WWD Wednesday: Designer Dishes

WWD gave the inside scoop on how designers spend their thanksgiving cooking their favorite recipes. Incorporate some of these dishes for tomorrow’s festivities and keep it chic while cooking this holiday!

"I bake a lot at home. This recipe, my own, is a way to create a more exciting and sumptuous cookie that, albeit rich, is refreshing after a big Thanksgiving meal. The sweetness of the molasses perfectly marries the heartiness of the sesame seeds."

Spiced Thanksgiving Cookies:

2 cups all-purpose flour

1/4 cup almond flower

2 teaspoons ground ginger

1 teaspoon baking soda

3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon ground cloves

1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/4 cup salted butter

1 cup sugar

1 large egg

½ teaspoon water

1/4 cup molasses

1/4 cup sesame seeds

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Sift all the dry ingredients together. In a larger bowl, mix the sugar and the butter until fluffy. Add the water and molasses. Then add the dry ingredients to form a dough.

Take about a tablespoon-and-a-half of the dough and roll into balls. Slightly flatten with the palm of your hand and place on a tray. Bake for 10 to 15 minutes and allow 5 minutes to cool.

"I make Paul Prudhomme’s corn bread dressing every year. I met him a long time ago in New Orleans and have made the dressing ever since. We have Thanksgiving dinner in the office every year and it has become an office favorite as well."

Nicole’s Corn Bread Dressing: 

1½ pounds turkey, duck or chicken giblets

1 stick plus 2 tablespoons unsalted butter

4 tablespoons margarine

1½ cups finely chopped onions

1½ cups finely chopped green bell peppers

1 cup finely chopped celery

2 tablespoons minced garlic

3 large bay leaves

2 cups basic chicken stock

2 tablespoons Tabasco sauce

10 cups finely crumbled Paul and K’s Corn Bread

2 12-ounce cans evaporated milk

6 eggs, beaten

Seasoning Mix:

1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon salt

1 tablespoon white pepper

2 teaspoons ground red pepper (preferably cayenne)

2 teaspoons black pepper

2 teaspoons dried oregano leaves

1 teaspoon onion powder

1 teaspoon dried thyme leaves

Boil the giblets in water until tender, about 1 hour. Drain the giblets and (preferably) grind or very finely chop them. Thoroughly combine the seasoning mix ingredients in a medium-size bowl and set aside. In a 5½-quart saucepan, heat the butter and margarine over high heat until half melted. Add 1 cup of the onions, 1 cup of the bell peppers, ½ cup of the celery, and the garlic and bay leaves. Sauté about 2 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add the seasoning mix and continue cooking about 5 minutes, stirring and scraping the pan bottom frequently. Stir in the remaining ½ cup onions, ½ cup bell peppers and ½ cup celery, the stock, giblets, and Tabasco. Cook about 5 more minutes, stirring frequently. Remove from heat. Add the corn bread, milk and eggs, stirring well. Spoon the dressing into two greased 13-by-9-inch baking pans (preferably not nonstick types), spreading the mixture evenly in the pans. Bake at 350 degrees until browned on top, 35 to 40 minutes. Remove from oven and discard bay leaves. Serve as desired. Note: Be certain to let the dressing cool, then refrigerate it and chill it well before using it to stuff fowl. Makes about 16 cups.

"For the longest time, we have been making Pommes Anna. It’s a sophisticated French-y take on scalloped potatoes — and part of Julia Child’s repertoire — that makes for a fabulous presentation. It looks like a cake! Thinly mandolined slices of potato (believe me, you’ll need a mandolin) are laid out on a pan along with butter, finished in the oven and then turned out tarte Tatin-style. We follow the Julia’s recipe (with a few practical notes from us)."

Pommes Anna:

4 pounds boiling potatoes, thinly sliced

2 sticks butter, melted

Optional: a few springs of thyme!

Salt and pepper to taste

A touch of finely grated gruyère or parmigiano reggiano. (Our apologies to Julia but this helps with keeping the cake together.)

Blot the potatoes with a paper towel to remove some of the starch. Work fast, as the potato slices start to discolor quickly. No pressure! Preheat oven to 450 degrees.  Clarify the butter (melt and let the white pieces move to the top). Using a basting bulb, squeeze the end of it in the clear butter — use only this, otherwise the potatoes will stick. In a 10-inch cast-iron skillet or other very heavy pan, put in 1/4  cup clarified butter, arrange potato slices around the pan, covering the bottom in a design. Salt and pepper the potato layers, pouring on a bit more butter. Then salt and pepper and arrange the two other layers. Continue layering the potatoes, butter, salt and pepper, until the potatoes are all used. Take a smaller pan with a flat bottom and press down to compress the potatoes into a cake. Put in the oven for 20 minutes. As a precaution, put something under the potatoes to catch any butter that may spatter. Remove from the oven and press down on the potatoes again. Return to the oven for 25 more minutes. Remove to compress the layers again. You can return for 5 more minutes or, if you need to bake something else in the oven, finish the potatoes over the burner on low, until the main dish is cooked. Invert onto plate and cut into wedges.

Read the full article here: http://www.wwd.com/eye/food/thanksgiving-six-ways-designers-dish-on-recipes-7293401?page=3

Happy Thanksgiving!!!