Posted Nov 22, 2011
Want to add a little drama to your otherwise relaxing Thanksgiving Day? Show up without that canned green bean casserole with the fried onion thingies on top.
Fireworks will follow for sure, but be forewarned: You might be demoted to bringing the canned cranberry sauce next year — or banished to the kiddie table.
Few things are cemented into Thanksgiving tradition like green bean casserole. When people talk about their holiday feast foods, that soupy concoction always seems to rank right up there with the turkey and mashed potatoes. Sometimes it comes before the mashed potatoes.
Some things in life cannot be explained.
However, all holiday dinner staples — green beans, sweet potatoes, cranberries or stuffing — have delicious alter egos. There are lots of dishes that break with tradition and offer fresh tastes and new versions of our favorites.
Love sweet potatoes? Save them for dessert. Try them mashed in moist mini cakes with creamy caramel sauce and pecans. Not big on the canned cranberry sauce? You will be once you use it to make simple but festive vinaigrette with some basic ingredients — oil and balsamic vinegar, orange juice, and a little salt and sugar.
Stuffing is an easy one to alter. Everyone seems to have her own signature recipe, and if you don’t, the list of ingredients is long enough to tailor one to your own tastes.
For starters, use a variety of breads, like rye, French, plain old white or even cornbread. Then add chopped veggies like celery, carrots and onions. Apples, figs or pears show up in lots of stuffing recipes, as do spices such as sage and fennel.
For even more flavor, use pork sausage or lower-fat turkey sausage.
Then there’s the green bean casserole, or the G.B.C., as Tom Parfitt, culinary specialist with the University of Richmond’s Center for Culinary Arts, has heard it lovingly referred to.
Yes, it’s so popular it’s been given a hip street name.
“It’s just one of those weird casseroles that people love,” he said.
Parfitt admits he’s never had the G.B.C. that many people make, with the canned green beans, canned cream of mushroom soup and crunchy fried onions. He’s not knocking anyone’s tastes, but he said a fresh, healthy version of G.B.C. — using fresh green beans, crispy fried leeks and mushrooms in a homemade sauce — is easier to make than you think.
Getting people to look beyond the traditional dishes can be tough, he said, though he’s encouraged by the masses who are beginning to adopt healthier cooking habits and eating fresh ingredients, even during the holidays.
“The trend is moving toward more local fare and perimeter grocery shopping,” he said, “not down the aisles where all of the bar-code food is.”
Parfitt’s G.B.C. recipe involves cooked fresh green beans, which he puts into a roux of sauteed mushrooms and herbs, flour, chicken stock and half-and-half. He tops the mixture with fried leeks, cheddar cheese and panko breadcrumbs.
But you could always forgo the G.B.C. altogether.
If you’re looking for something completely different, try a celery casserole. Crunchy water chestnuts and slivered almonds are combined with diced celery and mushrooms, then submerged in a homemade white sauce and topped with buttery breadcrumbs and Parmesan cheese.
You still have a warm, satisfying saucy casserole that’s got crunch and substance — and nary a single green bean.
This Thanksgiving, be bold. Buck tradition and Grandma’s wishes and take everyone’s taste buds on a ride by trying something new.
Or at least make room on the table for something new next to the turkey and you-know-what. And keep your rightful seat among the grown-ups.
hprestidge@timesdispatch.com (804) 649-6945
Baby Sweet Potato Cakes with Pecans and Caramel Sauce
Makes 12 to 15 cakes
½ cup butter
1 cup sugar
2 large eggs at room temperature
1¼ cups flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1½ teaspoons vanilla extract
½ teaspoon EACH: salt, ginger and cinnamon
1 15-ounce can sweet potatoes, drained and mashed
1/3 cup buttermilk
½ cup chopped pecans
For sauce:
½ cup butter
¾ cup brown sugar
1 cup heavy cream
½ teaspoon vanilla
Preheat oven to 350 degrees and grease a 12-count muffin tin.
In a large mixing bowl, beat butter and sugar until smooth. Add eggs, one at a time, beating after each.
In a small bowl, combine flour and baking soda. Add half of the flour mixture to butter mixture, and blend, making sure to scrape the sides of the bowl as you go. Add the other half of the flour mixture. Add vanilla, salt and spices, mashed sweet potatoes and buttermilk. Mixture will contain slight chunks of the sweet potatoes.
Spoon mixture into muffin tins, filling each nearly all of the way to the top. Bake for 15 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean. Remove cakes from pan and let cool on a wire rack.
In the meantime, combine butter, brown sugar, cream and vanilla in a saucepan over low-medium heat. Whisk until butter melts and mixture begins to bubble.
Take off heat and let cool for a few minutes.
