Parsnip potato horseradish puree and maple-bourbon brined turkey

One more thing to be thankful for on Thanksgiving: It turns out there was enough charge left on the camera battery for one lone shot before, surprise, it gave up. So this shot is the only one from a Thanksgiving meal that was low stress and very tasty.

We paired this with a bone-in turkey breast brined in a maple syrup-bourbon mixture featured in a recent Taste section. Basically we made a standard brine and added maple syrup, a generous amount of bourbon and pumpkin pie spices. Even if you're fed up with the pumpkin pie spice bit, it worked quite well in this usage, making really, really tasty skin and a moist bird despite being white meat. We left it in the brine for 24 hours. Following the procedure from Kitchn, we placed the bird on thickly sliced onions in a roasting pan, rubbed the skin with butter and sprinkled it with salt and pepper before putting it in an oven preheated to 450 degrees. We then reduced the heat immediately to 350 and cooked the 7-plus pound bird for a bit more than 2 hours, covering it with tin foil with about a half hour to go. The turkey was great, but the really, really stupendous part was the onion layer on the bottom of the pan. That is so cheating.

It paired well with this recipe.

Horseradish parsnip puree
Adapted slightly from foodzia.uk

Ingredients
3 medium parsnips, peeled and cut into 1/2-inch pieces
2 large potatoes, peeled and cut into 1-inch cubes
2 tablespoons prepared horseradish
2 tablespoons heavy cream
2 tablespoons milk
1 tablespoon butter
Salt and pepper to taste

Method
Combine parsnips and potatoes in a heavy sauce pan and cover with salted water. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat to medium and simmer, partially covered, until veggies are tender. Drain.

Rice parsnips and potatoes into a serving bowl. (Or if you don't have a ricer, you could mash them and then pass them through a sieve, or use a stick blender.) Blend in cream, milk, butter and salt and pepper to taste.

Serves 2 to 4 depending on what else you're having.

Rating: Very easy and quite tasty. Worth repeating. I didn't find it too horseradishy, but if you're less tolerant, I'd start out by adding 1 tablespoon and then going from there.

It's been awhile since I've hosted Thanksgiving. But this stove would be just the ticket.

Crockpot Sgaghetti Bolognese

When I want to make a Bolognese sauce, I usually reach for one dating back to the Molto Mario phase of Mario Batali. But I thought I'd give this one a go in the name of make-ahead comfort food.

Spaghetti Bolognese

Adapted from Martha Stewart “Slow Cooker”

Ingredients

3 tablespoons olive oil

3 cups chopped onions

2 garlic cloves, minced

4 carrots, finely chopped

3 celery stalks, finely chopped

2 tablespoons fresh thyme leaves

1½ pounds ground beef

1 pound ground pork

2 cans (14.5-ounce each) diced tomatoes

1 cup dry red wine

½ cup milk

1½ teaspoons salt

¼ teaspoon pepper

1 pound spaghetti, linguine or other long pasta, cooked to al dente

Chopped parsley for garnish (optional)

Freshly grated Parmesan for garnish

Method

Heat olive oil in a large skillet. Saute onions until translucent. Add garlic and cook for 2 more minutes. Add carrots, celery and thyme and cook until beginning to soften. Transfer to a 5-6 quart slow cooker.

In same skillet, brown beef and pork. Add tomatoes, wine, milk, salt and pepper. Stir to combine.

Add mixture to slow cooker and stir. Cover and cook on high for 3 hours or on low for 6. Serve over cooked pasta. Garnish with parsley and cheese.

Serves 6-ish.

Rating: Not the depth of flavor I’m accustomed to, but not untasty. It has the advantage of hours of hands-off cooking.The Batali version benefits from pancetta and tomato sauce, which might account for its being tastier.

Asian chicken thighs

 After a summer of tossing whatever was ridiculously ripe into a pot, it's time to break open a cookbook again and try something new. This one reminds me a great deal of a recipe I used to make years ago from the "Goodhousekeeping Illustrated Cookbook," although I'm pretty sure I hadn't encountered fish sauce or chili-garlic sauce back then.

I like this one because it calls for chicken thighs, bone-in and skin-on, or fully loaded, as I refer to them.

Chicken thighs with Asian flair

Adapted from “Life in a Northern Town,” by Mary Dougherty in a book that reflects her life as a transplant to Bayfield, Wis. Note that you'll have to start this well ahead for marinading purposes.

Ingredients

½ cup olive oil

½ cup tamari (or soy sauce)

¼ cup apple cider vinegar

¼ light brown sugar

6 garlic cloves, chopped

1 jalapeno, seeded and chopped

1 tablespoon chopped fresh ginger

3 tablespoons fish sauce

3 tablespoons chili-garlic sauce

Leaves from 6 sprigs of fresh thyme

8 bone-in, skin-on chicken thighs

Method

Combine everything but chicken in a large bowl or large sealable bag and combine well. Add chicken and turn over until coated. Seal and refrigerate at least 12 hours.

Remove from marinade. Bake in 450-degree oven on a parchment-lined baking sheet for 30 minutes or until cooked through. 

Rating: Super fast, and quite tender and flavorful. Smells wonderful. Easy to mix up the night before and get on the table after work.