Thanksgiving Holiday Recipes

One of my most memorable Christmas Eve dinners was at La Peche in NYC, eating the Feast of Seven Fishes prepared by the amazing Chef Tien Ho of Momofuku fame. We sat family style & enjoyed Chef Tien's fantastic menu, unlike anything I had ever had at our Italian family feasts... It's easily one of the top 10 best meals of my life! We had lunch earlier at Marea (absolutely fantastic)... I was Culinary VP at Campbells at the time & presenting a short demo on the Today Show on Christmas morning... so my family & I were treated to a few, very special days in NYC before the Christmas show.

One of the many recipes new culinary students learn to prepare is duxelle. It's a delicious mixture of sweated shallots, garlic, minced mushrooms/stems, herbs, seasoning and often cream. It's cooked to almost a paste like consistency. Duxelle can be used to stuff chicken breasts or veal chops, vegetables and I especially like shiitake duxelle stuffed mushroom caps.

My first job in the restaurant business was as a dish/pot washer at a local diner. I was encouraged to get my cleaning done quickly so that the owners could teach me to prep and even cook. I was interested in learning. The chef owner's dad had been a cook in the army. One of the many dishes he taught me to cook is lasagna and it's the recipe I have always used.

I learned to butter -roast parsnips to fold into mashed yukon gold potatoes for a very high profile dinner several of us CIA chefs were preparing. The key is to cover a heavy, roasting pan with foil to achieve a delicious, golden caramelization of the roasted parsnips... and a lot of butter!

Leftover Thanksgiving turkey sandwiches are amazing but preparing delicious turkey soup & pot pies take it up a notch to the next level. I really love using leftover mashed potato as the crust for a hearty, post Thanksgiving, Shepherd's pie.

Cooked Brussel sprouts are delicious with a sweet & horseradish taste-almost like wasabi. I use an abundance of boiling, salted water so that the sprouts are tender & still have a nice green color.

The Campbell's Soup Company chefs, bakers & I were blessed with the opportunity to cook a large, holiday dinner annually for about 400 people at the Salvation Army in Camden. I had a talented team so there was very little for me to do... but I did get to make the gravy! (about 20 gallons) This is the exact same delicious gravy.

Cranberry Compote I enjoy this delicious recipe each year. It's very easy to prepare, can be made a day or two ahead and is very healthy.  I used to serve this with galantines and terrines in Garde Manger class-it's a classic!

One of my favorite, roast turkey experiences was observing a Peruvian man marinate a whole turkey with about 2 cups of crushed garlic in olive oil. Years later I tried this recipe and found it to be exceptional!