Fun fact about our CEO and Founder, she's an avid chef. She loves to cook for friends and family, and Thanksgiving is HER holiday. Everything is made from scratch (yes, even the cranberry sauce). She's sharing her three favorite recipes with you to try with your family this Thanksgiving.
2 Loaves Bread Mixture, ripped into small pieces (about 1 in.) - sourdough, crusty Italian, soft bread
1 Onion, diced
3 Celery, diced
1 Shallot, diced
LOTS OF BUTTER
Handful Sage, roll together and cut in chiffonade
Salt and pepper to taste
Bell seasoning
2-3 Cups Chicken stock (homemade it you have it)
Turn oven on to 350F.
Cube all the bread and place on a baking sheet. Toast in the oven until slightly golden.
While the bread toasts and dries out, sauté the onions, celery and shallots in 3 tablespoons of butter. This is the secret to how delicious my stuffing is. Don’t worry it’s the holidays!
Once the vegetables are soft, turn the heat off and add sage, Bell Seasoning, salt and pepper. Next add the chicken stock and bring pan to a simmer, letting all the flavors come together.
When the bread and vegetables are done, mix everything together in a large bowl. Let it cool for about 10 minutes. You may need to add more stock and seasoning - each stuffing is a little different!
Pour the stuffing into your favorite dish, add dollops of butter and bake at 350F until the top is crispy.
Such a simple recipe but when done right is the absolute best! And a great dish to make the day before!
8 Sweet Potatoes
Brown Sugar
Orange Juice
Butter
Heavy Cream
Pecans
Turn oven on to 350F.
Bake sweet potatoes for 30-40 minutes. You may want to test them with a fork or nice to see if they're soft. I like baking my sweet potatoes because I find that the sugar that’s in them allows them to caramelize versus boiling them in a pot.
When the potatoes are done, take them out of the oven and cut in half. Carefully scoop out the insides and put in a big bowl - they'll be very hot so be careful!
In the bowl with the sweet potatoes, add butter, brown sugar, orange juice (trust me!) and heavy cream. Take a whisk or hand mixer and beat them until light, fluffy and smooth. Pour the mixture into a deep pan.
Toast pecans in the oven until fragrant. Remove from oven and chop (careful to watch your fingers and flying pecans!). Sprinkle over the top of the sweet potato mixture.
Sprinkle some brown sugar and butter, then put in oven and bake until the sides begin to bubble.
Turkey
Heavy cream
Chicken stock or broth
Flour
Butter
For some reason the sauces are my thing and gravy is definitely one of them!
Gravy starts before you even put your turkey in the oven. Make sure you cover the bottom of your pan with chicken stock or chicken broth of your choice. You can use this liquid to continually baste your turkey but more importantly you should maintain a certain level of the broth or stock in the pan as the turkey cooks. It will naturally reduce and then natural turkey drippings will add to the incredible flavor of your soon to be gravy.
Once your turkey is done and removed from the oven, let it sit for about 15 minutes covered with foil so that the juices re-distribute throughout the turkey and any drippings that come out will add to the liquid at the bottom of the pan.
Once you have all of your drippings at the bottom of the pan make sure to scrape up any browned bits at the bottom of the pan or on the sides of the pan, as this will add tremendous flavor to your gravy. I generally make the gravy in the same pan but you can transfer it to a sauce pan if you prefer.
I prepare a roux of flour and butter (equal parts butter and flour mixed together until smooth and creamy, rule of thumb is 1 tablespoon per one cup of liquid) depending on how much gravy I have. I whisk the roux into the gravy quickly so there are no lumps. Turn the heat up and allow the gravy to come to a boil and thicken. At the very end I add a little dollop of heavy cream and adjust seasoning if needed. And if I ever have any gravy left over even after leftovers, which I tend to because I make a lot, I use that as the base for my turkey noodle soup which everyone looks forward to a few days later!
