All the Thanksgiving Recipes We’re Making This Year

“Thanksgiving is an adopted tradition in our house, so there are no rules when it comes to the meal," says Hetty McKinnon, cookbook author and publisher of Peddler Journal. "We moved to the U.S. from Australia in 2015, and for a year or two we tried the classic turkey-and-veg-sides combination. But as we found our feet as an immigrant family, we realized that these dishes held no historical context, or nostalgia, for us. To suit our mainly vegetarian household, we decided that the sides would become our mains. A huge spinach lasagna, vegan hazelnut-potato gratin, leek bread pudding, and always, always some form of tater tots (it’s the only time of the year my kids are allowed to eat them). While I usually bake them on top of mac and cheese, hot dish style, this year I decided to turn the tots into something different: an egg bake, which is directly inspired by, and strikingly reminiscent of, tortilla española. A Spanish tortilla is traditionally made with oil-poached potatoes, but using their processed counterparts is not new—many years ago a chef friend shared that she used leftover french fries, and chef Ferran Adrià famously makes his with potato chips. It turns out that tater tots, with their crispy exteriors and creamy middles, are perfect stand-ins. The finished product is full of texture and somehow still brimming with a tot aroma that’s undeniably familiar, even if you’ve never tasted one.”