This year, Twin Cities Live got all their favorite chefs together to create a Thanksgiving dinner! What an honor to cook among such talented and absolutely wonderful people! I had such a great time!
Laurie Crowell made a beautifully brined turkey
And for my dish, I made Apple, Bacon and White Cheddar Scalloped Potatoes, a traditional dish with a new spin! This recipe makes a big batch so it’s a perfect dish to make on Thanksgiving with lots of leftovers. I absolutely love the Maple Bacon in this dish. When I was making it, Will yelled in from the living room, “Whatever you are making in there, it smells like heaven!”
As a special part of the show, viewers also had an opportunity to see inside our homes and hear about our family’s holiday traditions. We had such a great time talking about our Thanksgiving traditions, even my little Stella! When asked about what she is thankful for, she responded, “bumble bees!”
I hope you have a wonderful Thanksgiving filled with food, family and fun!
Ingredients:
10 lbs. Russet Potatoes
3 lbs. Apples (cored)
4 small onions (minced)
3 sticks butter, divided
2 cups Flour
6 cups Whole Milk
½ cup Sweetened Condensed Milk
2 tsp nutmeg
2 tsp Salt
1 tsp Ground Pepper
1 lb White Cheddar (shredded)
3 lb Maple Bacon, divided (cooked and chopped)
2 sleeves Club crackers
Directions:
Preheat oven to 375.
Boil whole potatoes until fork tender. Thinly slice the potatoes and apples. In a large bowl, mix potatoes and apples. Set aside.
In a stockpot, sauté onions in two sticks of butter until soft. Blend in flour and stir to create a paste. Add milk and sweetened condensed milk and cook on medium until sauce begins to thicken. Add nutmeg, salt and pepper. Set aside.
In a deep dish, 19×11 pan layer ½ of the potato mixture and layer with half of the shredded cheese, pour half of cream mixture on top and 1 lb of bacon. Add remaining potatoes, remaining cheese (reserve 1 cup of cheese for topping), another 1 lb of bacon and remaining cream sauce.
In a small bowl, combine cracker crumbs, 1 cup of cheese and 1 stick of butter (crumbled). Add this crumble topping to the potatoes and cover with tin foil and bake for 45 minutes covered and then remove foil and bake an additional 15.
Garnish with remaining bacon.
Makes 24 servings
