By Susan Swagler
Thanksgiving dinner is a beloved tradition, but – let’s face it – it can be quite stressful. If you’re the one hosting this meal, that means days and days of work.
But what if you begin to gather before actually gathering with your family and friends?
What if you gathered every aspect of your dinner – from appetizers to sides to turkey to dessert – from local restaurants and caterers, bakers and makers? It’s not hard to outsource the entire meal, especially since we’ve done the sourcing for you. And it’s a perfectly delicious way to support local, women-owned businesses!
Homewood Gourmet
2703 Mamie L. Foster,
18th Place, Homewood
homewoodgourmet.com
Laura Zapalowski, who owns Homewood Gourmet along with her husband, Chris, said, “We want our customers to enjoy spending Thanksgiving with family and friends. Our hope is that our fresh, scratch-made sides and casseroles take the work and stress out of the holiday meal. We provide everything but the turkey. We also have a few extras like appetizers and breakfast items for out-of-town guests. Our pie crusts are made by hand, and the pecan-oatmeal pie is a recipe I developed for Cooking Light based on my grandmother’s recipe. Our Baby Blue Salad is also a favorite to serve at holiday tables.”
Everything here is à la carte. Appetizers include their famous spiced pecans ($14/pint), boudin balls ($24/dozen), spinach and artichoke dip ($35, serves 10), and chicken and sausage gumbo ($18/quart). The beloved Baby Blue Salad is $30 (serves 10). Honey balsamic vinaigrette is $8 for 8 oz., $14 for 16 oz. Fresh cranberry sauce is $12 for a pint, homemade turkey gravy is $10 per pint.
Casseroles include praline sweet potatoes, traditional cornbread dressing, green bean casserole with bacon and onion topping and buttermilk mashed potatoes, among others. A large casserole is $40 (serves 10-12) and a small is $30 (serves 6-8).
Homewood Gourmet offers homemade boudin sausage, which is great for stuffing turkeys, as well as cornbread muffins and dinner rolls. Cinnamon-pecan coffeecake ($14, serves 6-8) is great to have on hand for houseguests. There’s pumpkin pie, chocolate chess pie and pecan-oatmeal pie ($18 each) and pumpkin bread pudding with bourbon caramel ($25).
[email protected] or call 205-871-1620. Orders must be placed no later than Friday, Nov. 17. Orders can be picked up Monday-Wednesday, Nov. 20-22.
Café IZ
To be picked up at Iz the Place,
3325 Rocky Ridge Plaza,
Suite 100,
Vestavia Hills
everythingiz.com/café
Executive chef Kay Reed started her IZ enterprises – a neighborhood café and full-service catering company – in 1999. Since then, she’s served homemade, never frozen, healthy meals to generations of fans.
“My family loves our cornbread dressing and gravy,” she said. “The thing that makes our dishes special is they are fresh not frozen. Your whole house can smell like Thanksgiving without the mess and fuss. Just bake and serve.”
IZ can make your entire meal, or you can buy just what you want; everything is à la carte.
Turkey choices include a deep-fried whole turkey with Cajun spices ($99, 10-12 pounds average) or an oven-roasted, butter-basted turkey breast ($99, 9 pounds average) as well as delicious pan gravy ($17.50).
Casseroles and sides ($55 each, all serve 10-12 people) include IZ holiday salad with mixed greens, cranberries, feta, candied walnuts and Sicilian lemon white balsamic dressing; traditional cornbread dressing; praline sweet potato casserole; macaroni and cheese bake; and classic green bean casserole. Cranberry chutney ($8.50) is made with fresh and dried cranberries, Granny Smith apples, pecans and orange zest. Homemade desserts – all IZ favorites – include caramel cake, chocolate roulade and carrot cake with cream cheese icing ($49.50 each).
Orders must be placed by Nov. 18. Orders may be picked up Wednesday, Nov. 22, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.
Satterfield’s Restaurant
3161 Cahaba Heights Road,
Vestavia Hills
satterfieldsrestaurant.com
Satterfield’s Restaurant, which specializes in global dining with a Southern twist, is a place where the family dinner table meets fine dining. Its Thanksgiving meal to go lets you create that same special feeling at home.
Classic sides in half pans ($38.95, serves 12-14) and whole pans ($68.95, serves 24-28) include green bean casserole with crispy onion topping, classic squash casserole, creamed corn, Southern-style collards, mac and cheese, and buttermilk mashed potatoes.
A large roast turkey breast with gravy ($100 serves 18-22 people) is available along with gravy by the pint ($8) or quart ($16), Parker House rolls ($8 a dozen), whipped Alabama honey butter, Jack Daniel’s pecan pie ($45), and chocolate flourless torte ($65).
Call 205-969-9690 to order, and place that order at least four days before you want to pick it up.
Stone Hollow Farmstead
2825 2nd Ave. S. at Pepper Place
stonehollowfarmstead.com
This farm-to-your-table operation and nationally known lifestyle brand is run by the mother and daughter team of Deborah Stone and Alexandra Stone Flowers.
