My 20-dish Friendsgiving (a chill year for me!)
My 20-dish Friendsgiving (a chill year for me!)
I live for Thanksgiving because I can act like I'm on a stuffing-inspired Amazing Race. How about you?
No new podcast episode this week as I’ve been fully immersed in Thanksgiving mode!
Thanksgiving is my day. I think about it all year. It’s my Roman Empire.
Usually, I am one for abundance. At larger family Thanksgiving meals, I go all out, increasing the number of dishes I make each year. (What started in the teens got up to 29 dishes last year. It was getting intense and marathon-esque! I’d fly into town, cook for a solid few days straight, and end with a literal smorgasbord of creative takes on classic dishes that we’d eat for days.)
This year, we stayed put in California, so my plans became centered on a Friendsgiving. And instead of upping to 30 dishes, I curtailed it back to a cool 20, all centered on a theme of non-traditional recipes that rely on classic T-Day flavors—all sourced from some of my favorite cookbook authors. It was no easy task choosing just 20 recipes, and I wanted to share with you what made it to the table this year!
• THE MENU •
Let me break it down for you:
APPS APPS – We started things off with some stuffing-inspired (that is: fennel), warmed olives from Ignacio Mattos’ Estela and an autumnal red pepper-hazelnut-gruyere dip from Odette Williams’ Simple Pasta. With some charcuterie, cheese, herbed nuts, and ice-cold black grapes, I kept apps relatively simple and pre-prepped this year.
SALAD – A fresh salad or two is always a must, and I bought into (gladly)
’s monochrome tendencies with her purple salad from her latest, More Is More. It’s a hearty mix of raddichio, roasted purple sweet potatoes, blood oranges, andpurplebasil, tossed in a tahini-rice vinegar dressing and showered in sesame seeds and flaky salt. A hit at dinner time and also a salad that holds up well for the inevitable leftover parade!THE BIRD – This year’s theme was “non-traditional” so it was a TURKEY: NO day. Instead, we went with a hickory-smoked capon via Schlitz and it was perfect. No brining. No long roast times. And… no need for gravy! It was my first year hosting without a turkey or a gravy and boy did I question it up until the very last second.
STUFFINGS – I always do three stuffings, as it’s inevitably my favorite T-Day item and one variation is never enough. The showstopper this year was
’s genius stuffing mac & cheese—a cornbread stuffing that’s nestled atop a creamy mac and cheese. It crosses categories and we LOVE that! Stuffing No. 2, which was a breakthrough hit this year, was ’s lo mai fan, served sticky rice stuffing style. The Chinese sausage and shiitake mushrooms and the crispy sticky rice worked so well with everything. The final stuffing, from , relied on sourdough chunks crisped up in scallion oil, crispy bacon, and a scallion-black vinegar dressing.STARCHES – No mashed this year (again: “non-traditional”) so I turned to one of my favorite cookbooks of the year, Tenderheart by
, for her hasselback hazelnut gratin. Starting with a homemade hazelnut milk that morphs into a rich hazelnut cream keeps the potatoes moist and tender; crisped sage really brings it into T-Day territory. And for the sweet potatoes: Rahanna Biseret Martinez’ Flavor + US brings us whole roasted sweet potatoes with canela ginger crumble which is a perfect take on the sweet, traditional casserole with fresh ginger.VEGS – For veggies this year, I relied heavily on
: his green beans + crème fraîche dish that I’ve made numerous non-Thanksgiving times (and topped this year with preserved lemons from my abundant tree) along with one from his latest book, Veg-Table: a roasted cauliflower with tomatillo salsa. Nik notes that the cauliflower evokes a classic T-Day stuffing, so it was a shoo-in! And squash got a perfect treatment in Sean Sherman’s maple-glazed acorn squash with toasted pepitas—uber-tender and luscious.SAUCY – This is a menu section that has been staying static for the last few years. Ever since I first made Rick Martinez’s cranberry salsa macha and Samin Nosrat’s fried sage salsa verde, they are staples on my T-Day menu. (I have also made Samin’s cilantro-date chutney and herby fried shallot + bread crumb crunch and both are winners, too!) I’m not a typical cranberry guy, and Thanksgiving really craves acid
CARBS –
’s Dilly Rolls made the table this year and were nice with a herby combound butter based on a Melissa Clark recipe. ’s cornbread butter mochi was a true breakthrough hit; I almost didn’t make the black sesame honey butter to pair and what a grave mistake that would have been!SWEETS + TREATS – Pies are too “traditional” so I stuck to tarts.
’s banana sesame tart was fresh, savory, and right up our collective alley. I could not get my sour cream to whip up, so it became more of a crème anglaise, but was perfect. ’s pumpkin tart with cranberry pomegranate glaze encapsulated all the good Thanksgiving flavors, with a graham cracker crust, a layer of chocolate, a layer of pumpkin, and a tart cran-pom glaze. All the flavors in one bite! To wrap things up perfectly, a little bite of cinnamon toast crunch butter mochi from ended the meal on a nostalgic, bite-sized note.
PHEW, I am tired! The nice part about throwing an early, massive Friendsgiving is that now I’m off-duty on Thursday and just get to be a guest. 🦃
And now, the planning for next year begins.
Let me know… what’s on your menu this year? What are your T-Day staples? Do you make it a challenge or keep it simple?
Brian you are my hero!! Happy holiday to you and enjoy the chill day, you deserve it.
Brian!!! This lineup is amazing, and I am so honored you included the stuffing mac & cheese. Happy Thanksgiving!!