If you're looking to switch things up this Thanksgiving and not serve a whole roast turkey, I've cooked up three recipes for you to consider.
One, a couscous-stuffed baked squash, is designed for those wanting to dine vegetarian. I used four acorn squash to make this dish yield eight servings. When halved lengthwise and seeded, the squash becomes an edible vessel perfect for stuffing, baking and serving as an entr脙漏e.
My initial plan was to make a wild-rice-based stuffing, but my grocery didn't have it. They did have couscous, and I thought that would make an interesting stuffing for the squash. I worked my way around the store choosing other ingredients to flavour it with.
Because it's fall, I chose apples, cranberries, nuts and, for tangy richness, some soft goat cheese, which I crumbled and stirred into the cold, cooked couscous.
Because my couscous is already cooked, once the stuffing is packed into the squash, it just needs to be heated through. For that reason, before stuffing the squash, you must cook it in the oven until just tender. If you didn't, the couscous would be dried out and overcooked by the time the squash was done.
The stuffed squash could be made oven-ready up to a day in advance of serving. Once it is stuffed, simply cover and refrigerate it until ready to bake. If you do this, remember to add at least 10 minutes to the baking time, as you'll be starting from cold. The squash is a meal in itself, but a beautiful green salad would make a nice accompaniment.
My second dish will please those who still want to have turkey for Thanksgiving, but not fuss around with cooking and carving a whole bird. I was inspired to create the recipe after receiving an e-mail from reader Lindsay Wight. In her message she excitedly described a dish she created that she deemed a Thanksgiving-inspired shepherd's pie.
Instead of beef or lamb, it was made with tastily flavoured ground turkey and topped with mashed yams. It sounded delicious, so I decided to create my own version and enhanced the turkey with such things as leeks, mushrooms and carrot. When shopping, I couldn't remember if Lindsay had topped the dish with yams or sweet potatoes. I picked up and used the latter with good success. You could, of course, also use yams in the recipe, which are actually an orange-fleshed variety of sweet potato.
Because sweet potatoes are sweet, when mashing them I used tangy buttermilk instead of regular milk to balance that sweetness.
Like the stuffed squash, the turkey shepherd's pie could be made oven-ready up to a day in advance of serving.
Once the turkey filling is topped with the mashed yams and the dish cooled to room temperature, cover and refrigerate it until ready to bake. If you do this, as with the stuffed squash, remember to add at least 10 minutes to the baking time, because you'll be starting from cold. As with the squash, a green salad would nicely accompany the shepherd's pie; so would a crusty loaf.
My last recipe is roast Cornish hen with apple-braised cabbage. I like serving Cornish hens for special occasions because they present well and, once you split the hens in half before roasting, the only carving you'll have to do is on the plate with your dinner knife. Once they are split and set in the roasting pan, you can refrigerate the hens until ready to roast, which gives you the option to get them oven-ready up to a day in advance of serving.
The apple-strewn cabbage provides a tasty, seasonal side dish to serve with hens. I would also serve the hens with boiled, miniature red potatoes and another vegetable, perhaps sticks of cooked carrot flavoured with a little orange juice, butter and fresh ginger.
Eric Akis is the author of the best-selling Everyone Can Cook book series. His columns appear in the Life section Wednesday and Sunday.
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ROAST CORNISH HEN WITH APPLE-BRAISED CABBAGE
This juicy Cornish hen is flavourfully accompanied with sweet and sour braised cabbage.
Preparation time: 40 minutes
Cooking time: About 75 minutes
Makes: 8 servings
For the cabbage:
2Tbsp butter
7 cups cored and shredded green cabbage
1 cup unsweetened apple juice
2 Tbsp apple cider vinegar
2 Tbsp brown sugar
- pinch ground cinnamon and cloves
2 small to medium red apples, cut into small cubes
1/2 cup pecan pieces
- salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
Melt the butter in a pot set over medium heat. Add the cabbage and cook until softened, about 5 minutes. Add the apple juice, vinegar, sugar, cinnamon, clove, apples and pecans and bring to a simmer. Simmer cabbage, uncovered, until tender and flavourful, about 10 minutes. Season the cabbage with salt and pepper and serve.
For the hens:
4 Cornish hens
2 Tbsp melted butter
1/4 cup chopped fresh sage
- salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
Preheat the oven to 375脗掳 F. Place one hen on a cutting board, breast-side down. Use kitchen shears or a sharp knife to cut along either side of the backbone and remove it. Place the hen breast-side up and press it flat. Cut it in half down the middle of the breastbone. Place the hen halves, skin-side up, in a large roasting pan. Repeat with the remaining hens. Brush the hens with the butter; sprinkle with sage, salt and pepper.
