November 22, 2019

Thanksgiving Recipe Round-Up: 30 Recipes for Giving Thanks This Season

November 22, 2019/ TC Martin

By Susan Able & Thomas Martin

We’ve been gathering recipes from top chefs, recipe writers, cookbook authors and fab home cooks for almost 6 (!) years now…and suffice to say, we’ve got some delicious things to try that capture fall and great seasonal ingredients. Enjoy!

Appetizers

1. Flaky Fall Hand Pies

Savory hand pies have traditionally provided a quick, satisfying lunch for fishermen, farmers and other workers too busy—or too far away—to return home for a midday meal. But either of these hand pie recipes (potato-kale or pumpkin) would serve as an excellent starter to your Thanksgiving feast!

2. Minty Lamb Meatballs with Cumin Yogurt Dip

Quick to prepare and easy to share, these minty lamb meatballs pair perfectly with a cumin yogurt dip. Serve them to your guests while you’re wrangling the main dish and sides in the kitchen—but don’t let them get too full!

3. Chicken Liver Mousse

This recipe for chicken liver mousse requires some advanced preparation, but the rich and creamy spread it creates is worth the wait. Spread it on toasted bread or crackers and garnish with herbs, greens, edible flowers—your choices are endless.

4. Peg’s Salt Savory Spiced Nuts

Made with Peg’s Salt, a blended salt seasoning with over twenty spices, this savory nut mix works great as a starter (and as a last-minute stocking stuffer later in the year!). And don’t fret about leftovers; the mix will keep for three weeks in an airtight container.

5. True Blue Maryland Crab Dip

With the end of crab season fast approaching, make this Maryland crab dip while you still can! Grated Gouda and a generous amount of Old Bay make this cheesy flavorful dip a true crowd-pleaser.

6. Winter Squash on Toast

Featuring kaboucha squash and ricotta, this fun starter is easy to prepare and even easier to serve. Simply spread it on slices of golden brown toast and garnish with flaky salt and mint. Voilà!

Mains & Sides

7. Prosciutto-Wrapped Pork Tenderloin

Pork tenderloin is the perfect center course for a smaller Thanksgiving gathering. It’s moist, not too rich, and always pairs well with side dishes. Serve with an expertly paired fennel apple salad to wow your dinner guests!

8. Garlicky Roast Bird

Chicken is much easier to manage in the kitchen than an oversized turkey. What this roast bird lacks in volume, it more than makes up for in flavor and saved cooking time. Give it a try this year!

9. Pumpkin Risotto

As delicious as it is delightful in presentation, pumpkin risotto served in mini pumpkins can be the centerpiece of any holiday gathering. There’s no better way to say goodbye to autumn than with a dish inspired by the season’s most iconic gourd.

10. Harissa Squash & Chicken Stew

Straight from the Edible DC Test Kitchen, this spicy and savory stew is hearty, satisfying, and simple to prepare. Adjust the spice levels to your guests’ liking, and bust out your biggest bowls—they’ll be going back for seconds.

11. White Bean Soup with Chorizo

The Proustian powers of this soup’s strong aroma sends us back to its origins: on the seasonal menu of Rustik Tavern, a now-closed DC restaurant once run by Chef Seth Brady. Luckily for us, Chef Seth shared his recipe, and now we get to enjoy it year after year.

12. Minty Farro Salad with Cucumber & Kale

A delicate and refreshing side, this salad will nevertheless satisfy your guests with its hearty mix of textures and flavors, from cooling mint to salty feta.

13. Eastern Shore-Style Oyster Stew

Oyster stew is a huge family favorite everywhere in the Chesapeake area. This stew recipe from our editor-in-chief and publisher Susan Able originally came from her grandmother’s table—but Susan’s added a few exciting twists.

14. Winter Rosemary Galette with Squash, Goat Cheese, and Prosciutto

Ring in the arrival of the colder months with this savory galette, featuring prosciutto that crisps under the oven’s heat, its natural salty flavor a counterpoint to the taste of fresh celery, all balancing the richness of the seasonal filling. Serve warm with a salad of lightly dressed kale and hearty lettuces.

15. Roasted Squash with Black Lentils

With just a quick roast and the right garnish, a humble squash can become the star of your Thanskgiving celebration. Top it off with lentils and a flavorful zhoug featuring jalapeños and cilantro.

Desserts

16. Cast Iron Campfire Cinnamon Rolls

The aroma of these cinnamon rolls will draw all your invited guests to your door—and maybe a few uninvited ones, too! The dough and filling can be made and rolled up a day or two ahead, so you’ll only need to give the individual rolls a little time to rise before baking. They are best enjoyed with a steaming cup of coffee.

