Thanksgiving Archives - My Halal Kitchen

Classic Recipes for Your Thanksgiving Table

by Yvonne Maffei | Nov 21, 2017 | American, By Cuisine, Entertaining, Thanksgiving

America is gearing up for the foodiest of all foodie days of the year, Thanksgiving!! It is by far my favorite foodie holiday, too. The food is always good and real and seasonal, at least that’s the way I grew up experiencing it. It seems like the one time of year everyone puts in so much effort towards the quality of the food and the menu and the sourcing of ingredients. It’s also the holiday that taught me how to really cook. One year my mom just handed me the Williams-Sonoma Guide to Thanksgiving (it was a booklet) and I made just about every recipe in it. From then on, I was in charge of the food and it was magnificent!

I know what some people say about Thanksgiving…it’s loaded with historic context that makes it controversial and I know it’s not an Islamic holiday. I also know that some people just want to spend the day off with their families and eat some really great #halal turkey with other traditional and often times their own ethnic dishes and side dishes. I choose to enjoy the opportunity to celebrate time with my family and enjoy a holiday that is part of my American culture.

When I was growing up, we always had a very Sicilian type of Thanksgiving. Of course there was turkey on the table, but you bet there were also a few trays of lasagna or mastociolli as a side dish and pumpkin pies were found among Sicilian cookies on the dessert table.

That said, everyone has the dinner they want or like, and over the years I’ve come to really appreciate making things from scratch because they taste better and the entire feeling of the day and the dinner seems so much more special by putting in the work to make it both beautiful and delicious.

Let’s start with soup…

Pumpkin Saffron Soup is silky and elegant- perfect for guests who are expecting something other than your run-of-the mill dinner soups. It makes Thanksgiving special.

Pumpkin Saffron Soup

Fig, Pine Nut, Garlic & Herb Stuffing is one of the most flavorful stuffings I’ve ever made for the turkey. Figs are abundant now in the Fall and pine nuts are a bit of a splurge but their nuttiness makes it so worth the addition. Be sure to make your own croutons, too (recipe below).

Fig, Pine Nut, Garlic & Herb Stuffing

Homemade Croutons. Thank me later. Yes, they are worth making homemade.

Homemade Croutons

Now for the turkey. Ah, the BIG bird. Do you really need to make such a huge amount of meat? Yes and no. Yes, if you’re having a large crowd and NO if you’re not- it’s as simple as that. For a small crowd you can go with one large turkey breast that you can roast and slice for 3-4 people.

This recipe below for roasting a chicken, but it’s one you can emulate with a turkey by following the cooking time and temperature for the size of the bird you’ve got on hand. Of course you can also make a chicken instead….but that would be veering way off the turkey day menu now, wouldn’t it?

Classic Roasted Chicken with Seasonal Vegetables

Creamy Mashed Potatoes are one side dish I simply cannot go without on Thanksgiving. And they have to be creamy. That’s why I love this recipe.

Creamy Mashed Potatoes

Homemade Gravy. Don’t skimp on the good stuff- and that means making it with your own turkey’s fat, seriously.

How to Make Gravy

Cranberry Sauce with Apples & Pears. Do.not.skip.this.dish. If you’ve only ever had the canned stuff, you don’t know what the real stuff is supposed to taste like. Once I made it for the first time from scratch (reluctantly and not expecting to like it at all), it became my favorite side dish and one that I cannot fathom not having with the turkey and mashed potatoes. They just go so well together because they’re seasonally growing at the same time.

https://myhalalkitchen.com//cranberry-sauce-apples-pears/

Winter Salad with Cranberries & Nuts. Yes, salad belongs on the Thanksgiving table, and when you add some fresh cranberries it makes all the sense in the world.

https://myhalalkitchen.com//winter-salad-with-cranberries-nuts/

Pumpkin Pie. Just because…and not from the can, please. But if you have to that’s okay as well. Follow the same method.

