Thanksgiving for Four Resources and Recipes

Jonelle Lemcke, AWC Denmark, offers resources and recipes from Thanksgiving for Four
featured in the November 2023 Inspiring Women issue Women Embracing Culture.
Regional recipe ideas:
• Des Moines Register
• New England-Yankee Magazine Yankee Magazine
• Midwest- Midwest Living- Midwest Living
• The South- Southern Living Southern Living
• Southern California Los Angeles Magazine
Search for specific diets and you might find something like these vegan ideas:
• Thanksgiving recipes: Los Angeles Magazine Vegan Thanksgiving
• Cooking magazines provide a national archive. I have two favorites:
• Bon Appetit Magazine. Here’s their take on “Stuffing, 25 Ways” 27 Stuffing Recipes That Make Thanksgiving
Thanksgiving | Bon Appétit or “The 72 Best Thanksgiving Recipes” 67 Best Thanksgiving Recipes
for 2023 | Bon Appétit.
• Epicurious. Here’s their take on a Vegan Thanksgiving 57 Vegan Thanksgiving Recipes: Mains, Sides,
Desserts, and Everything Else | Epicurious and a quick Thanksgiving menu The Last-Minute Thanksgiving
Menu You Can Make in 3 Hours
Additional planning tips:
• Carefully read your recipes. How many portions does it serve? Check the salt, oil and spice contents.
Older recipes may not have been updated and are therefore heavier in those areas. Be careful with
adjusting quantities in recipes because there’s a balance of dry to liquid ingredients or ratios of leavening
agents (yeast, baking powder, etc.). Recipes can often be halved, but try to be exact.
• Wine is tricky with the different flavors of Thanksgiving. Sparkling wines cut across the flavor spectrum,
so they are ok. My best recommendation for a single Thanksgiving wine is Beringer’s White
Zinfandel. It’s a rose and slightly sweet if drinking it alone, but it holds up to the savory, sweet elements
of Thanksgiving dishes. I’ve seen it in Lidl. For a red wine, I recommend Pinot Noir in general.
They have a full body and a rich fruity flavor that also holds up to the variety of Thanksgiving dishes.
• As for beer, stay away from thin, sour pilsners. You need a heavier, more caramel flavor to complement
the Thanksgiving dishes. Try Leffe Brun, Svaneke Dark Gold or some of the Christmas beers
(Julebryg) that are coming out now.
• Explore Liquor.com for general wine and beer information.
• It used to be a common service here in Denmark, that one could order meat at the butcher and one
could pick it up, prepared. In some European cities, that is still possible. Talk to your butcher, to see
if this is possible. Ordering a roasted turkey or other main dish meat from your local butcher could
be a tremendous convenience if you’ve never tried it.
• Instead of doing it yourself, consider a dessert buffet of small items from a really good bakery.

Jonelle’s Thanksgiving for Four menu:
PUMPKIN SOUP WITH HONEY AND CLOVES
Featured in Bon Appétit, October 1995, by R.S.V.P. Le Bec-Fin; Philadelphia, PA. Le Bec Fin was headed by its
legendary chef-founder, Georg Perrier, in this period. Perrier led the restaurant for 40 years.
Serves: 8 Prep.Time: 30 minutes
Ingredients:
2 tablespoon (1/4 stick) butter
2 large carrots, chopped
2 celery stalks, chopped
1 large onion, chopped
1 2-pound pumpkin peeled, seeded, chopped (about 6 cups), or canned pumpkin
6 cups (or more) chicken stock or canned low-salt broth
5 whole cloves
1/2 cup whipping cream
2 tablespoons honey
Preparation:
Melt butter in a Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Add carrots, celery and onion; sauté until tender,
about 8 minutes. Add pumpkin, 6 cups stock and cloves. Cover and simmer until pumpkin is very tender,
about 25 minutes. Discard cloves. Purée soup in batches in blender. Return to Dutch oven. Stir in
cream and honey. Bring to simmer. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Their hint is to swirl a little
cream decoratively into each bowl of soup for an elegant presentation. (Can be made 1 day ahead.
Chill. Bring to simmer before serving, thinning with more stock, if desired.)
Jonelle’s Adaptations:
• Use a whole Hokkaido pumpkin; they are small and readily available
• The pumpkin can also be baked first. It adds a richer flavor.
• Don’t throw out the pumpkin seeds. Use them: How to Roast Pumpkin Seeds | Minimalist Baker
Recipes
• Use 3 whole cloves stuck into a slice of celery, so that the cloves can easily be fished out
• Use a can of coconut milk instead of whipping cream for vegans and lactose sensitive
• I prefer using vegetable broth to chicken broth in this recipe
• Most guests eat two portions of this soup! Leftovers freeze well.
JONELLE’S FRESH CRANBERRY SAUCE
Ingredients:
1 bag fresh cranberries
½ cup sugar
Pinch salt
1 ecological orange, zested
Preparation:
1. Rinse the cranberries thoroughly and sort out any that are not good. Drain them.
2. Gently heat the drained cranberries over medium heat. They will start to pop as they reach about
210 degrees F. Add the sugar, orange zest and pinch of salt at this point and stir.
3. Let the sauce break down and bubble. Taste carefully and adjust if necessary.
4. The cranberry sauce starts to thicken and will continue to do so as it cools.
5. Let cool and then refrigerate.
NOTE: if you do not have a zester, take strips of orange peel using a vegetable peeler, scraping off any
of the white pith (it’s very bitter) and slice the orange peel strips finely.

