I hope you had a lovely Thanksgiving. We had a delicious meal with an Italian bent. The menu included glazed ham, fresh cranberry sauce, roasted squash, brussel sprouts, asparagus with Frico, vegetable lasagna, and my contributions, sage stuffing and fennel mashed potatoes with rosemary.
After much research, I think I decided on the perfect Thanksgiving sides. The sage stuffing is a gourmet update on my all-time favorite, Stovetop. I made the buttermilk cornbread from scratch, as the recipe details. But I left out the chicken livers. Find the recipe from Epicurious here:
The roasted fennel in these mashed potatoes add so much flavor and richness. The rosemary, crème fraîche and a stick of butter don’t hurt. They can be made ahead and reheated in the microwave for added convenience.
Mashed Potatoes with Roasted Fennel & Rosemary
serves 8-10
Ingredients
2 large fresh fennel bulbs, trimmed, quartered through core, center core trimmed and discarded, cut into 3/4 inch pieces
1 medium onion, cut into 3/4 inch pieces
3 tblsp extra-virgin olive oil
2 tsp fine sea salt, divided
3 lbs Yukon Gold potatoes, peeled and cut into 1 1/2 inch pieces
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter
1 1/2 tblsp fresh rosemary, chopped
1/2 cup crème fraîche
1. Preheat oven to 375°. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Toss fennel and onion with olive oil, 1 tsp salt, and fresh pepper and spread in a single layer. Roast until fennel and onion are very tender, tossing occasionally, about 1 hour 15 minutes. Let cool slightly. Transfer to a food processor and puree until almost smooth.
2. Cook potatoes in a large pot of salted water until tender, about 25 minutes. Drain well, cool slightly.
3. Melt butter with rosemary and remaining salt in a small sauce pan. Place potatoes in a large bowl with fennel puree, melted butter and crème fraîche…mash well. Season with salt and pepper and drizzle with more olive oil. (Can be made 6 hours ahead. Place in a microwave safe bowl and reheat on high for 4 minutes until heated through).
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