Five Ways to Reinvent Traditional Thanksgiving Dishes

Why have plain old pumpkin pie when you could be eating a pumpkin-filled chocolate balloon?

By Emily Matchar

smithsonian.com
November 24, 2015

For many of us, Thanksgiving is all about tradition. Grandma’s giblet gravy, Uncle Vern’s green bean casserole, Parker House rolls from a recipe copied from a half-century old edition of Joy of Cooking. But for others, this annual feast is a perfect time to try out new recipes. Here are some ideas for an adventurous Turkey Day:

Thanksgiving Stew

Don’t let the hominess of the word “stew” fool you. This particular dish takes a pressure cooker, vacuum sealer, water bath and high-powered blender to create. It's from the team that brought us the epic Modernist Cuisine, a six-part cookbook-treatise on food science. In it, turkey legs and breasts cooked sous vide mingle with pureed stuffing, pressure-cooked root vegetables, cranberry consommé and fried parsley. It’s like having the full Thanksgiving spread in a single bite.