Well, I guess it’s not an emergency, exactly, but I do need some help from the more culinarily inclined Dopers. The hotel I work at is having a Thanksgiving potluck on the eighteenth. Normally, this wouldn’t be a problem for me at all. When we had potlucks at the call centers I’ve worked at, I’d go to the Epicurious, Food Network, and Williams-Sonoma Web sites to get really yummy, sometimes kind of exotic recipes. I was known for always bringing something tasty and interesting. But for some reason, I’m stumped on this one. I think it’s because I’m really limited on what I can bring. Here are the dishes I can sign up for (and this is taken directly from the sign-up sheet. I doubt I’d ever use the word “taters” of my own volition):
See, when I used to find recipes online, I’d pick unusual or really delicious-sounding ones. I’m sure I can find interesting versions of the items on this list, but I can’t choose anything too offbeat or I’m afraid it won’t be appreciated. Plus, since it’s Thanksgiving, the others are going to want pretty traditional stuff, you know? So I’m looking for versions of the dishes on the list that are different enough to be interesting and really wow my co-workers, but not so different that they’re not recognizable as traditional Thanksgiving foods.
Let me just add that I’ve been awake for well over twenty-four hours now and I’m very spacy. If my post has been repetetive or hasn’t been absolutely clear, I apologize sincerely.
Oh, and someone’s already signed up for “noodles”, so that one’s out of the question.
Is there any chance you can get your hands on the November 2004 issue of Food & Wine? They’ve got some interesting sounding recipes that are still pretty mainstream.
Here are some that seem to meet the categories on your list:
[ul]
[li]Red Skin Potato Mash[/li][li]Sour Cream-Pecan Scones[/li][li]Three-Cranberry Conserve[/li][li]Mixed Greens with Nuts and Dried Fruit[/li][li]White Chocolate Cake with Orange Marmalade Filling[/li][/ul]
I won’t post the recipes here because they’re long and I’m not sure about copyrights, but if you’re interested in any of them just drop me an email.
Not much to work with with that list, but there’s a couple things that come to mind.
Does green bean casserole count as green beans? I realize that’s pretty common, but there are few thing you can do to dress it up. Use cream of celery soup instead of cream of mushroom, not more flavor, but distinctly different. Also a teaspoon or so of soy in the soup adds a little zip.
For the noodles, I make an excellent pasta primavera (I know it’s a spring dish, but just call it noodles and veggies and no one will be the wiser)
Boil some egg noodles, steam some carrots, brocolli and cauliflour is a serperate pan. I like to keep them pretty crispy, but they should be small enough so that each piece can fit in a person’s mouth.
Drain the noodles, let them sit in the colender while you melt some butter (I use a stick) then sautee some fresh garlic in the butter. Add the veggies and let them sit for a second, remove from heat then add the noodles. Add fresh grated parmesan cheese then toss.
I also can make a wonderful 7 layer salad, but I don’t have the recipe handy and I’ve only made it a couple times, not enough to memorize the recipe.
Sweet potatoes (taters, if you insist), or yams, are very easy to bake and then mash. Essentially, bake them as you would bake a big ol’ Idaho spud, then remove the jackets. Mash them up, not with butter, milk, salt and pepper, but with butter, cinnamon, and brown sugar.
I have no idea how many people are going to be participating, but based on the sheer number of dishes, and allowing for the Thanksgiving gluttony factor, anywhere from four to six pounds of yams should do the trick.
Take an 8-ounce bag of crushed pecans, and make a praline topping (half a stick of butter, a quarter cup of brown sugar, and the nuts, all cooked together in a small saucepan). If you want marshmallows on top of the sweet taters, stir the pralines in, and put marshmallows on top, before you put the whole thing into the oven for reheating.
Two quick words about marshmallows. If your reheating appliance is a microwave oven, they won’t brown. My recommendation would be to heat the dish in the microwave, then sprinkle the marshmallows on and toast them with a portable propane torch (I hope you’re using Corningware instead of Tupperware, if you go this way :eek: ). Also, it might be a good idea to remember that marshmallows are not kosher, in case that is a concern to any of your co-workers.