17. Pumpkin Chiffon Pie with Cinnamon Vanilla Cream

This twist on a standard pumpkin pie is made all the more delectable by a garnish of homemade chilled cinnamon vanilla cream. You can use either market pumpkins or canned substitution, if you like.

18. Banana Pudding

Great for individual servings, this banana pudding is smooth, creamy, rich, sweet but not too sweet. Dress them up nicely with whipped cream and caramel, and your guests will be thankful for your attention to detail—and this fantastic dessert.

19. Lemon Meringue Cake

This lemon meringue cake is light and filled with flavor—but it’s not as rich as buttercream! It’s tart and sweet, and is the perfect substitute for a lemon meringue pie. You’ll love it, and while there are several steps, it is all doable for the home baker.

20. Apple Plum Pie

For a tart and sweet accompaniment to the more tradition sweet potato, pecan, and pumpkin pies, try this apple plum pie. Who knew putting these two fall fruits together would taste so good?

21. Peanut Butter Sandwich Cookies

Though they require a few extra steps compared to your standard peanut butter cookie, these peanut butter sandwich cookies feature a creamy filling and are adorably bite-sized.

22. Fiola’s White Chocolate Panettone Bread Pudding

This dessert is complex—but the final product is such a show-stopper for any holiday table. Producing this beauty make take some time, but all the elements may be made in advance and the cakes may be assembled and frozen up to two weeks ahead of your event.

23. Grilled Cinnamon Sugar Apples with Bourbon Whipped Cream

While this dessert comes together quickly, serving requires a bit of patience because the whipped cream will quickly melt if you top the apples while they’re too hot (not the worst thing, but still). Use crisp apples with a sweet and tart flavor balance, such as Honeycrisp or Cortlands.

24. Mini Pumpkin Bundt Cakes with Spiced Pumpin Seeds

These mini pumpkin bundt cakes came to Edible DC from Chef Meredith Tomason, of RareSweets, and feature a stunning bourbon cinnamon glaze. They’re the perfect size to split between two people—if you can get your guests to share them.

Drinks

25. Wadi Rum Cocktail

This cocktail was inspired by a protected tract of land in the southern Jordanian desert called Wadi Rum. Chris Hassaan Francke of Green Zone in Adams Morgan based this recipe on the teas of the region. “And because it’s Wadi Rum, of course, we had to add some rum in there too,” Francke said.

26. Festive Ice Ring for Holiday Punch Bowl

With a simple bundt mold and your favorite fruits, garnishes, and juices, you can create your very own festive ice ring for your holiday punch bowl this year. Freeze for a minimum of six hours, and run warm water along the outside of the pan to help loosen the ring afterwards. Cheers!

27. Winter White Mulled Wine

This mulled wine recipe features a mulling mix from The Spice & Tea Exchange in Alexandria. Be sure to stop in to grab some and make your own spiced wine this Thanksgiving!

28. Fiola’s Holiday Punch

Warming, brisk, fruity and bubbly, this is a sensational punch to start a holiday celebration dinner. This recipe serves six but can be multiplied for larger crowds!

29. A Calming Tonic: 100 Jor Bagh

Rano Singh, the owner of Indian spice store and grocery Pansaari, considers 100 Jor Bagh to be a balancing drink for digestion—all the various ingredients, which are steeped into a tea, have healthy and unique medicinal properties. Perfect for after your post-Thanksgiving nap!

30. Patxaran Gin Fizz

This cocktail originated at DC’s Anxo cidery and has a Spanish twist. It uses a Basque digestif called Patxaran—for a gin fizz cocktail that’s as writer Tim Ebner says, “well-balanced and has the subtle flavors of fall: anise, cinnamon and sloe berry.” A perfect palate cleanser!

November 30, 2018

The Changs Give Thanks Around a Hot Pot

November 30, 2018/ Edible DC

By Lani Furbank, photography by Jennifer Chase

Peter Chang with his wife, Lisa, and his daughter, Lydia.

For one day each year, all of chef Peter Chang’s restaurants close for business.

“Thanksgiving Day is the day we show our staff how grateful we are for their hard work with us to build this brand,” Peter says, with his daughter, Lydia, interpreting. “Taking this day off is a great way to appreciate being in this community, being in this country, that enabled all of this to happen.”