Pumpkin Pie Not From a Can

For a list of more recipes, check out this new post.

Creamy Mashed Potatoes

by Yvonne Maffei | Nov 28, 2014 | Fall, Potato Dishes, Side Dishes, Thanksgiving, Vegetarian, Winter

I can’t remember the last time we had mashed potatoes from a box. Just the thought of it brings to mind the empty feeling I get from any foods that are simply a semblance of real food. I know it’s convenient, economical and sometimes the only option for people, but perhaps if we looked to our grandparents and those before them and how not everything they made from scratch in their kitchens was difficult, messy and unworthy of our time. In fact, a recipe for mashed potatoes is one of those things that you learn how to make once or twice and you’re good for life. Never be intimidated by the process of boiling, peeling and mixing- and there definitely is no need for fancy gadgets like the one I’ve used below- a simple hand masher will do the trick just as well.

Here goes…

Maybe the most difficult part is peeling the potatoes. If that is too cumbersome, make it a rustic mashed potatoes dish and leave the peels on (just make sure you scrub the surfaces very clean before boiling). I also add a couple parsnips to the mix just because I like the added texture they give to the potatoes, but if you don’t have them or don’t want to use them, just leave them out altogether.

For 3-5 pounds of potatoes, I place peeled and quartered potatoes in a large Dutch oven of salted boiling water and cook on medium-high for about 30 minutes.

Simply stick a knife or fork into the potatoes to test their softness.

Drain immediately and let them cool a bit.

*At this point, you can even leave them in the fridge, covered, overnight and work on the next part when you’re ready. The only difference here is that you should reheat the potatoes (i.e. in the microwave) before making additions and mixing it all together.

Next, either place the potatoes in a large bowl or in your stand mixer (you can do this in parts if you have a large amount here like I did. Add salt and pepper generously but if you’re also going to top with gravy, you may want to hold back a little on the salt.

Next add the sour cream. I use whole milk sour cream, just my preference as any other type makes the potatoes watery, in my opinion.

And the whole milk (for the same reason). I always warm up the milk because I don’t like cold milk in warm potatoes. Also add softened butter, unsalted so you can control the amount of salt overall.

Use the paddle attachment for the stand mixer if you’re using that appliance.

With the stand mixer, you should be able to reach a desired consistency within 30 seconds on medium-high. Always be careful not to over mix, as the potatoes will become gluey.

Top with fresh or dried herbs and/or your favorite recipe for gravy.

Now you can tweak, enjoy, and make it over and over again!

[yumprint-recipe id=’55’]

Roasted Pumpkin

by Yvonne Maffei | Nov 13, 2011 | American, Fall, Latin, Recipes, Side Dishes, Thanksgiving, Vegan, Vegetarian, Winter

If there’s ever one recipe that will help create even more recipes, it’s those for roasted vegetables. I absolutely love to fire up the oven and get my produce seasoned and roasted to eat them as-is, puree them into soups or throw them into stews. You can be as creative as you want to be or simply enjoy them straight out of the oven.

Vegetables with similar roasting times to pumpkin are acorn squash and butternut squash, depending on their sizes, of course. (more…)

Pumpkin Pie Not From a Can

by Yvonne Maffei | Nov 23, 2010 | Dessert, FOOD, Recipes, Thanksgiving

I could eat Pumpkin Pie any time of year. It just so happens that because pumpkins are seasonal in the fall here in the Midwest, I truly crave this exact type of pie at this exact time of the year. I love the smell of fresh pumpkin so I began to steam small pie pumpkins myself, also known as sugar pumpkins. I steamed about three already this fall. (You can find my recipe for steamed pumpkin puree here).

With the freshly steamed pumpkins I made smoothies, soups and of course, pumpkin pie. It’s healthy and nutritious and the smell of it takes me back to my youth, when I never tired of fresh pies made by nearly every single family member this time of year.

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