I Am Desperately Looking Forward to Thanksgiving

I just reread “Wind in The Willows” and was charmed by Rat’s description of the woods in winter:

He was glad that he liked the country undecorated, hard, and stripped of its finery. He had got down to the bare bones of it, and they were fine and strong and simple. He did not want the warm clover and the play of seeding grasses; the screens of quickset, the billowy drapery of beech and elm seemed best away; and…he pushed on towards the Wild Wood, which lay before him low and threatening, like a black reef in some still southern sea.

Like my mother before me, those first gunmetal skies and cold Vladivostok winds cheer my heart since they are harbingers of cooking season starting, of course, with Thanksgiving.

This year I will be making our Maple and Soy Glazed Dry-Brined Turkey. The bird is dry brined overnight (no wet brine, please!), then roasted in a hot oven and glazed with maple and soy. It looks great and the dry brining is infinitely easier than the wet version. (I have given up on wet brining; the resulting meat is too wet and spongy for my taste.) Our dry brine contains a surprise ingredient: powdered buttermilk—the extra proteins and sugar helps the skin brown evenly.

For the mash, I am using our new Butter-Braised Mashed Potatoes. You can make this recipe ahead of time and they turn out super light, even after reheating. (You can also try our Milk-Simmered Mashed Potatoes, if you like a rich and creamy mash.)

Whole Wheat Soda Bread is always on my Thanksgiving menu. It’s a simple one-bowl recipe with no yeast and it bakes in just 40 minutes. It also makes the world’s best toast the day after. Once again, our Sweet Potato Gratin with Vanilla and Bay Leaves is on the list, even though I am suspicious of the impact of bay leaves. (Are bay leaves a culinary conspiracy? Can you taste bay leaves in a final dish?)

The other sweet potato dish I love is Sweet Potato Tian, which looks great since the potatoes are thinly sliced. Butter-Roasted Carrots are also a must, along with our version of Easy-Bake Herb Stuffing. For cranberries, I use the recipe on the back of the bag but add a pinch of salt. But if you’re looking for something a little different, I brought back a recipe for Agrodolce Red Onions from Calabria last year and they are fabulous with turkey and fixings. (It’s just slices of red onion quickly braised with vinegar and sugar. The onions remain a bit crunchy, which I love.)

For pies, I always make my own Apple Pie, but I try to find as many heirloom apples as possible—Sheepnose, Cortland, Rhode Island Greening, Pippin, Spitzenburg, etc. Older varieties were not as sweet and have really interesting savory notes. (The standby go-to is a mix of McIntosh and Grannies—the former have great flavor and break down to a saucy consistency; the Grannies provide good apple texture.) And don’t forget to work the butter/shortening all the way into the flour when making pie crust! And add enough water so that the dough is easy to work with and will not fall apart when rolled.

For Pumpkin Pie, I add a bit of bourbon to jazz it up. And I love our Salted Peanut and Caramel Tart that I found in Paris at Le Petit Grain, a very cool bakery in the Belleville neighborhood. Instead of pecan pie, I may opt for our Maple-Browned Butter Pie from Briana Holt at the Tandem Coffee & Bakery in Portland, ME. If you need some breakfast options (we always have family stay with us over that weekend) I can suggest my own recipe for Perfect French Toast. It uses a bit of semolina flour which provides a crispy exterior and custardy interior.

Our Maque-Style Mexican Bisquetes (Maque is a chain of bakeries in Mexico City) are amazing—they use both yeast and baking powder and are huge! You could serve these as dinner rolls as well. Another recipe that sounds odd but is delicious is our Orange-Cranberry Soda Bread with White Chocolate Chunks. It doesn’t sound like my kind of thing, but it’s perfect as breakfast with coffee or as a snack.

And, for dinner the day after, I am making our Hand-Torn Noodle Turkey Soup. The dough is super simple. You just tear off pieces and throw them in the soup pot. Delicious and easy.

Left: the "Buck Board." On the right: deer caught on game camera

Deer season kicks off on November 15th. I like to walk when I hunt but have a couple of tree stands in good spots where I might take a breather. The 14th is Antler Eve. I cook dinner in the cabin, then it’s breakfast at my friend Tom’s house around 4:30 a.m. so we can get out into the woods and set up before dawn. I paid $5 to put my name on the Buck Board at our general store this year. It’s unlikely I will win with the largest deer; I just hope to get on the board at all. I’ve seen some pretty good bucks on my game cameras, but that doesn’t mean they will be around come rifle season.

This year, I am desperately looking forward to Thanksgiving. I think that we all a break from the news of the world and should take a few days to hibernate with friends and family.

Happy Thanksgiving!

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Christopher Kimball

Christopher Kimball is founder of Milk Street, which produces Milk Street Magazine, Milk Street Television on PBS, and the weekly public radio show Milk Street Radio. He founded Cook’s Magazine in 1980 and was host and executive producer of America’s Test Kitchen until 2016. Kimball is the author of several books, including "The Yellow Farmhouse" and "Fannie’s Last Supper."