Serious Eats - seriouseats.com

Thanks to everyone for some great ideas! It sound like Ina's version is huge on here, I'll be sure to check it. Hope everyone has a wonderful Thanksgiving!

Ina's here, too, but I am really tempted to take your word for it and try all the other recipes here at another time.

I don't do brussel sprouts on Thanksgiving. I do steamed broccoli with butter and Alton's ginger-ale carrots.

http://seriouslygood.kdweeks.com/2005/10/brussels-sprouts.html

Kevin D. Weeks brussel sprout recipe for sprout haters. I've made it several times and it is fantastic. The mustard and sherry flavors are very mellow, but compliment the sprouts like magic.

Brussels Sprouts Dijon

1 lb brussels sprouts
1 tbsp coarse Dijon mustard
1 tbsp sherry vinegar (balsamic vinegar may be substituted)
2 tbsp butter
salt to taste

Trim base of brussels sprouts and pick off torn, discolored, and bug-eaten leaves. Bring a quart of water to a low boil, add sprouts, and cook until tender -- about ten minutes.

Drain water and add remaining ingredients to pot. Return to stove and cook over low heat another couple of minutes, tossing to coat sprouts. Serves 4.
Note: This is also good with cauliflower.
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My variation is that I cut the sprouts in half lengthwise (so they will cook evenly and soak up all the delicious flavors.) I mince a shallot. Melt 2 tablespoons of butter in a skillet. Saute the shallot until soft over medium high heat. Add sprouts and 1/4 cup of water. Cover pan and let steam-braise. Shake the pan or stir frequently, adding additional tablespoons of water as needed.
When just tender, move sprouts to the side of the pan with your spoon. Add the lemon juice, dijon and sherry vinegar to the hot pan. Swirl one more pat of butter and toss sprouts to coat evenly with the sauce.

for a regular dinner, i make a variation on an epicurious recipe. put them cut side down in a hot pan with butter and olive oil until they are quite brown. then turn over, and lower the heat so they can cook through. at this stage i add a little bit of white wine, and some mustard seeds. finish with a little extra butter and lemon juice.

for thanksgiving, we just cut them in half, and put them in a pan with finely chopped pieces of thick-cut pancetta, a tiny bit of olive oil, and salt and pepper. cook at 350 until they are browned and delightful. these converted me, i now eat brussel sprouts at least twice a week.

These roasting suggestions sound so good that I can't wait until Thanksgiving and will have to give it a whirl tonight.

This soup is so easy that I would'nt worry about making it in advance. It tastes just fine using water as a base. No fancy chicken stock or veg stock needed. Trust me. All you need is:

5 Yukon Gold potatoes, peeled, chopped and boiled in salted water until tender
1 leek, white and pale green parts only, sliced thin
1 clove garlic, peeled and sliced thin
1 small to medium onion, peeled and sliced thin
A couple sprigs of fresh thyme
Olive oil, to sweat the leek and onion
The water you used to boil the potatoes (about 2 quarts)
A few knobs unsalted butter
Kosher salt
Freshly ground black pepper

Boil the potatoes. Sweat the veg in olive oil with thyme. Add the boiled potatoes and the potato water into the pan with the veg. Reduce to desired consistency. Remove the thyme stems and puree in a blender. Pour back into the pan and check the consistency, reducing further if necessary. Season to taste and add some butter at the very end of cooking.

I made some Leek & Potato soup with some little Yukon Golds and was feeling too lazy to peel, and the soup turned out fine. The peels are good for you anyway. Good luck with your soup!

Given that half the cookies in NYC seem to be baked below Union Sq, good luck!

I have no idea if it's the BEST, but you have to include Insomnia Cookies.
This bastion of cookies for the NYU crowd (and anyone else in a 3 mile radius), are delectable. And (I think) it's the only purveyor that does nothing BUT cookies. Whenever I brought them into work, it caused a scene like the bridal gown sale at Filene's.

This is great I am going tomorrow night and needed to know what to order! Anything heavily chocolate?

When you get to the downtown edition, the chocolate chip cookies from Jack's Stir Brew coffee are a must-try. I go to the location on Front Street by the Seaport. They are crisp on the edges, have a ton of chocolate, are slightly underbaked to ensure a gooey center, and have a deep, almost, caramel-like, burnt suger / brown butter bass note to them. I keep begging the staff to give me the recipe, but rumor has it that only Jack's aunt knows the recipe. She makes the batter, delivers it to the store, and the staff only bakes off the cookies to keep the recipe secret.

I am eating a Pret cookie right now and it is good but needs some more salt. I think the success of this cookie resides on the fact it is in a heated case (though that doesn't explain that it is still good when it cools down after being brought to the SE office). CURSES! What have they done to this cooooooooooookie to make it good. And this thing is 300 calories too. I wish they hadn't told me.

Mmmm... just had a Pret Cookie, lush chocolate and slightly soft dough. It is durned good. Just slightly sweet and a crisp "crust."

On to City Bakery!