A Very Chicagoist Thanksgiving 2K8

By Chuck Sudo in Food on Nov 25, 2008 4:15PM

The one thing the Chicagoist staff — which hails from all corners of the country — has in common with each other is that we all call the City of Big Shoulders home. It's rare to be able to get us in one place together to catch up on things, bond and just enjoy each other's company, but when we do the stories we tell can go on for days. It's no cliche to say that this current staff is one of the tightest knit groups to grace your computer screen. Speaking for myself, I'm thankful to be associated with such a group of inspiring, talented and dedicated people.

Every year, most of us go back to our families for Thanksgiving, if only for a little while. It doesn't stop us from imagining what might happen if we all got together for Thanksgiving. Tankboy's in the family room working the clickwheels of steel and refusing to high-five Marcus; Rob and Anthony are trying to outdo one another with cocktail recipes; the girls are bonding over racy stories and what Rob and Anthony are mixing; Karl, Prescott and Tim (freed from the shackles of weekend duty) even make appearances; Kevin pops in from wherever the hell he's been to argue politics with new kid on the block Hunter; Marcus' dog Franklin Delano Roosevelt is vainly sniffing my dog Emmylou Harris while Laura's pug is putting Tankboy's beagle in her place; we set up symbolic place settings for Margaret and Rachelle... at the kiddie table.

I'm in the kitchen lost in my own hullaballo, bottle of bourbon hidden from the rest, Merle Haggard and Willie Nelson playing on the sudoPod, hoping like hell the recipes this motley assortment of people gave me turn out. It's a virtual potluck of recipes we like to call "A Very Chicagoist Thanksgiving."

Rob's Brussels Sprouts With Mustard-Caper Butter

Ingredients:

6 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
4 tablespoons thinly sliced fresh chives or minced parsley
2 tablespoons salt-packed capers, well rinsed and finely minced
4 teaspoons Dijon mustard
1 teaspoon minced garlic
kosher salt
2 pounds Brussels sprouts, preferably small

Instructions:

Combine the butter, chives, capers and mustard in a small bowl and mix until smooth. Add garlic and a pinch of salt and stir into the butter. Taste and adjust the seasoning. Bring a large pot of well-salted water to a boil. Cut the Brussels sprouts in half lengthwise, or leave whole if small. Boil or steam until just tender, about 5 minutes, test by piercing with a knife. Drain well and return to the warm pot. Add the flavored butter and stir well. Serves 8 (Recipe can be doubled)

Gilmer Family Refrigerator Rolls

This will make about 12 - 14 large rolls or 3-4 round pans of rolls (Recipe can be doubled to make 6-8 pans of rolls)

2 Pkgs Yeast
2 cups Warm Water
1 cup sugar
2 tsp. salt
1/4 cup Margarine
1 Egg
6 1/2 - 7 cups Bread Flour

Directions:

1. Dissolve yeast in warm water.
2. Add sugar & margarine.
3. Beat egg and add to liquid mixture.
4. Add salt and 3 cups of bread flour. Stir until mixed well. (I use a Kitchen Aid heavy duty mixer)
5. As you add rest of flour, you will eventually have to mix by hand. Knead well for 8-10 minutes.
6. Place in bowl and grease top with shortening to prevent drying out. (I grease sides and bottom of dough as well to prevent dough from drying out.) Cover with towel.
7. Let rise in refrigerator for at least 2 hours or overnight.
8. Shape. Let rise for 2 hours or until doubled in bulk.
9. Bake at 350 degrees for 15 minutes or until golden brown.
10. As rolls cool, rub margarine on top.

Note: These rolls freeze well in Ziploc gallon bags.

Amy Mikel's Brie bites
(A fancy-pants appetizer that is incredibly easy to make.)

Ingredients

Brie
puff pastry - thawed
Jalapeno jelly - whichever flavor or variation is preferred.

Directions

Preheat oven to 365. Roll out puff pastry and cut into 3 inch squares. Place pastry squares into muffin tins and bake for 8-10 minutes or until each pastry begins to puff slighty and is a light golden brown. In the meantime, cut brie into bite-sized cubes. Remove tins from oven and put one brie cube in the center of each puffed pastry square. Bake again until brie cheese is melted. Remove, put a dollop of jelly on the top of each brie bite and serve immediately.

Laura Stolpman's Butternut Squash Soup

1 medium to large butternut squash
1 medium to large onion
1 box of vegetable or chicken stock
1 - 2 medium apples (just about anything other than a Johnathan which is mealy and sucks)
salt and pepper
olive oil
Optional: sour cream, chopped chives, crumbled bacon, dash of hot sauce

Half the butternut squash, clean out the seeds. Drizzle with some olive oil and place inside over at 375 for an hour or until squash is soft. While the squash roasts, slice the onions (just about any way is fine since they are going to be put in the blender), peel and slice the apples and saute both in a little bit of olive oil. When the apples and onions are soft, place in blender and add enough vegetable stock to blend smooth. The mixture should be as thick as you'd like the soup. It will be a white color. Set aside. Scrape the squash from the skin and place in blender with enough stock to blend smooth, also as thick as you'd like the soup. It will be a nice orange color. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Here's the fun part. Heat both mixtures on the stove and when ready to serve, ladle some of the orange butternut squash into a bowl and then slowly ladle in the white onion/apple mixture. It will make a nice white splash of color, making your soup look really nice. Optional toppings: sour cream, chopped chives, crumbled bacon, or a dash of hot sauce.