The farm is known for its community-supported agriculture boxes, dahlias and other flowers, homemade jams and vinegars and even a boutique skincare line called Botanikō Skin.
This holiday season, it is offering Thanksgiving CSA Farm Boxes featuring heirloom turkeys you cook yourself.
“Our Thanksgiving CSA program is a curated blend of locally sourced ingredients paired with unique recipes, offering a fresh twist to the traditional Thanksgiving meal, all while supporting your local agricultural community!” Alexandra Stone said.
Options for these Thanksgiving exclusives include the Harvest Deluxe Box ($335) with a Joyce Farms Heritage Black Turkey (12-14 pounds), Stone Hollow’s secret-recipe poultry brine, cranberry conserve, drunken pears, homemade buttermilk, farm-fresh cow’s milk (with cream on top) and two dozen rainbow eggs. Additionally, there are curated partner items: 1 pound Amish country butter, 10 pounds Delta sweet potatoes and a 2-pound bag of McEwen & Sons cornmeal.
The Farmstead Favorites box ($250) includes a Joyce Farms naked turkey (10-14 pounds) along with the Thanksgiving staples found in the Harvest Deluxe box. You also can buy just the Joyce Farms naked turkey – 10-12 pounds or 12-14 pounds – from $89.
Order online at stonehollowfarmstead.com/pages/thanksgiving-farm-box and pick up from the FarmStand at Pepper Place.
Bistro V
521 Montgomery Highway,
Vestavia Hills
bistro-v.com
Emily Tuttle-Shell owns Bistro V in Vestavia Hills with executive chef Jeremy Downey, and this neighborhood eatery serves elevated Southern favorites such as shrimp and grits, Gulf-fresh fish po’boys, fried okra salad and fried oysters in addition to beautifully crafted cocktails.
For the holiday, Tuttle-Shell said, “We are offering the Thanksgiving sides and desserts that have been most popular over the past 13 years.”
These traditional sides include cornbread dressing, squash casserole, sweet potato casserole with pecans, gourmet mac and cheese, and sauteed green beans, ($38 each, serves 6-8). Oyster dressing is $50 and serves 6-8. Giblet gravy is $20, and fresh cranberry sauce is $15. Desserts include chocolate chip bread pudding ($50, serves 8-10), pumpkin cheesecake ($65, serves 12), spiced apple pecan cobbler ($50, serves 8-10), and flourless chocolate torte ($60, serves 12).
Call 205-823-1505 to order. Orders must be placed by Friday, Nov. 17. Order pick-up will be during regular business hours Wednesday, Nov. 22.
Dreamland Bar-B-Que
Dreamland Catering,
1427 14th Ave. S.,
Birmingham
dreamlandbbq.com/catering
For 65 years, Dreamland Bar-B-Que has been a favorite place for meats cooked low and slow over a hickory wood-fired pit. Holiday catering goes way beyond the ribs and white bread this beloved barbecue institution will always be known for serving, although there’s much more on the regular menu these days.
The special holiday menu includes smoked turkey breast, spiral-cut ham, classic sweet potato casserole, Italian green beans, mashed potatoes and gravy, Sister Schubert’s yeast rolls and Big Daddy’s iced tea. It’s $10 to $12 a person, with a 15-person minimum order.
“We want to offer our guests the convenience, so they are able to spend more time with family and leave the stress of preparing the meal to us,” Dreamland CEO Betsy McAtee said.
Orders must be made 48 hours in advance. There is a 15-person minimum. Call 205-329-9322 or go to dreamlandbbq.com/catering.
Ashley Mac’s
Five locations in the metro area, including in
Homewood, Cahaba Heights, Riverchase, Inverness and
downtown Birmingham.
ashleymacs.com
Ashley Mac’s has been doing family-friendly, fast-casual, gourmet-to-go for nearly 20 years. Owner Ashley McMakin even has an entire chapter in her new cookbook, “Ashley Mac’s Kitchen,” devoted to Friendsgiving.
Her stores are offering “Holiday Bundles” that make putting a meal together easier than ever. The Turkey Bundle ($125, serves 6-8) includes Boar’s Head turkey breast with homemade gravy, cornbread dressing, sweet potato casserole and sour cream biscuits.
The Ham Bundle ($115, serves 6-8) has Boar’s Head ham with brown sugar glaze, brown sugar green beans, twice-baked mashed potatoes and sour cream biscuits.
A Breakfast Bundle ($65, serves 6-8) features a breakfast casserole, baked cheese grits and sour cream biscuits.
All the traditional trimmings are available separately to serve 4-5 or 8-10.
Everything also can be ordered a la carte along with white chocolate bread pudding, pumpkin cheesecake pie, Ethel’s Pecan Pie, red velvet cake and cupcakes, and pumpkin snickerdoodle MAC cookies. All bundles come in an insulated AMK tote.
