Favorite Thanksgiving "side dishes" ??

[Bayou]

OK, what do you think goes great with the bird ?? (excluding dressing & desserts) ??

Mmmm . . . Brussels sprouts with chesnuts, Pennsylvania Dutch potato filling, baby carrots with tarragon butter and three quarts of gravy. Per person, of course! And of course, the traditional Maryland sauerkraut, cooked with apples, onions and caraway seeds.

[cape chef]

Yummy!!!! Mashed Yukon gold and sweet potatoes with brie,bacon and scallions. Brussel sprouts with chesnuts here as well, served in delicata squash cups, Grilled Chippolini onions (instead of creamed)Cranberry/clemintine relish, ( and for only the cooks) A little seared Foie gras with port wine reduction and roast,turned french butter pear

[cape chef]

Oh yeah, I forgot the chilled asparagus and morel panna cotta's And the leek and parsnip Gratin
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I love sauteed brussel sprouts with toasted pecans. They are then put in a casserole with a royal custard just to the top. Top with thin sliced yams, drizzle w/ maple syrup cover and bake till the potatoes are soft and the custard has set. This is far better than you can imagine!

Oh yeah, my 8 year old doesn't share the same love of brussel sprouts we do though he did like this dish last time so this year he chose roasted root veggies.

[This message has been edited by chrose (edited 11-21-2000).]

[UniChef]

creamed onions

[Mezzaluna]

My mom's candied sweet potatoes made with brown sugar and lime juice, reduced to a glossy glaze, swirled with butter. Boy, are they great! My brother in law is cooking, and asked me to prepare a recipe from the Food TV site for a green bean/wild mushroom casserole. The recipe sounds pretty pedestrian (bechamel, cheese, green beans, mushrooms...), but we have a lot of dietary limitations among our family members. No candied sweets, at least not this year.... (sigh).

[momoreg]

Ooooh that sounds good, cape chef:
Brussels sprouts and chestnuts in a delicata squash cup... I'm going to my in-laws for dinner, and I'm sure they're not serving that! One weird thing that they serve on Thanksgiving that I've never seen anywhere else is cornichons! I guess it goes, in an offbeat way.

My favorite stuffing is chestnut, but my mother in law makes a great one with brazil nuts too.

[Bayou]

Reading this thread always makes me hungry ...

I'm interested in learning more about the maryland sauerkrout, sounds yummy.

Being from the deep South - we're looking at sweet potato casseroles with toasted pecans (w/o the marshmellows ) then there's the stacks of bacon-wrapped green beans, Spinach Madeline, oyster dressing, and a light fruit salad.

[cookM]

Originally posted by cape chef:
Yummy!!!! Mashed Yukon gold and sweet potatoes with brie,bacon and scallions.

Oh man, that sounds good! As for me, I like just plain 'ole mashed potatoes made with Yukons and russets. Stuffing made with Acme's foccacia bread. Throw in some roasted veggies (carrot, parsnip, zucchini, and fennel is a fave) and I am a happy woman.

I've no idea where the Maryland sauerkraut connection comes in; I've heard speculation that it's because of the German immigration into the state, but if PA doesn't have it as a traditional sort of T-giving dish, I can't imagine how MD picked it up.

Like a lot of things, there's no formal "recipe." I do mine in a slow-cooker, but it can certainly be done on the stove as well. Start with a large, coarsely chopped onion and melt in 2 T butter. Add a thinly sliced apple (Crispins are nice for this) and let cook with the onion for a bit. Open a 1 lb. bag of kraut; drain it or not, rinse it or not - it depends on how tangy you like it. I don't rinse it. Stir it into the onion/apple mixture, and add about 1 tsp of caraway seed, a stick of cinnamon, 5-6 whole cloves, 10 juniper berries and 2 bay leaves. If you wish, you can sweeten it a bit with some maple syrup. Let it cook on a low heat for a couple of hours.

This can be served as a side, or a boneless pork loin can be added. Actually, we'll serve this on New Year's Day after having cooked fresh kielbasa (Polish sausage) in it for most of the day. It's really pretty wonderful with any pork product cooked in it (chops, smoked sausage, etc.)

Here tis! Thanks MarieO