This month, it’s all about giving thanks. Or maybe it’s all about hosting the kind of Thanksgiving dinner that makes your friends and family wild with jealousy over your culinary domination. Either way, I think we can definitely agree on one thing we’re all thankful for: food.
In putting together this Recipe Collection, I tried to bring out the best flavors of traditional Thanksgiving ingredients (turkey, potatoes, pecans, apples, etc.), while still giving each a new little twist. The result? Five dishes that are warm, comforting, and impressively full of flavor while still being straightforward for you, the Kitchen Master, to prepare.
In true Thanksgiving tradition, this Recipe Collection starts with the turkey. But not just any turkey, and not a whole turkey, either. This year, why not make a bone-in turkey breast instead? Cooking the breast on its own is so much easier and less time consuming than roasting an entire turkey, and it’s perfect for smaller dinners or families (like mine!) who are white-meat eaters.
Perhaps the best thing about the recipe I’m giving you, though, is that it’s not just good for Thanksgiving. It’ll quickly become part of your non-holiday menus as well. I mean, I don’t regularly roast whole turkeys during the year, but I sure as hell make this Apple, Honey & Herb Roasted Turkey Breast.
Once you’ve settled on the turkey, it’s time to move to the potatoes, and this year your guests are going to lose their minds when you serve them each their own little Individual Potato Gratin. Did you hear me? INDIVIDUAL POTATO GRATIN! It doesn’t get much fancier than that, guys. The best part of these is that since they’re individual, you can flavor them however you like. My recipe mixes gruyere cheese with garlic and thyme, but you can season them with virtually anything. Love blue cheese? Use blue cheese. Love rosemary? Use rosemary. Want to make different flavors for different guests? You can do that, too! Individual Potato Gratin: making Thanksgiving dinner totally customizable since 2011.
Two down, three to go! I’d like to be able to say that I saved the best for last, but I just can’t wait any longer to tell you about this stuffing. This moist sourdough stuffing that’s loaded with pecans, cranberries, and pears and then soaked in a boozy bourbon bath before being baked to crisp, hot perfection. You know what, actually, I’m not even going to say anything else about this recipe. I mean, did you see the part where it’s infused with bourbon?! Yeah, that.
After you’ve covered the turkey, potatoes, and stuffing, Thanksgiving tends to be a bit of a delicious free-for-all. Some families add sweet potatoes to the mix, others go with bacon-braised brussel sprouts and green salads, others eat cranberry sauce straight from the can. My family? We do Green Bean Casserole. What’s that? You too? Well, apron up, baby, because you’ve never had Green Bean Casserole quite like this. No cream of mushroom soup, no soy sauce, no processed and packaged crispy onions. Nope, this year it’s all from scratch – and it’s surprisingly easy and better than ever.
Finally, to close out the meal, I’m giving you a recipe for Mini Salted Caramel Apple Donuts. Why donuts? Because we’ve all done the pumpkin pie thing and it’s time for something new. Why else? Because I’m pretty sure there’s a law somewhere that says that whoever makes apple cinnamon mini donuts and covers them in gooey caramel and flakes of sea salt totally wins.
So now, I think the only thing left to do is ask you if you’re ready. Ready to rock the eff out of Thanksgiving dinner with these five deliciously perfect recipes. Yes? Then click below to buy the 12-page Recipe Collection, filled with detailed instructions & tips, for only $2.99!
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My mouth is literally watering at all of this deliciousness! I’m a true traditional when it comes to Thanksgiving dinner, and I head to my mother’s without fail every year, but I think this would make an awesome Friendsgiving meal, or a Saturday after Thanksgiving meal. Everything looks amazing. Well done!
Everything looks so good! Just downloaded my copy, and I have one tiny request for future meal-type collections like this: can you include some hints/tricks for how to actually make it AS a meal? As in, be able to serve everything hot all at the same time? With these, if you want to make all 5, you need like 2 hours at 300 and 30 minutes at 350 and 30 minutes at 475 and then back to 400… what on earth do you make first? The turkey? Won’t it be cold by the time you get done with the green beans? If you do the stuffing, I feel like it’ll get soggy by turkey time… help!
Great question, Britt! I’m going to make sure to include notes about this with future meals, but the biggest tip is to do everything in advance as much as possible (get it all ready to go in the oven, etc) so that things are as streamlined as possible. Also, I’m a big fan of re-heating right before I put things on the table, which definitely helps as well!
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