It wasn’t always easy for the Chang family. Growing up, Peter lived an austere, rural life in the Hubei province in China. He rose through the ranks of society when he had the opportunity to attend culinary school and become a master of Sichuan cuisine while working on cruise ships, and then to cook at luxury hotels in China. In 2001, Peter moved to the U.S. to serve as the personal chef to the Chinese ambassador.

After two years at the embassy, Peter and his wife, Lisa, decided they wanted to stay in the U.S. and build a life here for their family and their teenage daughter. To do this required making a discreet exit before his contract ended. So, early one morning, Peter, Lisa and Lydia left the embassy and never returned.

The Changs spend their Thanksgiving holiday with a morning spent skiing and a family hot pot in the evening.

The chef then spent years moving from restaurant to restaurant, covering his tracks whenever he turned too many heads. “The longer he stayed at a place, the less secure he felt about the safety for the family,” Lydia recalls.

During that time, celebrating Thanksgiving was put on the back burner. “Other restaurants used to be open all the time, so that wasn’t a decision made by him; it was the owners or the partners,” Lydia says. “They wanted to open for business, and that basically meant we didn’t get the chance to celebrate—we’d be working.”

As time passed and his reputation grew, Peter found the right business partner and took the risk of opening his first restaurant under his own name. Today, he and his family run a culinary empire with 11 restaurants that stretch from Stamford, Connecticut, to Virginia Beach. Still, every Thanksgiving, they give their staff the day off. “Now we can make the call,” Peter says. “The business will be closed on Thanksgiving because we want to stay with our family … we want to give everyone the day off to embrace Thanksgiving and what it means.”

Over the past several years, the Changs formed their own Thanksgiving tradition with a unique Chinese flavor: a snowy day skiing, followed by a family hot pot. It’s the first chance each season for Peter and Lydia to ski and snowboard, respectively.

Savory meats work perfectly for a hot pot, as do vegetables, seaweed, tofu, dumplings, and noodles.

“In the winter, we either work very hard because it’s the holiday season, the most busy season for restaurants, or we’ll be skiing on the mountain, which is more tiring than work. Can you imagine?” Lydia jokes.

“After a day of skiing, we’ll be exhausted. Nobody wants to spend hours and hours in the kitchen,” Lydia says. Their solution? Packing up a pot of broth and an assortment of ingredients in a cooler that comes with them.

The convivial group of family and friends comes in from the cold and gathers in the kitchen of their Vermont hotel room or rental house. With a portable burner, a pot of broth and an array of meats and vegetables, they are ready for an après-ski feast. “You don’t have to cook anything,” says Lydia. “You can just boil everything in the pot.”

Peter is a carnivore, and goes for strips of beef tenderloin dipped in the broth. Lisa, a seafood lover, cooks pieces of blue crab in the steaming pot and then extracts the meat from its shell. As the vegetarian of the family, Lydia enjoys any type of bean curd, as well as starchy items like Japanese pumpkin. In addition to all the standard ingredients that get dropped into the hot pot, the Changs add a taste of their hometown with a Hubei-style fish cake.

Peter, the Changs’ resident carnivore, adds meat to the hot pot.

“I think the fun in the hot pot is—whether you are having it with new friends or old friends or family members—it’s about sharing, eating from one pot,” Lydia says. Hot pot, like Thanksgiving, is about bringing people together.

For Lisa and Peter, hot pot and other food celebrations are a way to keep their family heritage alive for their daughter while living an ocean away from home. “Throughout my upbringing, they’ve tried their best to connect me to our culture, to our tradition,” Lydia says. “That’s the way of doing it, by embracing this Chinese tradition at home and spending time together.”

“My dad tells me every time, ‘The main reason we stayed here is for you,’” she says. “But I think the successful business is a side perk.” When she asks her dad why he chose to stay, his answer is simple: “The pursuit of happiness. This is the greatest country.”

Embracing American traditions hasn’t erased the pride the Changs feel for their home country, but Peter explains, “Thanksgiving is about being thankful for the family. Do we feel Westernized? We would be eating a turkey if we felt that way,” he says with a grin.

How to Make Your Own Hot Pot Happen

Start with a Rich Broth

The foundation for a great hot pot is the broth, which can take hours. The Changs’ chili oil broth recipe involves a triple chicken stock and lots of heat. Don’t skimp on the time it takes for the chicken stock to reduce.

You can also make a milder broth like mushroom or tomato and have them both boiling simultaneously using a pot that has a divider in the center.

