Wendy Logan photo

Bill Taibe, chef/owner of Le Farm

Q: What is your favorite Thanksgiving dish and who makes it best?
Bill Taibe, chef/owner of Le Farm
256 Post Rd. E., Westport. (203) 557-3701, www.lefarmwestport.com

“I thought I should be coming up with something interesting and representative of my style, but if I’m being honest, it’s gotta be my mom’s creamed lima beans. It sounds horrible and it defies all logic and everything I stand for as a chef, but it comes out perfectly every time. It’s basically just flour, water and frozen lima beans all thrown together in a pot. That’s it — no cream, nothing. Everyone who comes to our house for the holidays is forced to try it and most look at me and ask, ‘Are you serious?’ But without fail, people love it. It’s just one of those things… Since I started cooking seriously, I generally try to sneak in and season it — a little olive oil, some parmesan cheese, salt and pepper. Really, it’s fine the way it is, but intellectually, to satisfy my palate, I just feel better about eating it after I throw a few more ingredients in. My mom knows I do it. Since I always tell the press, truthfully, that I didn’t grow up with any sort of culinary spoon in my mouth, it’s nice to be able to honestly give her the compliment.”

 

Q: What is your favorite Thanksgiving dish and who makes it best?
Dan Kardos, executive chef at Harvest Supper
15 Elm St., New Canaan (203) 966-5595

“That would have to be my mom’s green bean casserole. It’s just blanched green beans and a sort of mushroom velouté with fried onions on top. The dish is so simple, the recipe never changes, and my mom makes it every year… I would never try and embellish the recipe or adjust it in any way. Try to go near the stove when someone else is cooking in my house and you get smacked! Growing up, the rule was that whoever had the wooden spoon in their hand was in charge. You never meddle with them or with their dishes. Seriously, though, my mom is a great cook and a great baker — so is my Grandmother. I cook for Christmas, but my mom always makes Thanksgiving dinner and this dish is just something that just stands out in my mind as a staple. I always look forward to it.”

Q: What is your favorite Thanksgiving dish and who makes it best?
John Barricelli, owner and chef at the SoNo Baking Company & Café
101 S. Water St., Norwalk. (203) 847-7666, www.sonobaking.com
 
“That’s easy. I really enjoy what’s called ‘red flannel hash.’ It’s an old-time, early colonial recipe that ends up looking like a flannel shirt. To make it, you sauté, separately, turnips, beets, butternut squash, and any and all root vegetables you can get your hands on. All the vegetables then get folded together and when the dish is done, it has this amazing and vibrant palette of all the fall colors — reds, oranges, yellows, greens. No other recipe allows the colors to blend together in the same way. It actually truly resembles a flannel shirt! We finish it with fresh thyme, olive oil, salt and pepper… My wife and I cook Thanksgiving dinner together and this is a staple. Its visual appeal also makes it perfect for catering events. The recipe came to me through Brendan Walsh when I worked with him at The Elms Restaurant in Ridgefield.”

Q: What is your favorite Thanksgiving dish and who makes it best?
Tim Labant, chef/owner at Schoolhouse at Cannondale
 34 Cannon Rd., Wilton, (203) 834-9816, www.schoolhouseatcannondale.com

“I guess that would have to be my mom’s baked yams. It may not be the most sophisticated or creative dish, but it brings back all those great Thanksgiving memories. She cuts the yams in chunks, adds ginger, frozen orange juice as the liquid, and bakes them. Then she throws marshmallows on top and bakes them some more. It’s super sweet, a little zippy from the ginger, and I love it. It’s like dessert. My mom usually makes Thanksgiving dinner every other year. She’s been making the yams forever, along with dishes like twice baked potatoes and about seven other sides and these are invariably the recipes all the kids loved and ask for now. Plus, my mom has this unbelievable ability to pull together Thanksgiving dinner in about four hours start to finish, using a combination of fresh ingredients and substitutes where necessary to make the classics we all expect… I sort of rip it off a bit at Schoolhouse. I told my pastry chef about it and she created something similar by making a pumpkin custard with maple syrup and vanilla. She piped it into an egg shell and topped it with meringue and it had the same homey feel.”