BRATTLEBORO — Along with roast turkey, mashed potatoes, dressing and an overabundance of gravy, my childhood Thanksgiving menu always included cabbage coleslaw with Miracle Whip, sweet potatoes with small marshmallows and brown sugar, creamed Bird's Eye onions, overcooked frozen “frenched” green beans, and lots of pie.
Thanksgiving is all about tradition, and I have, however unwillingly, learned to surrender to the turkey, the dressing, and small amounts of gravy and mashed potatoes. I really do love cranberries. I concede to the holy trinity of pumpkin, apple, and pecan.
As for the rest, I try to get away with what I can without changing things to the extent that my family flees in horror at the unknown.
This year in my kitchen, the cabbage slaw of old has been replaced by a crisp, lemony, mustardy concoction made with raw kale and brussels sprouts. The candied sweet potatoes have become braised Gilfeather turnips, courtesy of my sweetheart's brother-in-law and Julia Child. The creamed onions will be swapped for lush caramelized shallots, and the gray and limp green beans will magically transform into golden roasted fennel with raisins and walnuts.
You can have a lot of fun cooking on Thanksgiving, simultaneously showing respect to tradition and channeling your own renegade spirit.
For me, that is the point of cooking. And remember that someday you will be the ancestor who had the great recipes.
Here is my plan for this year.
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Let's start with starters. I am not a great believer in filling up before you sit down at the table. A few toasted nuts, some olives, and maybe an interesting cracker is all you need.
I do not believe in eating cheese before a meal, but a buttery crunchy cracker made with cheese is a different matter.
Here is a savory, small cracker made with Vermont butter and cheddar. It is really delicious and very easy to make in advance.
In a food processor combine 1¾ cups of flour, ½ teaspoon baking powder, 1 ¼ teaspoon of dry mustard, 1 teaspoon of freshly ground pepper and ½ teaspoon of salt. Pulse till mixed.
Add 1 stick of cold unsalted Vermont butter cut into pieces. Pulse briefly until mixture forms pea-sized crumbs.
Add 1 cup of shredded sharp Vermont cheddar cheese and 3 tablespoons of ice water. Pulse until dough just comes together, adding a bit more ice water if necessary. Don't over-process.
Dump dough onto a lightly floured surface and roll into a log 1½ inches in diameter. Wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 3 hours.
Cut into thin coin shapes and bake on cookie sheets lined with parchment paper in a preheated 325-degree oven for 20 to 25 minutes until golden brown.
Transfer to a rack and cool. This makes about 25 to 35 small crackers, depending on the size.
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After your guests have mingled sufficiently, nibbled on these crackers, and enjoyed a few glasses of wine, they will be ready to sit down at table and get serious about the food.
At this point, I favor a small serving of soup. It needs to be spectacular, as is it the first serious taste of the day. It is meant to perk up mouths and set the tone for the meal to follow.
Here is a carrot soup enriched with coconut milk and ginger. It will sit you up straight and fill you with anticipation for what is coming next.
Heat 2 tablespoons of olive oil in a heavy saucepan over medium heat. Briefly sauté one chopped onion and 6 tablespoons chopped fresh ginger root.
Add 6 cups of chopped carrots and cook until slightly tender, for about 10 minutes.
Add 4 cups of chicken or vegetable broth and simmer until the carrots are tender, another 10 minutes or so.
Add 1 can of coconut milk, and cook briefly until heated.
Add the juice of 2 limes, ¼ cup of chopped cilantro, and a smidgeon of cayenne pepper, salt, and black pepper. Purée with an immersion blender and adjust seasoning if necessary.
This recipe serves 6 to 8, depending on serving size. Remember the small portions. This is going to be a big meal.
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Just before I serve the soup, I take the obligatory turkey out of the oven to sit for a while. At that point, the potatoes are mashed, the stuffing is warm in the oven, and all these dishes are waiting for that gravy I wrote about last year in The Commons.