If it matters, there is such an animal as a kosher marshmallow. Check the packages for a circled-U symbol, or look in the kosher section of the supermarket.
For the traditional green bean casserole with the French onion, yada yada…add a package of slivered almonds.
The cook’s best friend, “Joy Of Cooking” has a great recipe for sweet potatoes. They use a sauce made of dried apricots simmered in water until they are mushy, then adding canned pineapple and sugar…cool and refrigerate a day or so in advance. Then you simply pour that mixture (do a LOT more of the sauce than the recipe calls for) over sweet potatoes and bake. You will never use a marshmallow again. BTW, you can also use that sauce on ice cream, French toast, etc. etc.
I know there is always the quandary between having the “traditional” fare at Thanksgiving, and trying something new. Granted…sushi probably wouldn’t go down well, but I think most people are open a few variations on the traditional items - actually, that is sort of the fun part of going to other people’s Thanksgiving parties to see how they can zip up the standards. My advice…screw the list and go with something that might have pumpkin or turkey or whatever - but with the proverbial “twist”. It shows you gave some effort and thought.
I have a good recipe for cranberry sauce that includes real cranberries, orange marmalade and walnuts.
Much better than that jellied crap from a can.
I’ll have to dig it out, but will be more than happy to post it if you’d like.
Just let me know.
The cranberry sauce might be your best bet. As don’t ask pointed out, it doesn’t need reheating. And you can easily bring two varieties–one “traditional” out of the can type that will require no effort on your part and will satisfy those who want that kind of thing, and one new and exciting recipe involving fresh cranberries. (I like those that involve ginger. Yum!)
Slice up equal amounts of sweet potatoes and unpeeled redskin potatoes. Boil till done. Thin whole cranberry sauce with orange juice, heat and pour over potato mixture.
An easy different mixture of traditional T-day foods.
Go for a nice cranberry salad rather than a sauce. I dug around and found a recipe that was a whole lot like my grandma’s last year if you want it. It’s very tart but sweet, and lighter and far nicer than sauce.
Or you could do a nice pumpkin cheesecake. Florasrecipehideout.com has a lovely recipe that tastes a lot like regular pumpkin pie, but is lighter and creamier. I make it to take to work around the holidays, and if I’m really, really lucky, I might get a sliver.
You could also do the rosemary-garlic smashed potatoes from the last issue of Cooks Illustrated. They use red potatoes, just a tiny dash of butter with garlic and rosemary, and cream cheese. Oh, damn, are they good. They’re different enough to be interesting, yet familiar enough to be reassuring, and they survive reheating pretty well. Also, they require pretty much no work or mess at all.
I, and many others I know would consider grean bean cassarole with cream of celery soup a dirty trick, unless it was clearly marked.
Homemade cranberry sauce is easy and fun. I like to make mine with orange too, fresh orance not marmalade, but that does sound good too. The recipe was on the bag of berries last time I made it. A word of warning, cranberries pop when you cook them, so wear clothing when cooking them.
Thanks for all the responses, guys. In addition to the noodles, people have now signed up for the cranberry sauce and the dinner rolls. So I have to choose from the two types of potatoes, green beans, corn, salad, and the desserts. I think I’ll go with a dessert—probably a cake, since that gives me the most creative leeway. Anyone got any killer cake recipes?
That sounds really good. Would you mind emailing me the recipe? If I do decide not to go with the cake, I might make that.
While I don’t have any particulat problem with cream of celery soup, I think this is an apporpriate place to clarify that green bean casserole is only properly made with cream of mushroom soup.
I can’t seem to put my hand to that particular issue just at the moment, but I’ll track it down for you. If you haven’t heard back from me by the end of the week, email me and nag. Make sure you put SDMB in the title, though, or it’ll almost certainly get mistaken for junk mail.
