Try Tyler Florence’s yummy Thanksgiving sides

Put the cranberries, grapes, sugar, cinnamon, orange juice and zest into a saucepan over medium heat and simmer until the cranberries burst and the sauce thickens, about 15 to 20 minutes. Cool and refrigerate.

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Prick the sweet potatoes all over with a fork and put them on a roasting pan. On another roasting pan prick bananas and lay out in a single layer. Roast sweet potatoes for 45 minutes until very soft and roast bananas for 25 minutes. Remove both pans from the oven and allow to cool slightly.

In a small sauce pot heat cream with bay leaf until reduced by half, then keep warm until ready to puree potatoes and bananas.

When the potatoes are cool enough to handle, scoop out the flesh into the bowl of a food processor. Add peeled bananas. Season with salt, add butter, cream, vanilla and puree until super smooth. Pour into an oven-proof gratin dish.

Make the topping by combining flour, cold butter and brown sugar in the food processor and pulse until you have the texture of coarse bread crumbs. Sprinkle on top of the puree and place under the broiler until golden brown and crispy, about 4-5 minutes.

Melt the butter in a pan over medium heat and toss in the apple cubes. Cook for approximately 2 minutes to add a little bit of color and then set aside. 

In the same pan add the olive oil and add the rosemary and sweet Italian sausage. Cook until lightly browned then add the onions and cook for 10 minutes until soft and golden. Scrape that all into a large mixing bowl, add the apple and cornbread pieces, season well with salt and pepper, and give it a good toss until it’s well combined.

In a separate bowl, whisk together the egg, cream and 1/4 cup stock, and pour that over the cornbread. Stir the stuffing together, season with salt and pepper and bake inside of turkey or in a gratin dish as dressing. (For dressing bake in a 375 degree F oven for 30-40 minutes.)

Wash salad leaves and dry well.

In a large pot over medium heat warm balsamic vinegar with honey. Drizzle in olive oil and whisk gently. Season with salt, pepper and add a squeeze of fresh lemon. Turn off heat and dump in salad greens. Using tongs, coat everything evenly — the heat of the pot will slightly wilt the greens. 

Set the greens on a platter and top with shaved red onion, dried cranberries, parmigiano shavings and parsley sprigs.

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.  Butter a jelly roll pan and line with parchment. Set aside.

Take the carrots and chop into large pieces then mince in a food processor until you have a fine texture.  Drain pineapple and finely chop walnuts. Set aside.  In a large mixing bowl add flour, baking soda, baking powder and spices together.  In a separate bowl mix buttermilk, molasses, eggs, vegetable oil and dark brown sugar together.

Now combine wet and dry ingredients together to make a batter then fold in the carrots, pineapple and walnuts.  Pour into the prepared pan and bake in the oven for 25-30 minutes until cake is set and springs back when gently pressed in the middle.  Remove the pan from the oven and allow cake to cool on a rack while you prepare the frosting and cointreau carrots (recipes below).  Once the cake has cooled, cut into three rectangles by cutting the cake lengthwise twice.  Stack the cake up into three tiers with cream cheese frosting in between each layer. Frost the outside of the entire finished cake – smoothing off the edges and corners (an offset spatula works well).  Top with cointreau carrot rounds and pineapple chunks and drizzle a little of the syrup on top as well so it runs down the sides.  Finish by placing toasted walnuts in the gaps between the pineapple chunks and the carrot circles.