A Very Chicagoist Thanksgiving 2012

By Anthony Todd in Food on Nov 21, 2012 5:00PM

It's Thanksgiving again and, in our virtual offices, Chuck is sweating away in the kitchen while yelling at Samantha to get one more post in, but she's easily distracted by the photos of cute animals she's supposed to be using for a gallery. Anthony, Rob Christopher and Amy are taking inventory of the in wall bar and seeing who can grab the cocktail shaker first. Benjy and Steven fight for the remote and whether the day's entertainment consists of bad football or good movies. Jon and Sarah are putting together a Thanksgiving music mix and look to Tankboy for approval, only he doesn't high five. And Kevin keeps reminding Aaron that the aluminum foil is for cooking and not making hats. (There's never a dull moment in Sim City Chicagoist.)

And here is the menu for our holiday feast.

Amy Cavanaugh
Cavanaugh family holiday dinners begin with a cocktail, and most of my relatives prefer something on the lighter side. This also works well to help balance out heavy dishes.

Pimm's Imperial

Ingredients:
2 oz. Champagne
1.5 oz. Pimm's No. 1
1 oz. simple syrup
2 oz. lemon juice
Garnish: whatever fruit you want, cucumber, mint, etc.

Directions:
1. Fill a cocktail shaker with ice.
2. Add Pimm's, simple syrup and lemon. Shake.
3. Strain into a glass with ice.
4. Top with Champagne.
4. Garnish.

Caroline O'Donovan
My mom made these every Thanksgiving long before she married a guy named Russell, but somehow I feel like the family fandom for the dish and the eventual appearance of my stepdad are related. These sweet potatoes are just shy of being the saccharine, marshmallow-ridden dish with which many Americans are familiar. My ma typically makes two to three times as many as we could possibly eat and freezes them so we can enjoy for weeks afterward. Pro tip: bake and mash potatoes ahead of time to save oven space.

Senator Russel's Sweet Potatoes
3 cups sweet potato pulp
1 cup sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp. vanilla
1/2 cup milk
1/4 cup butter

TOPPING:
1 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup flour
1/2 cup butter
1 cup nuts, chopped (walnuts or pecans)

Boil sweet potatoes with skins. Skin and place in mixing bowl. Add other ingredients and mix with electric mixer. Top with topping and bake for 30 minutes at 350 degrees. Use 9 x 9 inch baking dish.

Lorna Juett
This is a Juett family treasure, and I had to think long and hard about sharing it with the world. It is a bit lengthy, but the discussion of what kind of apple to use is pretty important. Now is NOT the time for honeycrisps, as they are bred more for texture than for flavor.

Without further ado, the Juett Family Applesauce.

6-8 apples, washed and cored (and peeled if no foley mixer)
1/2-3/4 C water
1/2 C sugar
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
1/4 tsp. nutmeg
1/8 tsp. cloves

Place all ingredients into a pan and cook until apples are soft and mushy. (10-15 minutes in a regular pot, or bring a pressure cooker to a regular rock and then cool immediately.) Run the ingredients thru your foley mixer and serve. Or if you don't have a foley mixer, you can stir or smash them, but you better have peeled them before you cooked them!

The kind of apples you use will determine how your applesauce and apple pies and apple crisps turn out, more than any thing else. Granny Smith apples are hard and tart and make good eating and cooking apples. MacIntosh are soft and sweet and make better cooking apples than eating apples cause their texture is borderline mushy. Jonathon, Cortland and Empire are all great eating and cooking apples. They are crisp and a little sweeter than the Granny Smiths, tarter than the MacIntosh. But the ULTIMATE baking and saucing apple for taste is the hard-to-find Northern Spy. Because it is an ugly, late-season apple, and it doesn't store or travel well, they are harder to find. If I can, I use only northern spies in my sauce. If not, I like to use a variety of apples in my applesauce/pies, some tart and some sweet. I also find the mixed, slightly bruised apples from Irv & Shelly's are a great deal, and a great mix for applesauce.

