Daily Local News (West Chester, PA)
Don’t miss these recipes for the holiday
Three sides and a dessert
This holiday, add some star power to your meal with celebrity recipes that will have guests giving thanks.
“When I think about Thanksgiving, I remember the turkey and my father’s chicken giblet gravy,” described Iron Chef and restaurateur Jose Garces, whose parents emigrated from Ecuador and served “Ecuadorean staples as well.”
“Now, every Thanksgiving with my kids includes a little bit of Latin flair,” he continued, “with dishes like meat-filled empanadas, sweet corn tamales and my Catalan-inspired sweet-and-sour spinach.”
Featuring currants, pine nuts, honey and sherry vinegar, the spinach is “relatively light, which makes it a great addition to a hearty Thanksgiving menu.”
Can’t get enough sides? Try singer, actor and Philadelphia native Frankie Avalon’s green beans with red potatoes, a chart-topping alternative to green bean casserole. Or hit one out of the park with extracreamy mashed potatoes from Phillies broadcaster and former major leaguer Ben Davis. The secret: cream cheese, sour cream and milk for “a better consistency.”
“Being 100-percent Irish, we tend to have some sort of potato with just about every dinner, and Thanksgiving is no different,” he explained. “Mashed potatoes go the best with turkey!”
And for dessert, Action News icon Lisa Thomas-Laury offered peach/apple cobbler, a family favorite.
“My cousin, Linda, shared it with me in my early years after I moved to Philadelphia,” recalled the retired anchor and author of a new memoir: “On Camera and Off: When the News Is Good and When It’s Not.”
“I find that cobbler’s a little easier because you usually make it in a square dish,” she said. “The crust doesn’t have to be as perfect.” But the taste sure is. “My husband loves it with ice cream.”
2 teaspoons of the canola oil. Add the shallot and cook over low heat until softened, about 3 minutes. Add the vinegar and thyme sprig and bring to a boil. Simmer over low heat until the vinegar is reduced to 2 tablespoons, about 20 minutes. Discard the thyme sprig and stir the honey into the vinegar. In a small skillet, toast the pine nuts in the remaining 1 teaspoon of canola oil over moderate heat, stirring constantly, until golden, about 5 minutes. Transfer the pine nuts to a plate and let cool. Fill a soup pot with ½ inch of water and bring to a boil. Add the spinach in handfuls, stirring until wilted. When the spinach is wilted, transfer to a colander and squeeze out the excess water. Wipe out the pot. Heat the olive oil in the pot and add the spinach. Season with salt and pepper and cook, stirring, until heated through, about 5 minutes. Transfer the spinach to a platter and garnish with currants and toasted pine nuts. Drizzle the sherry vinegar syrup and serve right away. Total time: 45 minutes.