It’s happened again. I waited to until the last minute to decide what to make for a Thanksgiving side dish. It’s very common in Fairbanks to have Thanksgiving with friends instead of families because many peoples’ family live so very far away. So generally Thanksgiving consists of large potlucks with a variety of people from year to year. I love it! You meet new people every year while hangin out with friends, and family, if they happen to be visiting. Or somebody else’s family. Sometimes I even Thanksgiving hop, hitting two or three Thanksgivings! Usually though, I trade off from year to year if I host Thanksgiving or I go to somebody else’s house for Thanksgiving. This year it’s not my turn to host and so it’s my turn to bring some side dishes to somebody else’s house. Woohoo! Except I can’t decide what to make.
While frantically trying to think of a new side dish to make, I thought if I have this problem I bet others do as well. I can’t be the only procrastinator out there. So here’s some help to all you procrastinators. In no particular order, these are my top five recipes to make for Thanksgiving. They’re easy, quick, and include all the Thanksgiving favorites; squash, cranberries, and corn, not neccessarily together.
Cranberry Sauce
Ingredients
- 10 cups cranberries wild preferred
- 2 cups sugar
- 1 cup apple cider vinegar
- 1/4 tsp cinnamon
- 1/8 tsp nutmeg
Instructions
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Put all ingredients into a saucepan and turn the saucepan on medium-low until the mixture starts bubbling.
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Turn the cranberries down to low and simmer your mixture for about 20 minutes until the mixture is as thick as you want it and the berry skins start popping. Make sure you stir your mixture fairly often so the bottom doesn't burn.
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Use an immersion blender to blend up the mixture if you don't like your sauce chunky. Be careful you don't splash, the sauce is very hot.
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At this point you can freeze, refrigerate or can your sauce in a hot water bath.
Savory Corn Pudding
Ingredients
- 36 oz corn canned, frozen, your choice
- 1 stick butter
- 3 Tbl evaporated cane juice or sugar
- 2/3 cup milk
- 4 eggs beaten
- 2 tsp baking powder
- 3 Tbl maple syrup
- 1 Tbl cinnamon
- 3 Tbl butter melted
Instructions
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Heat the stick of butter with the 3 Tbl sugar in a small saucepan until they are melted, stirring occasionally.
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Whisk in the flour into the butter sugar mix until the mixture thickens and then remove the mixture from the heat.
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Gradually add in the milk while whisking slowly.
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Add the eggs and baking powder and whisk well.
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Stir in the corn.
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Butter a 2 quart casserole dish or two bread pans very well.
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Bake at 350° F for 45 minutes or until an inserted knife comes out clean.
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Melt the 3 Tbl butter in the microwave.
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Top the pudding with the maple syrup, cinnamon, and 3 Tbl of melted butter. Bake another 5 minutes.
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Serve hot or cold. Enjoy!
Spicy Cranberry Dip
Ingredients
- 12 oz bag of cranberries
- 1/4 cup green onions chopped fine
- 1/2 cup cilantro chopped fine
- 1-2 small jalapeno pepper seeded and chopped fine
- 1 1/4 cup sugar
- 1/2 tsp cumin
- 3 Tbl lemon juice
- 1/4 tsp salt
Instructions
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Throw all the ingredients except for the green onions and cilantro into a small saucepan and turn the saucepan on medium-low.
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Stir briskly until the sugar is mixed in along with the other ingredients.
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When the mixture starts to bubble turn the temperature to low.
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Stir occasionally so the bottom doesn't burn, until the cranberries burst their skin.
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Let the dip cool to room temperature and mix in the chopped cilantro and green onions.
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Serve with crackers of your choice.
Butternut Squash & Apple Tart
Ingredients
Tart filling
- 1 medium butternut squash baked
- 2 whole apples, honeycrisp or gravenstein sliced thin
- 1/2 purple onion sliced thin
- 2 tsp thyme dried
- 2 Tbl olive oil
- 4 oz goat cheese
- salt to taste
- cracked pepper to taste
- 1 Tbl lemon juice
Tart Crust
- 2 1/2 cups white flour
- 2 tsp salt
- 2 tsp sugar
- 1 cup butter
- 1/4-1/2 cup cold water
Instructions
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Slice the butternut squash lengthwise with a large knife. Scoop out the seeds and dark orange, stringy flesh (thin layer next to seeds) and discard .
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Oil a casserole dish and place the squash flesh side up in the dish. Sprinkle the squash with thyme, rosemary, salt, and pepper. If you like your squash very sweet, dribble about a tablespoon off honey on the squash.
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Bake the squash at 350° F for 45 minutes or until the flesh is fork tender.
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Let the squash cool until you can safley handle it without burning your hands. When the squash is cool, remove the skin and slice the squash thinly, about 1/4" thick. It doesn't matter how large the slices are. Set the slices aside.
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Slice the apples, with skin on, and purple onions thinly. Again it doesn't matter how large the slices are, and set the slices aside. Sprinkle the lemon juice on the apples to keep them from browning.
Tart Crust
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Make the tart crust by whisking the flour, salt, and sugar in a large bowl.
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Use a cheese grater and grate the butter cold from the fridge onto the flour mixture. Toss the butter with your fingers lightly to coat with flour. Use a pastry blender to cut the butter into pea size chunks.
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Add the water, you might not need it all, to the flour/butter mix and mix with a wooden spoon.
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Turn the mixture onto a floured surface and squish into a lumpy ball until everything sticks together.
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Use all the dough and roll it out as large as you can.
Assembling the Tart
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Place the dough onto a large pizza pan and leave the dough spread out. Don't worry if it's not perfectly round. In fact it will look better if it's not round.
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Spread or sprinkle a layer of goat cheese on the bottom of the tart leaving about a 2-3" gap along the edges that will be folded back onto the tart filling.
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Alternate layering apples, squash, onions, and goat cheese until there are at least two layers of each. Again leave the edges of the crust uncovered.
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Fold the edges of the tart crust in towards the center of the pie. That's perfectly fine if there is an uncovered section in the middle.
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Cook the tart at 350 degrees for about 40 minutes until the apples are a bit dry and brown on the edges. Enjoy hot or cold!
Roasted Garlic Mashed Butternut Squash
Here is a good alternative to the traditional mashed potatoes for Thanksgiving dinner. Delicous and easy to make.
Ingredients
- 1 medium butternut squash baked until soft
- 6 cloves garlic roasted
- 3 Tbl butter
- 1 Tbl rosemary dried and ground
- 1 tbl olive oil
- broth to texture
- salt to taste
- pepper to taste
Instructions
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Cut the butternut squash down the middle lengthwise and scoop out the seeds and any stringy parts of the squash. Discard the seeds and strings.
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Place the squash into a lightly oiled casserole dish, flesh side up.
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You can simaltaneously roast the garlic at the same time as the squash. Pull the papery skin off the outside of an entire garlic bulb.
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Slice the tip of the garlic bulb, drizzle with olive oil and wrap in aluminum foil. Place it in the casserole dish with the squash.
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Roast the butternut squash and garlic in the oven at 350°F until the squash is very, very soft, ~ 1 hour. The garlic might be done in about 45 minutes. It will be brown edged and soft.
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Let the squash cool until is cool enought to handle without burning your hands.
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Scoop out the flesh of the squash into a large bowl and discard the skin.
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Add six cloves of the garlic to the squash in the bowl.
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Add the rosemary, salt, pepper, and butter to the squash and garlic.
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Add just enough broth to make your squash as creamy as you'd like. Start with 1/4 cup and squash away with a potato masher or hand mixer adding small amounts of broth until you have the desired consistency.
