OUT WEST: Food & Lifestyle

Thanksgiving

Out West Style Thanksgiving

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Out West Style Thanksgiving celebrates Pacific Northwest farm to table ingredients with warm, earthy spices.

Fresh from the garden Roasted Spiced Carrots with Agave and Pepitas bring a rustic elegance to your table in just 20 minutes. These beautiful, organic rainbow carrots are oven roasted with cumin and paprika, then topped with agave and pepitas. Cranberries dot a Shaved Brussels Spouts Salad like beautiful jewels. Drizzled in shallot lemon vinaigrette with parmesan and toasted breadcrumbs, this salad gets more delicious as it sits. Bring a little heat to the table with this creamy Serrano & Potato Gratin, made fool-proof with an easy to make cheesy sauce and finished in the oven.

The Sides

An easy side dish full of flavor, Roasted Spiced Carrots with Agave and Pepitas bring rustic elegance to your table.
Shallot lemon vinaigrette drizzled over this Shaved Brussels Sprouts Salad with grated parmesan, pomegranate and toasted bread crumbs.
Golden browned red potato gratin with warm and spicy Serrano peppers

Dressing a.k.a. stuffing, my favorite dish on the Thanksgiving table. Whether you stuff your bird or bake separately in the oven, these recipes are full of Pacific Northwest flavor. Earthy chanterelle mushrooms, sage and leeks come together with toasted bread cubes in this rustic Chanterelle Sage Stuffing. The seasoned toasted bread cubes in this Chorizo Cornbread Stuffing combined with the crumbled cornbread adds the perfect nooks and crannies for all that goodness of spicy chorizo, pecan, sliced apple and celery to nestle in.

Dressing a.k.a. Stuffing

  • Earthy chanterelle mushrooms, sage and leeks come together with toasted bread cubes in this rustic Out West Chanterelle Sage Stuffing.
  • This Thanksgiving head Out West with this Chorizo Cornbread Stuffing packed full of sliced apple, pecan and celery with rustic bread cubes.

The main dish on your Thanksgiving Day table sets the stage for all the supporting side dishes. Guajillo, New Mexico and Chile de Arbol combine with earthy cumin, cinnamon and notes of agave and orange juice in this Chile Rubbed Smoked Turkey. The best thing about smoked turkey, aside from the delicious smoked flavor, is that it’s already cooked, which means you have more oven time for other dishes to cook. This 10 pound smoked turkey takes less than two hours to warm in the oven and comes out juicy enough to make gravy out of the drippings.

Turkey Time

  • A blend of red chiles, spices and orange juice produce a flavorful skin on this Out West inspired Chile Rubbed Smoked Turkey.
  • A blend of red chiles, spices and orange juice produce a flavorful skin on this Out West inspired Chile Rubbed Smoked Turkey

Out West Style Thanksgiving can’t be complete without pumpkin pie…with a twist. Lime zested and topped with pepitas, these Pumpkin Cream Bars combine the flavors of traditional pumpkin pie with lime zested whipped cream in a graham cracker crust. The best thing? They require zero baking. – Just a little time to chill in the fridge, which saves room in the oven for the main event. You’ll want to chill in the fridge for at least an hour, more if you have time. The longer it chills, the easier it will be to cut into bite size bars.

Did Someone Say Dessert?

Pumpkin Cream Bars with Chili Lime Pepitas combines the flavors of traditional pumpkin pie with lime zested whipped cream topping and chili lime pepitas in a graham cracker crust.

Chorizo Cornbread Stuffing

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This Thanksgiving head Out West with this Chorizo Cornbread Stuffing packed full of sliced apple, pecan and celery with rustic bread cubes.

Spicy Chorizo, Pecan, Sliced Apple & Celery

The seasoned toasted bread cubes in this Chorizo Cornbread Stuffing combined with the crumbled cornbread adds the perfect nooks and crannies for all that goodness to nestle in.

Ingredients in Chorizo Cornbread Stuffing

  • Hempler’s Chorizo Ground Sausage – This recipe calls for chorizo, a Mexican spiced ground pork sausage. There are many different types and qualities of chorizo ranging from very greasy with little meat that typically comes in a tube to all natural ground sausage that has more substance and less grease. You can immediately tell the difference. For this recipe, you want to choose a high quality chorizo, such as Hempler’s. Hempler’s is a West coast local small batch crafted meat company. Click the link to find out where you can purchase this product.
  • Toasted Seasoned Bread Cubes – Often found in the deli section during the holidays or make your own using day old French bread, cubed, seasoned with one tablespoon of poultry seasoning, a pinch of salt and baked in 350 degree oven for about 15 minutes.
  • Cornbread – Any recipe will do, just make ahead and let it sit out overnight to age a little.
  • Celery – Organic is my choice for celery
  • Shallot – Find these next to the garlic and onions
  • Apple – Honeycrisp is perfect, but any apple will do, skin on
  • Pecans – Shelled pecans or pecan halves
  • Sage – Fresh sage from produce section or your own garden

