🥞 Squash pancakes!

Table Talk Chef Smackdown on Thanksgiving Sides Nov Happy Tuesday and welcome to the table Let s be real side dishes at the holiday table are just as central as the turkey and in specific families maybe more so Remember the holiday mac and cheese drama former Atlanta mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms drummed up six years ago after posting her version on Twitter People had strong opinions Instead of talking turkey for Thanksgiving we re publishing a side dish smackdown later this week The story features six Atlanta chefs three Southern chefs and three chefs hailing from the North and Midwest sharing their favorite Thanksgiving side dishes and family food traditions with recipes In contemporary times I m giving subscribers a sneak peek at the story with Avize chef Karl Gorline the South and Breaker Breaker chef Max Hines the North Midwest talking crab dressing versus corn pudding Both side dishes are tied not only to the regions where these two chefs grew up but have deep family and locality roots Plus I tell you why you should put the squash pancakes from Pure Quill Superette in Edgewood on your breakfast radar And Sarra continues her recipe series on the Grandmas of Atlanta with The Magnolia Room s kitchen manager and grandmother and step-grandmother of Debra Tardieff Ms Tardieff also offers her recipe for the restaurant s French-cut pork chops and gravy Cheers Beth Buckhead shines bright with festive cheer this holiday season A tree lighting wreath decorating hot chocolate crawls and encounters with Santa are just a limited highlights of Miracle on Peachtree Buckhead s annual season of festivities Check out the full line-up SPONSOR MESSAGE ATL Chefs Thanksgiving Sides Smackdown Photo by Chef Max Hines When it comes to the Thanksgiving table side dishes are anything but an afterthought sometimes equaling or even eclipsing the turkey Thanksgiving sides also illustrate the rich communities and cultural influences exposed throughout the nation A classic side dish in one region for instance may very well be unheard of in another Earlier this month we demanded six Atlanta chefs three Southern and three hailing from the North and Midwest to share their favorite Thanksgiving side dishes and family food traditions for a story that will also include recipes online Dishes range from sweet potato fritters and Trinidadian macaroni pie to green bean casserole and braided Southern greens In contemporary times I m giving you a little preview of our side dish smackdown before it goes live online featuring Thanksgiving side dishes and holiday memories from Avize chef Karl Gorline the South and Breaker Breaker chef Max Hines the North Midwest South vs North Holiday Hot Dish The South Crab dressingAvize chef Karl Gorline Gulf Coast For Avize chef Karl Gorline who grew up on the Gulf Coast holiday meals inevitably include seafood You re right there by the water he mentioned So crab dressing is something that we had quite often Imagine it like a weird crab cake Gorline believes that the farther south you go foodways have a more natural resistance to the norm In this situation Thanksgiving recipes that are pushed across the country but don t exactly reflect the region Basically all the way from Mobile Bay over to New Orleans and Lake Pontchartrain that s one of the largest crab markets he stated Blue crabs are native to the area and even a sign of trust Back in the bayou people would just have crab traps out all the time That s somebody s crab trap and you respect it Gorline noted It s almost like leaving the door unlocked in your neighborhood A friend of Gorline s uncle would make crab dressing and bring brined chickens to smoke for Thanksgiving Gulf Coast Thanksgiving meals also tend to feature pasta and gumbo at the table with gumbo occasionally served with dressing instead of gravy The North Midwest Corn puddingBreaker Breaker chef Maximilian Hines Ohio DC Breaker Breaker and Stolen Goods chef Maximilian Hines spent a good chunk of his childhood in Ohio with occasional stints in DC But Ohio is home It s where he was born and where his parents are from and where childhood memories were made around the Thanksgiving table For Thanksgiving the family would prepare dishes influenced by their roots in Haiti Louisiana Mississippi and southern Virginia Specific years the stuffing served alongside the turkey Honeybaked ham yams and mashed potatoes and gravy was mixed with blue crab meat drawing on family roots along the Chesapeake Bay Then there were the numerous casseroles on offer including a corn pudding that came to the family s Thanksgiving table via his grandmother s college roommate The holidays are still pretty indicative of what my grandparents made every year which definitely skews more Ohio than anywhere else Hines announced Everything was a casserole like green bean casserole squash casserole and that corn pudding A lot of it involved canned vegetables from Glory Foods The custardy corn pudding or casserole isn t demanding to make and can incorporate late-season sweet corn Hines likes the dish because it balances sweet and savory flavors gelled together by scalded milk butter and curdled eggs giving the pudding a similar texture to a scrambled egg bake With family now scattered around the country and his sister in London it s been hard to gather for Thanksgiving in current years As a full-time chef Hines tries not to cook on Thanksgiving However this year he questioned his mother for the corn pudding recipe a dish that might just turn up on his Thanksgiving table Lights laughter and holiday cheer with Miracle on Peachtree festivities SPONSORED BY LIVABLE BUCKHEAD This holiday season Buckhead shines bright with festive cheer for the whole population Warm up with