Dust off the fancy plates and gather for a fantastic feast.
The Mercantile in Leland prepares the ingredients for a Thanksgiving dinner worth remembering.
Most grocery stores source birds from James Biehl’s Turkey Ranch, just north of Mancelona.
Even with a common turkey retail price of roughly $5.60 per pound average, The Mercantile will hope to sell volume at a low price of $4.99 per pound. This is for the pre-ordered turkey. “We’re matching what we did last year ($4.99) because of price concerns. (Turkeys) jumped up in price again this year, like for the past three or four years in a row. We are concerned whether that will turn people away or not. We are going to match last year’s price and see how it folds out,” Mercantile owner Joe Burda said.
The local grocery store will have turkeys available on Friday.
To order one of the precious turkeys one must either go to the store or call. They prefer it the old-fashioned way.
“It’s better to be face-to-face and talk with the butcher and the guys in the back and you get a better idea of what people are looking for that way,” Burda said.
In the Burda household, they cook turkey, gravy, mashed potatoes, green beans, stuffing and cranberry sauce, along with pumpkin pie.
“We’ll get a couple of families together on my side and have quite a feast,” Burda said.
As 9BeanRow manager Spike Oliver prepares for holiday preorders from the popular Leelanau farm and bakery, 9BeanRows will offer pies, various flavorful cookies, cornbread, stuffing mix, carrots, potatoes, brioche and sourdough rolls, lettuce, spinach, onions, sweet potatoes and more.
“The pies are the biggest thing for us,” Oliver said.
There will be no turkeys for purchase this year at 9BeanRows, but hope for 2025.
Oliver himself will serve a traditional Thanksgiving dinner at home as he makes his own bread, stuffing, and more to accompany a fresh turkey.
“I’ll add fresh cranberry sauce with orange zest or some interesting citrus like yuzu or Buddha’s hand,” Oliver said.
9BeanRows partners with Aurora Cellars to sell wine at the Lake Leelanau farm to accompany a turkey feast.
Local married couple Angela and Shawn Botruff are excited for another Thanksgiving day, where they step outside the box.
One of the proudest items on the dinner table is a quality green bean casserole covered in homemade mushroom sauce with onions and blue cheese.
Botruff is a private chef and former Bluebird chef in the 1990s and 2000s.
Shawn remembers when he and Angela spent Thanksgiving when they first started dating on a tight budget.
“When we first started dating downstate with our families up north we would make champagne- roasted turkey,” Shawn said.
Shawn said the roasted champagne turkey is seasoned with coercer salt for a couple of days until the moisture is out of the skin. Then, when ready to cook, the chef will add arrowroot along with sweet champagne to base it.
The green bean casserole is served with a twist using wild mushrooms and portabellas, instead of can variations.
Hansen’s Grocery store in Suttons Bay will have Thanksgiving dinner pre-orders due by Nov. 21 with a pickup date of Nov. 26-27 with turkeys ranging from 12 to 23 pounds. Hansen’s will also host a ‘Happy Thanksgiving Wine Tasting’ Friday from 4:30 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. for free tastings of wines to pair with a Thanksgiving meal and small bites from the deli.
Green Bean Casserole 45th Parallel Style By Ryan Botruff
Recipe is for 8
Ingredients:
• 1.5 lbs of fresh green beans I try to find the haricot verts ( smaller version ) French green beans or regular.
• 10 ounces of cleaned wild mushrooms.
I have used portobello mushrooms and shiitake mushrooms in the past.
Oyster, crimini, morel, chanterelles are also a favorite.
• 1 medium size yellow onion diced medium
• 2 cloves fresh garlic, peeled Chopped fine
• 4 ounces of salted butter
• 1 tsp. fresh marjoram Salt and parsley to taste
• 8 ounces of Bleu d’auvergne or you could substitute - 2 cups of heavy whipping cream
Directions:
In a large sauce pan place the butter in and start at medium heat.
Once the butter softens add the chopped onion, cook until translucent, next add the wild mushrooms and continue to cook, After the mushrooms are done add garlic and stir.
Keep heat at medium, add the heavy cream and let the liquid reduce to half.
In a separate bowl add ice and water to shock the green beans once they are blanched.
In another saucepan add enough water to cover the green beans.
Add a pinch of salt and let water start to boil, add the beans to the water carefully and time for 30 seconds and turn off the heat.
Pour the liquid and the beans in a colander in your sink.
Immediately toss the drained beans into the ice water bath for shocking.
Now for the finishing touches: In a pan 12x9 set your oven to 350 degrees, grease the inside of the pan with butter or olive oil Arrange the green beans on the bottom of the pan, add herbs, the mushrooms, onion and garlic and pour the cream over the mixture And top with the Bleu d’auverne.
Place the casserole in the oven and cook for about 35 minutes or until golden brown.