Preparation

  1. Combine toasted bread cubes and cornbread in a large mixing bowl.
  2. Brown chorizo over medium high heat and set aside.
  3. Sauté celery, shallot and apple in olive oil over medium high heat.
  4. Turn off heat and add chorizo back to pan and sliced butter, letting it melt in warm pan.
  5. Combine chorizo mixture with bread cube mixture.
  6. Fold in pecans and sage.
  7. Whisk egg into chicken broth and combine with bread cube mixture.
  8. Cover with foil and bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes.

Related Recipes

  • A blend of red chiles, spices and orange juice produce a flavorful skin on this Out West inspired Chile Rubbed Smoked Turkey
  • An easy side dish full of flavor, Roasted Spiced Carrots with Agave and Pepitas bring rustic elegance to your table.
  • Earthy chanterelle mushrooms, sage and leeks come together with toasted bread cubes in this rustic Out West Chanterelle Sage Stuffing.
This Thanksgiving head Out West with this Chorizo Cornbread Stuffing packed full of sliced apple, pecan and celery with rustic bread cubes.

Chorizo Cornbread Stuffing

This Thanksgiving head Out West with this Chorizo Cornbread Stuffing packed full of sliced apple, pecan and celery with rustic bread cubes.
Print Recipe Pin Recipe
Prep Time 15 mins
Cook Time 40 mins
Course Side Dish
Cuisine American, PNW, Thanksgiving
Servings 6

Ingredients
  

  • 4 cups seasoned toasted bread cubes
  • 4 cups day old corn bread roughly broken
  • 1/2 pound Hempler's Chorizo Ground Sausage
  • 1 tablespoon lard or olive oil
  • 1 cup celery thinly sliced
  • 1/2 cup shallot thinly sliced
  • 1 cup apple thinly sliced
  • 1/2 cup butter sliced in a few pieces for easy melting
  • 1 cup pecans rough chopped
  • 1/4 cup fresh sage rough chopped
  • 1 egg
  • 1 1/2 cup chicken broth

Instructions
 

  • Combine toasted bread cubes and corn bread in a large mixing bowl.
  • Brown chorizo in a large pan over medium high heat. Remove from pan and set aside.
  • Add lard or olive oil to the pan. Sauté celery and shallot for about 3 minutes until softened. Add apple and sauté another minute.
  • Turn heat off and add butter and cooked chorizo, letting butter melt in warm pan.
  • Combine chorizo mixture with toasted bread cube mixture.
  • Fold in pecans and sage.
  • Whisk egg into broth and combine with bread cube mixture until completely coated.
  • Place stuffing mixture in a prepared baking dish, cover with foil and bake for 40 minutes at 350 degrees. Remove the foil for the last 10 minutes if you like a crispier top.
Keyword Southwest Stuffing, Thanksgiving, Western Stuffing

Shaved Persimmon & Walnut Salad

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Layers of beautiful orange persimmons and leafy greens with a dusting of Washington walnuts makes for a festive winter salad.

Layers of beautiful orange persimmons and leafy greens with a dusting of walnuts makes for a festive winter salad.

Persimmons in the winter time make me so happy. You see, I’m a salad person and come winter in the Pacific NW we are in a lack of tomatoes phase. So, what a better replacement than sweet persimmons? They have a beautiful orange color, are sweet, but fairly mild with a honey taste and have a similar texture to tomato. In this salad we use chopped walnut because right about this time, the walnuts have dried from the Washington State walnut trees. Drizzle on my house dressing, a shallot vinaigrette, and it’s that simple.

#persimmons #wintersalads #dinnerparty #recipes #pnweats

Print

Shaved Persimmon & Walnut Salad

Course Main Course, Salad
Cuisine Vegetarian
Keyword persimmons, salad, winter salad
Prep Time 10 minutes

Ingredients

  • 1 head living lettuce or any type of leafy green lettuce torn
  • 1 persimmon cut of top and discard. Cut remainder in very thin slices
  • ½ cup walnuts chopped

Dressing: Combine all ingredients together

  • 1 tbsp shallot
  • 1 tsp agave
  • 1 tsp dijon mustard
  • 2 tbsp red wine vinegar
  • 1 tbsp parmesan grated
  • 1 tbsp olive oil
  • ½ tsp pepper

Instructions

  • Dressing: Combine all ingredients together
  • Layer persimmon and greens in a salad bowl, drizzle with dressing, top with walnuts.