RECIPES: Thanksgiving’s supporting players

These Thanksgiving-worthy recipes for a salad, cranberry sauce, casserole, dressing and dessert are ones that the AJC’s food writers have fed to friends and family for years. Happy Thanksgiving, from our table to yours.

Credit: Chris Hunt

Credit: Chris Hunt

Iris’s Celery Root, Apple, and Hazelnut Salad

Early in my newspaper career while working at the Plain Dealer in Cleveland, Ohio, some food-loving friends and I started a “Friendsgiving” tradition that lasted even after most of us had left for other cities. Our ambitions often exceeded our culinary skills — sometimes with hilariously disastrous results. Then Iris Broudy Bailin, an amazing private chef and crusader for local produce, joined our gang and agreed to host the feast. Besides tending the turkey, she introduced us to some vegetable sides inspired by her farmer friends and travels abroad. One was her celeriac (or celery root) salad, based on a French bistro classic in which the gnarly root is shredded, tossed in a mustardy, remoulade-like dressing, and embellished with other fall flavors. I will be thinking of her and those Cleveland get-togethers when I make it for visiting family this Thanksgiving. — Susan Puckett

Credit: Chris Hunt

Credit: Chris Hunt

Cheesy Squash Casserole

I’ve been taking squash casserole to holiday potlucks for decades, though I’ve tweaked the recipe over the years — for the better, I think. Where I once used a can of cream of mushroom or celery soup, I now season the veggies with aromatics and let the cheese, egg and sour cream do the binding. I somehow got the idea of decorating the dish with sliced peppers in colors appropriate to the season (yellow and orange for Thanksgiving, red and green for Christmas), and people seem to love it. Recently, I added mushrooms and leeks, and it was delicious, though not traditional. Here I include the mushrooms, but feel free to leave them out. This is a good dish to make ahead and bake the day of. — Wendell Brock

Credit: Chris Hunt

Credit: Chris Hunt

Sausage and Apple Cornbread Dressing

Thanksgiving dinner at my house often means at least two different dressings (never stuffing) on the table and maybe more. Oyster dressing, Arabic rice and ground lamb dressing, chestnut dressing, plain old bread dressing, onion and mushroom dressing have all made an appearance. But this sausage and apple cornbread dressing has to appear every year.

I use a cornbread recipe from Crescent Dragonwagon’s “Cornbread Gospels” published in 2007 and then add in traditional stuffing seasonings like sage, onion and celery, diced apple for sweetness, pecans for richness (as if this weren’t rich enough), and pork breakfast sausage. I use my dried homegrown sage, which doesn’t pack down like store-bought dried sage. If you use store-bought sage, start with less and taste so you don’t overwhelm the dressing. You can assemble the dish the day before, refrigerate it, then pop it in the oven when there’s room. — C.W. Cameron

Credit: Chris Hunt

Credit: Chris Hunt

Cranberry-Fig Chutney

Don’t deny your loved ones their wobbly log of commercial jellied cranberry sauce, however misguided their affinity for the tinned stuff may be. Just make room on the table for a homemade version that literally pops with fresh flavor. I’ve been serving this easy cranberry-fig chutney for Thanksgiving since 2013. (It’s also great on a charcuterie plate.) Don’t omit the onion or ginger. They are key to pushing the sauce in a savory direction. — Ligaya Figueras

Credit: Brooke Slezak

Credit: Brooke Slezak

Roasted Carrot and Chai Pie with Bourbon Vanilla Whipped Cream

Every Thanksgiving, I create a new twist on pumpkin pie. I get that from my Grandma Clara, who believed tradition was important for the holiday yet it also was an opportunity to freshen up dishes to delight guests. Rather than typical canned pumpkin and pie plate, I use roasted carrots for this pie and bake it in a 2-inch-deep metal tart pan. A standard 10-inch tart pan will work, too. Just trim the excess dough along the edge. My sister-from-another-mother is Indian, so I fold in a homemade chai for bold, rich flavor and use coconut milk instead of cream. The pie is no-fuss. It uses both rolls of pie dough from store-bought pie crust. This pie is as satisfying as pumpkin pie and is a showstopper on the table. Top it with softly whipped bourbon vanilla cream before serving. — Chadwick Boyd

TURKEY TIPS

Order a smoked turkey. Roasting turkey is a stressful, unnecessary, messy hassle for us, especially when several family members don’t eat turkey. But we like the visual presentation of it and also the stock produced from the bones and the leftover turkey for soup or gumbo. Smoked turkey stock and meat are so much more flavorful than roasted! — Susan Puckett

During the pandemic, when I was only feeding one or two people, I had great luck roasting a boneless turkey breast. If you want some dark meat, add a thigh or two to the pan. Roast at 425 degrees until the temperature reads 155 degrees, or follow package instructions. Cover with foil and rest for 10 minutes before slicing. For added tenderness, brine overnight with a mixture of salt, pepper, sugar, spices and water — in the refrigerator, of course. — Wendell Brock

Forget softened butter for rubbing a turkey. Enrich the flavor with brown butter. Melt 2 sticks of salted butter in a skillet over medium heat. Continue cooking 4 to 5 minutes until it turns an amber color. Remove from heat and stir in 3 tablespoons finely chopped fresh sage. Refrigerate until solidified but not hard. Loosen the skin of the turkey breast and legs, then rub the brown butter under the skin. Generously salt the outside of the skin before roasting. — Chadwick Boyd

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