Gather the Ingredients You Like

The beauty of hot pot is that it can be customized to suit your tastes. “When you think of it, it’s not just one dish, it’s the dish that could change into so many forms,” Lydia says. Their skiing group simply stops by the nearest supermarket and grabs whatever they find. “The only thing I would never put in a hot pot is cheese. Everything else is fine,” she adds.

Get the Guests Involved

With the broth made in advance, Lydia says you can have the hot pot ready to enjoy in under 30 minutes with the help of many sous chefs. “If you have a group of 20 people and everyone takes charge of one [ingredient], you can be done in, like, 10 minutes. Everyone is working on something and you enjoy your work.”

Once all the ingredients have been chopped and sliced, they go into the hot pot raw and unseasoned, and the boiling broth does all the work for you.

Use Tools That Will Get the Job Done

All you really need to pull this off is a portable burner, a heatproof bowl or pot and chopsticks. Don’t worry too much about the equipment. Lydia says you can get a gas or induction burner from an Asian supermarket or on Amazon. (Just don’t use a chafing-dish fuel can, as it likely won’t be able to bring the broth to a boil.) “It’s not about procedure. It’s not a ceremony,” Lydia says. “At end of the day, it’s food. It’s how you want to enjoy.”

Pay Attention to Cooking Times

After the broth is at a full boil, each ingredient only needs to stay submerged for a short period of time. “You have to be fast with that,” Lydia says. “You don’t want to overcook it; you don’t want to undercook it.”

There are general rules for the length of time each item should cook, but Lydia says that “the best way to test it is to use your chopsticks. Take it out to see the color; to feel the texture.” It should be firm, but not falling apart.

“The key to making a successful hot pot is not to put everything in and make it a swimming pool of ingredients,” she adds. Cook a few ingredients at a time and monitor how long they are in the broth.

Lydia shared a few guidelines for specific ingredients:

Meat: 30 seconds to 1 minute
Seafood: once it begins to turn color but before it becomes too tough
Mushrooms and seaweed: soak for as long as you’d like
Starchy vegetables: 1 to 2 minutes, but not so long that they dissolve in the broth
Firm tofu: 3 to 4 minutes, enough time for it to absorb the flavor (soft tofu is not ideal for hot pot)
Dumplings and noodles: pre-cook or soak these items and then dip them for 15 to 30 seconds so they can pick up flavor from the broth

Fight for Your Food

Lydia says eating hot pot with a large group can be like war. “You have to fight for the things you put in, but that’s where the fun is. You have to act fast. If you are on your phone for too long or if you are getting away with chatting, then forget about the meal,” she says with a laugh.

Spend Quality Time Together

Eating hot pot is a long process. Lydia says her family is known to spend at least an hour or two at the table, cooking and eating the ingredients. “You are there to enjoy, you are not cooking everything and finishing it at once.”

Gradually cooking and eating is an ideal meal for Peter. “For Chinese people, we love to eat food super hot,” he says.

Beware: Over the course of the meal, the broth will begin to cook away and reduce. Lydia says you can either add hot water or add a clear broth to keep the flavor from being diluted.

Hot Pot 火锅

Serves 4–6

Chili Oil Broth

1 cup red chili oil

4 cups dry chili pepper

5 tablespoons Sichuan peppercorn seed

5 tablespoons finely chopped ginger

5 tablespoons finely chopped garlic

5 tablespoons fermented black beans

1 cup Pi’xian bean paste

10 cups chicken stock

3 tablespoons Sichuan peppercorn oil

1 tablespoon Sichuan peppercorn powder

3 tablespoons sugar

Heat a 3- to 4-quart saucepan until hot, add red chili oil, dry chili pepper, Sichuan peppercorn seed, ginger, garlic, fermented black beans and bean paste.

Stir-fry evenly on medium heat for about 10 minutes.

Pour in chicken stock. Over medium to low heat, cook for another 15 minutes. Drop the Sichuan peppercorn oil, powder and sugar into the boiling pot for 3 more minutes.

Move the pot to a portable gas burner and let the liquid come to a boil. You are now ready to hot pot!

There is no shortage of potential ingredients to use for your next hot pot; see the list below for inspiration.

Suggested ingredients (pictured):

Dumplings

Vermicelli noodles

Pork belly

Sliced beef tenderloin

Beef meatballs (seasoned with soy sauce, mushroom powder, salt)

Shrimp

Scallops

Fishcake

Chinese yam, thinly sliced

Japanese pumpkin, thinly sliced

Beech mushrooms

Wood ear mushrooms

Broccoli, broken into florets

Pea shoots

Firm tofu, in thick slices

Bean curd skin

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