Oh yes, traditional Minnesota hot dish.
Well, actually a hot dish can be almost anything because it's just what Minnesotans call casserole. My folks was Iowan, so I didn't start using "hot dish" until adulthood, and then semi-ironically. The most classic Minnesota hot dish is tater-tot hot dish, which is tater tots baked over meat and vegetables. Kind of like a convenience-product shepherd's pie, I guess. Recently I considered trying to make one using broccoli tots and more interesting ingredients, but I haven't dared yet.
Around here, Thanksgiving is when the vegetables shine. Turkey is really kind of bland, as is mashed potatoes. So, the side dishes are crucial to the success of the meal.
I like turkey and dressing (and gravy!) because Thanksgiving is pretty much the only time of the year I eat them. I like mashed potatoes any time. My ex-mother-in-law also makes mashed rutabagas, so I'll make those this year. (Sometimes when I make mashed cauliflower I throw in a couple of potatoes or turnips or a rutabaga, which gives the concoction more body than cauliflower alone.)
Probably Brussels sprouts. My children always ask for them.
I'll probably make Brussels sprouts, too. I love them! I haven't cooked a whole Thanksgiving dinner since I lived in New Orleans, but that's when I first made them and realized that, contrary to prevailing belief at the time, they're really good. I think that was before they became fixtures in nice restaurants, so it's entirely possible Emeril Lagasse was walking past my house one evening, smelled the delicious Brussels sprouts, and launched the trend. (Or possibly it was the other way around -- maybe I got the idea from eating them at Emeril's or some other fancy NOLA restaurant. I can't remember now!)
Dessert is important too, but most of the time we are too full to eat it, so we make a date a day or two later to eat dessert. I put chopped walnuts in my pumpkin pie. They sink to the bottom and give a surprise crunch and burst of flavor at the end of each bite.
Years ago I started making sweet-potato pie. A friend had me over for Thanksgiving and served pumpkin pie made from fresh pumpkin, and I was impressed but that seemed like a lot of work so I started making sweet-potato pie every year. I make a recipe with bourbon in it (I usually pick Wild Turkey for obvious reasons). Everybody seems to like it.
I've probably told this story before, but one year I was invited to a friend's father who is kind of a gourmand. (For example, he says Brussels sprouts are best after the first freeze.) So I was really meticulous about the sweet-potato pie -- watched the oven to take it out at precisely the right time, made the whipped cream just the right consistency and flavor. I served it after dinner, and as soon as I took a bite I realized I'd forgotten to add sugar. Everybody sat there eating it for a few minutes, and finally I said, "I think I forgot to sugar." "Yeah, I think so," everybody said in unison.
I took the rest of it home and found that microwaved pieces, topped with cheese, were like pumpkin quiche. Yum!
(Side note: I've recently discovered my store sells pumpkin-pie hummus! It's pretty good -- like denser and presumably healthier pumpkin pie. I top it with a dollop of ricotta and/or mascarpone.)
I must order my turkey soon. There is a shortage of small turkeys as the gatherings are smaller this year. Our Governor told us to avoid gatherings, whatever the size, for a few weeks due to the spike in cases.
Oh no! I hadn't even thought about that. Every gathering that splits up means that many more turkeys. So for example instead of one at our extended family gathering, which won't be happening this year, there'll be at least three or four turkeys. But of course turkey farmers only raise the number they expect to sell ...
