Every Thanksgiving I look forward to my cousin Gary’s Sweet Potatoes. As sure as there will be a turkey on the table, his sweet potatoes will also be there. Drenched in butter and brown sugar and covered in a blanket of toasty mini-marshmallows, it is the veggie-carb highlight for me. As I make my way around the table, I’ll squish everything else to one side of my plate to make room for those bedazzled yams. I’ll angle the spoon just so as to get “more than my share” of warm, gooey, toasty marshmallows. I’ll go back for seconds and then pack a little box (ok, not so little) to take home.
I LOVE those Sweet Potatoes, so does everyone in our family and anyone who has shared a Thanksgiving meal with us.
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter a shallow baking dish or casserole (9x13 pan)
Prepare and boil whole yams or sweet potatoes until soft but not falling apart. Drain, set aside to cool. Once cooled, peel and cut into 1/4 inch slices.
Arrange slices, overlapping, in a buttered, shallow, baking dish or casserole
Dot with butter, sprinkle lightly with salt, cinnamon and nutmeg. Drizzle with orange juice or rum.
Bake uncovered for 30 minutes or until bubbly or glazed looking
Remove from oven and scatter the marshmallows over the top.
Bake again until the marshmallows are warmed through and start to brown.
Serve immediately.
Savory Bread Pudding with Mushrooms (Thanksgiving Favs)
I love Thanksgiving. Unlike other holidays that seem focused on family, Thanksgiving is a free-for-all. We invite everyone we can think of, especially those that can’t make it home, to join the feast. Each person brings their own family favorite to share. We have a table filled with a cacophony of dishes, Uncle Gary’s Sweet Potatoes, Sticky Rice Stuffing, Chinese Roast Duck, Lox and crackers, Stir-fried Bok Choy, Baklava…anything goes. It all tastes wonderful, enhanced by the lively, happy chatter of friends and family we don’t see often enough.
Reelin in the Years
The stalwarts of our Thanksgiving table include Uncle Gary’s Sweet Potatoes. Non-negotiable to the point that Uncle Gary and Sweet Potatoes are synonymous. Sweet potatoes, copious amounts of butter, brown sugar, topped with mini-marshmallows, what’s not to love? Over the years Uncle Gary (yes, a real person, my cousin) has tweaked his recipe, adding pineapple, boooze, marshmallow cream, only to be met with a chorus of “it’s good BUT not as good as your regular sweet potatoes. Why mess with perfection?
The other must-have is the Chinese American contribution to Thanksgiving, Gnaw Mai Fan, or Sweet Rice Stuffing. A mixture of glutinous rice (sweet rice), bits of Chinese sausage (lop Cheung), mushrooms, green onions, dried shrimp (umami bomb), bbq pork, and roasted chestnuts is now in vogue, the gluten-free option to classic bread stuffing.
Confession Time
Ok, I have a confession. I am the maker of the Gnaw Mai Fan or Sweet Rice Stuffing that graces our feast every year, but I LOVE traditional bread stuffing. Yep, I’m a stuffing girl. After making the VAT of Sweet Rice Stuffing for everyone else, I use to pull out the teeny box of Stove Top stuffing in the pantry to whip up for me.
Fortunately, those days are over. A savory bread pudding with mushrooms from Epicurious satisfies my stuffing craving. Filled with onions, peppers, ‘shrooms, croutons and bound by eggs and cream, it is deliciously decadent. Make sure to toast the bread, it makes a difference. Use a French batard that has a nice crust and a fairly tight, soft crumb. For an extra rich, creamy version, use Challah or Brioche. Substitute leeks for some or all of the onions for another yummy tweak.
Pros– lots of veggies, bell peppers, celery, mushrooms, onions, moist, scrumptious, adaptable,
Cons-lots of eggs, heavy cream and butter, and cheese, but hey, it’s a holiday!
I do tweak the recipe just a touch. Use half and half in place of at least half of the heavy cream. You could probably reduce this further by using chicken stock for part of the half and half too. I also substitute olive oil for half of the butter used to saute the veggies. The recipe is below.
It’s All About the Pies
I know how Gary feels, typecast for Thanksgiving, not being given the option to bring something different for the feast. It is ASSUMED we will bring pies. Lucky I love to bake, as does Jamie. The pie parade includes traditional Pumpkin Pie and Pecan Pie, Tartine’s Lemon Cream Tart and a gorgeous Cranberry Curd Tart. Choice and color to the dessert table.
3 1/2cupsheavy whipping creamsubstitute half and half for 50% of cream,
8large eggsyes, 8
2teaspoonssalt
1teaspoonfreshly ground black pepper
1/3cupfinely grated Parmesan cheese
Instructions
The Bread
Preheat oven to 375°F. Butter 13x9x2-inch glass baking dish. Cut bottom crust and short ends off bread and discard. Cut remaining bread with crust into 1-inch cubes (about 10 cups loosely packed).
Place cubes in very large bowl. Add oil, thyme, and garlic; toss to coat. Spread cubes out on large rimmed baking sheet. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Bake until golden and slightly crunchy, stirring occasionally, about 20 minutes. Return toasted bread cubes to same very large bowl.
The Veggies
Melt butter/olive oil in large skillet over medium-high heat. Add mushrooms, onion, celery, and bell pepper. Sauté until soft and juices have evaporated, about 15 minutes. Add sautéed vegetables and parsley to bread cubes.
The Binder
Whisk heavy cream, eggs, salt, and ground pepper in large bowl. Mix custard into bread and vegetables. Transfer to prepared dish. Let sit for min. of 30 minutes. Sprinkle cheese over. DO AHEAD Can be prepared 1 day ahead. Cover and refrigerate.
Bake stuffing uncovered until set and top is golden, about 1 hour. Let stand 15 minutes.
Notes
This rich, custard-like stuffing is also a great main-course option for vegetarians.
The Rice Stuff-Sticking with Tradition (Gnaw Mai Fan)
My favorite dish at Thanksgiving, excluding dessert, is dressing. I adore bread stuffing. My Mom’s version is delicious. It’s a pretty traditional bread dressing with the one Asian tweak of dried oysters added to it. I asked my mom to write her recipe down…and she did! Thank goodness, since she rarely cooked from recipes and relied on the look, taste, adjust method.
As much as I love her bread stuffing, I never get to make it! I am immediately “voted off the island” if I suggest anything but the Chinese contribution to Turkey Day-Sweet Rice Stuffing or Gnaw Mai Fan. My fam LOVES Sweet Rice Stuffing and it just wouldn’t feel right if it were missing from the Thanksgiving table.
My oldest lives in the city and has started his own tradition of having Friendsgiving with his co-workers. I made a batch of Sticky Rice (recipe here!), walked him through roasting the turkey and the rest was up to him.
TWEAKS
I’m not a big fan of super sticky rice so I use a combination of 50% long grain rice and 50% glutinous sweet (sticky) rice. But if you like sticky rice change the proportions to 3 cups glutinous rice and 1 cup long grain.
If you are feeling ambitious, here is a quick and easy recipe for the char siu (bbq pork) It adds a touch of sweetness to the rice.
This would be a perfect gluten-free choice for bread stuffing. The “Rice” Stuff. There are gluten-free soy sauces and substitutes for oyster sauce, gluten-free mushroom soy or fish sauce would work well.
