If you host the family for holiday meals, why not spice up the menu with a balance of traditional fare and deliciously unexpected dishes that will surprise your loved ones?
Understanding that home chefs are eager for new ideas along with innovative ways of presenting old favorites, Macy’s established a culinary council of renowned chefs to produce the Macy’s Culinary Council Thanksgiving & Holiday Cookbook, and Chesapeake Home + Living has an exclusive sneak peek at some of the recipes inside.
Filled with holiday recipes and entertaining tips from such nationally-acclaimed chefs as Todd English, Cat Cora, Emeril Lagasse, and Wolfgang Puck, to name a few, the book also includes a commemorative overview of the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade with special behind-the-scenes stories and photos from the annual event, to celebrate its 85th year as a New York City event and national tradition.
A variety of cultural and ethnic influences inspire Hanukkah dinner with Scallion Potato Pancakes and slow-cooked brisket; an Italian Christmas Eve “Feast of the Seven Fishes;” and a sophisticated New Year’s Eve with Japanese small plates.
We kick off the holiday season with three Thanksgiving dishes from Rick Bayless and Marc Forgione—a side, the main course, and a dessert. A twist on the traditional turkey, Bayless offers mesquite grilled turkey with red chile adobo sauce, and Forgione rounds it out with maple whipped potatoes followed by an apple and dried fruit cobbler for dessert.
ON THE SIDE
Maple Whipped Sweet Potatoes —serves 6
Ingredients:
4 sweet potatoes, about 2 ½ pounds, unpeeled
2 tablespoons sour cream
1 tablespoon unsalted butter, at room temperature
2 tablespoons pure maple syrup
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
For the hazelnut brown butter:
4 tablespoons unsalted butter
¼ cup chopped hazelnuts
1 small shallot, minced
2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
Method:
Preheat the oven to 375°F. Using a fork, pierce the skin of each sweet potato in a few places. Place the potatoes on a rimmed baking sheet and bake until soft, 45 to 50 minutes. Remove from the oven and let cool until they can be handled.
Cut each sweet potato in half lengthwise, scoop the potato pulp into a food processor, and discard the skin. Add the sour cream, butter, and maple syrup and pulse the mixture until smooth. Season with salt and pepper. Transfer to a baking dish and cover to keep warm until ready to serve.
For the brown butter: Melt the butter over medium heat in a heavy-bottomed saucepan until pale gold, 2 to 3 minutes (be careful the butter does not burn). Add the hazelnuts and stir (1 to 2 minutes) until golden and fragrant. Add the shallot and parsley and cook just until softened, about 1 minute. Season with salt and pepper. Drizzle the brown butter over the hot sweet potatoes and serve immediately.
Tip: You can prepare the sweet potatoes and the hazelnut butter up to 24 hours in advance, covered, and refrigerated. Reheat in the oven at 375°F for about 30 minutes in a baking dish covered with aluminum foil. Reheat the hazelnut butter in a small, heavy-bottomed saucepan over medium heat.
Courtesy Marc Forgione
THE MAIN EVENT
Mesquite-Smoked Grilled Turkey with Red Chile Adobo Sauce —serves 8
Ingredients:
1 fresh whole turkey, 12 to 14 pounds
2 gallons plus 1 cup water
1 cup firmly packed dark brown sugar
1 cup salt
1 tablespoon red pepper flakes
6 cloves garlic, crushed
1 bunch fresh marjoram sprigs or 1 tablespoon dried leaf marjoram
1 bunch fresh thyme sprigs or 1 tablespoon dried leaf thyme
10 to 12 bay leaves
1 tablespoon olive oil
Red Chile Adobo Sauce (see page 86)
2 cups of mesquite chips for smoking.
Method:
Brining the turkey: Remove anything binding the legs of your turkey. Remove the giblets and neck from the cavity and reserve for another use. (They can be used for making the broth for the Red Chile Adobo Sauce that follows.) Rinse the bird well and pat dry with paper towels. Place 2 large food-safe plastic oven bags, one inside the other, in a large, clean, deep dishpan or plastic bucket. Add 1 gallon of the water, the sugar, salt, and pepper flakes, and stir to dissolve the sugar and salt. Add the remaining 1 gallon water and stir to mix. Place the turkey, breast side down, in the mixture, making sure it is completely immersed in the brine. Squeeze any air out of the bags and tie them securely closed. Refrigerate for at least 12 hours or up to overnight.
Preparing the grill: Cover 2 cups mesquite chips with water and soak for at least 30 minutes. Preheat gas grill to medium-high, or light a fire in a charcoal grill and let it burn just until the coals are covered with gray ash and very hot.
When the grill is ready, turn the burner(s) in the center of the gas grill to medium-low, or bank the coals to the sides of the charcoal grill for indirect cooking. Add some of the soaked wood chips to the grill (for a gas grill, place them in a smoker box or wrap the chips in foil and poke holes in the foil; for charcoal, place them on the hot coals). For the charcoal grill, set the grill grate in place.
Preparing the turkey to grill: Remove turkey from the brine, and discard the brine. Pat the turkey thoroughly dry with paper towels. Rub the turkey cavity with the crushed garlic. Stuff the herbs and bay leaves in the cavity, then tie the legs together with cotton string. Pull the skin over the neck opening and secure with a small skewer. Set the turkey on a roasting rack set inside a heavy-gauge aluminum foil pan. Brush the turkey lightly with the olive oil.