two festive hot chocolate crawls give back at the wreath decoratingfor first responders and don t miss the lighting of a -foot tree in Charlie Loudermilk Park featuring live music and festive llama photo ops The holiday fun never stops Events begin Fri Dec Visit Livable Buckhead s website for all the Miracle on Peachtree details The Move Squash Pancakes From Pure Quill Superette Photo by Beth McKibben When Chef Hudson Rouse s kids were younger getting them to eat their daily allowance of fruits and vegetables was unfailingly a challenge Like so multiple parents of small children he often resorted to hiding vegetables within the meals he served to his kids by baking these ingredients into casseroles or desserts even folding them into pancake batter at breakfast In fact that s the impetus behind the squash pancakes offered during breakfast at Pure Quill Superette For Pure Quill s squash pancakes Rouse cooks shredded butternut squash in French butter on a flat top until a wafer-thin patty forms similar to hash browns He then pours the pancake batter over the squash patty Rouse is known for using farm-fresh seasonal produce and foraged ingredients in his cooking and for letting those ingredients do most of of the talking As a mild-tasting fall squash carrying hints of warm spices the butternut squash lends a touch of nutty earthiness while not over-amplifying the sweetness of the pancake batter A stack of two sizable squash pancakes arrive at the table topped with two pats of butter and just enough cane syrup to drizzle on before eating Meet Magnolia Room Kitchen Manager and Grandmother Debra Tardieff Recipe Photo by Magnolia Room This week we re bringing you the recipe for the French-cut pork chops and gravy from The Magnolia Room in Tucker We re also introducing you to the restaurant s kitchen manager Debra Tardieff who brought a taste of Louisiana to metro Atlanta when she moved here last year Tardieff has grandchildren and step-grandchildren but says her daughter s dog might take that th spot Originally from Louisiana Tardieff has worked in the restaurant industry her entire life and moved to Atlanta from Louisiana last October to take a job at The Magnolia Room Tardieff learned how to cook from her grandmother at age She remembers standing on a chair and stirring the pot The first recipe Tardieff learned was plain boiled rice Over time she worked her way through cakes potato salad and meats Tardieff s youngest son began expressing an interest in cooking around age when she started to teach him the same fundamentals she learned from her grandmother He now works as a sous chef in Louisiana When Tardieff goes home to Louisiana she naturally expresses her love by cooking for her family These days though she isn t able to feed everyone with a single pot of rice She has to use a big rice cooker and nearly pounds of chicken to feed almost people I never cook small she reported Since moving to Atlanta Tardieff has developed or improved a number of The Magnolia Room s recipes The Creole shrimp and grits chicken pot pie and chicken and dumplings are just a sparse examples Tardieff added the French-cut pork chop to The Magnolia Room s menu this fall getting the idea while vacationing in Las Vegas I thought this one would be really good for the store she explained So I brought it back and played with it a little bit different sizes different weights and we went with the -ounce chop that s thinner That way it won t overcook The recipe starts with a sparse minutes in the broiler which cooks the outside first to keep the pork chop s juices contained If it helps think of a pork chop like a steak that s seared and then baked Remember with pork chops the longer the meat stays in the oven the more it will dry out You ll need to visit a butcher for French-cut pork chops as they re typically not sold in grocery stores Although it s not necessary Tardieff recommends Your Dekalb Farmers Domain for fresh ingredients I in the last few days went and got granulated onion she commented The more fresh stuff you have the better If you re closer to Tucker however try Sherry s Produce at the corner of Lawrenceville Highway and Brockett Road IngredientsPork chop -ounce French-cut pork chops tsp Cajun seasoning blend tsp garlic salt Note use one teaspoon of each seasoning for each pork chop GravyYields cups cups hot beef stock Tbsp salt Tbsp black pepper Tbsp Worcestershire sauce Half a small onion chopped Tbsp Kitchen Bouquet browning and seasoning sauce Tbsp sugar Directions Prepare the broiler Set your oven s broiler on high and grease it Prepare the pork chops Season the pork chops with Cajun blend and garlic powder Broil for minutes on each side Cook in the oven at degrees Fahrenheit for more minutes Start the gravy Boil beef stock in a pot Season with salt black pepper and Worcestershire sauce Add sugar and Kitchen Bouquet In a separate pan cook chopped onions until clear Stir into brown gravy Transfer gravy and pork chops to a half pan or serving dish Serve each chop with cup of gravy You can read more from Sarra s interviews with the Grandmas of Atlanta on Substack Rough Draft will publish one recipe a month from Grandmas of Atlanta Know a grandmother with a stellar recipe to share Send details to sarra roughdraftatlanta com Buckhead shines bright with festive cheer this holiday season A tree lighting wreath decorating hot chocolate crawls and encounters with Santa are just a meager highlights of Miracle on Peachtree Buckhead s annual season of festivities Check out the full line-up SPONSOR MESSAGE If you know somebody who would like to receive our dining newsletters Family Meal Tuesdays and Side Dish Thursdays please have them subscribe at this page The post Squash pancakes appeared first on Rough Draft Atlanta