Pumpkin Risotto by Amy

Ingredients

3 tbsp butter
1 tsp olive oil
1 onion
2 cloves garlic, crushed
6 mushrooms, sliced
2 cups risotto rice
1 cup diced pumpkin or squash
3-4 cups stock, hot
1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese
salt
pepper
parsley (optional)

Directions

Heat butter and oil in medium soup pan. Saute onion and garlic. Add rice and stir until rice is coated; cook for 1-2 minutes, stirring so rice doesnt stick. Lower heat and add pumpkin and mushrooms. Add one cup/ladle of the stock at a time, constantly stirring rice until almost all liquid is absorbed. This should take about 15-20 minutes. After about 10-15 minutes, start sampling the rice to gauge its readiness. Risotto should have a little bit of a bite to it; make sure you don't overcook the rice so that it becomes mushy. After rice is ready, add parmesan cheese, salt and pepper, and parsley. After stirring in the cheese the risotto will have that familiar, thick consistently.

Chorizo and Apple Stuffing by Prescott Carlson

14oz bag herb stuffing
7oz bag cornbread stuffing
1 lb chorizo, casing removed
6 tbsp butter
2 cups chopped onions
2 Golden Delicious apples, peeled, cored, and coarsely chopped
1 cup chopped celery
8 oz crimini mushrooms, sliced
8 oz shiitake mushrooms, stemmed, sliced
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
1/2 cup chopped parsley
2 Tbsp minced fresh sage
4 cups (32 oz) chicken stock

Preheat oven to 325.

Combine stuffing mixes in large bowl. Brown chorizo in large skillet over medium-high heat, breaking up with spoon, until cooked through and crumbly, approx. 6-8 minutes. Transfer sausage with slotted spoon to bowl. Drain off all but approx. 2 Tbsp. grease from pan. At 2 Tbsp. butter, onions, apples,
and celery, saute until tender (approx. 8 minutes). Add to bowl with stuffing/sausage mixture.

Melt 4 Tbsp. butter in skillet, add muchrooms, salt and pepper and cook 5 minutes or until softened. Add to bowl, and slowly drizzle in chicken broth. Toss until evenly moistened. Spoon into large, greased baking dish, cover with foil and bake 30 minutes. Remove foil and bake 15 minutes or until top is browned.

Maple-Glazed Roast Turkey with Mixed Herb Gravy by Chuck via Bon Appetit

Ingredients

Gravy

1/2 c All purpose flour
6 tb (3/4 stick) butter; cut into
5 c Canned low-salt chicken

Turkey

1 14-to-15-pound turkey
6 c Herbed Bread
2 1/2 Tbsp Butter; melted
3 1/2 c Canned low-salt chicken
1/8 tsp Ground ginger
3 Tbsp Minced mixed fresh herbs
1 Tbsp Pure maple syrup

Instructions

For gravy: Toast flour in heavy large skillet over medium-high heat until pale golden (about the color of peanuts), stirring constantly, about 7 minutes. Remove skillet from heat. Add butter and whisk until butter melts and mixture is smooth (mixture will become very dark). Gradually whisk in broth. Bring to boil over medium heat, whisking frequently. Reduce heat; simmer until gravy is reduced to 21/2 cups, about 30 minutes. (Can be made 8 hours ahead. Cover and chill.) For turkey: Preheat oven to 325?F. Rinse turkey inside and out; discard any pieces of fat in neck and main cavity. Pat turkey dry with paper towels. Fill neck cavity loosely with bread dressing. Fold skin over and secure with skewer. Fill main cavity loosely with bread dressing. Place turkey on rack in large roasting pan. Tie turkey legs together to hold shape. Tuck wings under turkey. Brush turkey with 11/2 tablespoons melted butter. Sprinkle turkey with salt and pepper. Pour 1/2 cup broth into roasting pan. Roast turkey 3 hours, basting with pan juices and adding 1/2 cup broth to pan every 30 minutes. Mix maple syrup, ginger and 1 tablespoon melted butter in small bowl; brush mixture over turkey. Continue to roast turkey until thermometer inserted into innermost part of thigh registers 180?F, about 15 minutes longer. Transfer turkey to platter. Tent with foil and let turkey stand 30 minutes. Meanwhile, scrape pan juices and any browned bits from roasting pan into 2-cup measuring cup. Spoon off and discard fat from surface of juices. Add juices to gravy. Add herbs and bring to simmer. Season gravy with salt and pepper.

Harvest Cookies By Jacy

1 c. butter
1/2 c. sugar
2 c. flour
1/4 tsp. salt
Jam for filling (any flavor, we like Stonewall Kitchen varieties)
1 bag of chocolate chips (optional)

Combine butter and sugar until creamy. Add salt and flour until smooth. Roll dough 1/4" inch thick and cut into shapes with cookie cutter. We prefer autumnal ones like leaves, turkeys, or Pilgrim Snoopy. Half of the shapes will be the "bottom" part of the cookie and the other half will be the "top." For the "tops" cut out an additional, smaller shape into the center of the dough, which will allow a portion of the jam to show through. Bake at 375 for 9-10 minutes or until slightly brown. Cool. Spread jam on bottom halves and cover with top halves. If you're feeling it- melt chocolate chips and dip half of cookie into melted chocolate. Place on wax paper to cool.