I did the bulk of my grocery shopping this past weekend. Stock and cranberry sauce have been prepped and the turkey is thawed, spatchcocked and dry-brining in the fridge. I’ve got an elaborate schedule for tomorrow morning, with oven time slots planned out for each of the items on our menu, and I’m ready to hit the ground running Thursday morning. Thanksgiving is my favorite day of the year—as an avid home cook, it’s basically my Super Bowl.
But Scott, you might say, I’m not a weird Dad who spends weeks thinking about turkey stock. I’m just a normal person who’s been asked to bring something to Thanksgiving, and I haven’t planned ahead. What can I do?
My friend, you’ve come to the right place.
“I’m just gonna scootch on by you here…”
Today, I’m here to help you pull out some last-minute Thanksgiving tricks.
It’s not Friday, but it’s also the last day of the week for many of us, and so you’re getting this week’s Friday Newsletter two days early. (I’m not about to try writing tomorrow night.) I’m breaking a bit from the normal format, though—there’s no book, music or other entertainment recommendations today. No, today’s all about food and drink, with an eye toward my favorite time for getting things done: the last minute.
Still need one thing to bring to dinner? Your ol’ pal Action Cookbook has got your back.
7) Bring the heat
I love pretty much everything on a traditional Thankgiving table. Turkey, mashed potatoes, stuffing, green bean casserole, gravy, and so on—it’s all terrific. The only thing is—there’s not a lot of contrast in flavors. It’s a spread that can benefit greatly from introducing a little sweetness, acid and spice—and that’s where I mess with a divisive Thanksgiving staple.
I make my cranberry sauce spicy.
If you’re a longtime reader of the ACBN, you might already know what I’m up to here. It bears repeating, though, because I’ve had numerous people tell me what a game-changer it’s been for their Thanksgiving. I make a simple cranberry sauce from scratch on the stovetop. Separately, I cook up some hot peppers. Then, I blend the two together to make a sweet-and-spicy sauce that plays perfectly with the traditional turkey and starchy sides.
I’ve tweaked this over the years—and discovered that cooking outside, if feasible, helps avoid blasting my family with hot-pepper gas—and this is my latest-and-best version.
ACB’s Hot Cranberry Sauce
3-4 large jalapeno peppers, sliced lengthwise, seeded scooped out and then chopped
2 shallots, diced
1-2 tablespoons olive oil
salt
Add the peppers and shallots to a small saucepan with the olive oil, and saute—outdoors if you have the capability, I used the side burner on my grill—for 10-15 minutes, until nicely softened. Allow to cool, then blend the entire mixture into a smooth green paste. Set aside.
(1) 12-ounce bag of fresh cranberries
1 cup dried cherries
juice of two oranges
1/2 cup brown sugar
Add the fresh cranberries, dried cherries, orange juice and brown sugar to a small pot. (It won’t look like enough liquid. It is.) Cook over medium heat, stirring occassionally, until the cranberries begin to pop. Mash them against the side of the pot with a spatula to speed the process—eventually everything will break down into a thick, chunky sauce.
Save half the cranberry sauce for normal people.
Add the rest to the reserved pepper mixture, and blend until smooth.
That all sound like too much work? You can go even lazier!
Skip the sauteing-peppers step and simply find a nice, low-octane hot sauce—the kind you’d pour over food rather than shaking, if that makes sense, and swap it in.
You’re braver than me if you’re willing to go to a Trader Joe’s on the day before Thanksgiving, but this stuff is actually really close to the puree I make:
I suspect it would also play really well with gochujang or canned chipotles in adobo, but I haven’t tested those theories. If you do, let me know!
6) Be a hero, bring an appetizer
I’m repeating another previous ACBN recipe here, but it’s one that went over terrifically well the first time I published it. It’s perfect for tonight—no one thinks about what to serve Wednesday night—or to fill in if you’re going to a Thanksgiving where the turkey always comes out late.
What we’re going to do is bake spinach-artichoke dip—a perennial party favorite—right into crescent rolls, making for a delightful handheld afternoon snack.
Spinach-Artichoke Rolls (Makes 24)
olive oil or cooking spray
6 ounces fresh spinach
3 cloves garlic, finely chopped.
8 ounces marinated artichoke hearts, chopped into small chunks
8 ounces whipped cream cheese
1 teaspoon prepared horseradish (optional, but recommended)
(3) 8-ounce tubes Pillsbury Original Crescent Rolls
8 ounces shredded (not grated) Parmesan cheese
Preheat the oven to 350F.
Heat a small amount of oil or cooking spray in a pan over medium heat, and add the spinach, tossing to coat. Cook until the spinach has fully wilted and softened, adding the chopped garlic about halfway through the process.
Remove the spinach to a cutting board, chop finely, and allow to cool.
In a mixing bowl, add the chopped artichokes, cooled chopped spinach and garlic, prepared horseradish (if using), half of the shredded parmesan cheese, and all of the cream cheese. Fold with a spatula until the spinach, artichokes and cheese are well-distributed throughout the cream cheese.
Remove the crescent rolls from their tube, and unroll each triangle of dough. Place a heaping tablespoon of the cream cheese mixture onto the wide part of the triangle, then roll it up inside the roll. This is what it should look like before rolling:
Repeat until you’ve got enough to fill a foil-lined sheet pan—you may need to do this in several batches if you’re making a full recipe—then sprinkle the tops of each roll with the remaining shredded cheese.
Bake at 350F for 13-16 minutes, or until the outside appears nicely browned but not burnt.
Pop them out, and boom: you’ve got a tray full of perfect little packages to hold everyone over until the turkey’s finally ready.
5) No, that’s too complicated. I need an appetizer that has two ingredients, or maybe three if it’s fancy.
I’ve got you. I’m going deep in the ACBN archives for this, with a trick I pulled out for the Super Bowl nearly four years ago.
