If you’re like me, Thanksgiving is a day to indulge. I think these three recipes from Chef Scott Watson will have you going back for seconds, thirds… maybe even fourths! Not only is each recipe delicious but the vibrant colors would make a great addition to any holiday spread.
Yesterday, Chef Travis shared his recipes for healthier versions of some Thanksgiving favorites. Today, Chef Scott is going “all in.” I knew his demo would be on the opposite end of the calorie spectrum as soon as he said the phrase, “Butter is fat and fat is flavor.”
Here’s a brief recap of each recipe (including some delicious pictures). Scroll all the way down to print the recipes and then, start making your grocery list!
I’m not usually a fan of Brussels Sprouts but last year, Chef Travis made me a believer with his recipe. And this year, Chef Scott also knocked it out of the park with his! It was the first time I’d had duck and it was definitely the winning flavor for this dish, in addition to the diced apples.
The first step is to cut the ends off the sprouts and then cut them into quarters.
Blanch them in salted, simmering water for no more than one minute.
Then, in a heavy bottom sauté pan, add the duck bacon and olive oil, cooking until crispy (bacon recipe at bottom of this post). If you don’t want to use duck, you can definitely substitute with a version of your favorite thick-cut bacon but I’m telling you the duck version is the way to go!
Toss in your Brussels sprouts with the bacon, and add the butter, shallots, and garlic. Cook until the shallots and garlic are golden brown. Add your chicken (or vegetable) stock and cook until the liquid dissipates.
Season with salt and pepper; toss in your apples and herbs. And serve warm!
- BRUSSELS SPROUTS
- 2 lbs Brussels Sprouts
- 4 oz Bacon, Duck
- 1 Tsp Olive oil
- 1 Apple, peeled and diced
- 1 Tsp Butter
- 1/2 cup Chicken or Vegetable Stock
- 1 Tsp Chopped garlic clove
- 1 Shallot, chopped
- 1 Tbsp Parsley, fine chopped
- Salt and pepper (to taste)
- DUCK BACON
- 2 duck breasts, trimmed
- 1 cup sugar, brown
- 1/3 cup salt, Kosher
- 1 lemon (zested)
- 2 oranges (zested)
- 10 sprigs Thyme, chopped
- 2 Bay leaves
- 5 Cloves, whole
- 1 Cinnamon stick
- 2 Star anise, whole
- 15 Peppercorns, whole
- Cut the ends off the Brussels sprouts, then cut in half or quarters if you wish
- Blanch in salted simmering water for no more than one minute (if you are doing this ahead of time shock the sprouts in ice water, strain and pat dry).
- In a heavy bottom sauté pan add the duck bacon and olive oil, cook until crispy.
- Toss in your Brussels sprouts.
- Add the butter, shallots and garlic.
- Cook until the shallots and garlic are golden brown.
- Add stock and cook until liquid is gone.
- Season with salt and pepper.
- Toss in your apples and herbs.
- Cook for 1 minute.
- Serve warm.
- Grind the bay leaves, cloves, star anise, peppercorns, and cinnamon stick until you get a course texture.
- Mix sugar, salt, thyme and spices together.
- Rub the duck breast with the salt cure mixture.
- Allow to cure 1 day.
- Pulled the duck breast out of cure and rub the mixture off the breast (you may run the duck breast under cold water to help with this step).
- Leave the duck breast in your refrigerator for one full day uncovered on a wire rack.
- Cold smoke for 1 hour.
- Use as you would regular bacon.
If I had to pick the one “must-have” dish for Thanksgiving, it would totally be mashed potatoes. And each year, in addition to regular potatoes, I also try to offer a version of sweet potatoes. I’ve done casseroles. I’ve done slow cooker recipes topped with marshmallows and brown sugar. I’ve even done a southwest recipe featuring green chiles. This year, I’m excited to serve Chef’s sweet, citrusy version. I have a feeling the kids are going to love this one!
The beauty of this recipe is that it only requires four ingredients: sweet potatoes, heavy cream, vanilla, and orange.
Just like most recipes, you start by peeling and cutting up your potatoes. However, instead of boiling them in water, add all of your ingredients to the pot and let the potatoes boil in the heavy cream. If you don’t have a vanilla bean, just use about a teaspoon of vanilla or vanilla-bourbon extract (the real stuff!).
The orange zest is crucial to this recipe (If you don’t have a citrus zester, you can use a vegetable peeler to get slices you can then mince using a sharp knife.)
Once the potatoes are cooked, place through a strainer, reserving the liquid. If you used a vanilla bean pod, make sure you take out and discard it.
Push the cooked sweet potatoes through a ricer or potato masher. Add the reserved liquid back to the potatoes, taking care to use only the amount of liquid needed to get desired consistency. Mix it up and serve!
- 2 lbs Sweet potatoes, peeled and roughly chopped
- 1 qt Heavy cream
- 1 Vanilla bean, scraped
- 1 Orange (zested)
- Pinch of salt
- In a heavy bottom pot add the sweet potatoes, cream, vanilla bean, zest and kosher salt
- Bring to a simmer and cook until the sweet potatoes are soft.
- Once the potatoes are cooked, place through a strainer, reserving the liquid.
- Discard the vanilla bean pod.
- Push the cooked sweet potatoes through a ricer or potato masher.
- Add the reserved liquid back to the potatoes, taking care to use only the amount of liquid needed to get desired consistency.
- Serve warm.
This is another recipe that requires very few ingredients. There are nine total and the only one you may not have readily available is Bourbon. For this cooking demo, Chef Scott chose Bowman Brothers—a whiskey he uses often in his Sips with Chefs Taste Studio events.
For this recipe, Chef Scott recommends that you blanch your carrots ahead of time to get the best texture. To do this, simply add them to boiling water and sea salt for about 35-40 seconds, then put them in a 16-quart pot of ice water to “shock” them.
Next, place them in your skillet, add your olive oil, and turn up the heat.
Cook the baby carrots for about three minutes. Add the garlic and shallot, and sweat for about a minute. Then, add the chicken stock and cook until the liquid is all gone.
Remove the pan from the heat and add the bourbon, place back on the heat and reduce until all the liquid is gone. Add the butter.
Drizzle with the honey and toss with chopped parsley. Then serve!
- 2 lbs baby carrots
- 1 Tsp Butter
- 1 Tbsp Olive oil
- 1/2 cup Chicken or vegetable stock
- 1 Tsp Chopped garlic
- 1 Shallot, chopped
- 1/4 cup Local honey
- 1/2 cup Bourbon (your favorite brand!)
- 1 Tsp. Parsley, finely chopped
- Salt and pepper (to taste)
- Place a heavy bottom sauté pan, on medium heat, add olive oil
- Cook the baby carrots until they are 50% cooked (about 3 minutes).
- Add the garlic and shallot, sweat for 1 minute.
- Add the chicken stock and cook until the liquid is all gone.
- Remove the pan from the heat and add the bourbon, place back on the heat and reduce until all the liquid is gone.
- Add the butter.
- Drizzle with the honey and toss with chopped parsley.
We hope you enjoyed these recipes as much as we loved testing them out. A special thanks goes to Tom Green, our amazing Colonial Williamsburg photographer. Be sure to check back tomorrow when Chef Michelle Brown reveals her recipe for a gluten-free carrot cake that’s to die for!
They sound delicious!
I just stumbled across these recipes and I’m excited to make the sweet potatoes, sprouts and your apps from the other day! My husband and I moved to another state far from family so this year its just the two of us! Its a great opportunity for us to try a lot of new recipes!!! Thank you for these and keep’em coming for Christmas!!