Thanksgiving Menu Guide
In the spirit of getting organized here is a Thanksgiving Menu guide that can help you plan according. Print this list out and add your own notes. Remember that the key to a successful Thanksgiving dinner is organization.
Soups & Starters
Italian Wedding Soup (Tiny Meatballs, Tortellini & Escarole)
Creamy Mushroom Soup (Rich Mushroom Broth With Sliced Mushrooms)
Sweet Potato Kale Soup (Sweet Potatoes, Corn & Peppers Simmered in Broth, Topped With Kale)
Butternut Squash Soup (Sweet Butternut Squash Simmered in a Light Vegetable Broth With Ginger & Mace)
Chicken Stock (Chicken Bones & Fresh Vegetables Simmered For Hours)
Wild Mushroom Strudel (Portabello, Shitake & Button Mushrooms Cooked With Garlic & Herbs Finished With a Mix of Goat, Mozzarella, Gruyere & Cream Cheese Wrapped In a Crispy Puff Pastry Shell
Bacon Wrapped Scallops (Sea Scallops Wrapped in Smoked Bacon)
Sides
Garlicky Greens (Steamed Kale & Chard Seasoned with Roasted Garlic)
Roasted Brussels Sprouts (Roasted Brings Out Their Natural Sweetness)
Green Beans With Almonds (Fresh Green Beans With Sliced Crisp Almonds With a Touch of Tarragon)
Creamed Spinach With Roasted Garlic (Spinach Seasoned With Nutmeg & Tossed With Cream & Garlic)
Roasted Corn Pudding (A Savory American Classic)
Roasted Butternut Squash With Dried Cranberries (Squash, Roasted With Onions & Herbs)
Cornbread Stuffing With Sausage & Spinach (Sausage In Rustic Stuffing)
Traditional New England Stuffing (Moist Bread Stuffing With Herbs & Spices)
Classic Mashed Potatoes (Velvety Smooth Made With Cream & Butter)
Maple Bourbon Sweet Potatoes (Mashed Sweet Potatoes Sweetened With a Bourbon Maple Syrup
Home-style Green Beans (Fresh Green Beans With Cherry Tomatoes)
Apple Fennel Slaw (Granny Smith Apples, Horseradish & Fennel)
Green Salad (Mixed Green Salad With Cider Dressing)
Sweet & Sour Cabbage (Red Cabbage Braised in Duck Fat)
Peas With Pearl Onions (3 Types of Peas With Pearl Onions)
Autumn Vegetable Ragout With Soft Polenta (Vegetables & Polenta)
Roasted Beets With Orange Vinaigrette (Warm Roasted Beets With Orange Dressing)
Celery Root Salad
Warm Spinach Salad With Goat Cheese & Apples
Sweet Potato & Banana Puree
Apple Bacon Cornbread Stuffing
Mashed Potatoes And Parsnips With Crisp Root Vegetable Strips
Roasted Cauliflower And Shallots With Chard & Dukkah
Brussels Sprouts and Wheat Berry Slaw With Smoked Paprika Dressing
Rich Turkey Gravy (Smooth With Deep Roasted Flavor)
Vegan Wild Mushroom Gravy (Deep, Robust Flavor From Wild Mushrooms and a Splash of White Wine)
Organic Cranberry Orange Relish (Organic Whole Berry Relish With Orange & a Touch of Cinnamon)
Brandied Cranberry Sauce With Pecans (Whole Cranberries Cooked With Pecans, Brandy & Sugar)
Main Attraction
Organic Whole Turkey (Brined or Un-brined)
Roast Turkey With Sage Butter
Cherry Glazed Turkey
Turkey Breast
Orange Pecan Cornish Hens
Vegetarian Eggplant Parmesan
Breads
Family Style Cornbread
Parker House Rolls
Boston Brown Bread
Parmesan Garlic Biscuits
Popovers
Desserts
Pumpkin Pie
Apple Pie
Blueberry Pie
Cherry Pie
Pecan Pie
Apple Crumb Pie
Carrot Cake
Pumpkin Cake
Maple Bread Pudding
Cranberry Pear Crisp
Black Mission Fig Tart
Assorted Cookies
Make Ahead Items
Many Thanksgiving dishes or parts of dishes can be made in advance which is a big help. After writing out your menu and shopping lists look to see what can be done ahead of time.
Most soups can be made 1 or 2 days before serving.
Most appetizers (or parts of them) can be made 1 day before serving.
Roux for gravy can be made several hours before using. Just mix butter and flour together, reheat and add stock and pan drippings when time to make gravy.
Vegetables can be chopped 1 or 2 days before using.
Grate cheese or spices 1 to 2 days before using.
Wash, dry, and wrap lettuce in paper towels, and store in a ziplock bag. Place in the refrigerator until ready to toss 1 day before serving.
Most salad dressings can be made 1 to 2 days before serving.
Have turkey as prepped as possible (salted, spiced and rubbed with butter, in its pan) and ready to go in the oven.
Stuffing items such as onions, celery, mushrooms, etc can be cooked 1 day before combining with bread and stuffed into the turkey.
Bread for stuffing can be cut up the day ahead and stored in a paper bag. Dried out bread is the best for stuffing.
Desserts or parts of desserts can often be made 1 to 2 days ahead such as sauces, crusts, pie filings or toppings.
Fruit Essentials
Have you ever come home from the market after purchasing fruit to find that you spent money for nothing? I have plenty of times and it ticks me off every time. Here are some Fruit Essentials that may help you have more fruit shopping success.
