North vs. South Thanksgiving sides smackdown: Hot dishes

When it comes to the Thanksgiving table, side dishes are anything but an afterthought, sometimes equaling or even eclipsing the turkey. Thanksgiving sides also illustrate the rich communities and cultural influences found throughout the nation. A classic side dish in one region or family, for instance, may very well be unheard of in another. 

To get a taste of Thanksgiving across the US, six Atlanta chefs — three Southern and three hailing from the North and Midwest — shared their favorite Thanksgiving side dishes and family food traditions for the holiday. 

For this South versus North side dish smackdown, Avize chef Karl Gorline (South) and Breaker Breaker chef Maximilian Hines (North) talk must-have hot dishes for the Thanksgiving table.

Read the other Thanksgiving side dish smackdown stories here.

The South: Crab dressing

Avize chef Karl Gorline (Gulf Coast)

For Avize chef Karl Gorline, who grew up on the Gulf Coast, holiday meals always include seafood. “You’re right there by the water,” he said. “So, crab dressing is something that we had quite often. Imagine it like a weird crab cake.” 

Gorline believes that the farther south you go, foodways have a more natural resistance to the norm. In this case, Thanksgiving recipes that are pushed across the country but don’t exactly reflect the region. 

“Basically all the way from Mobile Bay over to New Orleans and Lake Pontchartrain, that’s one of the largest [crab] markets,” he said. 

Blue crabs are native to the area, and even a sign of trust. “Back in the bayou, people would just have crab traps out all the time. That’s somebody’s crab trap, and you respect it.,” Gorline said. “It’s almost like leaving the door unlocked in your neighborhood.” 

A friend of Gorline’s uncle would make crab dressing and bring brined chickens to smoke for Thanksgiving. Gulf Coast Thanksgiving meals also tend to feature pasta and gumbo at the table, with gumbo occasionally served with dressing instead of gravy. 

Crab dressing (Serves 6 to 8)

Ingredients

• 1 pouch stovetop chicken flavor mix
• 1/4 cup chopped celery 
• 1/4 cup chopped green bell pepper
• 1/2 cup chopped white onion (Note: celery, pepper, onion are the trinity) 
• 1/4 cup chopped scallions
• 1 pound lump crab meat
• 1 1/2 cups rich duck or chicken stock
• 1 stick butter
• 2 tsp Old Bay (or mixture of 1/2 tsp each of smoked paprika, dried oregano, salt, and black pepper)
• 1 tsp dried parsley 
• 1 tsp ground carraway
• 1 tsp chopped fresh rosemary 
• 1/4 tsp ground allspice 

Instructions

1. Melt the butter in a sauce pot. Add trinity (onions, bell pepper, and celery), Old Bay, dried parsley, carraway, rosemary, and allspice. Sweat over medium heat. Season mixture to taste with salt and pepper, about 1 to 2 teaspoons of each. 
2. Add rich duck or chicken stock and bring to a simmer. Remove from heat and pour over the dried stuffing mix, incorporating lightly. 
3. Add crab meat and scallions. Set aside for later preparation or transfer to a casserole dish and bake at 325 degrees Fahrenheit for 20 minutes. 
4. For a sauce, combine one pack of brown gravy mix, one pack of turkey gravy mix, one cup of apple juice, a little cracked pepper, fresh rosemary, and crab meat over medium heat. Or serve dressing with gumbo. 

Dressing can also be stuffed inside a brined young chicken.

1. Brine chicken in a 1:5 ratio of salt to water for 1 hour and 45 minutes.
2. Roast or smoke chicken 20 minutes per pound at 365 degrees Fahrenheit. Check the chicken’s temperature next to the wing joint (it should read 165 degrees Fahrenheit) before removing it from the oven or smoker.
3. Let bird rest for at least 15 minutes, or 1/4 the amount of time cooked, before serving. 

The North/Midwest: Corn pudding

Breaker Breaker chef Maximilian Hines (Ohio/DC)

Breaker Breaker and Stolen Goods chef Maximilian Hines spent a good chunk of his childhood in Ohio, with occasional stints in DC. But Ohio is home. It’s where he was born and where his parents are from – and where childhood memories were made around the Thanksgiving table.

For Thanksgiving, the family would prepare dishes influenced by their roots in Haiti, Louisiana, Mississippi, and southern Virginia. Some years, the stuffing served alongside the turkey, Honeybaked ham, yams, and mashed potatoes and gravy was mixed with blue crab meat, drawing on family roots along the Chesapeake Bay. 

Then there were the numerous casseroles on offer, including a corn pudding that came to the family’s Thanksgiving table via his grandmother’s college roommate. 

“The holidays are still pretty indicative of what my grandparents made every year, which definitely skews more Ohio than anywhere else,” Hines said. “Everything was a casserole, like green bean casserole, squash casserole, and that corn pudding. A lot of it involved canned vegetables from Glory Foods.”

The custardy corn pudding (or casserole) isn’t difficult to make and can incorporate late-season sweet corn. Hines likes the dish because it balances sweet and savory flavors gelled together by scalded milk, butter, and curdled eggs, giving the pudding a similar texture to a scrambled egg bake. 

With family now scattered around the country, and his sister in London, it’s been hard to gather for Thanksgiving in recent years. As a full-time chef, Hines tries not to cook on Thanksgiving. However, this year he asked his mother for the corn pudding recipe, a dish that might just turn up on his Thanksgiving table, or at the Breaker Breaker staff potluck planned before the holiday. 

Corn pudding (Serves 6)

Ingredients

• 2 cans of whole kernel corn (15.25 oz), or 1 quart of fresh shaved corn off of the cobb
• 1 3/4 cups scalded milk, or 2 cups unscalded milk 
• 3 Tbsp unsalted butter 
• 4 eggs 
• 4 Tbsp granulated sugar
• Salt and white pepper to taste, or approximately 1/2 tsp 

Optional ingredients 

• Pimento 
• Baking powder 
• Tajin 
• Thyme 
• Sorghum instead of sugar

Instructions 

1. Scald milk in a skillet until it reduces slightly. Add butter and allow to melt. 
2. Meanwhile in a bowl, whisk eggs thoroughly. Slowly temper in milk and butter into the eggs and whisk until well combined. 
3. Fold in corn and seasonings and transfer to a small greased casserole dish. (If you are using pimentos and baking powder, add both with the corn during this step.)
4. Cover with foil and cook at 350 degrees Fahrenheit for approximately 1 hour, or until thoroughly set and a cake tester can be inserted and removed cleanly. (Foil can be removed toward the end of cooking to allow for some browning.)

Alternative method, with chef pro tips

Hines follows his family’s corn pudding recipe, but makes a few adjustments. He strongly recommends using pimentos and baking powder.

“When I tested this recipe, the Southern influence in me decided to cook it in a greased cast iron skillet instead of a casserole dish,” Hines explained. “I cooked the corn pudding at 350 but didn’t cover it, and it cooked and set at 30 minutes instead of the typical time of almost an hour.”

Baking uncovered in a cast iron skillet at 350, Hines added, gives the corn pudding some nice caramelization and a light crust on top. He finishes the corn pudding with cut chives for color.

Read the other Thanksgiving side dish smackdown stories here.