Thanksgiving Recipe Appendix
My favorite hard-to-find Thanksgiving recipes!
Caviar Nachos
Sourced: adapted from Jake Cohen, Jew-ish
Serves 6-8
Ingredients
Drizzle:
3/4 cup creme fraiche
3 tablespoons lemon juice
1-2 tablespoons hot water
1/2 cup minced chives (divided into 1/4 cup portions)
Salt and cracked black pepper
4oz caviar or salmon roe
2 5oz bags of kettle-cooked chips
Instructions
Make the drizzle: in a small bowl, whisk creme fraiche, lemon juice, and half the chives until smooth. Thin out with water until it is easily drizzle-able, then season with salt and pepper.
Plate: Spread potato chips in an even layer on a large platter. Drizzle all over and plop dollops of caviar. Top with remaining chives. Serve immediately.
Mac and Cheese with Ritz Topping
Source: Polina Chesnakova, Hot Cheese (buy this book! These are the only recipes that are “cheesy enough” for me)
This is my platonic ideal of baked mac and cheese — buttery and luscious, salty and crunchy. I’ve made it for many gatherings to rave reviews!
Serves 4-6 and can be easily doubled
Ingredients:
7 Tbsp [100 g] unsalted butter
1 cup [85 g] crushed Ritz Crackers
116 [455 g] elbow macaroni, small shells, or other short pasta
6 Tbsp [55 g] all-purpose flour
4 cups [960 ml] whole milk, warmed until hot but not boiling
8 oz [230 g] extra-sharp Cheddar cheese, coarsely grated (2 cups)
8 oz [230 g] fontina, coarsely grated (2 cups)
6 oz [170 g] Gruyère (or more fontina), coarsely grated (1½ cups)
1 Tbsp English dry mustard
1 Tbsp kosher salt
Hot sauce, such as Cholula or Tapatio, as needed
Instructions
Preheat the oven to 375°F. Butter or oil a 9 by 13 in [23 by 33 cm baking dish].
In a small microwave-safe bowl, heat 1 Tbsp of the butter for 10 to 15 seconds, until fully melted. Add the Ritz Crackers and mix together. Set aside.
Bring a large pot of water to a boil and salt generously. Add the macaroni and cook for 1 minute less than the time specified on the package for al dente pasta. Drain well and let cool while you make the sauce.
In a large pot, melt the remaining 6 Tbsp [85 gl butter over medium heat. Add the flour all at once and quickly whisk into a paste. Continue to cook, stirring constantly, until the mixture smells biscuity and turns golden blond, about 2 minutes-don't let it brown too much. Gradually pour in the milk, a bit at a time, whisking constantly and thoroughly after each addition. Make sure you get into all corners of the pan to ensure a smooth, lump-free texture. The paste will initially become thick and then turn thin once all the milk has been added.
Bring to a boil. Continue to cook, stirring constantly, for 3 to 4 minutes, until the sauce thickens. Remove from the heat and wait until the sauce stops vigorously simmering before adding the Cheddar, fontina, 1 cup (4 oz [115 g]) of the Gruyère, the dry mustard, salt, and a few (or more) dashes of hot sauce.
Add the cooked macaroni and stir to evenly coat. Pour into the prepared baking dish. Sprinkle the remaining ½ cup (2 oz [55 g] Gruyère over the top, followed by the crackers. Bake for 15 minutes, or until the cheese on top melts and the sauce begins to bubble around the edges. Let sit for 5 to 10 minutes before serving.
Lobster Mac and Cheese
Source: adapted from The Capital Grille.
If scaling, make sure to use a 2:1 ratio of sauce to pasta and 2:1 ratio of pasta to lobster. If you have time, poach the lobster yourself and boil the shells down to make stock.
