Traditions drive most menus on Thanksgiving, so find a dish that you love cooking. Photo credit: Depositphotos via APcca
Adding “love” to a dish is one of those obscure directions that sounds good on a cooking show but in reality is useless. There is no “Love” aisle at the grocery store, and if there is, you’re definitely not at a grocery store. Will your turkey taste better with an abundance of love, or if it’s properly brined and smoked? The latter most likely, but the caveat is if your Thanksgiving cook is willing to inhale clouds of apple wood smoke to achieve a perfect bird, that person probably loves firing up the smoker.
So when the menu is premeditated, and there’s no real love that you can add to a can of cranberries, you have to find a way to work what you love cooking onto the table. With that in mind, The Durango Herald reached out to a few local restaurants and asked what their chefs love cooking for Turkey Day. The answers ranged from desserts to dinner rolls, dips and sides.
Notes: Recipe yields one 9×13-inch pan (about 20 squares), and Carver’s suggests pairing the squares with its Colorado Brown Nut Ale.
Oatmeal Crust
8 oz (2 cups) old-fashioned oats5 oz (1¼ cups) brown sugar, packed5 oz (1¼ sticks) unsalted butter, melted
Instructions:
Preheat oven to 400F.In a large bowl, combine oats, brown sugar, and melted butter. Mix by hand until evenly coated.Press the mixture firmly into the bottom of a greased 9×13-inch baking pan.Bake for 10–12 minutes, until the crust is medium golden brown.Cool slightly while preparing the filling.
In a mixer (or large mixing bowl), combine pumpkin, flour, spices, and brown sugar. Mix until smooth starting in low gear and then going to medium speed.To the pumpkin mixture, add 1/3 of the milk and eggs at a time, mixing until smooth after each addition.Let the mixture rest for at least 30 minutes and then pour over the pre-baked oatmeal crust.Bake at 350F for 40-50 minutes, until the center is set.Cool before cutting into squares. Serve with whipped cream and cinnamon dust.
Gazpacho favorite
“Among the known recipes for Thanksgiving, what our families always keep next to the table is a plate of fresh made tortillas, or a warm bowl of frybread, and a nice pot of chili beans. We keep our teachings passed down generation to generation close to us. From a young age, we were taught how to knead the (tortilla) dough and drop them, watched as they made the chili, teaching us that our attitude will determine how the chili turns out. We remember them because of the memories we made with our families – no matter how long ago they were.”– Chef Aantone Suina
Ska’s Green Chile Smoked Trout Dip with Pinstripe Red Ale Beersalmic reduction
By Chef Shaun Keeney
Notes: Be sure to use quality smoked trout if not smoking your own. Canned trout will not be nearly as tasty. We use medium-hot green chiles at Ska. Use whatever is the favorite in your home. If you’d rather use fresh dill chop it finely and add it in the end along with the chives. This dish pairs best with its namesake: Ska’s Pinstripe Red Ale.
Pinstripe Beersalmic
1 can of Pinstripe Red Ale
24 oz. Balsamic vinegar
Instructions:
Add Pinstripe Red Ale and balsamic to a non-stick pot and bring to a simmer over low heat.Allow to simmer until reduced by slightly more than half. If you like a truly syrupy reduction, allow to continue reducing, checking consistency in 5 minute intervals. Keep in mind, the reduction will tighten as it cools.Transfer from the cooking pot to a bowl allowing the reduction to cool slightly before moving to the refrigerator to cool completely.
Trout Dip
8 oz. smoked trout fillets
8 oz. cream cheese
4 oz. green chile, drained and chopped
1 1/2 tbsp capers
1 tsp dried dill weed
1 tsp paprika
1 lemon, medium sized (for zest and juice)
2 tbsp. fresh chives, finely chopped and 2 tsp. for garnish
Salt and pepper, to taste, if needed
Instructions:
Allow cream cheese to come to room temperature and set up a food processor. Finely chop the chives, reserve 2 tsp for garnish.For a fluffier result, blend the cream cheese for 3 minutes. Once blended to preference, crumble the smoked trout on top and pulse to combine.Add the capers, dried dill, paprika and pulse to combine.Add the zest of the whole lemon and pulse to combine.Taste and add salt, pepper, and lemon juice to taste. Transfer to a mixing bowl and fold in the chives. Transfer to a serving bowl and garnish with Pinstripe beersalmic, reserved chives and a pinch of paprika.
El Moro’s Rosemary Potato Buns
By Chef Sean Maness
Note: These buns can be made a day in advance, simply cover the buns after they have been shaped and place them in the fridge overnight. When it comes time for a second proof, just give them an extra half an hour to account for the chill from the fridge.
500 g. (about 4 cups) bread flour
2 large eggs (1 for egg wash)
260 g. (about 1 3/4 cups) milk
1 medium Russet potato
20 g. (about 1 tbsp) honey
15 g. (3/4 tbsp) Kosher salt
6 g. (1 tsp) dry active yeast
6 tbsp softened, unsalted butter
1/4 cup chopped rosemary
A few cranks of fresh milled black pepper
As needed: Maldon salt or any flaky salt
Instructions:
Peel and chunk up the russet potato, place in a small sauce pot and simmer in water until very tender, about 30 minutes. Strain.Warm the milk to about 80F or until it feels room temperature to the skin. Add the yeast to the milk and prove for about 10 minutes.In the bowl of a stand mixer, combine the milk, yeast, 1 egg, honey, 50 g. of the potato, salt and flour. Knead using the dough hook attachment for about 2 minutes on medium to combine. While the mixer is running, add the butter, a few tablespoons at a time until fully combined. The dough should look shaggy and sticky at this point. Turn the mixer to medium high and continue to knead for another 25 minutes (it’s a long time – I know!) to develop the gluten. The dough will start to pull away from the sides of the bowl. Add the herbs and a few cranks from a black pepper mill, continue to knead until the aromatics are just combined.Turn the dough out into a greased mixing bowl, cover with a tea towel or plastic wrap (or shower cap) and leave in a cozy warm place to proof (I like the oven, turned off, with the light turned on).Once the dough has doubled in size (about an hour and a half) turn out onto a lightly greased surface and cut into about 40 rolls (about 40 g. a piece). Roll each piece into a tight ball and transfer to a greased baking tray or sheet cake pan, preferably spaced about a half inch apart, but it’s OK if they get a little snug. Cover with a tea towel or plastic and let proof until doubled in size, about another hour. (Don’t worry about overproofing, better to be an over- than under-proofed dinner roll.)While the buns proof, pre heat the oven to 350F (presumably you will be using the oven for other things like turkey or yams).Whisk the remaining egg and a splash of water with a fork to make an egg wash, brush the tops of the proofed buns and sprinkle with the flaky sea salt.Bake the buns for about 25 minutes, or until they reach an internal temperature of 180F. They should be a deep brown and smell incredible.Let cool for about half an hour before tearing into them.
