While the turkey may be the centrepiece of your meal this weekend’s Thanksgiving dinner wouldn’t be complete without great sides. from the appetizer to the dessert chef Jonathan Collins shares some delicious recipes everyone will enjoy.
Autumn cast iron crisp
Servings for six to eight people
Ingredients for the crisp:
- 500g Pink Lady, Honeycrisp or Courtland Apples – peeled, cored and sliced
- 500g D’Anjou or Bartlett Pears – peeled, cored and sliced
- 3tbsp light or dark brown sugar
- 3tbsp Unsalted Butter
- 1tbsp unbleached all purpose flour
- 1 lemon – zest and juice
- 1tsp ground ginger
- ½ tsp ground allspice
- ¼ tsp ground cloves
- 1tsp sea salt
Instructions:
- In a small bowl combine flour, brown sugar, ginger, allspice, cloves and salt.
- In a large bowl combine apples, pears and lemon juice and zest, toss with spiced mixture.
- Heat a cast iron skillet over medium, add butter, when melted coat the bottom of the pan, reduce to low.
- Add mixture and gently sauté until golden brown and slightly tender, remove from heat.
- Cover with topping, place in 325°F (165°C) convection oven for 30 to 45 minutes or until golden brown.
Ingredients for topping:
- ½ cup pecans – roughly chopped
- ½ cup hazelnuts – roughly chopped
- ½ cup light or dark brown sugar
- ½ cup unbleached all purpose flour
- ½ cup whole oats
- ½ cup unsalted butter – cubed and frozen
- 1tsp ground ginger
- ½ tsp ground allspice
- ¼ tsp ground cloves
- 1tsp flaked sea salt
Ingredients:
- Insert the large metal chopping blade into the large work bowl of the food processor.
- Combine the hazelnuts, brown sugar, flour, ginger, allspice, cloves and salt, pulse until combined.
- Add the butter, pulse until texture becomes the size of peas.
- Add the pecans and oats.
- Pulse three times to combine.
- Refrigerate until use.
Roasted acorn squash soup
Makes eight servings
Ingredients:
- 1 acorn squash – sliced in half and seeded
- 1 cup carrots – peeled and sliced
- 1 cup celery heart – peeled and sliced
- 1 cup yellow onion – peeled and sliced
- 1 cup leek white – peeled and sliced
- 3 pieces of fresh thyme – leaves stripped
- 1 litre chicken or vegetable stock
- 3 tbsp unsalted butter
- 3 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
- Flaked sea salt
- Fresh ground black pepper
Instructions:
- Preheat convection oven 325°F (165°C).
- Combine carrots, celery, onion, leek and thyme in a bowl, toss with olive oil, season with salt and pepper.
- Place squash cut-side upwards on sheet pan, drizzle with olive oil, fill cavity with mixture to overflow.
- Roast for 50-60 minutes or until squash is fork tender and vegetables are golden brown.
- Cool slightly, reserve all juices, scoop out vegetable base and squash flesh into blender, discard skin .
- Add chicken stock, butter and reserved juices, season with salt and pepper, blend until smooth.
- Check seasoning, adding water to reach desired consistency, velvety and smooth.
Brussels sprouts gratin
Ingredients:
- 1 kilogram brussels sprouts – stemmed and sliced in half
- 1 cup panko bread crumbs
- 3 tbsp unsalted butter
- 1 cup 35% cream
- ½ cup gruyère cheese – finely grated
- Flaked sea salt
- Fresh ground black pepper
Instructions:
- Position one rack for baking in the centre of the oven and one rack near the top for broiling.
- Preheat convection oven to 425°F (220°C).
- Combine the breadcrumbs with Gruyère cheese, season with salt and pepper.
- Heat an oven safe pan over medium heat, add butter, when melted coat the bottom of the pan.
- Add Brussels sprouts, season with salt and pepper, sauté until golden brown and tender, remove from heat.
- Pour cream over sprouts, bake in the oven until cream thickens and has reduced by half, seven to 10 minutes.
- Remove the pan from the oven, top with breadcrumb mixture.
- Set oven to broil and place the gratin on the upper rack, broil until golden brown.