To serve, sprinkle pecans over cakes and drizzle with caramel sauce.
Adapted from Southern Living
Cranberry Vinaigrette
Makes about 2/3 cup
½ cup canned whole-berry cranberry sauce
¼ cup orange juice
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
1 teaspoon sugar
1 tablespoon peeled, minced fresh ginger
¼ teaspoon salt
Combine all ingredients in a bowl and whisk until ingredients have emulsified. Serve over salad.
Adapted from Cooking Light
Celery Casserole
Makes 4 to 6 servings
3 cups diced celery
¼ cup slivered almonds
½ cup chopped or sliced water chestnuts
1 cup sliced mushrooms
¼ cup PLUS 4 tablespoon butter, divided
3 tablespoons flour (or more to suit)
1 cup chicken broth
¾ cup half-and-half
½ cup breadcrumbs
½ cup grated Parmesan cheese
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter a 9-by-9-inch baking dish or use nonstick cooking spray.
Add celery to a pot on the stove with just enough water to cover and boil until fork tender, about 10 to 15 minutes. Drain and combine with almonds, water chestnuts and mushrooms in the baking dish.
Over low-medium heat, melt ¼ cup plus 1 tablespoon of butter and add flour to make a roux. Add chicken broth and half-and-half and stir. (You can add more flour, by tablespoons, if you’d like a thicker sauce.)
Pour sauce over celery mixture.
Back on the stovetop, melt 3 tablespoons butter with breadcrumbs and blend. Pour breadcrumbs over celery mixture and top with Parmesan cheese.
Bake for 25 minutes.
Adapted from Southern Living
Fig & Almond Stuffing
Makes 10 to 12 servings
1 12-ounce loaf peasant bread, cut into cubes
1½ cups sliced almonds
2 cups figs, stemmed and coarsely chopped
2 tablespoons EACH: chopped sage and parsley
4 tablespoons unsalted butter, plus more for greasing pan
1 onion, finely chopped
3 celery ribs, chopped
2 large carrots, chopped
1 fennel bulb, cored and finely chopped
4 garlic cloves, minced
1 tablespoon fennel seeds, finely chopped
8 large eggs
2½ cups vegetable stock
Salt and fresh ground pepper to taste
Preheat oven to 350 degrees and butter a 9-by-13-inch baking dish.
Spread bread cubes on a large baking sheet and toast for about 15 minutes, stirring once. Spread the almonds on a second baking sheet and toast for 5 minutes, until lightly browned. Transfer the bread and almonds to a large bowl and add the figs, sage and parsley.
In a large skillet, melt the butter. Add onion, celery, carrots, fennel, garlic and fennel seeds and cook over moderate heat, stirring occasionally, until the vegetables are softened, about five minutes. Let cool, then scrape the vegetables into the bowl with the bread mixture. Stir in eggs and stock and season with salt and pepper.
Spread the stuffing mix into the buttered baking dish and cover with foil. Bake 30 minutes, until heated through. Uncover and bake for about 10 to 15 minutes more, until the top is lightly browned. Serve hot.
Adapted from Food & Wine magazine
Fresh G.B.C.
Makes 6 servings
1 pound green beans, washed and ends snipped off
2 leeks, cleaned and cut into thin rings
Canola oil for frying leeks
2 tablespoons butter
8 ounces mushrooms, chopped
½ teaspoon thyme leaves, chopped
2 cloves garlic
2 tablespoons flour
1 cup chicken stock
1 cup half-and-half
Salt and pepper to taste
1 cup cheddar cheese
¼ cup panko breadcrumbs
Heat oven to 400 degrees.
Bring a large pot of water to a boil with several pinches of salt. Add green beans and cook for about 5 minutes, until they turn bright green. Once cooked, drain and rinse the beans until they are cooled. Set aside.
In a medium skillet, add canola oil to a depth of about one inch and heat. Add the leeks and cook until they are crisp. Remove from oil and put onto a paper towel-lined baking sheet. Sprinkle with salt.
Melt butter in a saucepan over medium heat and add mushrooms and thyme. Cook until mushrooms are soft and begin to take on color. Add garlic and cook for a minute or less, being careful not to let garlic burn.
Add flour and cook for about a minute, stirring the whole time. Add stock and half-and-half and stir. Cook for 5 minutes, or until the mixture thickens and no longer tastes of flour, stirring frequently. Season with salt and pepper.
Mix green beans into the mushroom sauce and transfer to a casserole dish. Top with cheese, breadcrumbs and fried leeks. Bake for 10 minutes or until cheese is melted, breadcrumbs are brown and sauce is bubbling.
Tom Parfitt, culinary specialist, University of Richmond’s Center for Culinary Arts
©2011 the Richmond Times-Dispatch (Richmond, Va.)