Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday. I love to cook for our friends whose families are in other countries or other states, putting the turkey in early so that magical smell can waft through the house for as long as possible. My choice for the centerpiece is the Diestel Organic American Heirloom Turkey — Auburn, Black, and American Bronze turkeys dating back to the 19th century. The family-owned, Sonora, Calif.- based farm is the first turkey producer to achieve Regenified Certification, which means they are not only USDA certified organic and pasture raised, but adhere to an ancient framework of holistic land management, which heals farmland rather than leaving it the same or worse. The Organic Heirloom is what turkeys were before factory farms began their cruel practices of raising birds in confined spaces and breeding them for large breasts. If you’re a dark meat lover like me, this is the perfect turkey for your holiday table.
The best mashed potatoes ever
I confess, I could live on mashed potatoes, so naturally, I go all out for Thanksgiving. This is my adaptation of chef Joël Robuchon’s famous pommes purée at his restaurant L’Atelier de Joël Robuchon — this isn’t for every day (it involves several extra steps and loads of butter), but if you want to impress your guests for the holidays, it’s well worth the extra effort. You can lighten them up a bit by cutting down the butter and using 2 percent milk, but they won’t be as luxurious.
You’ll need a couple of specialty tools, but they’re tools I recommend any home cook have: a potato ricer, available at any kitchen store, so the potatoes are fluffy, and a tamis (pronounced tam-ee). Straining the potatoes through a tamis with a silicone paddle is that extra, extra step. If you don’t have a tamis and silicone paddle, a very fine mesh sieve with a dough scraper or a wooden spoon will work. These will work for vegetarian guests who consume dairy, but you can also make them vegan by using unsweetened soy or nut-based creamer (not milk) and a vegan butter substitute such as Trader Joe’s Organic Plant-Based Spread. Again, they won’t be as spectacular, but they will be the best vegan mashed potatoes your vegan guests ever had.
Serves 4–6
4 pounds medium Yukon Gold potatoes, peeled and cut into 2-inch chunks
2 tablespoons kosher sea salt
6 sticks unsalted butter, cold, cut into ½-inch cubes (1½ pounds)
½ cup heavy whipping cream
Put peeled, chunked potatoes in a large stockpot, and add cold water until potatoes are completely covered. Bring to a boil, then lower heat and simmer until a paring knife goes through without much resistance (40 to 50 minutes).
Drain potatoes well, then push them through a ricer into a tall stockpot over low heat and stir vigorously with a wooden spoon to dry them completely (2 to 3 minutes).
Add cubed butter a little at a time and stir until well incorporated. Add the cream and whip potatoes with a wooden spoon. If you want a creamier potato add more cream until desired texture is achieved.
Pass the whipped potatoes through a tamis using a silicone spatula into a large bowl. By now the potatoes will be room temperature.
Rinse and dry the stockpot, add potatoes back to the pot, and set over low heat, stirring constantly until warmed through.
Carrot-rutabaga mash
Serves 4–6
8 medium carrots, peeled and roughly chopped into uniform pieces
2 medium rutabagas, peeled and roughly chopped into pieces the same size as carrots
1 teaspoon kosher salt
8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter
½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
Freshly cracked pepper
Sea salt
Place carrots and rutabagas in a medium stockpot and fill with cold water, about 1 inch above the vegetables. Add salt and bring to a boil. Cook until tender, 45 to 50 minutes (a knife should go through them easily). Remove from heat, drain thoroughly in a colander, return to the pot, and add butter. Smash with a potato masher or in a food processor until mashed (but not puréed — you still want some texture). Season liberally with pepper and a few pinches of sea salt.
Spice-roasted winter squash soup
Serves 4–6
1 butternut squash
1 acorn squash
1 delicata squash
1 tablespoon good quality extra
virgin olive oil
1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
1 tablespoon ground ginger
½ teaspoon ground cardamom
1½ teaspoons light brown sugar
½ teaspoon ground sage
1 teaspoon sea salt (I prefer Jacobsen)
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 medium yellow onion, chopped
6 cups vegetable broth
1 dried bay leaf
3- to 4-inch Parmesan rind (if available)
¹⁄₈ teaspoon pure vanilla extract or maple syrup
3 teaspoons kosher salt
1 teaspoon freshly ground white pepper (you can use black pepper, but your soup will have back specks in it)
2 cups milk (for richer soup, use 1 cup half-and-half or ½ cup heavy cream)
¼ cup per serving of stracciatella (the creamy curd inside burrata; if you can’t find it, use the inside of burrata cheese only)
1 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
Handful of fresh flat-leaf (Italian) parsley, roughly chopped
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Using a large, sharp knife or cleaver, slice off the tops and bottoms of each squash. Cut the butternut squash crosswise, then cut each half lengthwise. Cut the solid pieces (without seeds) into quarters (otherwise they take too long to cook). Scoop out any seeds and discard or compost.
Place the acorn squash on its flat bottom and carefully slice in half. Scoop out the seeds and discard or compost. Cut and seed the delicata squash.
Arrange squash pieces flesh side up on a large baking sheet and drizzle with olive oil. In a small bowl, add the cinnamon, ginger, cardamom, brown sugar, sage, and sea salt, and mix until well combined. Sprinkle the mixture liberally over the squash and massage it into the olive oil-coated pieces. Bake for 45 minutes to an hour or until tender. Remove from oven and set aside to cool.
Heat the butter and oil in a large cast-iron enameled Dutch oven (or heavy stock pot) over medium heat. Add the onion and cook until soft and translucent, about 10 minutes. Scoop the flesh from the squash into the pot. Add stock, bay leaf, Parmesan rind, vanilla extract or maple syrup, salt, and pepper. Cover and simmer over medium-low heat for 30 minutes.
Remove bay leaf and Parmesan rind. For creamy soup, turn off the heat, and use a stick blender to purée the mixture. If desired, add milk, half-and-half or cream, and freshly grated Parmesan cheese; stir until incorporated. Reheat until warmed through.
Place stracciatella in the bottom of each bowl and gently ladle soup over it. Top with more Parmesan cheese, freshly chopped parsley, and a drizzle of your best olive oil.
