Make your bird a little boozier this Thanksgiving.
All photos by Joey Wharton.
Here at Belle Isle Moonshine, we know how to mix a mean cocktail that’s perfect for any occasion. A little outside of our comfort zone, though? Preparing a full Thanksgiving dinner. That’s why we enlisted the help of our friend Scott Lewis, head chef at Laura Lee’s in Richmond, to help us out with a few recipes sure to satisfy your whole crazy family this Thanksgiving. Just like last year’s Cranberry Saucey Sauce courtesy of Chef Mike Ledesma, Scott’s menu packs a boozy punch. Because who hasn’t been eating Thanksgiving dinner and thought, “This gravy is good, but it would be better with some moonshine?” Grab yourself a bottle Belle Isle Cold Brew Coffee and let’s get cooking!
Cornish game hen
*Serving Size: Recipe for one hen. Serve one for each guest.
Ingredients:
1 Cornish game hen
1 tbsp. salt
1 tbsp. black pepper
1 tbsp. rosemary
Preparation:
Preheat oven to 400° F.
Mix salt, pepper, and rosemary in a small bowl and season hen with mixture.
Put hen in a screaming hot pan skin-side down, then (carefully!) pour in Belle Isle Cold Brew Coffee to deglaze.
Place entire pan in oven for 6-8 minutes.
Let rest for 10 minutes before eating. Top with freshly chopped parsley.
Buttermilk Biscuit Stuffing
Ingredients:
12 (already baked) biscuits
4 cups chicken stock
2 cups chopped onions
1 cup chopped carrots
1 cup chopped celery
3 tbsp. chopped fresh rosemary
1 tbsp. chopped fresh sage
1 tsp. chopped fresh thyme
2 cups butter
4 tbsp. salt
2 tbsp. pepper
Preparation:
Preheat oven to 300° F. Chop biscuits into ¼ in. cubes, then place on a large sheet tray. Pour 1 cup of melted butter over biscuits.
Mix 1 tbsp. of pepper and 1 tbsp. salt in a small bowl, then spread evenly on sheet tray. Dehydrate in the oven until the biscuits are hard like croutons.
Sauté onion, celery, and carrots in 1 cup of butter until onions are translucent, then add mixture to biscuits.
Add chopped herbs, then put the whole mixture in a baking tray. Pour chicken stock on top.
Bake at 350° F for 45 minutes.
Red Eye Gravy
Ingredients:
½ stick of butter or 2 oz. bacon fat
½ cup flour
1 cup regular brewed coffee
splash of heavy cream
salt and pepper to taste
½ cup cooked sausage (optional)
Preparation:
Heat fat or butter in a saucepan over medium heat until starting to brown a little. Add flour until brown, then add Belle Isle and regular coffee. Stir until thick, about 8 minutes. Add a splash of cream, salt and pepper to taste, and sausage if you’d like. If the mixture is too thin, cook down a little longer or add a little extra flour.
Street Corn Pudding
Preparation:
Preheat oven to 325° F. Heat cream and corn over medium heat in a sauce pot until corn is thawed.
Blend corn and cream until smooth. Add salt, pepper, and sugar as you blend.
As slowly as possible, whisk hot corn mixture into egg yolks.
Pour mixture into a 6” x 6” baking tray, then put tray into a water bath, then bake in the oven for 45 min. to 1 hour until firm.
Top with crumbled Cotija cheese and jalapeños.
Ingredients:
1 lb. frozen corn
4 cups heavy cream
2 tbsp. salt
1 tbsp. pepper
10 egg yolks
1 tbsp. sugar
Happy Thanksgiving from Scott, his adorable daughter Yoomi, and everyone on the Belle Isle team!
Need some cocktails to pair with this meal?
Belle Isle Moonshine is a premium, handcrafted spirit proudly hailing from Richmond, Virginia.
We take the name Belle Isle from a small, 540-acre island located smack dab in the middle of the James River where Civil War soldiers used surplus corn rations to make moonshine in copper kettles.
Belle Isle Moonshine is distilled from 100% organic corn, grown by three family farms and responsibly sourced. Once triple-distilled, we charcoal filter Belle Isle four times over. Then, we cut it with purified water right from the James River. Our infusions are made with 100% real ingredients, never artificial flavors or color. We use real grapefruits sourced from Texas and California, local honey from the Shenandoah Valley, organic habaneros grown an hour away, and freshly roasted coffee beans from the most socially conscious roastery in Richmond, Blanchard's Coffee Roasting Co.
From there, each bottle of Belle Isle Moonshine is filled, corked, labeled, and packed by hand by our Production team, who check each bottle and batch for quality assurance. Since Belle Isle is made in small batches, you can find the batch number handwritten in the bottom right corner of each bottle.
Distilled from good times and 100% organic corn.