Cumin carrot "fries"
1 pound carrots cut into sticks
1 tablespoon olive oil
1/2 teaspoon cumin
1/4 teaspoon coarse salt
Pinch smoked paprika
Pinch cayenne pepper
Bake about 30 minutes at 400 degrees
Kathy Chapman loves the following dishes on her Thanksgiving table.
Potato and Celery Root Gratin
Green beans with Garlic and Ham
Maple Glazed Sweet Potatoes and Apples
Roasted Brussels Sprouts with Pecans
Growing up Melissa Goldberg's mother, Mom Rita, never liked traditional gravy. She thought it was to goopey so she created her own way of making gravy out of the vegetables that were roasting under the turkey while it was cooking. It is now one of Melissa's family’s favorite part of the Thanksgiving meal.
Mom Rita's Gravy
Ingredients (For roasting pan)
Celery
Carrots
Parsnips
Garlic 3-8 cloves
Onions
Apple
Chicken Broth
Ingredients (For basting turkey)
Olive Oil
Worcester Sauce
Dijon Mustard
Salt
Pepper
Wash/Peel vegetables and peel/core apple. The amount of veggies all depends on how big your turkey is and therefore how big the roasting pan that the turkey will sit in. I usually make too much and have LOTs of left over gravy.
Cut carrots and parsnips in the half and 3-4 inch pieces. Cut celery in to 3-4 inch pieces. Cut onions into quarters. Cut apple into chunks. Just peel garlic cloves and use whole cloves.
Place all produce in the bottom of a roasting pan. Place a turkey roasting rack on top of veggies. Pour chicken broth over veggies to almost cover veggies.
Wash and dress your turkey. Place in rack.
In a separate bowl, mix olive oil, worcester sauce, dijon mustard, salt and pepper. Use this to periodically baste the turkey. It will, along with the juices of the turkey, drip onto the veggies below.
Once the turkey is done. Remove from oven, and take turkey off the rack and cover. Place all veggies with liquid in a bowl. Use an immersion blender (a blender or Cuisinart can be used but it is usually very hot and hard to transfer) and blend all until there are no big chunks. It will usually be a lot of gravy but you can freeze to use on chicken for a future meal.