Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday. In my household it's a day of complete relaxation: eating a great homemade meal with no schedule or timeline, and doing so very comfortably with the people I love most. It's great to have big holiday get-togethers with 10 to 30 family members, but there is something so intimate, honest and loving with a small gathering whether that's two, four or six. This Thanksgiving couldn't have gone better from waking up and having a great breakfast of Manchego Cheese with Fig Spread and toasted French Baguette, while watching the Macy's Day Parade with my mom, husband and Gigi, to then prepping the food with the rest of my immediate family of cooks, my brother and grandfather -- and the five of us getting to gobble it all up on our own time savoring the moments.
Thanksgiving is the one holiday where there is five cooks in the kitchen all at once. Since we're a family of foodies, restaurateurs, culinary students and cooks we can never cook the same thing year after year. Somehow we always change it up a bit to see what we like, or slightly modify classics to experiment with, and basically get creative to always try improving main dishes. This year was no different.
My two plates were brussel sprouts and maple glazed carrots, while my husband was in charge of smashed potatoes. My brother stepped in for an emergency gravy, and made an apple walnut pie in advance. My pappou came with his famous stuffing and my mother stole the show with the big bad turkey.
Since Thanksgiving came and went and most of us don't want to hear one more thing about an abundant turkey dinner, I thought I would improvise some of the recipes from Thanksgiving that could be made as is, or slightly modified for a wonderful Christmas dinner.
I'll start with the recipe for the greatest golden, juicy turkey that could also be used for a Christmas Goose or Duck. Thanks to Michael Symon and his clever idea to use Cheesecloth to keep in the juices as opposed to constantly basting or using foil for a cover. I was watching The Chew on ABC and saw Symon boiling a side of broth with all the fixings in it, and then putting the cheesecloth in it to simmer for 20 minutes, once done covering the turkey with the cheesecloth (watch the link above to see exactly what we did).
Symon was right on with his herb choices, we also used a bunch of fresh oregano and thyme in the cavity of the turkey that we additionally boiled in the stock for the cheesecloth. In addition to the fresh herbs and lemon, we also stuffed the cavity of the turkey with a Mirepoix of carrots, onions and celery, while also distributing that all around the turkey in the pan, which helps create a great broth to use for making gravy and soup. Other than following the directions from the link above, I would suggest adding the left-over boiled broth that the cheesecloth was in on top of the turkey. The results are really astounding how wonderfully golden and juicy the turkey came out. Just as important as preparing the turkey is letting it rest for 30 minutes prior to cutting it.
For those who like to eat Turkey on Christmas this is a great recipe because you can switch out different herbs like using rosemary or sage, while making a different gravy and then you have a different main entree from one holiday to the next. For those who get sick of turkey after Thanksgiving (me included), try roasting duck or goose.
If you want to change to a different veggie for Christmas, you could use the same recipe but with asparagus, broccolini or broccoli rabe. You could also switch out chestnuts for pecans or golden raisins for cranberries or dried cherries.
We also had sweet glazed carrots that were delicious, and smashed creamy potatoes with minced chives and scallions. Of course my all time favorite Thanksgiving dish, my pappou's stuffing. It's a bread stuffing with a little smoky bacon flavor. Very straightforward -- no nuts or meat or veggies -- but absolutely scrumptious. I haven't tasted a better stuffing yet, and it is so addictive. I don't know the recipe quite yet -- it's still pappou's secret -- but I plan on getting it sometime soon to start practicing.
Now to the wine!!! Courtesy of the big V, aka, Mommy Val, we enjoyed two wonderful bottles of Caymus Special Collection Cabernet Sauvignon from Napa Valley. It's a fantastic wine, and especially nice for Thanksgiving with its full body yet subtle fruit and rustic notes.
 |
| (From Left) Hubby Charles, Mom Val, Pappou Jimmy, Bro Christos & JoJo |
My two plates were brussel sprouts and maple glazed carrots, while my husband was in charge of smashed potatoes. My brother stepped in for an emergency gravy, and made an apple walnut pie in advance. My pappou came with his famous stuffing and my mother stole the show with the big bad turkey.
Since Thanksgiving came and went and most of us don't want to hear one more thing about an abundant turkey dinner, I thought I would improvise some of the recipes from Thanksgiving that could be made as is, or slightly modified for a wonderful Christmas dinner.
I'll start with the recipe for the greatest golden, juicy turkey that could also be used for a Christmas Goose or Duck. Thanks to Michael Symon and his clever idea to use Cheesecloth to keep in the juices as opposed to constantly basting or using foil for a cover. I was watching The Chew on ABC and saw Symon boiling a side of broth with all the fixings in it, and then putting the cheesecloth in it to simmer for 20 minutes, once done covering the turkey with the cheesecloth (watch the link above to see exactly what we did).
Symon was right on with his herb choices, we also used a bunch of fresh oregano and thyme in the cavity of the turkey that we additionally boiled in the stock for the cheesecloth. In addition to the fresh herbs and lemon, we also stuffed the cavity of the turkey with a Mirepoix of carrots, onions and celery, while also distributing that all around the turkey in the pan, which helps create a great broth to use for making gravy and soup. Other than following the directions from the link above, I would suggest adding the left-over boiled broth that the cheesecloth was in on top of the turkey. The results are really astounding how wonderfully golden and juicy the turkey came out. Just as important as preparing the turkey is letting it rest for 30 minutes prior to cutting it.For those who like to eat Turkey on Christmas this is a great recipe because you can switch out different herbs like using rosemary or sage, while making a different gravy and then you have a different main entree from one holiday to the next. For those who get sick of turkey after Thanksgiving (me included), try roasting duck or goose.
 |
| Pancetta, chestnuts, golden raisins and fresh thyme simmering before the brussel sprouts are added. |
As for side dishes, this year I created my favorite recipe for holiday brussel sprouts. Usually I like my brussel sprouts roasted with olive oil, salt and pepper -- perfectly simple and delicious -- but for Thanksgiving I wanted to add some pizazz. So I boiled the brussel sprouts in salted water for 4 minutes and then took them out. I sauteed chopped up pancetta in olive oil, then added chopped roasted chestnuts, golden raisins and fresh thyme mixing it up with the brussel sprouts. You could saute them, but since I had too many to fit in a pan I tossed everything in a roasting pan and shredded a little Manchego cheese on top. They broiled for a few minutes and got nice and crispy.
We also had sweet glazed carrots that were delicious, and smashed creamy potatoes with minced chives and scallions. Of course my all time favorite Thanksgiving dish, my pappou's stuffing. It's a bread stuffing with a little smoky bacon flavor. Very straightforward -- no nuts or meat or veggies -- but absolutely scrumptious. I haven't tasted a better stuffing yet, and it is so addictive. I don't know the recipe quite yet -- it's still pappou's secret -- but I plan on getting it sometime soon to start practicing.
Now to the wine!!! Courtesy of the big V, aka, Mommy Val, we enjoyed two wonderful bottles of Caymus Special Collection Cabernet Sauvignon from Napa Valley. It's a fantastic wine, and especially nice for Thanksgiving with its full body yet subtle fruit and rustic notes. 
