My Thanksgiving Menu for 2011 – Dinner At Sheila’s

As promised I am posting my menu for this year’s Thanksgiving Feast. Many of the items as you will see are the traditional foods I’ve been serving, at the family’s request for the past 33 years.

Over the years I have slipped in some newer dishes along with the treasured oldies. I have added an interesting salad (like this year), or a soup (a wild mushroom soup, a pumpkin soup, crab bisque), or once I served Coquille Saint Jacques as an appetizer. Last year I served roasted root vegetables as an additional side.

That being said Thanksgiving is not Thanksgiving if certain foods do not appear on our buffet. Among these, Mom’s challah stuffing

Mashed Potatoes (this year I used a food mill, and kept them warm on top of the stove ala Julia Child’s method). Or to make them in advance you could try Mom’s Mashed Potatoes

Sugar-glazed onions (recipe to follow in an upcoming post)

Brussel sprouts (this year, roasted, some years glazed along with the onions)

Candied sweet potatoes (different versions throughout the years, but I love using the yellow fleshed sweet potatoes instead of the orange yams, a tip from my brother-in-law, Bill)

Cranberry Jello Mold, which I made the first time I prepared Thanksgiving dinner…it became my husband’s favorite, and now everyone’s favorite (recipe to follow)

Homemade whole berry cranberry sauce

and Cope’s Corn, a regional dish unique to our ties to growing up in the Pennsylvania Dutch Country. My sister has been preparing it every Thanksgiving for us (recipe to follow).

And now that I’ve acknowledged our family’s traditional dishes, I will share with you my

THANKSGIVING MENU FOR 2011

Cocktails and Nibbles

Rooster Apple Sour cocktail (courtesy Marcus Samuelsson for food Network Magazine)

Ingredients

Makes 1 drink (plus extra apple jam and simple syrup)

For the apple jam and simple syrup:

2 honeycrisp apples
2 cinnamon sticks
½ cup plus 2 tablespoons sugar

For the cocktail:

½ ounce fresh lime juice
2 ounces rye whiskey, preferably Rittenhouse (we couldn’t find this so we used Bulleit Rye American whiskey)
Dried apple slice, for garnish

Directions

Make the apple jam: Peel, core and cube the apples. Combine in a saucepan with the cinnamon sticks and 2 tablespoons sugar; cover and bring to a simmer over medium-low heat. Uncover and cook, stirring occasionally, until soft, about 20 minutes. Let cool.

Meanwhile, make the simple syrup: Combine ½ cup each sugar and water in a saucepan and bring to a boil over medium heat, stirring until the sugar dissolves. Remove from the heat and let cool.

Make the cocktail: Combine 1 teaspoon of the apple jam, ½ ounce simple syrup, the lime juice and whiskey in a cocktail shaker with ice. Shake vigorously and strain into a martini glass. Garnish with a dried apple slice.

HAPPY (Thanksgiving) HOUR

I served these delicious cocktails with the nibbles below a few hours before the meal

*Chilled shrimp with cocktail sauce and Louie sauce for dipping, garnished with parsley and lemon wedges ( I cooked them the day before with lots of salt, a couple bay leaves, whole black peppercorns, parsley and lemon wedges) . Tip:Do not overcook or undersalt the water.) Chill til very ,very cold.

*Crudite platter of celery sticks, red pepper sticks, and cucumber slices

*Smoked Trout Spread

*Assorted crackers and small toasts

*Platter of assorted cheeses and grapes

*Toasted pumpkin seeds, roasted almonds and cashews

*Olives

THE DINNER MENU

Salad of Bibb, Radicchio, and Mache greens with sliced Forelle pears and pomegranate seeds dressed in a white balsamic vinaigrette

Roast Turkey with an apple cider glaze (recipe to follow in an upcoming post)

Gravy

Mom’s challah stuffing

Mashed potatoes

Candied sweet potatoes

Roasted Brussel sprouts

Glazed white and red Cippolini Onions and small white onions

Cranberry sauce

Cranberry Jello mold with apples, mandarin oranges, crushed pineapple and walnuts

Desserts

Pumpkin pie with fresh whipped cream (my sister bakes this every year)

Skillet apple crisp

Pear tart (recipe to follow in an upcoming post)

Sweet potato layer cake with orange cream cheese frosting and garnished with dried cranberries, candied orange peel and walnuts (recipe to follow in an upcoming post)