Ingredients
1 lb. Campanelle Pasta
8 oz. poached lobster meat
Cheese Sauce:
1 quart of heavy cream
1 cup double-reduced lobster stock (optional)
pinch of salt
1 cup of Mascarpone Cheese
1 cup of Gruyere, shredded
1 cup of Havarti Cheese
1/4 cup of extra sharp white Cheddar, shredded
Bread Crumb Topping:
1/4 cup of Panko bread crumbs
2 tablespoons Parmesan cheese
2 tablespoons melted butter
Equipment
10-12in cast iron skillet
Large pot for boiling water
Small skillet or microwave safe bowl
Instructions
Preheat oven to 400 and boil salted water for pasta.
Cook pasta for 3 minutes, strain and set aside. It should be under-cooked because it will finish cooking in the cream sauce.
In another pot, add heavy cream and pinch of salt and bring to a simmer. Add the first three cheeses to the cream sauce (Mascarpone, Gruyere, Havarti), stirring frequently to prevent burning.
In another pan, add the cream mixture and the under cooked pasta. Add the fourth cheese (Cheddar) and the lobster and simmer for 2-3 minutes.
Meanwhile, in a small pan or microwave, melt butter. Mix melted butter with Panko bread crumbs and Parmesan cheese.
Transfer pasta to cast iron pan, top with bread crumb mixture, and bake for 5-6 minutes.
Sweet Potato Casserole
Source: adapted from America's Test Kitchen.
This has been a staple at my Thanksgiving table since it was published in 2005. It’s retro without having marshmallows, sweet without being cloying, and lightly spiced like a perfect PSL.
Serves 10-12.
Ingredients
7 pounds sweet potatoes (6-8 medium, similarly sized)
Beauregard, Garnet, or Jewel
Streusel
5 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into 5 pieces and softened, plus additional for greasing pan
1⁄2 cup all-purpose flour (2 1/2 ounces)
1⁄2 cup packed dark brown sugar (3 1/2 ounces)
1⁄4 teaspoon table salt
1 cup pecans (4 ounces)
Filling
5 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
2 teaspoons table salt
1⁄2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1⁄2 teaspoon ground black pepper
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
4 teaspoons lemon juice (from 1 lemon)
I often add zest from 1 lemon and keep another lemon handy to season to taste
granulated sugar
4 large egg yolks
1 1⁄2 cups half-and-half
Equipment
Oven
9 x 13 baking dish
Food processor
Instructions
Bake sweet potatoes: Adjust oven rack to lower- middle position and heat oven to 400 degrees. Poke sweet potatoes several times with paring knife and space evenly on rimmed baking sheet lined with aluminum foil. Bake potatoes, turning them once, until they are very tender and can be squeezed easily with tongs, 1 to 1 1/2 hours (or 45 minutes for small sweet potatoes). Remove potatoes from oven and cut in half lengthwise to let steam escape; cool at least 10 minutes. Reduce oven temperature to 375 degrees.
Make streusel: While potatoes are baking, butter 13 by 9-inch baking dish. Pulse flour, brown sugar, and salt in food processor until blended, about four 1-second pulses. Sprinkle butter pieces over flour mixture and pulse until crumbly mass forms, six to eight 1-second pulses. Sprinkle nuts over mixture and pulse until combined but some large nut pieces remain, four to six 1-second pulses. Transfer streusel to medium bowl and return empty workbowl to processor.
Make filling:
Once potatoes have cooled slightly, use spoon to scoop flesh into large bowl; you should have about 8 cups. Transfer half of potato flesh to food processor. Using rubber spatula, break remaining potato flesh in bowl into coarse 1-inch chunks.
Add melted butter, salt, nutmeg, pepper, vanilla, and lemon juice to potatoes in food processor and process until smooth, about 20 seconds. Taste for sweetness, then add up to 4 tablespoons granulated sugar, if necessary; add yolks. With processor running, pour half-and-half through feed tube and process until blended, about 20 seconds; transfer to bowl with potato pieces and stir gently until combined.
Assemble and bake:
Pour filling into prepared baking dish and spread into even layer with spatula. Sprinkle with streusel, breaking up any large pieces with fingers. Bake until topping is well browned and filling is slightly puffy around edges, 40 to 45 minutes. Cool at least 10 minutes before serving.