Grilling the turkey: Set the turkey in the pan on the grill grate away from the fire. Pour 1 cup water into the pan, and cover the grill. To maintain an even temperature with a charcoal grill, add more coals regularly (usually a few pieces every 30 minutes or so). Keep adding wood chips as desired to give smokiness.
Check the turkey periodically. You may want to cover the wing tips and/or the whole turkey with foil to prevent the skin from getting too brown. The turkey is done if when a thigh joint is pierced, the juices run clear, or when an instant-read thermometer inserted into the thickest part of a thigh registers about 155°F. Estimate 12 to 14 minutes per pound, or typically 2 ½ to 3 hours for a 12- to 14-pound turkey. When the turkey is ready, remove it from the grill, cover loosely with foil, and let stand for 15 minutes. (The temperature will rise 5 to 10 degrees while the turkey is resting.)
Serve with the warm Red Chile Adobo Sauce.
Red Chile Adobo Sauce —makes about 5 cups
Ingredients:
⅓ cup vegetable oil
12 medium (about 6 ounces) dried ancho chiles, stemmed, seeded, and torn into flat pieces
4 cups hot water
6 cloves garlic, roughly chopped
2 teaspoons dried oregano (preferably Mexican)
1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
½ teaspoon ground cumin (preferably freshly ground)
¼ teaspoon ground cloves (preferably freshly ground)
½ cup cider vinegar
4 cups chicken or turkey broth (if desired, use the turkey neck and giblets from the grilled turkey for making the broth)
Salt
2 to 3 tablespoons sugar
Method:
For the adobo puree: In a large skillet, heat the vegetable oil over medium heat until it shimmers. Add the chiles, 1 to 2 pieces at a time, and oil-toast them, turning them once, until they smell very toasty and are blistered, only a few seconds per side. As they are ready, transfer them to a large bowl. When all of the chile pieces are toasted, pour off all but a generous film of oil from the skillet and set the skillet aside.
Add the hot water to the chiles, place a small plate on top to keep the chiles submerged, and let rehydrate for about 20 minutes.
Measure the garlic, oregano, pepper, cumin, cloves, and vinegar into a blender or food processor. Pour in the rehydrated chiles, liquid and all (do this in two batches if necessary). Process the mixture to a smooth puree. Press through a medium-mesh sieve set over a bowl.
To finish the sauce: Set the chile-frying skillet over medium heat until quite hot. Add the adobo puree from the bowl and cook. Stir to reduce the puree to the thickness of tomato paste, about 10 minutes. Stir in broth, reduce the heat to medium-low, and simmer for 30 minutes. The finished sauce should have a light texture—a little thicker than water. (To test for the right thickness, pour a little on a plate and watch it spread: If it flows evenly, it’s just right. If it doesn’t flow much and water begins separating around the edges, it’s too thick.) Season with salt (about 1 tablespoon) and sugar to taste. It should taste a little sweet and sour with a hint of saltiness. Serve warm.
Tip: The finished sauce will keep in a tightly covered container in the refrigerator for a few days.
Courtesy Rick Bayless
JUST DESSERT
Honeycrisp Apple and Dried Fruit Cobbler —serves 6 to 8
Ingredients:
1 cup all-purpose flour
1½ cups firmly packed light brown sugar
¼ cup granulated sugar
½ cup old-fashioned rolled oats
½ cup plus 3 tablespoons unsalted butter
2 tablespoons ground cinnamon
4 Honeycrisp apples, peeled, halved, cored, and sliced or chopped
½ cup water
½ cup dried cranberries
½ cup dried cherries
½ cup dried figs, stemmed and halved lengthwise
¼ cup fresh mint leaves, cut into thin strips
Method:
For the topping: Preheat the oven to 350°F. In a food processor, combine the flour, the granulated sugar, ½ cup of the brown sugar, and the oats. Pulse several times to mix. Scatter 3 tablespoons of cold butter cubes over the flour mixture and pulse just until the mixture resembles a coarse meal. Sprinkle the mixture in a thin, even layer onto a rimmed baking sheet. Bake for 10 minutes. Remove from the oven, stir in the cinnamon, and then return to the oven. Bake until the mixture holds together in clumps and is beginning to brown, about 4 minutes longer. Remove from the oven.
For the fruit: While the topping is baking, in a large skillet, melt the remaining butter over medium heat and cook just until it begins to brown and smells nutty, about 2 minutes. Add the apples and the remaining 1 cup of brown sugar and toss to combine. Add the water and all of the dried fruits and stir well. Bring to a gentle boil, adjust the heat to maintain a steady simmer, and cook until the apples begin to soften and the liquid in the pan is reduced to a syrup, 8 to 10 minutes. Remove from the heat and fold in the mint.
To serve: Transfer the fruit mixture to a large gratin dish and sprinkle the topping evenly over the surface. Alternatively, divide the fruit mixture evenly among 6 to 8 compote dishes and sprinkle an equal amount of the topping over each serving. Serve with vanilla ice cream and freshly cracked black pepper (optional).
Tip: The topping may be prepared up to 24 hours in advance; let cool completely, and store in an airtight container at room temperature. Just before serving, return the topping to the baking sheet and place in a preheated 350°F oven until warm, 6 to 8 minutes.
Courtesy Marc Forgione
The Macy’s Culinary Council Thanksgiving & Holiday Cookbook is available for $24.95 starting October 2011 at macys.com as well as these local Macy’s locations: Annapolis Mall, Glen Burnie, Bowie, Towson Town Center, and Westfield Montgomery Mall.
Dennis Hockman is the editor of Chesapeake Home + Living.
