Two More Last-Minute Thanksgiving Recipes from Denver Chefs

Still scrambling for Thanksgiving recipe ideas with only a handful of hours left to shop and prep? Here are a couple of ideas from two local restaurants to help get food on the table for a great Turkey Day — even without the turkey!

If you haven't already purchased a turkey, it may be too late to get a big bird thawed and ready for mealtime tomorrow — and most of the fresh turkeys in town have probably already been gobbled up. But chef Duy Pham, who currently runs ranch-to-table restaurant Parker Garage down south, offers an alternative for procrastinators who still want to put poultry on the plate. Pham has a reputation for going against the grain in his career — opening a French restaurant in Pueblo, delivering swanky raw bar and champagne palace Epernay to downtown, and then heading to the southern suburbs for his latest venture. So a chicken dish for Thanksgiving doesn't seem out of the ordinary for the chef whose resume also includes Tante Louise, Opal and Kyoto Asian Fusion. This is a quick and easy dish that comes with equally easy holiday-themed sides.

Rosemary Chicken with Kale and Bacon-Sweet Potato Hash
Bacon-sweet potato hash
2 large sweet potatoes peeled and diced
½ cup julienne shallots
½ cup diced bacon
Steam until tender. While steaming, render bacon until semi-crispy. Add shallots and mix with bacon mixture.

Chicken Jus
3 cups chicken stock
1 sprig rosemary
3 garlic cloves
Reduce by half. Remove from heat, add 1-tablespoon butter and strain. Put back in pot over low heat. Mix cornstarch and water to make a slurry. Drizzle in slurry with stock until desired consistency. Season with salt.

Chicken
2 tablespoons onion powder
1-teaspoon garlic
1-teaspoon rosemary powder (mix with salt and use to season pan)
In seasoned pan, add 1-tablespoon oil on high heat. Sear chicken skin side down for 3 minutes on each side. Finish at 400 degrees for 12 minutes.

Kale
In a pan, on medium/high heat, add oil and 1 teaspoon chopped garlic. Sauté until light golden brown. Add kale and season with salt. Deglaze with chicken stock and 1 tablespoon butter.

Hodsons at the Streets at Southglenn is hosting a Thanksgiving dinner with options of either traditional or modern dishes from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. tomorrow. If you don't have a reservation or prefer to do your own Thanksgiving spread, executive chef Justin Adrian has shared his recipe for a root vegetable gratin that features holiday colors and plenty of cheesy goodness.

Roadhouse Hospitality Sweet Potato, Beet and Parsnip Gratin
2 large sweet potatoes
2 large beets (we recommend one golden and one red beet)
3 medium parsnips
2 tablespoons fresh thyme (chopped)
7 ounces Gruyere (grated)
5 ounces goat cheese (crumbled)
1-½ cups heavy cream
Kosher salt to taste
Black pepper to taste (Ground)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.

Slice the sweet potatoes, beets and parsnips lengthwise (roughly a ¼-inch thick) on a mandoline (or other slicer). Rub a 9-by-11-inch casserole dish with butter or olive oil. Lightly season sweet potatoes, parsnips and beets with salt, black pepper and thyme. Begin to layer, one at a time, in even layers along the bottom of the dish. Start with parsnips then sprinkle a little goat cheese on top. Then layer beets and sprinkle a little Gruyere, then sweet potato and goat cheese. You should be able to do two layers of each vegetable and cheese.

Make sure to finish with a top layer of sweet potato, reserving enough Gruyere to completely cover it. Push the layers down so that they are tight in the baking dish. Pour the heavy cream over the gratin evenly so that it seeps to the bottom. Cover the dish tightly with plastic wrap then with foil. Bake in oven for 2 hours then uncover and let rest for 5-10 minutes before cutting and serving.

Feeds 12 as a side dish or 6 as an entrée. Special equipment optional: mandoline.