The Thanksgiving Low-Down

We dug around for some inspiration to change up our Thanksgiving menus—many thanks to the chefs below for letting us share their recipes.

by Edward Behr

For more than 25 years, Ed Behr has edited The Art of Eating, an intellectual and enjoyable journal on food and everything that goes with. He has traveled the world trolling for the best artisanal ingredients, meeting the most knowledgeable—but often unknown—cooks, and supplying readers with their best recipes. We are big fans of his beautifully presented magazines and now we’re glad to have the compendium of recipes edited into this book.

Don’t miss George Bates’ lovely, old-fashioned yet contemporary, graphic illustrations for the book!

by Jean-Georges Vongerichten

Jean-Georges Vongerichten is known for serving up deliciously complex and unexpected combinations at his restaurants. When Jean-Georges takes you to his home kitchen, as he does in this book, it’s surprising to find how simple and uncomplicated his approach to food is. Here we present to you an ingeniously easy take on turkey by his right hand man, Daniel del Vecchio, plus a few examples of just how Jean-Georges takes a basic side dish to the next level.

by Pat and Gina Neely

In short, The Neelys know how to entertain, and they know how to do it every month of the year—soul food style. From Easter to Mother’s Day to Girls’ Night, to Thanksgiving, of course, they’ve covered it (their personal tips on entertaining included). I was especially excited by their “Memphis Fried Turkey,” which you must check out if you get your hands on a copy. Here are two traditional Thanksgiving musts that the Neelys add a special twist to.

by Melissa Clark

Melissa Clark recently contributed to our newsletter on Pizza by teaching us how to make it at home like a true pro. She is the most thorough cook we know—providing helpful tips and tricks along each step of the way. The cookbook is arranged by month with seasonal and foolproof recipes for each. Her intros are especially entertaining—personal accounts of how she shops at the farmer’s market, feeds her family, how she arrives at her recipes, including changes and tweaks, etc. See below for just two examples of what we mean when we say “thorough.”

by Dr. Brent Ridge, Josh Kilmer-Purcell, and Sandy Gluck

We’ve been fans of the Beekman boys, Brent and Josh, since the beginning when they moved from the city to the country and started a goat farm. They are supporters of local agriculture, heirloom vegetables, high quality products, and of their town, Sharon Springs. Here they share recipes collected from their time at the farm and from the ingredients available in any given season. Their salad below, of course, has goat cheese as a prominent ingredient. One of the highlights of this book, beyond the recipes, is the gorgeous food and still life photography by Paulette Tavormina.

by Amanda Hesser and Merrill Stubbs

Amanda Hesser and Merrill Stubbs got together about two years ago and created the home-cooking phenomenon that is Food52. Each week they hosted (and continue to host) a competition for the best recipe in any given category—”Your Best Holiday Punch,” “Your Best Preserves,” “Your Best Turkey Stuffing,” etc. Every week, hundreds of home cooks have submitted their recipes for a community vote, and after a year, or 52 weeks, the best ones turned into this book. We love the following tenets in their book:

“If you cook, your family will eat dinner together.”

“If you cook, you will naturally have a more sustainable household.”

“If you cook, you’ll set a lifelong example for your children.”

etc.