PITTSBURGH magazine Reader Recipes
With every gathering comes a unique Thanksgiving table. What foods define Thanksgiving dinner for you and your loved ones? Below are favorite recipes, shared by our readers. To share your own, click here.
Roasted Autumn Vegatables
Patty Gallagher, Regent Square
My husband's Irish mother would make him a variety on the mashed potato, using root vegetables. We found a recipe that we modified for our own tastes that we have added to our Thanksgiving repertoire this year:
Roasted Autumn Vegetables
Ingredients:
8 Tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
2 Large Sweet Potatoes or Yams, scrubbed, peeled and cut into rounds 1/2 inch thick
4 Large Carrots, peeled and thickly sliced on the diagonal
4 Large Parsnips, peeled and cut into rounds 1/2 inch thick
2-3 Medium Turnips, peeled and cut into 1/2 inch thick chunks
3 Tablespoons Honey
Salt & Freshly Ground Pepper, to taste
3 Tablespoons fresh lemon juice
Instructions:
Preheat the overn to 425 degrees Using 2 Tablespoons of the melted butter, grease a roasting pan just large enough to hold the vegetables comfortably. Arrange the vegetables in the prepared pan. Toss the vegetables with the remaining 6 Tablespoons melted butter. Drizzle with the Honey. Sprinkle with the salt and pepper. Roast the vegetables, turning twice until tender for about 1 hour. Variety - mash the vegetables after roasting.
Whipped Chipotle Sweet Potatoes
Annie Trimble, Mt. Lebanon
My family loves sweet potatoes, but I hate adding marshmallows--these wonderful tubers are sweet enough as is. My Whipped Chipotle Sweet Potatoes are always on my Thanksgivng table. Simply bake the sweet potatoes until tender, scoop out the flesh, add butter and chipotle puree to taste. Bake 20 minutes, and you're done!
Pumpkin Ravioli with Sage Butter Sauce
Chris Fennimore, PITTSBURGH magazine, November 2006
Ingredients:
Filling
1 1/2 cups cooked or canned pumpkin
1/2 cup grated parmigiano reggiano cheese
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
1/8 teaspoon pepper
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 egg yolk
Ravioli Dough
2 cups flour
1 teaspoon salt
2 eggs and 1 egg white
2 to 4 tablespoons water (if needed)
10 sage leaves
1 stick butter
Instructions:
Combine filling ingredients; keep refrigerated until needed. Put flour, salt and eggs into bowl of food processor. Turn on processor and drizzle in water slowly just until dough forms. Remove from machine and knead dough into ball. Cover with plastic wrap; allow to rest at least 1 hour. Cut dough into 4 pieces. Roll each ball into 4-by-12-inch sheet. Place tablespoons of filling at 1-inch intervals about 1/4 inch from edge of long side. Moisten dough around each mound of filling with a little water. Fold dough to cover filling; push out excess air. Cut between each mound with ravioli cutter. Crimp edges with a fork; set aside on floured tray. Drop into boiling, salted water. When water comes back to a boil, reduce heat and simmer 4 minutes until tender.
Meanwhile, melt butter in large saute pan over medium heat. Fry sage leaves while ravioli boil. Drain ravioli and toss gently with sage butter. Serve with additional grated cheese.
Makes 48 ravioli.
Pumpkin Pie with Cranberry-Pecan Streusel Topping
Chris Fennimore, PITTSBURGH magazine, November 2006
Ingredients:
Filling
2 eggs
3/4 cup white sugar
1 (15 ounce) can pumpkin
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ginger
1/4 teaspoon cloves
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 (12 ounce) can evaporated milk
Streusel
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup pecans
1/2 cup dried cranberries
2 tablespoons butter
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
Instructions:
Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Beat eggs in large bowl. Mix in sugar, pumpkin, spices, salt and evaporated milk. Pour into unbaked pie shell. Bake 10 minutes; reduce heat to 350 degrees and bake another 30 minutes. As pie bakes, combine streusel ingredients into bowl of food processor; pulse until crumbly mixture forms. Sprinkle streusel on top of pie. Return to oven for another 10 minutes or until custard is set and streusel is lightly browned.
Thanksgiving Poussin
Chris Fennimore, PITTSBURGH magazine, November 2004
Ingredients:
6 poussin, 1 to 11/2 pounds each,
rinsed and dried thoroughly
1 lemon
salt and pepper
1 stick butter, melted
3 cups cornbread stuffing
Cornbread Stuffing:
1/2 pound breakfast sausage
1 large onion, chopped
1 large Granny Smith apple, peeled, cored and chopped
3 tablespoons butter
1/2 teaspoon ground sage or poultry seasoning
3 cups cornbread stuffing
1/2 cup chopped pecans
1 cup chicken stock
Cranberry Orange Relish:
4 cups cranberries
1 large navel orange
(including peel and pulp)
1 cup sugar
1 can crushed pineapple, drained
Instructions:
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Rub the outside of each poussin with the lemon
and season inside and out with salt and pepper. Fill each bird loosely with
3/4 cup of the stuffing and secure the legs with twine. Baste with the melted
butter and roast for 20 minutes. Reduce heat to 350 degrees and tent with
foil for the next 20 minutes. Remove the foil, brush again with butter and
allow to cook until the skin is crispy and the internal temperature is 170
degrees.
