What's For Dinner?

Thanksgiving Side Dishes

Glazed Butternut Squash with Apples (serves twelve)
This dish was developed by Judy Grunberg of Chatham, for whose family it has become a holiday staple through several generations. Judy reports that it's "a healthful replacement for sweet potatoes" and "a wonderful way to get the kids to eat that surplus winter squash." However, be warned: Judy's family also eats brown rice with its turkey!

• 3 large butternut squash
• 6 tart apples
• 3/4 c brown sugar
• 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
• 1/2 tsp kosher salt
• 1 4-oz stick unsalted butter, melted

2. Peel the squash. Then halve them lengthwise, seed them, and cut them into half-inch slices. Steam them until barely tender, about ten minutes.

3. Meanwhile, core and slice the apples into a similar thickness.

4. In a small dish, combine the brown sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, and salt.

5. In a large baking dish, alternate layers of steamed squash with layers of apple, drizzling each layer with melted butter and dusting it with some of the sugar-spice mix.

6. Bake until the squash is thoroughly glazed and tender, about twenty minutes. (For an even deeper glaze, place under the broiler for an additional few minutes.)

Tips
* * If you don't have good apples, Judy says, you can leave them out. Also, if you like, you can substitute grated fresh ginger for the ground nutmeg.

* A large Dutch oven with a tight-fitting lid makes an excellent steamer for the squash.

* Judy notes that this dish is especially delicious reheated on the second day.

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Stewart Dutfield of Catskill, who is vegetarian, always makes deep-fried parsnips on Thanksgiving. "Combined with a hearty vegetable stuffing and the other vegetables and trimmings," Stewart writes, "this dish provides a special Thanksgiving meal that doesn't leave me overfull. I find that many dinner guests previously unfamiliar with the noble parsnip become enthusiasts and learn to cook it in all sorts of ways. Parsnip pizza, anyone?" Stewart begins by peeling about half a pound of parsnips per person, then he chops them so that no piece is more than 1 1/4 inches thick. He parboils them until half-cooked, about five minutes, then drains them in a colander for about ten minutes. Finally, he deep-fries them in batches using canola oil until they turn golden brown. According to Stewart, "The sugars in the parsnips caramelize into gorgeous flavors."

Barbel Eggers got this recipe for pumpkin jam from a 1957 Great Smoky Mountains cookbook. First, she peels a cooking pumpkin, slices it into strips, and cuts the strips into chips about the thickness of a silver dollar. Then she adds, for each pound of chips, one pound of sugar and the juice of one lemon. She lets the mixture stand overnight. In the meantime, she cuts the peels from the lemons she has used into strips and boils them until tender. Overnight, the chips release liquid in which they can be simmered. The next morning, Barbel mixes in the boiled lemon peels and cooks the entire mixture "on a slow fire" until the pumpkin chips turn clear. She reports that the resulting goo is "delightful in place of jelly" in peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. It's also a "yummy" topping for ice cream and, if canned, makes a pleasing holiday gift. "Last year," she says, "I wanted to make some when there were no more pumpkins available, so I tried butternut squash, which worked out very nicely also."

Cherie Grey makes this simple cranberry sauce: She washes two bags of cranberries, picks out the duds, and grinds the rest in her grandmother's meat grinder. (A food processor will have to do for the rest of us.) Then she peels an orange and feeds slices through the meat grinder, mixing the pulp and juice with the cranberries. Finally, she adds a cup of sugar and allows the mixture to "ferment" overnight before serving it chilled with her bird.

Gisele Landry reports that her favorite Thanksgiving dish is rutabagas: "I really could make it the whole meal and be very grateful. Wherever I have brought it, it is the one dish that people always seem to love. I realize that it may not provide sufficient challenge for gourmets, but I love its simplicity and ease and its celebration of the fall harvest." Gisele begins by peeling the rutabagas and chopping them into half-inch chunks. Then she prepares an equal amount of carrots, peeling them and chopping them into half-inch slices. Next, she loads the rutabagas into a stockpot, covers them with water, and brings the water to a boil. After simmering the rutabagas for 5 minutes, Gisele adds the carrots and continues simmering the vegetables until all have become tender. Then she drains them (reserving the broth for soups), adds sea salt and white pepper to taste, and mashes well. She recommends using a "beautiful" serving dish and garnishing it with greenery, such as parsley or kale.

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