the sauce is still hot.  Otherwise the sauce will not thicken.  Now if you ever find that you over estimated how much cornstarch you needed and over thicken your sauce, you can just thin it out with more dairy or even a bit of water.  You can thicken your sauce using various other methods (roux, beurre manié), but the slurry is honestly the easiest. 

When the sauce is at the desired consistency, you need to taste it.  This is where you can adjust the seasoning.  You can add salt and pepper if needed.  The reason you want white pepper is so that your sauce remains white.  Black pepper will show up as black flecks in your sauce giving it the appearance of cream gravy.  As far as the nutmeg goes, you want to add enough to barley be perceptible.  Nutmeg's flavor goes very well with dairy and you only need a small amount as to not overwhelm the flavor of the sauce.

If you want to make this sauce at home, here are some amounts to help you along the way:

1 cup milk
1 cup heavy cream
OR
2 cups half and half
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
Salt and pepper to taste
1 pinch nutmeg
2 tbsp cornstarch
1/4 water

Serve over your favorite pasta with your favorite ingredients!

Food At Work: Shrimp ala Arrabbiata

   I had a crazy thought at work today.  I thought "Hey, I cook at work.  Why don't I document and share some of the stuff I make at work on my blog?"  So today I made shrimp ala arrabbiata over linguini with sauteed olives and peppers and a saffron cream sauce. 

   Arrabbiata sauce is an Italian sauce made from garlic, tomatoes and red chiles. Translated from Italian it literally means "angry".  This is due to the red chiles. I had 30 lbs of shrimp to work with to make my shrimp ala arrabbiata.

 Linguini worked well because nice long noodles provided a nice base for all the other ingredients to settle on.  Like a well put together building, you need to have a good foundation.

The sauteed peppers and olives were quite easily put together.  I just julienned red, green, and yellow bell peppers then sauteed them in oil with garlic, black olives, Italian seasoning and salt and pepper.

The saffron cream sauce was also fairly easy to prepare.  I set the cream to simmer while I steeped the saffron in hot water.  When the cream was nice and hot, I added the saffron (water and all) to it and seasoned it all with salt and pepper.  I used a little corn starch to give my sauce body.  Right before service I added some fresh herbs (parsley and rosemary) to the sauce.

Putting together the dish was just a matter of layering it all together starting with the pasta followed by the shrimp and then the vegetables and finished with the cream sauce.

Chile Lime Shrimp

1 Pound shrimp uncooked
1/4 cup Vietnamese Fresh Chile Paste
1 Medium Lime
2 tablespoons butter or oil
Salt and pepper to taste

Marinate the shrimp in the fresh chile paste for at least half an hour to two hours.  Season the shrimp with salt and pepper while marinating.

Heat a saute pan and add your fat.  Make sure it is nice and hot.

Add your shrimp and start cooking.  Toss shrimp to make sure they cook on both sides.

As the shrimp is cooking add the juice of the lime.


This recipe was born out of opportunity.  I was given a bag of shrimp that had been accidentally thawed.  I was unsure of what to do with this shrimp so I looked at what I had in the refrigerator.  That is where I had the chile paste and the lime juice.  Thus this recipe was born.

This recipe is quite nice.  The shrimp are spicy and tangy.  The could be used as an appetizer or an hors d'oeuvre.  It would also make a nice addition to a plain quesadilla.