The kale/brussels sprout salad is very simple to make. For 6 smallish portions, shred as finely as possible - by hand, by food processor, by mandolin - 1 pound of trimmed brussels sprouts. Wash and de-stem a large bunch of Lacinato kale (a.k.a. dinosaur kale) and cut into very fine ribbons.
In a large bowl, whisk ½ cup of best quality extra-virgin olive oil, 4 tablespoon of freshly squeezed lemon juice, and 2 tablespoon of Dijon mustard. Add the kale and brussels sprouts, toss, and season with salt and pepper to taste. The salad is fresh, clean, delicious, and healthy.
Gilfeather turnips, you probably all know by now, are named for one John Gilfeather of Wardsboro, who developed this uncommonly sweet and tender tuber. This truly magnificent vegetable benefits from the bit of frost we have had this fall.
For 6 portions, I use around 2 pounds of Gilfeather turnips. I peel them and cut them into small chunks and sauté them in a large, wide pan with a stick of butter over medium heat until they have just begun to caramelize and become golden brown.
I then add 1 cup of chicken stock and a few stems of thyme. I cover the pan and cook at a high simmer for 20 minutes or so until the turnips are tender.
Remove the lid, add another 2 tablespoons of butter, and reduce the remaining liquid until the turnips are glazed and a bit crusty and the liquid has evaporated: sweet, crunchy and slightly caramelized around the edges, full of the mysterious nature of the Gilfeather complemented by lots of butter.
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Shallots are a member of the allium family and one of my very favorite ingredients. I think they have an earthier, deeper flavor than a regular onion.
Here is a quick recipe that shows them in all their complex glory.
For 6 servings, preheat the oven to 400 degrees. (It should already be pretty hot from roasting the turkey.)
Melt 6 tablespoons of unsalted butter in a 12-inch ovenproof sauté pan over medium heat. Add 2 pounds of peeled shallots and 3 tablespoons of sugar. Toss, then cook for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally, until they begin to brown.
Add 3 tablespoons of high-quality red wine or balsamic vinegar and a pinch of salt and pepper. Toss well.
Put the sauté pan in the oven and roast the shallots for 15 to 30 minutes, until they are tender and beginning to brown.
Season to taste, add a sprinkling of fresh chopped parsley, and serve. These dark golden little nuggets, syrupy and lush, go great with turkey.
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Fennel is an aromatic, anise-flavored vegetable that when eaten raw is crisp, crunchy, and slightly sweet with a faint suggestion of licorice. When cooked, it displays a remarkably sophisticated plush soft complexity.
For 4 to 6 servings, preheat your oven to 425 degrees. Trim 4 fennel bulbs and slice vertically into ½ -inch wedges leaving their core intact so they hold together.
Put the fennel in a 9x13 baking dish, then drizzle with 2 tablespoons of olive oil and 1 teaspoon of salt. Add 1 cup of water and roast for 45 minutes to 1 hour, turning occasionally, until the liquid is completely gone and the fennel is soft and slightly caramelized.
In a small bowl, combine ¼ cup each of toasted, chopped walnuts, roughly chopped golden raisins, and , flat-leaf Italian parsley.
Add 2 tablespoons of olive oil, the juice of 1 lemon, and mix.
Remove the fennel from the oven, arrange on a serving platter ,and top with the raisin mixture and a sprinkling of crunchy sea salt and freshly ground pepper.
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I like this menu a lot. It starts slowly with a crisp cheesy tease followed by a zippy soup of carrots and ginger.
The roast turkey with dressing, mashed potatoes, and gravy is shown at its best by the contrast of the side dishes: a clean and acidic green raw vegetable salad, a creamy, buttery, rich dish of local turnips, a silky caramelized scattering of shallots and, finally, a perfumed platter of fennel.
This last dish is slightly risky for Thanksgiving, but I am going to try and slide it by my guests, who in the end might lather gravy over everything.
Except the pies. Those get lathered in whipped cream.
It's Thanksgiving, remember?