Mas­ter Chefs Reveal their Must-Make Recipes this Thanks­giv­ing

This hol­i­day sea­son, whether you choose to gath­er around the din­ing room table with your extend­ed fam­i­ly in-per­son or digitally—one thing is for certain—the aro­mas of an amaz­ing home-cooked meal will bring back a bit of nor­mal­cy this year. Since we all have enough to wor­ry about in 2020, we’ve tak­en the guess­work out of meal-plan­ning with this com­plete guide of drool-wor­thy recipes.

1.       Chef Gordon Ramsay

 Roast Turkey with Lemon, Pars­ley, and Gar­lic Recipe

Ingre­di­ents (Serves 8–10)

1 free-range turkey (ide­al­ly Nor­folk Black or Bronze), about 5–5.5kg

sea salt and fresh­ly ground black pep­per

2 onions, peeled and halved

1 lemon, halved

1 head of gar­lic, halved hor­i­zon­tal­ly

6 bay leaves

olive oil, to driz­zle

8 rash­ers of smoked streaky bacon

Lemon, Pars­ley & Gar­lic But­ter

375g but­ter, at room tem­per­a­ture

1 tbsp olive oil

fine­ly grat­ed zest and juice of 2 small lemons

3 gar­lic cloves, peeled and crushed

small bunch of flat leaf pars­ley, leaves only, chopped

Direc­tions

Pre­heat the oven to 220°C/Gas 7. Mean­while, pre­pare the herb but­ter. Put the but­ter

into a large bowl and sea­son with salt and pep­per. Add the olive oil and mix well. Add

the lemon zest and juice, crushed gar­lic and chopped pars­ley. Mix well to com­bine.

Remove the giblets from the turkey cav­i­ty. Sea­son the cav­i­ty well with salt and pep­per,

then stuff with the onions, lemon, gar­lic halves and 2 bay leaves. With your hands,

loosen the skin on the breast from both ends of the bird so that you will be able to stuff

the flavoured but­ter under­neath it, mak­ing sure you keep the skin intact. Repeat with the

skin on the legs – from the low­er side of the breast feel your way under the skin and out

towards the leg, loos­en­ing the gap.

Stuff half the but­ter mix into the opened spaces under the skin. From the out­side of the

skin, gen­tly mas­sage the but­ter around the breasts so that the meat is even­ly cov­ered.

Final­ly, insert the rest of the bay leaves under the skin of the breasts.

Place the bird in a large roast­ing tray, breast side up. Spread the rest of the but­ter all

over the skin. Sea­son well with salt and pep­per, then driz­zle with a lit­tle olive oil. (If

prepar­ing a day ahead, cov­er the turkey with foil and refrig­er­ate at this stage.)

Roast the turkey in the hot oven for 10–15 min­utes. Take the tray out of the oven, baste

the bird with the pan juices and lay the bacon rash­ers over the breast to keep it moist.

Baste again. Low­er the set­ting to 180°C/Gas 4 and cook for about 2 1⁄2 hours

(cal­cu­lat­ing at 30 min­utes per kg), bast­ing occa­sion­al­ly.

To test whether your turkey is cooked, insert a skew­er into the thick­est part of the leg

and check that the juices are run­ning clear, rather than pink. As oven tem­per­a­tures and

turkey shapes and sizes vary, it is cru­cial to check your turkey about 30 min­utes before

the cal­cu­lat­ed roast­ing time. If the juices are pink, roast for anoth­er 15 min­utes and

check again. Repeat as nec­es­sary until the turkey is cooked.

Trans­fer the turkey to a warmed plat­ter and remove the parson’s nose, wings and tips of

the drum­sticks; reserve these for the gravy. Leave the turkey to rest in a warm place for

at least 45 min­utes; make the gravy in the mean­time. Remove the bay leaves

from under the skin before carv­ing. Serve the turkey with the pip­ing hot gravy, stuff­ing

and accom­pa­ni­ments.

2. Chef Ryan Rondeno 

But­ter­milk Corn­bread

Ingre­di­ents (Serves 10)
2 eggs
1/2 cups heavy cream
1/2 cups but­ter, melt­ed
1/2 cups gran­u­lat­ed sug­ar
1 tsp. kosher salt
1 tsp. bak­ing pow­der
1 tsp. bak­ing soda
1 1/2 cups but­ter­milk
1 cups fine­ly ground corn­meal
1 cups all pur­pose flour
Non­stick bak­ing spray


Direc­tions
Pre­heat oven to 400 degrees.