Cornbread Stuffing:
Brown the sausage in a large skillet, breaking the meat into small pieces. Remove from the pan and drain the excess fat. Add the butter to the pan and cook the onion until soft. Add the apples and cook until they begin to soften. Return the sausage to the pan along with the chicken stock and use a wooden spoon to scrape the flavorful bits from the bottom of the pan. Add the cornbread and pecans and toss until well mixed and moistened. Poussin are young chickens that weigh between 1 and 11/2 pounds. Order them through your butcher or substitute small Cornish game hens, which are the next size up.
Cranberry Orange Relish:
Place cranberries and orange in a meat grinder or food processor and mix until finely chopped but not pureed. Stir in the sugar and crushed pineapple. Cover and refrigerate at least 3 hours or overnight.
Turkey Croquettes
Chris Fennimore, PITTSBURGH magazine, November 2001
Ingredients:
2 c. cooked turkey
1 c. stuffing
1 c. gravy
1 egg beaten with the juice of 1 lemon
1/2 c. bread crumbs
Leftover cranberry sauce
Instructions:
Put the turkey, gravy and stuffing into the bowl of a food processor and pulse until the mixture is still coarse but well-blended. Measure out 1/3 cup of the mixture and roll it into a ball. Dip the ball first in the egg and then roll in the bread crumbs.
Roll each croquette gently between your palms into the traditional cone shape and place on a greased 9x13-inch baking dish. Bake at 350° for 30 minutes or until golden-brown.
Heat the cranberry sauce on the stove or in the microwave and serve on the side as a sauce.
Makes 9-10 croquettes.
Turkey Carcass Soup
Chris Fennimore, PITTSBURGH magazine, November 2001
Instructions:
After removing all the meat from the bones, cut or pull the carcass into pieces and add with the leg and wing bones to a crockpot. Cover with water and add 1 bay leaf and several whole peppercorns. Do not add salt at this time.
Turn on high and cook overnight. In the morning, turn off the heat and allow to cool slightly.
Strain through cheesecloth and discard the bones. Allow the stock to cool completely and then refrigerate for at least an hour. Remove the fat from the top of the broth.
Use the broth with any combination of vegetables, rice or noodles, along with some of the reserved turkey. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
Serves 6.
Stuffed Turkey Breast
Chris Fennimore, PITTSBURGH magazine, November 1999
Ingredients:
1 lb. ground pork
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter
1 cup onion, chopped
2 cup apples, peeled and diced
2 cup corn bread, cubed
1/2 cup pecans, lightly toasted
1 Tbs. poultry seasoning
1 tsp. salt
6 lb. whole turkey breast
Instructions:
In a large skillet over medium high heat, saute the pork until well-browned. Remove to a strainer to drain the fat.
Melt the butter in the same skillet and sweat the onions over medium heat until tender.
Add the apples and stir until they begin to have rounded edges.
Add the pork, bread, nuts and seasonings and stir well. (If you use dried bread cubes, you'll need to add about 1/2 cup of chicken or turkey stock to moisten.) Set aside to cool.
Take the skin from a whole turkey breast, trim the fatty parts, cut in half and set aside. Use a sharp boning knife to remove the meat, starting at the top and carefully working your way down the rib bones. Repeat on the other side.
Lay one of the boned breasts with the cut side up on your work surface. Trim the large sinew from the tenderloin and turn that piece over to extend and flatten the breast. Butterfly the thickest part and spread that out.
Place the turkey on one sheet of plastic wrap and cover with another. Then, using a mallet or rolling pin, pound the meat until it is approximately 1/4-inch thick.
Remove the top plastic sheet. Divide the stuffing in half, and spread it on the flattened breast, leaving a border about 11/2 inches wide on three sides.
Starting from the unbordered edge, roll up the meat; pull the bottom piece of plastic wrap to help you roll it into a thick log.
Take one-half of the skin and drape it over the roast.
Secure the whole thing with several loops of kitchen twine.
Baste with melted butter and roast on a rack at 350 degrees for 40 minutes or until the skin is crispy and the internal temperature measures 170 degrees.
Prepare the second breast and wrap it securely in plastic. Throw it into the freezer for a repeat performance with no effort.
One serves 4.