MORE SIDES WITH SUPERPOWERS FOR THE BIG TURKEY DAY.

For your culinary pleasure, we’re focusing on dishes that show off the best of the earth, sea, and your favorite local hen house. All of these are delicious when brought to the table the moment they’re ready — but they can transport, too, if you’re in charge of bringing sides to someone else’s home this Thanksgiving.

If you make the eggs to move elsewhere, a tip: Put them tightly in an airtight container just big enough to hold them all. If the container is a little bit too big, fill in the space with crumpled paper towels. If the container is a little bit too small … have a snack.

CORN BREAD LIKE NO OTHER

I made this delectable cornbread recipe in the EuroCAST grill pan. What a beauty. Of course a grill pan is normally used for veggies and meats to give great grill marks. But the shape, size, and easy clean-up make it perfect (or as Catwoman would say, purr-fect) for cornbread.

As for this particular recipe, meow.

LOADED FOR BEAR CORNBREAD

It’s like stuffing, but it’s not. Full of sausage, celery, onions, fresh sage. And the texture, oh my. Such a cheesy and toothsome yumminess!

I made this last night for my family with a big pot of savory lentils. A kind of culinary penance before the big feast on Thursday. 

And, I admit: the leftovers are totes gonna sneak in my stuffing for the turkey. #realcooking #nothingwasted #highendstrategist

INGREDIENTS

• 1 cup flour

• 1 cup corn meal

• 1 T baking powder

• 3 eggs beaten

• 1 cup sour cream

• 2 cups grated extra sharp cheddar cheese, with one of those cups reserved for the top

• 1/2 pound sausage — I a found a type already laced with sage (it was great)

• 1 onion minced

• 1/2 or more of a jalapeño minced

• 2 stalks celery, sautéed in 3 T olive oil

• 1/2 cup olive oil

PROCEDURE

1. Mix everything together except that reserved cup of cheddar cheese. Pour into your EuroCAST square grill pan, or your medium sized EuroCAST skillet.

2. Top with the reserved 1 cup cheddar cheese.

3. Bake @ 400F for 20-25 minutes until brown and a knife comes out clean.

4. Invert onto a plate, then invert again to a cutting board to cut into squares.

Eat. It.

KALE IN BACON, TOPPED WITH FRESH SARDINES

My mother would say, “I never met a fish I didn’t like.”

Same for me.

There’s so much goodness in this dish. If you’ve never had sardines from a tin, you’re missing out. They’re mild, slightly briny, with tender flesh, delicious, and ridiculously good for you. As for the kale and bacon, that’s a match made in heaven because it tastes earthy, rich, and — well, bacon-y. What’s not to love?

1. Make the bacon.

2. Sauté the kale.

3. Plate with the bacon on bottom, sautéed kale on top, drizzled with just a little olive oil and a few drops of fish sauce.

4. Then top with sardines pulled from a tin. Choose wild-caught. Some are packed in water, others in olive oil, and some in a lemon olive oil. Your call.

See the photo for what this looks like. Oh, I think I put some Aleppo flake on top at the end.

OVEN-FRIED CRISPY SWEET POTATO NUGGETS

Life-changing, these are so good.

You’ll need four sweet potatoes cut into uniform nuggets, kosher salt, 1/4 cup of cornmeal, and olive oil.

Serves 8.

1. Preheat oven to 350F.

2. In your largest pot or EuroCAST Dutch oven, add the nuggets and cover with water.

3. Add 3 T kosher salt, bring to a boil, and cook until just fork tender. 

4. Drain well in a colander and add back to the pot.

5. Add 1/4 cup cornmeal to the potatoes.

6. With the top on shake vigorously to coat and to rough up the edges

7. Place a large flat rimmed cookie sheet on the top rack and pour 1 cup olive oil into the pan. 

8. Place the nuggets in the pan, cook till crisp, turn as needed (it won’t take long — and remember, they’re already cooked through).

9. Garnish as shown.

10. Eat till gone.

EGGS SAN FRANCISCO

Well, that’s what I’m calling them. I had these on a lovely date while in San Francisco (a terrific foodie town). The restaurant sold them “by the each”, which is to say, you don’t get a whole egg per order because the egg has been decapitated and sliced at the bottom to remain upright. But they are SO GOOD, I wasn’t complaining. We had two “by the each”.

When I came back home, I reinvented the recipe. I had to. Mythically, heroically delicious are they.

You’re welcome.

Eat as many as you care to.

TIP: The quick-pickled shallot is critical. (Ooh, so yummy against the creamy yolk filling). If you do not already have a half-finished jar of jalapeños in your fridge, buy a new one. Take out the jalapeños and put them in the fridge for whenever (or eat them), and use the jar full of jalapeño juice for the quick pickle. Yes, this is an odd tip, but it will also, like the sweet potatoes above, change your life.

Makes 6 eggs. 

1. Have read 6 whole large eggs, hard-boiled and shelled.

2. Slice a bit off the larger, bottom-end of the egg to create a flat surface because you’ll be standing these puppies up at attention. 

3. Now slice the egg from the narrow end just above the 1/2 way mark. This will allow you to remove the yolk. Do it gently without ripping the egg white. 

FOR THE YOLKS

Mash all the yolks with:

• 1 tablespoon minced onion

• 2 tablespoons chopped parsley stems (save the leaves for garnish)

• 8 minced pickled jalapenos 

• 3 pieces crispy bacon minced (save a few shards for garnish)

• 4 T best-quality mayonnaise

• 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard

• Salt and pepper to taste

EGG ASSEMBLY

With a small teaspoon, gently slip that filling into the egg white cup. 

Gently, gently.

GARNISH

Garnish on this dish ain’t no throw-away afterthought. It’s where the rubber meets the road. It drives up your stuck. It makes you cool. Just do it. In this order:

• Excellent Maldon sea salt

• Aleppo flakes

• Wafer-thin slices of shallot quick-pickled in a jar of jalapeno juice, pickled for about 1 hour

• Bacon shards

• A handful of roasted, smoked and salted almonds, chopped almost into dust.

Eat Immediately. At least a couple of them. You may want to save a few for others, because, Thanksgiving and all.

Or, don’t take them to dinner. Just refrigerate and eat them “per the each” when you wish.