Roast for 45 to 50 minutes, or until cooked through.
TURKEY SHEPHERD'S PIE WITH MASHED SWEET POTATOES
Here's a deluxe version of shepherd's pie to serve for Thanksgiving or any other autumn day.
Preparation time: 35 minutes
Cooking time: 75 to 80 minutes
Makes: 8 servings
3 Tbsp olive oil
1/2 lb. brown or white mushrooms, thinly sliced
1 medium leek, white and pale green part only, cut in half lengthwise, washed and thinly sliced
1 medium carrot, grated
2 garlic cloves, minced
2 tsp dried crumbled sage
3 lb. sweet potatoes, peeled and cubed
1 3/4 lb. lean ground turkey
1 (28-oz.) can tomato sauce
1 cup frozen peas
- salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
1/4 cup melted butter
1/2 cup buttermilk
- chopped fresh parsley, for garnish
Heat 1 1/2 Tbsp of the oil in a large skillet set over medium heat. Add the mushrooms, leeks, carrot and garlic and cook until softened, about 5 minutes. Mix in the sage and remove from the heat.
Place the sweet potatoes in a pot, cover with a generous amount of cold water, and boil until very tender.
While the sweet potatoes cook, heat the remaining oil in a pot set over medium to medium-high heat. Add the turkey and cook, stirring frequently, until the meat is entirely cooked through and crumbly. Drain any fat or liquid from the meat. Mix in the leek mixture, tomato sauce, peas, salt and pepper. Spoon the mixture into a deep-sided, 9-x-13-inch or similar-sized casserole.
When tender, drain the sweet potatoes well. Thoroughly mash and then mix in the butter, buttermilk, salt and pepper. Spread the sweet potatoes over the turkey filling. Bake at 350*F for 55 to 60 minutes, or until potatoes are golden and filling is bubbling.
Note: To prevent the filling from bubbling out of the pan and on to the bottom of your oven, set the shepherd's pie on a baking sheet before cooking.
COUSCOUS-STUFFED SQUASH WITH GOAT CHEESE, CRANBERRIES AND APPLES
This is a vegetarian dish featuring earthy squash, stuffed with couscous, sweet apple, tangy cranberries and creamy goat cheese
Preparation time: 40 minutes, plus soaking time
Cooking time: 75 to 80 minutes
Makes: 8 servings
4 medium acorn squash (each about 5 inches long)
2 1/2 cups vegetable stock
3 Tbsp olive oil
1 (283-gram) box organic couscous (equals about 1 2/3 cups)
1 cup dried cranberries, soaked in warm water 30 minutes, then drained well
1/2 medium onion, finely diced
2 small to medium apples, finely diced
1 tsp dried oregano
1 tsp dried cumin
2 Tbsp fresh lemon juice
250 grams soft goat cheese, crumbled
1 cup pecan pieces
1 cup unsweetened apple cider or juice
2 Tbsp chopped fresh parsley
- salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
Preheat the oven to 350脗掳F. Cut each squash in half lengthwise. Scoop out the seeds and discard. Trim a little from the uncut side of each squash so they'll sit flat when stuffed. Place the squash halves, cavity side down, on a parchment paper-lined baking sheet. Cover and bake for 40 to 45 minutes, or until the flesh is just tender.
While the squash cook, place the stock and 2 Tbsp of the oil in a pot and bring to a boil. Stir in the couscous, cover, remove from the heat and let stand 5 minutes. Transfer the cooked couscous to a bowl, fluff with a fork to separate the grains, and cool to room temperature.
Heat the remaining oil in a skillet set over medium heat. Add the onions and apples and cook until softened, about 5 minutes. Remove from the heat, stir in the oregano, cumin and lemon juice, and cool to room temperature.
Add the apple/onion mixture, goat cheese, pecans, apple cider or juice, parsley, salt and pepper to the couscous. Gently mix to combine. Turn the squash halves, cavity side up, and set in a large roasting pan. Mound and pack the couscous mixture into them. (If making the day before, cover and refrigerate now. If you have any leftover couscous, place it in a lightly oiled baking dish. Cover with foil, bake it alongside the squash and serve at the table.)
Pour a 1/4-inch of water into the roasting pan. Tent the squash with foil and bake at 350脗掳F for 35 minutes, or until the squash is quite tender and the filling heated through.
