A Thanksgiving Feast: When Brussels Sprouts Meet Ocean Spray

Thanksgiving is upon us, and boy do I have a treat (or five) for you. Having just moved to Seattle we are far from family and friends and it will be just the three of us this Holiday. I imagine that many are in our boat but want to celebrate just as much as you would if it were a large gathering. I’ve put together my full menu of what I would serve/have served/did serve my family for a Thanksgiving feast!

The Menu will feature what I consider to be five MUST haves. A big beautiful fall salad, canned cranberries, brussels sprouts with apple butter, stuffing, and the star of the show – ribeye roast. 

Roasted Brussels Sprouts with Apple Butter

First on the menu – Roasted Brussels Sprouts with Apple Butter. Yeah, I know. I hear the collective groan. “Brussels sprouts? Again?!” But trust me, once you plate them with apple butter, they go from the kid everyone avoids at the playground to the prom queen. You can watch how to make my one ingredient apple butter here.

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Roasted Brussels Sprouts And Apple Butter

Ingredients

• .75 lb brussels sprouts
• 1 TBSP butter
• 1 TBSP olive oil
• .5 cup apple butter

Instructions

• Pull the apple butter from your fridge and allow it to come to room temperature.
• Slice off the ends of the brussels sprouts and slice them in half lengthwise. Peel off any brown outer pieces. Heat the oil in a large skillet over medium high heat and place in the brussels sprouts face down. Cook over medium heat until the bottom starts to turn golden brown. Sprinkle with salt. Turn the sprouts over onto their back side and add in the TBSP of butter.
• Give the pan a stir and continue to cook on medium to medium-low heat until the sprouts are just tender through. Taste for seasoning and add salt as needed.
• Spread the apple butter across the side of your plating dish. Add in the brussels sprouts and garnish with the fried shallots.

Ocean Spray Canned Cranberries: The Nostalgic Taste of Tradition

Now, onto a classic, and really, a must. Who needs all the fuss of homemade cranberry sauce when Canned Ocean Spray Cranberries have our backs? (Thank you, Ocean Spray gods!) Before you purists come at me with pitchforks, hear me out. There’s a certain nostalgia attached to that jellied cylinder plopping onto a plate. It’s like a time capsule, taking us back to the kiddie table where our only responsibility was not to spill the gravy. Simplicity has its place, and this canned beauty is Thanksgiving’s unsung hero.

The Main Event: Ribeye Roast

Alright meat-lovers, brace yourselves. This year we’re skipping the turkey and going full throttle with a juicy Ribeye Roast. Yup, you read that right. Turkey had its moments, and while I respect tradition, all I ever really want is a ribeye. You can watch how I cook my Ribeye Roast on Youtube here.

A Call To Action: More Salad At Thanksgiving

Salad? Yes, salad. It’s a Radicchio and Roasted Squash Salad with a brown butter vinaigrette. Bitter radicchio, paired with the sweet warmth of roasted squash, is the love story we didn’t know we needed this Thanksgiving. Dressed in a brown butter vinaigrette, this salad is the cool, chic cousin who studied abroad and has stories that’ll keep you hooked. You can watch how I put together my salad on Youtube here

We May Not Have A Turkey, But We Have Stuffing

Last, but NEVER least, we have the pièce de résistance – **Stuffing**. Or dressing. Or whatever your family calls it. I won’t dive into that debate (we’ve got enough family debates as it is, right?). Soft, crispy, aromatic, and just downright delicious. Every bite is a hug for your taste buds.

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Sourdough Stuffing

Ingredients

• 2 qt cubed sourdough
• 4 tbsp olive oil
• Salt to taste
• 6 oz sausage
• 2 stocks of celery diced
• 1 small onion diced
• 2 small apple cored and diced
• 2 sprigs of thyme
• 2 cup of broth

Instructions

• Preheat your oven to 375*F.
• Toss the cubed sourdough with 4 tsp olive oil and season with salt, to taste.
• Toast in your oven for 30minutes, or until golden brown. This can be done up to a day ahead of time and stored in an airtight container on the counter.
• Sweat the diced onion, apple and celery in a saute pan over medium heat until the onion starts to turn translucent. Taste the mixture for salt and season as needed. Remove the vegetables from the pan and place into a bowl with your toasted breadcrumbs. In the same pan, crank your heat up to high and cook the sausage until it has some nice color on it. It’s not necessary for it to be fully cooked at this point, you’re just looking for some flavor.
• Add the browned sausage into the bowl with the bread, onion, apple and celery.
• Pull your thyme off of the sprigs and add to the bowl along with 1 cup of broth.
• Mix the ingredients together in the bowl. I prefer big chunks of bread in my stuffing, but if you prefer a more cohesive and creamy stuffing keep mixing until all the bread has broken down into smaller crumbs.
• Pour out the mixture into a about a 9inch baking dish, or something of a similar size.
• Bake on 375*F for 30 minutes, until golden brown on top.

So, there we have it! A Thanksgiving dinner that’s a bit traditional, a tad unconventional, and 100% delicious. I encourage you all to give this menu a try, or just pick and choose. Mix things up. Maybe even toss that Ocean Spray can into a game of catch. Who knows?

Until next time, fellow food lovers, stay hungry and always wear your stretchy pants.

Happy Thanksgiving!