In a bowl, add sug­ar, salt, flour, bak­ing pow­der, bak­ing soda, and corn­meal. Add eggs, but­ter­milk, and heavy cream. Whisk until smooth. Fold in melt­ed but­ter. In a 9x13 pan, spray with bak­ing spray. Pour corn­bread bat­ter into pan. Bake for 20 min­utes. Once done, brush with melt­ed but­ter.

3. Chef Bobby Flay

Sweet Pota­to Casse­role

Ingre­di­ents for Fill­ing

1/2 stick (4 table­spoons) unsalt­ed but­ter, melt­ed, plus more for but­ter­ing the bak­ing dish

3 to 4 large sweet pota­toes (about 1 3/4 pounds), peeled and cubed 

1/2 cup milk

1/4 cup brown sug­ar, packed

1 tea­spoon pure vanil­la extract

1/2 tea­spoon kosher salt

2 large eggs

Ingre­di­ents for Top­ping

1/2 cup all-pur­pose flour

1/2 cup brown sug­ar, packed

1/2 stick (4 table­spoons) unsalt­ed but­ter, melt­ed

1/4 tea­spoon kosher salt

3/4 cup chopped pecans

Direc­tions

Spe­cial equip­ment: a 2‑quart bak­ing dish

For the sweet pota­toes: Add 1 3/4 pounds peeled and cubed sweet pota­toes to a large

pot of salt­ed water. Bring to a boil over high heat, then low­er the heat to a sim­mer and

cook until the pota­toes are very ten­der, 15 to 20 min­utes. Drain and cool. Mash the

sweet pota­toes.

For the fill­ing: Pre­heat the oven to 350 degrees F. But­ter a 2‑quart bak­ing dish. Whisk

togeth­er the but­ter, mashed sweet pota­toes, milk, brown sug­ar, vanil­la, salt and eggs in

a large bowl. Trans­fer to the pre­pared bak­ing dish.

For the top­ping: Com­bine the flour, brown sug­ar, but­ter and salt in a medi­um bowl until

moist and the mix­ture clumps togeth­er. Stir in the pecans. Spread the mix­ture over the

top of the sweet pota­toes in an even lay­er. Bake until most­ly set in the cen­ter and

gold­en on top, 25 to 30 min­utes. Serve hot.

4. Chef Tae-Ho.A. Roden & Chef Nolan Bel­lamy

Crust­ed Rack of Lamb

Ingre­di­ents (serves 8)

2 ½ lb rack of lamb

salt, to taste

pep­per, to taste

olive oil

8 cloves gar­lic, peeled and smashed

1/3 cup of almonds 

1/3 cup of cashews

1/3 cup of bread­crumbs 

¼ cup fresh flat-leaf pars­ley

1 ½ table­spoons fresh rose­mary

4 table­spoons dijon mus­tard

Direc­tions

Pre­heat oven to 400°F

Cut the entire rack of lamb into two parts 

Sea­son all sides gen­er­ous­ly with salt and pep­per 

Heat a cast iron skil­let over medi­um heat

Add gar­lic and 4 table spoons of oil to the skil­let 

Sear all sides of the lamb until browned, Rough­ly 3–4 min­utes

Once browned, place racks of lamb on a bak­ing sheet.

Remove gar­lic from pan and add to a food proces­sor with pars­ley, rose­mary, almonds, cashews, and bread­crumbs.

Once all blend­ed and processed togeth­er- pour out to a large plate.

Brush rack of lamb with mus­tard on all sides and then imme­di­ate­ly dip into the crust­ing. Ensure the rack of lamb is even­ly coat­ed on all sides.

Place onto the sheet pan and roast for 20–25 min­utes

Allow to rest before slic­ing and serv­ing!

5. Chef Rachael Ray

Buttery Mashed Potatoes

Ingredients (serves 8)

3 pounds bak­ing pota­toes, peeled and quar­tered

3 cloves gar­lic, peeled

1/2 cup heavy cream

1 1/2 sticks (6 oz.) but­ter, cut into tbsp

coarse salt

Directions

In a large pot, com­bine the pota­toes and gar­lic with enough salt­ed water to cov­er by 2 inch­es. Bring to a boil over high heat. Low­er to a gen­tle boil and cook until the pota­toes are ten­der, about 30 min­utes.

