Uncle Joe would instigate anarchy if the green bean casserole with cream of mushroom soup weren’t on the Thanksgiving table. Things just wouldn’t be the same if Mom didn’t serve the sweet potato bake with the melted marshmallows. And while your sister-in- law pooh-poohs packaged products, behind closed holiday doors, she’s shoveling Stove Top.
Yes, even amid the organic, all-natural, cage-free food frenzy, Campbell’s estimates that 30 million green bean casseroles are served on Turkey Day.
Still, the old classics—like the baby boomers who grew up on them—are starting to show their age. So without wreaking havoc on tradition, we challenged four area chefs to jazz up the recipes—while retaining their concept and key ingredients.
After its face-lift, the green bean recipe still has cream of mushroom soup, but it’s updated with fresh beans, caramelized onions and button mushrooms. The sweet potato bake uses marshmallows, but they’re sprinkled with minced crystallized ginger. Stove Top Stuffing gets a boost from honey-jalapeno cornbread. Pumpkin pie is made with Libby’s canned pumpkin, but the spritz of Reddi-wip has been replaced with mascarpone vanilla bean mousse. You get the idea. Just don’t tell your family.
Tradition for John Snedden, owner of Rocklands Barbeque and Grilling Company, means dinner at his mother’s house in the Philadelphia area with his five siblings and their families. And that means smoked turkey and cornbread stuffing (brought from one of his restaurants), plus creamed pearl onions, scalloped oysters with crabmeat, mashed potatoes and peas. His mother always prepares homemade creamed chipped beef for breakfast the day after Thanksgiving—except for the one traumatic time she served Stouffer’s. “It was a seminal moment for the family,” says Snedden. “We still talk about it.”
John Snedden’s Stove Top Stuffing
With Rocklands’ Honey-Jalapeno Cornbread
(10 to 12 servings)
For the honey-jalapeno cornbread:
8.5 ounce box Jiffy brand corn muffin mix 
1 egg
1/3 cup milk
4 tablespoons corn kernels
1 tablespoon honey
2 teaspoons minced jalapeno pepper
For the stuffing:
1/4 cup (4 tablespoons) butter
1 1/2 cups chopped onion
2 stalks celery, chopped
1 tablespoon chopped fresh sage
1 tablespoon chopped fresh thyme
4 cups boiling chicken broth
2 6-ounce boxes Stove Top Stuffing Mix for Chicken
2 cups crumbled honey-jalapeno cornbread
To make cornbread, combine all ingredients. Pour into a greased 8-by-8-inch pan and bake at 325 degrees for 22 minutes, until golden brown. When cool, crumble enough cornbread to make 2 cups. Set aside.
To make stuffing, melt butter in a large, heavy sauté pan. Sauté onions and celery until softened; add sage and thyme.
Add the vegetable mixture to the boiling chicken broth; stir. Add stuffing mix; stir. Add crumbled cornbread; stir. Remove from heat and let stand 5 minutes. Fluff with fork.
