It's time for a change. You may think that your current Thanksgiving dinner table has everything it needs: the festive little decorations adorning plates of food, a big turkey roasting away in the oven and canned cranberries being mashed to perfection. What else could you possibly need? Well that, my dear friends, is a question that needs to be addressed.
Let's start with the basics: Turkey
Having turkey on Thanksgiving is like getting candy during Halloween, it's expected. Unfortunately, it's quite easy to dry out a turkey and ultimately ruin the main course. Before making additional changes to this essential plate, it's important to learn some tips to keep the turkey juicy and delicious as ever. These tips include buying a fresh turkey instead of a frozen one, brine your turkey, and adding butter. Now that we've moved past the basics, let's spice it up!
-Wrap your turkey in bacon
-Instead of serving a whole turkey, serve BBQ turkey wings
-Deep fry your turkey for extra crunchiness and crispiness
-Try different glazes such as a citrus-based glaze, honey glaze, brown sugar glaze or a herb glaze. The possibilities are endless!
Next up we have...you guessed it, stuffing!
Personally, one of my favorite Thanksgiving sides is stuffing. The richness from the roasted chestnuts and the chewy little bite-sized bread pieces always entice me. I can't help but fill half of my plate with a heaping scoop of stuffing. While I tend to stick to the more basic stuffing recipe, there are plenty of other options you can try.
-Bake the stuffing in a bundt pan to make a stuffing roll
-Add cranberries, apricots, or apples for some sweetness
-Roast your vegetables before adding them in
-Add prosciutto
Mashed potatoes can be quite bland sometimes, but no fear I have some tips to fix that right here!
I will admit, I really do love mashed potatoes and am usually pretty okay with just a pad of butter on top and a sprinkle of salt. However, it doesn't hurt this classic to add a little pizzazz.
-Use red potatoes and leave the skin on for extra texture
-Add a heap of caramelized onions
-Cover with cheese, chives, and a handful of bacon (for an extra kick add hot sauce)
-Replace plain old potatoes with healthy cauliflower, you won't even notice the difference
What would Thanksgiving be without a perfectly prepared pie baking away in the oven?
Whether you're more of a pumpkin pie person or strictly prefer apple pie, it will always be a Thanksgiving staple in my mind. Of course what you choose to put into your pie is up to you, the following suggestions can certainly up your pie game.
-On top of a sweet potato pie, sprinkle a handful of mini marshmallows (or big if you're feelin' extra spunky) and toast to perfection under an oven broiler
-Add holiday shaped pie crust cutouts on top of your filling
-Try a graham cracker, crushed cookie, chocolate, or cinnamon roll pie crust
Last, but certainly not least, we have cranberry sauce
You either love cranberry sauce or you hate it. The bitter, but at the same time sweet sauce, balances out the other salty flavors on your dish in just the right way. I've learned to love this gooey red sauce, but if you still prefer to dump it into the garbage rather than onto your plate, try this:
-Swap the water for red wine to give the cranberries a more intense flavor
-Toast pecans in a brown sugar glaze and mix them into the sauce for a sweeter, crunchier bite
-Add both ground ginger and candied ginger for a spicy twist
If you're still struggling with what to make this Thanksgiving, try reading this.