BON APPETIT CORNBREAD
This cornbread recipe gets it right. It's easy to cut, not too sweet and holds together.
Makes one 13x9" pan (This recipe is easily halved)
Ingredients:
Nonstick vegetable oil spray (or melted butter)
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 cups medium-grind cornmeal (or polenta)
¼ cup sugar
1 Tbsp. baking powder
2½ tsp. coarse salt
4 large eggs
2 cups buttermilk
½ cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, melted, slightly cooled
Preparation:
Step 1: Preheat oven to 400°. Lightly coat a 13x9" baking dish with nonstick spray. Whisk flour, cornmeal,
sugar, baking powder, salt, and pepper in a large bowl. Whisk eggs, buttermilk, and butter in a
medium bowl. Make a well in the dry ingredients and pour in egg mixture; stir into dry ingredients with
a wooden spoon until combined. Scrape batter into prepared pan and smooth top.
Step 2: Bake cornbread, rotating dish halfway through, until a tester inserted into the center comes out
clean, 20–25 minutes. Let cornbread cool slightly in the dish, then cut crosswise into 4 large pieces.
Transfer to a wire rack with a large spatula and let cool completely. Cut into small cubes or crumble if
using for stuffing.
Step 3: Do Ahead: Cornbread can be baked 2 days ahead. Store tightly wrapped at room temperature.
JONELLE’S BASIC CORNBREAD STUFFING
Ingredients:
1 cup celery stalks, chopped
½ cup celery leaves, chopped
½ cup broadleaf parsley, chopped
1 large yellow onion, chopped
125 grams butter (1/2 block)
Combine the following spices in a bowl or jar:
1 tablespoon dried sage
1 tablespoon dried, crushed thyme
1 teaspoon dried marjoram
¼ teaspoon dried, crushed rosemary
1/8 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
1 teaspoon regular salt
a few grinds of black pepper (to taste)
Combine in a large bowl:
4 cups stale bread cubes or simply oven- toasted brioche bread cubes, challah or baguette cubes
1 cup crumbled or cubed cornbread (or more to taste) from Bon Appetit’s recipe
Prepare one cup of bouillon
1 tablespoon Herbamare vegetable bouillon paste (Health food shops and some Irma supermarkets)
mixed into 1 cup hot water
Preparation:
1. Melt the butter and sauté the first four ingredients over medium heat until limp
2. Sprinkle the spice mixture over the sautéed vegetables and heat over medium heat until fragrant…
don’t let the mixture burn
3. Add the vegetable mixture to the cubed bread/cornbread. Toss gently to combine and coat the
bread mixture with the vegetables and spices.
4. Sprinkle the bouillon over the mixture, taking care to moisten, but not make the mixture too wet.
Otherwise the stuffing will become gummy and pasty. However, don’t be afraid to add more than
one cup of bouillon if the mixture is dry.
5. This stuffing can now be baked in a pan at 180 C/355 F for 40 minutes. Keep an eye on it.
6. I do not like to stuff the bird because I think it creates a pasty stuffing and slows the cooking time of
the bird.

JONELLE’S SAUTEED KALE
Ingredients:
1 bag fresh kale (carefully select the best looking)
1 clove peeled, fresh garlic that has been pricked with a fork
2 tablespoons olive oil
Salt and pepper to taste
optional: red pepper flakes, red wine/balsamic vinegar, Tabasco or Durkee’s Hot Sauce
Large frying pan with a lid
Preparation:
1. Carefully wash each leaf of kale; spin in a salad dryer or use a clean towel to thoroughly dry the kale
2. Tear or clip into large, bite size pieces
3. Heat the olive oil in a large pan over high heat just until the oil starts to look hazy
4. Carefully add the pricked garlic clove. Fry the garlic clove until golden. Take the pan off the heat. Using
a fresh and dry utensil, fish out the garlic clove and discard it. Do this quickly so that the garlicflavored
oil does not cool down too much.
5. The pan goes back on the heat and bring the temperature up again to where the oil is hazy, but not
smoking hot. Add the prepared kale pieces. It will sputter if there is water on the leaves; cover the
pan if it’s too much and the sputtering will die down. Stir the kale in the pan; salt and pepper to
taste. Do not overcook. The kale should be bright green and retain its bite/texture.
6. Some like a “Southern” twist to this recipe by dressing their portions with something hot and vinegary.
See “optional”
Finally, poultry tips for a beautiful bird from “Cook’s Country”
Even the tastiest glaze becomes useless if it runs off the bird. You are after a glazed bird where the
glaze stays put and doesn’t end up in the bottom of the roasting pan. Here’s a recipe and instructions
for a perfectly glazed roast chicken. Cook's Country Glazed Roast Chicken