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.
Happy Thanksgiving!!!
