Get cooking with Ginger Zee for Thanksgiving!
Welcome to "Ginger's Cook Club," a new series where Ginger invites chefs into her home to learn and share recipes.
If getting all the components prepared for turkey day feels overwhelming, Ginger is sharing some time-saving tips and recipes with Daphne Oz.
"To save your sanity, not everything needs to be on the day of or even the day before Thanksgiving. [You] can really set yourself up for Thanksgiving success by doing a few choice dishes a day, two days, even three days ahead with the same great result," Zee said.
(MORE: Ginger's Cook Club: Make Smitten Kitchen's pizza beans, white bean and potato soup)Get the full recipes below to make them in your kitchen. Tweet at Ginger and @GMA to share your cooking experience and inspire each other.
Ingredients
2 russet potatoes, peeled, halved and seeds removed
4 tablespoons olive oil, divided
Kosher salt and black pepper to taste
8 tablespoons butter (1 stick), softened
2 teaspoons chopped fresh sage, plus 10 sage leaves
2 teaspoons fresh thyme leaves
2 slices whole grain bread, roughly chopped or torn
3 ounces prosciutto
Zest of half a lemon
Directions
Preheat the oven to 425 degrees.
Rub the squash on all sides with olive oil and place onto a parchment lined baking sheet. Season with salt and pepper. Roast cut side down for 20 minutes until the squash is slightly tender (this will make it easier to slice) but not cooked all the way through.
Set the squash aside to cool enough to handle.
While the squash cools, mash together the butter, chopped sage, thyme, brown sugar and half a teaspoon of kosher salt.
Place the slightly cooled squash onto a cutting board lengthwise. Start from the stem end and slice into the squash but not all the way through. Repeat all the way to the end of the squash making the cuts one-quarter inch apart or as close together as possible.
You can place evenly sized wooden spoons on either side to guide your cuts and prevent from cutting all the way through. If you slice all the way through, just pish together and continue cutting – it will still taste delicious!
Using a spatula, carefully place the squash back onto the baking sheet.
Repeat with the remaining half and brush all with half of the butter mixture before returning to the oven.
Cook the squash for another 20 minutes, brush with remaining butter, and continue to roast until tender and gloriously golden brown, about another 20-30 minutes.
At the same time, toss the bread with remaining olive oil, sage leaves, and a good pinch of salt, then arrange on a baking sheet and lay the prosciutto around the bread. Bake in the oven with the squash 10-15 minutes until bread is toasted and prosciutto is crisp. Pulse in a food processor to get a fine crumb, or use a rolling pin or heavy bottomed pot to gently crush and crumble to bread and prosciutto together to make your topping.
Remove squash from the oven and place on a platter. Drizzle with any butter that has dripped to the bottom of the pan. Finish with breadcrumbs and a little more salt if needed and serve.
Prepping the kale ahead of time by two or three days is a great time-saver, plus you will plunge the greens in ice water to get them perky when you're ready to serve.
Ingredients
For the salad
1/4 cup pine nuts, hazelnuts, or walnuts
1 bunch Tuscan (lacinato) kale, washed, dried, and ribs removed
1 1/4 cups cooked wild rice or long-grain brown rice
1 apple, peeled, cored, and finely diced
1/2 cup pomegranate seeds (optional)
1 inch fresh ginger
For the dressing
1 small garlic clove
2 tablespoons white wine vinegar
1 1/2 teaspoons maple syrup
1 teaspoon kosher salt
Freshly cracked black pepper
1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil or grapeseed oil
Directions
To make the salad, toast the pine nuts in a medium skillet over medium heat until they are golden brown, shaking the pan often, two to three minutes. Set the nuts aside to cool on a plate.
Stack a few kale leaves and roll them like a cigar, then thinly slice them crosswise into ribbons. Add the kale, rice, and apple to a large bowl.
To make the dressing, peel the ginger and grate it on a Microplane-style rasp into a medium bowl. Gather the grated ginger in your fingers and squeeze to release the ginger juice, then discard the pulp.
Grate the garlic into the bowl with the ginger juice. Whisk in the vinegar, maple syrup, salt, and pepper to taste. Slowly whisk in the olive oil to emulsify.
Pour the dressing over the salad and toss to combine. Let the salad sit for 10 minutes, then sprinkle with the nuts and pomegranate seeds (if using) and serve.
Variation This salad is a perfect Thanksgiving side dish with dried cherries and toasted pecans used in place of the pomegranate seeds and pine nuts.
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