To all of my friends, family, and visitors from the U.S.: Have a wonderful, safe, and food-filled Thanksgiving holiday!
I’m taking a little break from work, definitely looking forward to the long weekend ahead and what will be our first Thanksgiving at the new house! I’ll make it a point to share a few photos on Twitter of my holiday table and things I’m making, so if you haven’t already followed @fromannakitchen on Twitter, do it (and note the lack of an “s” in “Anna’s” there because of the Twitter username character count…) New posts will start up again until next week.
If you need some last-minute inspiration for your holiday menu, check out my round-up of some of my favorite recipes below.
Turkey: There are a lot of turkey recipes out there, but brined turkey is the only way to go for moist, tender meat and the most flavor every time. If it wasn’t obvious by now, I’m a huge fan of Good Eats and Alton Brown (aside: CAN’T. FREAKING. WAIT. for new Good Eats episodes to come out!) You’d be hard-pressed to go wrong with any of his recipes, and his Good Eats Roast Turkey is absolutely no exception. For smaller gatherings, I also like the idea of Ina Garten’s (huge fan, too!) Roasted Turkey Roulade.
Potatoes: While delicious, having mashed cauliflower as a total replacement for mashed potatoes on our Thanksgiving menu would have me driven out of town, pitchforks and torches behind me, on the next bus and never to be heard from again. And that said, we can never seem to agree on just one potato—Yukon golds or sweets. Since it’s Thanksgiving, though, it’s a day where we don’t have to compromise. I used to make both mashed Yukons and mashed sweet potatoes. One year, I just combined them in the same baking dish and added a topping of Parmesan cheese and Panko breadcrumbs to make a crusty topping when baked. The result? Amazing.
Other Side Dishes: Another Alton Brown recipe I’ve really enjoyed making over the years is his Stovetop Mac and Cheese. I almost-always use a blend of cheeses, usually a four-cheese shredded blend that includes cheddar. I even added blue cheese and bacon one time, which gave it an interesting twist.
Drinks: If Cherry Sangria Fizz doesn’t whet your whistle, a Whiskey Sour might be a nice option, and wine would also be simple and more traditional. And there’s always Homemade Irish Cream for dessert.