Smell your spices as you decide how much to use, remembering that you can always add more to taste. The best spices are typically freshly ground ones from The Spice House. For such a simple recipe, it's worth getting the fresh stuff. I usually just sprinkle them over the apples before cooking, not bothering to measure, but sticking to the general guidelines of mostly cinnamon, some nutmeg and very little cloves.

We serve this alongside all the savory items for all family holidays. It mingles with all the other goodies on the plate, and even acts like a pre-dessert sweet.

Anthony Todd
It's become almost a game for me and my family. Every year I try to come up with a new way to sneak brussels sprouts (which I love and most people hate) into their lives. So far, I've always managed to make it work. This one is particularly good because the sprouts are sliced; by the time everything is cooked, the haters can't really tell there are even sprouts on the plate. I already published this recipe, which I've been working on for months, but tomorrow is the big day.

Bacon and Brussels Sprout Hash
1 pound brussels sprouts, limp outer leaves peeled off and sliced lengthwise.
1 baking potato, peeled and diced
2 strips of good bacon, diced
2 shallots, diced
1 clove of garlic, diced
Salt and Pepper

In a heavy saute pan, fry the bacon until all of the fat has melted off. Add shallots and garlic for a quick 30-second saute, then toss in the diced potatoes. Cover the pan and let the potatoes cook through, stirring every few minutes to prevent burning. If you need more oil, splash in a tiny bit of olive oil.

Once the potatoes are cooked, remove the cover and add the shredded sprouts. They won't take long to cook in their sliced-up state. After about 3 minutes, salt and pepper to taste and serve. Top with a fried egg if you're really ambitious.

Rob Christopher

When the turkey is *just* about ready to come out of the oven and all the guests are about to start nibbling on their arms out of hunger, we broil up a few plates of these. They have an amazing calming effect - and they also get everyone's palates ready for the decadent feast to follow. Trust us: you will eat every last canape, even if they grow cold (but don't worry, they won't stick around long enough to grow cold). This recipe comes from the kitchen of my partner Andy's mom, who served them for decades.

PARMESAN ONION CANAPES
makes about 36 canapes

1 cup mayonnaise
1 cup finely grated Parmesan cheese
1/2 cup diced onion
1 tablespoon milk
1 loaf sliced cocktail bread (Melba toast rye works best)

Combine mayonnaise, cheese, onion, and milk. Spread on bread, about 2 tablespoons per slice. Place in a single layer on a baking sheet and and broil 4 inches from heat (at 450 degrees) about 2-3 minutes, or until golden and bubbly. Serve immediately.

Melissa Wiley

The big bird!

Juicy Roast Turkey

- 1/4 cup ground mustard
- 2 TBL Worcestershire sauce
- 2 TBL olive oil
- 1/2 tsp white vinegar
- tsp salt
- 1/8 tsp pepper
- 10-12 lb turkey (grass fed)
- 1 medium onion, quartered
- 2 celery ribs, quartered lengthwise
- fresh parsley sprigs
- 1/4 cup butter, softened
- additional olive oil
- cheesecloth
- 2 cups chicken broth
- 1 cup water

Combine first 6 ingredients in a small bowl: stir to form a smooth paste. Brush over inside and outside of the bird. Cover or place in a 2 gallon resealable plastic bag and refrigerate for 1 - 24 hours.

Place the bird on a rack in a large roasting pan. Place the onion, celery, and parsley inside turkey cavity. Lay the bacon across breast. Spread butter between legs and body. Tie drumsticks together. Take a piece of cheesecloth large enough to cover Turkey and soak in olive oil; place over turkey. Pour broth and water into pan.

Bake, uncovered, at 325 degrees for 3 1/2 to 4 hrs., basting frequently. Remove from oven; discard cheesecloth and bacon. Let stand 20min. before carving. Thicken pan juices for gravy.

Happy Thanksgiving, everyone!