13 Top NYC Chefs Share Their Favorite Thanksgiving Dishes

“Smoked Turkey Gumbo is a ritual in our house – we have a number of friends from New Orleans who moved after Hurricane Katrina and ended up in New York, so we pay our respects to some of our favorite Louisiana dishes at this time. We buy additional turkey necks and bones, which I smoke over hickory for hours. Then we set about making our mother stock – often, I will have reimage (second stock) cooked in the freezer from last year. We brown the mirepoix and set about our stock, which is nurtured for 24 hours. After the main event for Thanksgiving, we take those turkey bones and smoke those as well, and these are infused into the stock. All the fat is saved and used for my ‘chocolate roux’ – which is not actually chocolate, but is cooked slow over a low heat until the flour and turkey fat turns into the color of chocolate. Next, we prepare the trinity vegetables – green peppers, celery, and onions – into ½” diced pieces. Sauté them in turkey fat, and when lightly brown, add andouille sausage, diced, and lightly sauté. Pass the stock through a sieve to reduce to a correct flavor, then add roux bit by bit – so that it coats the back of a wooden spoon. Add the trinity vegetables, chopped turkey, andouille, sautéed diced okra, and season with oregano, parsley, and black pepper. Add bay leaves, thyme, garlic and Worcester sauce. We also like spice, so I add a little Crystal Hot Sauce. Simmer for 1.5 hours.” - Executive Chef Jonathan Wright, Rainbow Room and SixtyFive [Photo courtesy Jonathan Wright]