8 Ways To Incorporate Local Ingredients Into Your Thanksgiving Feast
Thanksgiving is a traditional holiday and the food that is prepared on this festival is also rooted in tradition. To enter a room and find the dinner table laden with turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, cranberry sauce and pie is a treat to taste buds.
But what if one could prepare the Thanksgiving feast without the restraint of using the same ingredients and producing the same dishes?
Here’s a detailed description of how you can incorporate local ingredients into your Thanksgiving feast and still make it festival appropriate.
Pick A Theme
To organise your thoughts, ingredients and dishes is the key to having an innovative holiday. You can obviously choose to go completely non-traditional and choose recipes for each item that catches your attention.
However, if you assign a theme to your feast like deciding on a Southern menu with cornbread stuffing, macaroni and cheese, and sweet potato pie or opting for an Italian theme or going old-school New England, will allow the freedom to choose dishes which can be created easily at that time of the year.
Do Not Let Go Of The Traditional Menu Completely
Well, nothing says Thanksgiving like a whole turkey. And incorporating local ingredients does not mean that you will have to break away from tradition.
So, finding a middle ground is the key here. Do not feel limited in your options because you can always choose to do a whole turkey breast for a smaller crowd, or can just have long-braised turkey legs and thighs.
If you have chosen to go with a Southern Thanksgiving, you are free to include a ham which is always delicious.
If you have turned vegetarian and turkey is off the table for you, consider roasting a whole squash, filled with mushrooms and bread and cheese, and then slice it like a cake for that show-stopping moment.
Pick Your Sides Wisely
As important as turkey is on Thanksgiving, you can not overlook the fun of having various side dishes that are cooked specially for this occasion. Cornbread, Green Bean Casserole, Roasted Brussels Sprouts, Sweet Potatoes, Pumpkin Pie, Pecan Pie, etc. are just a few sides that you typically see in a Thanksgiving feast.
However, dividing these sides into categories will help you select the one which aligns with your local produce.
Starchy Sides
You can surely have mashed potatoes, macaroni and cheese, and fresh-baked rolls but try to make a personal choice about adding something like Parker House Rolls.
Keep your theme in consideration and also decide how many of these dishes you want to keep in your menu so that you can prioritise them based on the easy availability of ingredients.
Green Veggie Sides
Though cooked greens do not scream Thanksgiving, having them in your menu will not only bring more bitter flavours and will serve as a helpful foil to all the buttery richness but you can always choose from the wide variety of greens available in your area.
Bright and Fresh Sides
Cranberry sauce has to be the brightest at a Thanksgiving feast and a favourite of many. So, this holiday, instead of using canned cranberry sauce, make a fresh cranberry condiment. By doing this you will be using fresh ingredients and will also add a personal touch to your holiday.
Flavours of lime, lemon, orange, cranberry, and even spiciness are welcome on this day. So, do not forget to experiment.
Yellow/Orange Sides
Now that we are all about incorporating local ingredients into the Thanksgiving feast, why not go for harvest vibes. Consider heading to your local farmer's market the weekend before Thanksgiving to see what types of squash and carrots are on offer, and let those inspire you.
Desserts
Ensure that you include all of the seasonal desserts that don't seem to make it onto the table for other holidays. You could also pick locally or regionally available seasonal fruits for fruit-infused desserts.