The ordering deadline is Nov. 19 for Thanksgiving or Dec. 19 for Christmas. Choose the store where you’d like to pick up.
Happy Thanksgiving!
As for the Leftovers
…
Even if you gather all the ingredients for Thanksgiving dinner and don’t cook a thing, you could easily make this soup from chef Becky Satterfield from your “leftovers.” My family loves it. I start this soup the morning after Thanksgiving and let it cook while I swap out my fall décor for holiday decorations. – Susan Swagler
Leftover Thanksgiving Turkey Soup
Total time: 2 hours 30 minutes (prep time: 30 minutes, cook time: 2 hours)
Yield: 6 to 8 servings
Ingredients:
8 cups chicken broth (fresh or boxed)
1 turkey carcass, all meat removed
1 carrot, washed, peeled and halved lengthwise
1 whole stalk celery, washed, halved lengthwise
1 medium onion, peeled and halved
2 bay leaves
1 tablespoon chopped fresh sage
Directions:
• Put everything into a large stockpot. Bring to a boil, and then simmer while covered, about 1½ hours, then strain.
• When you strain the broth, remove the large bones and carcass with tongs. Strain the broth through a sieve covered with wet cheesecloth. Discard the solids. Add strained broth back into the stockpot.
While your stock is boiling/simmering, prepare:
1 whole carrot, washed, small dice
1 whole stalk celery, washed, small dice
1 medium onion, peeled, cut in small dice
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 cloves garlic, smashed and chopped roughly
1 bunch rough-chopped, blanched and shocked parsley
3 cups leftover Thanksgiving Day vegetables, such as green beans, Brussels sprouts and squash
3 cups leftover turkey meat, white and dark, diced into pieces no larger than a soupspoon.
• In a separate skillet or pot, heat the garlic in the olive oil over medium heat. Allow to brown slightly, about 3 minutes. Add the diced carrots, diced celery and diced onions. Sweat over medium-low heat until softened, 7 or 8 minutes. Set aside until broth has been strained.
• After broth has been strained and added back to the stockpot, add these sweated vegetables from the pan into the stockpot containing the strained broth along with a medium bunch of rough-chopped, fresh blanched and shocked parsley. Also, add 1 cup leftover green beans cut in 2-inch segments, 1 cup leftover Brussels sprouts cut in fourths, 1 cup leftover yellow sautéed squash cut in fourths, 3 cups leftover turkey meat light and dark (and turkey neck meat, if on hand). The turkey meat should be diced into pieces no larger than the size of a soupspoon.
• Continue to simmer covered for 25 minutes and then serve 6-8 people with sweet potato biscuits on the side. (See recipe at otmj.com)
Store leftover soup in an airtight container after completely cooling in an ice bath. It should be good for a couple of days.
Sweet Potato Biscuits
Preheat oven to 450 degrees F. Prepare baking sheets with parchment paper or cooking release spray. I prefer parchment paper. Set aside.
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon kosher salt
3 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
Sift all above dry ingredients together.
2 tablespoons of finely chopped blanched/shocked parsley (optional)
2 tablespoons of finely chopped blanched/shocked chives (optional)
4 tablespoons cold unsalted butter, cut into small pieces (2 ounces)
1 cup leftover sweet potato casserole with marshmallows, or mashed sweet potatoes*
1/8 to 1/4 cup milk, more, if needed
- Mix dry ingredients in food processor.** Pulse butter into flour mixture until all butter has been blended into the flour. Process in the sweet potatoes to the flour mixture, just until fully combined.
- Add 1/8 cup of milk to mixture. Add more milk, a tablespoon or two at a time, if necessary, to achieve a ball of dough in your processor. Dough should be soft and smooth, not dry or too wet. If you end up with dough that is too wet and sticky, add a bit more flour so that it can be handled and rolled. If too dry, add more milk.
- Roll dough on a lightly floured surface so that it is approximately 1/2-inch thick. Cut in 2-inch rounds with a biscuit cutter. Place rounds on prepared baking sheet. Re-roll remaining dough and continue cutting rounds until all dough is used.
- Bake for 9-10 minutes, or until biscuits are golden brown.
* If you don’t use leftover sweet potato casserole (a casserole that has had sugar and marshmallows added to it) but use mashed sweet potatoes, I recommend adding 2 tablespoons of brown sugar to your dry ingredients.
** If you don’t have a food processor, you can prepare this recipe by hand or in a mixer with a paddle attachment. Simply do all the steps in a bowl. If by hand, combine butter with flour using a fork or pastry blender to work the butter into the flour.
Once baked and out of the oven, brush the biscuits lightly with melted butter or honey or serve plain, depending upon your preference.
- Chef Becky Satterfield, owner, Satterfield’s Restaurant and El ZunZún
Chef Becky Satterfield, owner, Satterfield’s Restaurant
and El ZunZún