Did you know that many plants that are botanically fruits are not sweet? We think of them as vegetables or non-fruits. Avocados, beans, coconuts, corn, cucumbers, eggplants, green peppers, okra, peas, pumpkins, sugar peas, string beans and tomatoes all fall in the fruit category. Some cookbooks make a distinction between fruit, vegetables and fruit vegetables. Fruit vegetables are foods that are botanically fruits, but are most often prepared and served like vegetables. These fruits are considered fruit vegetables: Aubergine, autumn squash, avocado, bitter melon, cantaloupe, chayote, chile, courgette, cucumber, eggplant, gherkin, green bean, green sweet pepper, hot pepper, marrow, muskmelon, okra, olive, pumpkin, red sweet pepper, seedless cucumber, squash, sweet pepper, tomatillo, tomato, watermelon, wax gourd, yellow sweet pepper and zucchini.
Pectin is a substance contained in some fruit which is used for making jams and jellies thicker. High pectin fruits are apples, cranberries, currants, lemons, oranges, plums and quinces. Low pectin fruits are bananas, cherries, grapes, mangos, peaches, pineapples and strawberries.
Low pectin fruits seem to discolor quicker than high pectin fruits ( bananas and eggplants). Lemon juice or vinegar slows the discoloring process. Other fruits and vegetables that discolor quickly are avocados, cauliflower, celery, cherries, figs, Jerusalem artichokes, mushrooms, nectarines, parsnips, peaches, pears, potatoes, rutabaga and yams.
Bruising: When a fruit is bruised the cell walls break down and discoloration begins. The process can be slowed down by refrigeration.
Cleaning: It is important to clean our fruit and vegetables. Rinse fruit in cold running water and scrub as needed before cooking or eating. Soaking fruit in water for more than a few minutes can leach out water soluble vitamins.
Peeling: The fruit skin usually contains a lot of important nutrients, but if you need to peel a thick-skinned fruit cut a small amount of the peel from the top and bottom. Then on a cutting board cut off the peel in strips from top to bottom. A good way to peel thin skinned fruit is to place the fruit in a bowl with boiling water and let stand for about 1 minute. Remove and cool in an ice water bath. You could also spear the fruit with a fork and hold over a gas flame until the skin cracks OR quarter the fruit and peel with a sharp paring knife or potato peeler.
Wax: Oh those beautiful waxed apples that wink at us at the market. They are beautiful because they are waxed. I don’t know about you, but I would rather not eat wax. Wax can be removed from the surface of fruits by washing them with a mild dishwashing soap and then thoroughly rinsing them. This will remove most of the wax, but probably not all of it.
Purchasing Ripe: Purchase these fruits fully ripe: Berries, cherries, citrus, grapes and watermelon. All of the fruits in this list, except berries, can be refrigerated without losing flavor.
Purchasing Not-So-Ripe: Apricots, figs, melons, nectarines, peaches and plums develop more complex flavors after picking. Store these fruits at room temperature until they are as ripe as you would like them.
Refrigeration: You can refrigerate apples,ripe mangos and ripe pears as soon as you get them. Do not refrigerat bananas.
Seasonal Fruit: Winter is the season for citrus. Fall is the season for apples and pears. Late spring is the season for strawberries and pineapples. Summer is perfect for blueberries, melons, peaches and plums.
Washing: Dry fruit with paper towels or kitchen towels and then use a blow dryer on the cool setting to completely dry fruit.
Squeezing: A microwave can be used to get more juice from citrus fruits. Microwave citrus fruits for about 20 seconds before squeezing the fruit for juice.
Passover Menu Ideas
March 25 to April 2
There can be something wonderfully reassuring about sitting down to a dinner so traditional that you will know exactly what to expect. Each family has their own traditions and favorites. They’ve stood the test of time and families look forward to them year after year.
Seder Plate:
Hard Boiled Egg
Shank Bone
Horseradish
Haroset
Parsley Bouquet
Matzoh
Apple & Walnut Haroset
Persian Haroset
Gefilte Fish With Horseradish
Traditional Gefilte Fish With Carrots & Aspic Served With Matzoh
Traditional Chopped Liver
Pickled Herring In Onion & Sour Cream Sauce
Smoked Whitefish Salad
Herring Salad
Crudité of Fresh Raw Vegetables With Dip
Imported Cheese Board Garnished With Fresh Fruit
Chicken Soup With Matzoh Balls
Roasted Salmon
Traditional Brisket With Gravy
Filet of Beef
Roasted Whole Capon With Rosemary & Shallots
Roast Chicken
Free Range Turkey
Whole Boneless Fresh Turkey Breast
Rolled Spit Roasted Turkey Breast
Smoked Fish Platters With Olives, Capers & Lemons
Smoked Salmon Platter
Whole Boneless Large Whitefish
Matzoh Stuffing With Mushrooms & Caramelized Onions
Tzimmes of Sweet Potatoes, Carrots & Butternut Squash
Potato Pancakes With Applesauce
Potato Kugel
Spinach Kugel
Steamed Spring Vegetables With Dill
Herb Roasted Beets
Sautéed Root Vegetables (Turnips, Parsnips, Carrots, Haricots Vert & Wild Mushrooms)
Steamed Asparagus
Glazed Brussels Sprouts & Pearl Onions
Green Beans With Roasted Garlic
Lemon Meringue Cake
Chocolate Torte
Chocolate Almond Cake
Chocolate Glazed Orange Cake
Walnut Date Torte
Cheesecake
Raspberry Filled Yellow Cake
Orange & Lemon Sponge Cake
Sliced Fruit Platter
Fruit Salad
French Macaroons
Coconut Macaroons
Almond Macaroons
Meringue Clouds
Brownies
NOTE: For Baking Desserts Use Almond Flour, Kosher Potato Starch, Matzo Cake Meal or Matzo Meal As Substitutions. Check Recipes To Determine Which Are The Best Substitutions.
