dvaughan@heraldsun.com; 419-6563
DURHAM -- Matt Lee, 40, and Ted Lee, 38, authors of the Lee Bros. "Simple Fresh Southern" cookbook have spent the past 35 years celebrating Thanksgiving in Charleston with their whole family. This will be the first year the brothers won't be feasting together in their hometown. Matt Lee will be with his in-laws in Kansas City, Mo., and Ted Lee with his in-laws in Columbus, Ohio. Both will be cooking for their families. Matt Lee has ordered a special turkey from Heritage Foods USA in Kansas. While the cost is high, the turkeys are more flavorful and stay moist during cooking, he said.
For cooks who want to make a Thanksgiving meal to remember, Ted Lee suggests you include a few clincher side dishes. Cooking dishes on the stove top don't take a lot of time, he said.
Matt Lee said that last year he cooked green beans with orange that were a big hit. They've simplified their menus in the past few years. "It's so funny because in Thanksgivings past we'd do crazy stuff," Lee said, like making handmade ravioli or serving lobster. But collards are the dish that people wanted more of.
"The real knock out dishes are the ones you throw together in the last half-hour," he said. He suggested having a couple of really stellar cold dishes, too, like a chunky salad that can be made earlier.
Ted Lee said that people think Thanksgiving means hot dishes, but growing up in the South, late November could still mean rather warm temperatures outside.
"Simple Fresh Southern" includes a chapter on cold sides and salads, including recipes for field pea salad with gingered beets and lemon; easy ambrosia; carrot and turnip salad with dill; and curried new potato salad.
