Alternative Thanksgiving sides
Thanksgiving, originally celebrated in many cultures as a ‘harvest festival, in North America dates back to the day set aside by Pilgrims to give thanks for their first harvest. Our images of bountiful Thanksgiving tables in the twenty first century have little resemblance to that first gathering, though both tend to focus on food and gathering of friends and family.
Historians continue to argue whether that first Thanksgiving featured turkey on the menu. Today the Thanksgiving menu has assumed an inviolate traditional cast for many families and you disturb it at your peril of offending great aunt Augusta, if the table does not feature string beans and corn pudding dictated by tradition.
It may be foolish to try and temper too much with such basics as turkey and mashed potatoes, but great aunt Augusta may not notice the improved flavor of gravy made with a splash of Madeira and a couple of tablespoons of lemon juice as a finish. Vegetables add color to the Thanksgiving table. Retaining the tradition of corn and beans as a side, make a colorful dish of succotash that is easy to prepare.
Enriched succotash
This recipe is for 4 servings but can easily be scaled up for a larger group.
On medium heat 1 tblsp. olive oil and 1 tblsp. butter in a pan, sauté 2 chopped shallots and ½ diced red pepper for 5 minutes without browning and set aside.
Bring 1 cup chicken broth to boil in a pot, add 2 cups frozen baby lima beans and cook for 10 minutes. Stir in 2 cups frozen corn and the cooked shallots and peppers and cook for an additional 2 minutes. Correct seasoning with salt and pepper, swirl in 1 tblsp. additional butter and serve.
Many families serve creamed onions as a side dish to pair with turkey. An amazing and deeply flavorful alternative is a side dish of balsamic roasted onions.
Balsamic roasted onions
This dish can be made with either red onions or small peeled boiling onions. In a small pot melt 2 tblsp. butter, add 2 tblsp. olive oil, ¼ cup balsamic vinegar, 1 tsp. thyme and 1tsp. salt.
Cut tops off 2 large red onions and peel all but the last outer layer of the peel. Cut each large onion into 6 wedges and dip in the butter-vinegar mix. Place wedges cut side down on an oiled baking dish without touching and bake at 400 degrees for 1 hour, turning the wedges several times during baking. When they start to look dry, sprinkle with HOT water or chicken broth to loosen and glaze. Remove from oven and peel off the outer layer of the skin. The cut sides should be browned. These can be made ahead and reheated briefly in the oven. If using small peeled white onions, make 2 partial cuts in each as to quarter the onion as a chrysanthemum and stand them upright in the pan for baking.
Pumpkin and apple pies are everyone’s standbys for this holiday. A recent exploration of a recipe for a fruit galette came up with a tempting and visually appetizing alternative for my traditional apple pie.
The filling: whisk together ½ cup almond flour, 2 tblsp. flour, ¼ cup sugar, ½ tsp. nutmeg, 1 tsp. cardamom, ½ tsp. salt. Melt 4 tblsp. butter and when slightly cooled, beat into 2 large eggs with 1 tsp. almond extract. Thoroughly mix the eggs with the flour mixture.
Roll out a sheet from 14 oz. thawed puff pastry, place directly on the pan and score a ½ inch border around the edges with a sharp knife, without cutting all the way through. Spread the filling over the pastry within the borders of the ½ inch scored edges. Peel, core and thinly slice 2 large Cortland or other baking apples and layer in slightly overlapping rows over the pastry. Brush apples with 2 tblsp. fresh lemon juice and sprinkle with 2 tblsp. Demerara sugar.
Beat an egg with 1 tsp. water and brush the exposed pastry with the egg wash. Sprinkle edges with slivered almonds and slightly press with your fingers to adhere to the glaze. Bake 40 minutes in a 375-degree preheated oven with the pan in the lower 1/3 of the oven. Reduce temperature to 350 degrees and bake for an additional 20 minutes to deep golden. Remove from oven, allow to cool for 5 minutes and slide on a rack covered with parchment paper. In a small pot melt 1 tblsp. butter with 2 tblsp. honey, stir to blend and brush the top of apples for a moist glaze. Serve warm or at room temperature.
All the temptations of the Thanksgiving table should leave us mindful of Molière who cautioned us in his play The Miser: “One should eat to live, not live to eat”.
(I. Winicov Harrington lives in coastal Maine and is the author of “How to Eat Healthy and Well for Less than $5.00 a Day: the Smart-Frugal Food Plan”; website: www.winicov-harrington.com)
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