All-American Thanksgiving Appetizers
Crab Cakes with Horseradish Cream
Lump crabmeat is mixed with only enough bread crumbs and mayonnaise to hold it together, then coated with more crumbs and fried to a golden brown. A mixture of sour cream and horseradish provides lively accompaniment.
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Roasted Winter Squash and Onion Turnovers
The filling for these turnovers also makes a terrific side dish on its own.
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Hush Puppies with Remoulade
Food writer Emily Thelin created these crispy hush puppies—cornmeal dumplings—by adapting a recipe from chef Susan McCreight Lindeborg. (Lindeborg ran the kitchen at Washington, DC’s Morrison-Clark Inn when Emily worked there as a line cook.) Emily serves them with a version of the creamy French sauce remoulade, which she spikes with Tabasco and a little ketchup.
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Deviled Eggs With Country Ham
Chef Ford Fry’s deviled eggs get their terrific flavor from goat cheese, Dijon mustard and cornichons, plus a topping of country ham from Benton’s in Madisonville, Tennessee.
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Caramelized Onion Dip
This homemade onion dip is far better than the storebought version.
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Oysters Rocafella
“We created this dish as an homage to Jay-Z. He inspires us,” says Mario Carbone about the rapper and cofounder of the Roc-A-Fella record label. “The original dish was named for John D. Rockefeller. He was money back then, and to us, Jay-Z is money in New York City now.” Carbone tops the oysters with a tangy vinegar-shallot mignonette, plus a Champagne-infused foam and frozen Champagne grapes.
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Blue-Cheese-and-Walnut Dip with Waldorf Crudités
With walnuts, mayonnaise, apples and grapes, this recipe is a riff on classic Waldorf salad.
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Pimento Cheese & Bacon Crostini
Down Home with the Neelys has inventive recipes like these irresistible crostini.
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Spicy Spinach Dip with Pine Nuts
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Fried Goat Cheese Balls with Honey
Club soda lightens the egg batter that coats the cheese, and a double-coating of panko crumbs amplifies the crunch.
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Hogs in a Blanket
This fun, high-brow take on pigs in a blanket swaps spicy andouille sausage for the hot dogs, with sweet mustard chutney as a condiment.
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Bacon-Wrapped Shrimp with Cocktail Sauce
For this excellent appetizer, jumbo shrimp are marinated in chile-garlic oil, then wrapped with bacon and grilled. They're served with a house-made cocktail sauce that's spiked with a horseradish.
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Artichoke Dip
Flatbush Farm feels like a cross between a French bistro, an English pub and a Brooklyn neighborhood joint, and the bar menu includes corresponding comfort foods. One is this all-American, over-the-top, cheese-smothered dip.