Local chefs put their spin on Thanksgiving meals

I recently asked local chefs and restaurant owners what dishes they'll have on their Thanksgiving menu - at home. 

Tanya Estevez, co-owner of Little Habana Cafe in Riverview, started taking over the holiday cooking duties in her late teens. Born in Cuba, the centerpiece of her meal sometimes includes not one but two turkeys. Her traditional roasted bird is marinated with lots of Italian salad dressing, seasoned with Adobo Goya and generously rubbed with butter between the skin and breast.

"I've never had a dry turkey," she told me. "It's always tasty, juicy and yummy!"

To accommodate the more elderly members of her Cuban family, Tanya prepares a sumptuous, fricassee-style turkey that's slowly simmered in tomato paste and white wine with peppers, onions, potatoes, olives and spices, and then served over rice. 

Ooh! Set me a place sitting, will you?

Greg Baker, co-owner and chef at The Refinery in Seminole Heights, is in charge of the turkey at the Baker household.

Committed to buying and serving local foods, he purchased a heritage turkey from Ben Pate's turkey farm in Ruskin, said his wife and business partner, Michelle.

"He's going retro with an herb- stuffed, roasted version," she said. "Mother Baker will make her mashed potatoes; cousin Pete, his fresh, green bean casserole; Uncle Steve, all the craft beers, and I will bake a pecan pie.

That sure sounds like an "All-American" Thanksgiving.

In search of new twists, Brandon's Rolling Pin Kitchen Emporium owner, Chef Dave West, is making a French-bread dressing with Camembert cheese and chorizo sausage this year.

"We made it in our Thanksgiving class last week, and it was a big hit."

The original recipe had brie and sage sausage in it.

"I cannot leave well enough alone and had to adjust it to our more spicy taste."

Also in Brandon, fresh roasted turkey and stuffing with gravy are on the menu year round at the Copper Bell Cafe. But for Thanksgiving at home, "It's mojo pork and yucca that's incorporated into the holiday dinner," said Copper Bell Café owner Jamie Stone, whose family is Cuban and Italian.

In my opinion, some of the best foods at Thanksgiving are the side dishes.

Sauerkraut, slowly cooked with giblet juice and turkey drippings, quickly became a Kessel tradition almost 20 years ago; my sister-in-law Polly introduced our family to her grandmother Mary "Mimi" Hunter's mouth-watering sauerkraut. 

Since her father was born in Maryland, Polly thinks the pairing of turkey with the sweet-and-sour kraut may have come from Baltimore's large, German population. Wherever it came from, I think this untraditional duet harmonizes beautifully with the rest of our Thanksgiving dishes.