Secret Thanksgiving Recipes From Celebrity Chefs and Grandmas!
Most families have traditional Thanksgiving recipes they make once a year. Loved ones look forward to savoring these memory-infused meals on that one thankful Thursday every November. Some of those recipes are closely-held confidences that have been passed down through generations, and some are dishes with secret ingredients that only a handful of chefs know. We polled them both –grandmothers and celebrity chefs – to bring you these select recipes to share with family and friends at your Thanksgiving meal.
Chefs’ Thanksgiving Recipes
Chefs are foodies from way back and that includes when mom ruled the kitchen and created in them a love for good eats. The nation’s celebrity chefs continue and reimagine their family traditions with love and ladles and here are a few of their favorites.
For starters there’s Bryan and Michael Voltaggio’s Sausage and Cheddar Puffs using pancake mix (like Bisquick) bulk breakfast sausage, cheddar and sage. Or Giada’s Butternut Squash and Goat Cheese Tartines. You’ll want to try Andrew Carmellin’s Spicy Braised Escarole with spicy greens, crispy panic and a little oregano, with Tom Colicchio’s Brussels Sprout Leaves with Bacon, thick-cut with fresh thyme. And maybe make your own Double-Crust Cranberry Pie, just like Joanna Gaines’! It’s a soup-to-nuts Thanksgiving feast of ideas.
Grandma’s From-Scratch Dressings for Thanksgiving
Grandma’s Cornbread Dressing is one that requires a little prep – and we don’t just mean chop an onion and two ribs of celery. This Texas grandmother makes the cornbread FIRST, and then crumbles it in a 13×9 pan for the dressing. Making the cornbread requires an all-important ingredient that may not be in your fridge: buttermilk. (This fermented dairy drink is high in potassium, vitamin B12 and calcium.) The other ingredient necessary for the dressing is condensed cream of chicken soup.
The eggs, soup and seasoning make the dressing moist on the inside and toasty good on the outside, and it’s hard to beat this made from scratch decades-old dish.
Everybody has a favorite grandma recipe they guard with proprietary fervor and this one has become a tradition for generations in Joliet Illinois. It’s another good old-fashioned dressing recipe – Grandma’s Poultry Dressing. The secret ingredient here is bulk pork sausage which seasons the dressing perfectly, although some like to add an apple, sliced water chestnuts, and/or poultry seasoning. It may be a misnomer since it 
accompanies poultry instead of containing it – unless of course you use turkey sausage!
Taste of Lizzy T’s Corn Pudding is a southern-sort-of side with plenty of melt-in-your-mouth carbs and souffle-like texture. With fresh corn, butter, and heavy cream, this yummy comfort food classic is topped with fresh chopped chives for a delish dish.
You Say Potato…
Sweet Potato Casserole is a classic topped with a scrumptious combination of cornflakes, pecans and marshmallows. This Southern living side is the perfect Thanksgiving casserole combining the sweetness of the tubers with crunch from the corn cereal and pecans. And don’t dare forget the marshmallows. Those puffy pinches of sweet confection are a must for this dish – and if you don’t use them all, keep a few for s’mores!
A dollop of this Cheesy Mashed Potato Casserole is the perfect vessel for turkey gravy and may become a holiday favorite at your dinner table. The secret ingredient and technique is blending room temperature egg yolks and cream and stirring those – one at a time — into this dish. Once you make and bake, you also broil to brown the top.
Old School Squash is one of those recipes that will turn you into a fan – even if you don’t like the vegetable in it! Southern Living’s take on squash is to bathe it in a creamy sauce (made from cheese, mayonnaise and eggs!) and finish it with a crunchy, buttery crackers and Parmesan topping.
Three Chef Surprises
Chefs from the Food Network help jazz up three Thanksgiving Day meal perennials – pumpkin pie, sweet potato casserole and cranberry relish with unexpected ingredients for a subtle spin on tradition. For a sweet and interesting twist to your usual sweet potato casserole recipe, try adding two roasted bananas. Bananas add a creamy sweetness and complexity of flavor. 
Another great way to perk things up is to add a little texture when you whip up your favorite cranberry sauce recipe with dried cranberries. They lend a surprising sweet chewiness, which complements fresh cooked cranberries. And what’s Thanksgiving without pumpkin pie? To take this dessert staple from ordinary to extraordinary punch it up with a 3/4 teaspoon of black pepper! Black pepper is a warming spice, so it blends nicely with other pumpkin pie spices.
Thanksgiving in Colliers Hill
Besides celebrating Thanksgiving here, one of our favorite things about living in this family-friendly master-planned community are all the neighbors who’ve become friends in Colliers Hill. Join the home buyers who’ve found their way home to this fast-growing North Denver development. Explore the amenities and tour the model homes offered by Meritage Homes, Richmond American Homes, and Century Communities. Floor plans include ranch-style or two-story designs — priced from the high $300s.