Mean­while, in a small saucepan, bring the cream to a sim­mer over low heat. Remove from the heat and add the but­ter to melt.

Drain the pota­toes and gar­lic and return to the pot. Shake the pan over medi­um heat for 1 minute to dry the pota­toes. Put the pota­toes and gar­lic through a food mill or ricer and add the cream mix­ture along with 1 tsp. salt, stir­ring until smooth. Spoon into a serv­ing bowl.

6. Chef Tyler Flo­rence

Ulti­mate Mac­a­roni and Cheese

Ingre­di­ents

4 cups (1 pound) elbow mac­a­roni

5 table­spoons unsalt­ed but­ter

4 cups milk

1/2 medi­um onion, stuck with 1 clove

4 cloves gar­lic

1 bay leaf

3 sprigs fresh thyme

1 tea­spoon dry mus­tard

2 table­spoons all-pur­pose flour

2 cups grat­ed Ched­dar, plus 1 cup in big chunks

1/2 cup grat­ed Parme­san

Kosher salt and fresh­ly ground black pep­per

Direc­tions

Cook the mac­a­roni in a large pot of boil­ing salt­ed water until done, about 5 to 7 min­utes. Drain and toss it with 2 table­spoons but­ter; set aside. 

Heat the oven to 350 degrees F. 

Coat a large bak­ing dish with 1 table­spoon but­ter and set it aside. Put the milk into a saucepan and add the clove stud­ded onion, gar­lic, bay leaf, thyme, and mus­tard. Warm over medi­um low heat until the milk starts to steam, about 10 min­utes.

Remove from the heat and let the fla­vors infuse while you make the roux. In a large pot over medi­um heat add 2 table­spoons but­ter and the flour. Cook, stir­ring, for about 2 to 3 min­utes; don’t let the roux col­or. Strain the infused milk onto the roux, whisk­ing con­stant­ly to avoid lumps.

Cook, stir­ring often, for about 5 min­utes until the sauce is thick. Remove from the heat and add 1/2 the grat­ed Ched­dar and 1/2 the Parme­san; stir until it is melt­ed and smooth. Taste and adjust sea­son­ing with salt and pep­per.

Pour this over the mac­a­roni, add the chunks of Ched­dar, and mix until well blend­ed; put this into the pre­pared bak­ing dish. Sprin­kle the remain­ing Ched­dar and Parme­san cheeses even­ly over the top. Bake until the top is gold­en and crusty, about 25 to 30 min­utes.

7.  Chef Ryan Rondeno

Bour­bon Pecan Pie

Ingre­di­ents (serves 8)
pinch of salt
1/4 c. bour­bon (option­al)
1 tsp. hazel­nut or pecan extract
1 tps. vanil­la extract
1 1/2 c. pecan halves
1 c. light corn syrup
1/2 c. gran­u­lat­ed sug­ar
1/2 c. brown sug­ar
8 tbs. ice water
3/4 c. but­ter, plus 1/4 cup
4 eggs
1/2 c. pow­dered sug­ar
2 c. all-pur­pose flour

Direc­tions
Pre­heat the oven to 325°.

Pie Dough
In a bowl, add flour, pow­dered sug­ar, salt, and 1 egg. Mix until the egg is incor­po­rat­ed. Add chilled but­ter. Mix until but­ter is the size of peas. Add water. Care­ful­ly knead until the dough comes togeth­er.

Place dough mix­ture to a light­ly floured sur­face. Roll dough to a 1/8‑in.-thick cir­cle. Trans­fer to a 9‑in. deep-dish pie plate. Trim crust that over­laps the pie pan. Refrig­er­ate while prepar­ing the fill­ing.

Pecan Pie Fill­ing
In a saucepan, but­ter, melt but­ter. In a bowl, whisk sug­ars and corn syrup. Add 3 eggs, bour­bon, vanil­la extract, hazel­nut extract and salt. Whisk until smooth. Slow­ly add but­ter mix­ture. Whisk until smooth. Remove pie dough from the refrig­er­a­tor. Add pecans to the
bot­tom of the pie pan. Pour fill­ing into the pie. The pecans will float to the sur­face. Place on a bak­ing sheet. Bake for 50–60 min­utes. Insert knife into pie to check for done­ness. Once the knife comes out clean, the pie is done.

Once the pie is cool, serve with vanil­la ice cream.