Ensure a table-full of exceedingly grateful guests with these recipes from one of the UK’s top chefs .

What are you doing for Thanksgiving? Yes, eating, probably. But is your extravagant dinner being prepared by one of the UK’s top chefs, who at 26 became the youngest man in Britain to be awarded two Michelin stars? Probably not. Sad face. Don’t be too glum though – with the help of MR PORTER, you can do the next best thing. In fact, the man in question, Mr Tom Aikens – whose modern British brasserie Tom’s Kitchen now boasts outposts throughout Europe – is a member of our Style Council. Accordingly, to help you through this most culinary of holidays, he has created a series of delicious Thanksgiving recipes that can be prepared at home. Scroll down, and prepare to leave your friends so speechless they can barely actually give thanks.

Serves 10–12. Can be prepared up to one day ahead.

Soup:

30g unsalted butter 400g white onions, sliced thinly 2 bay leaves and 15g fresh sage leaves, wrapped in muslin 30g sea salt 2g ground black pepper 2kg butternut squash, peeled and cut into 1 cm cubes 20g honey 2.5 litres of water or white chicken stock 150ml double cream 30ml lemon juice

Garnish:

Crème fraiche 4g toasted pumpkin seeds Drizzle of honey 4–5 deep fried sage leaves (dip them in flour then deep-fry in oil at 180ºC) Brioche croutons (dice a brioche, then toss in olive oil, salt and pepper and toast in the oven at 170ºC until golden)

Warm the butter in a pan on a low heat so that it just melts. Add the sliced white onions, muslin-wrapped sage and bay leaves and salt and pepper. Cook this for five minutes without colouring. Then add the squash and cover with a lid so the squash sweats. Cook for 10–15 minutes, stirring now and again, then add the honey, cover with a lid, and cook this for another 5 minutes on a low heat. Stir the squash now and again so the cubes don’t brown on the bottom. Add the stock and cream and turn the heat up to full, bringing the soup to a simmer. Simmer for 15 minutes, then add the lemon juice. Turn off the heat and ladle the soup into a blender (never letting it get more than half full).  Then blend the soup for 2–3 minutes to a fine purée. Serve the soup straight away or, if you’re preparing in advance, place it in the fridge to cool and reheat later.

To serve, place the croutons on the soup first then a quenelle of crème fraiche. Then add the sage leaves, honey and seeds.

Serves 10-12

Turkey brine:

6 litres of water 240g salt 100g sugar 120g honey 6 bay leaves 60g garlic cloves 20g black peppercorns 10 cloves 2 cinnamon sticks, 5 star anise, 1 tsp coriander seeds 8 allspice berries 12 juniper berries 6 rosemary sprigs 15g thyme 15g flat parsley 20g sprigs of sage Zest of 1 lemon (removed with a peeler) 2 turkey breasts (1.5kg each) Olive oil Maldon sea salt Butter

Cranberry sauce:

1kg cranberries 20g orange zest 400ml orange juice 350g sugar 1/4 tsp each ground cloves, ginger, cinnamon, mixed spice 25g finely chopped fresh ginger 4 whole star anise 2 cinnamon sticks 4 allspice berries 20 whole black peppercorns 8g salt

Turkey:

Bring all the brine ingredients to a simmer then turn off the heat as soon as it boils. Leave to cool and refrigerate before placing the turkey in the brine. Leave the turkey in the brine for 8–12 hours and then place in the fridge, dry and uncovered, for 6 hours. Then leave outside of the fridge for two hours to get to room temperature – it will cook more evenly. This really helps to keep the bird nice and moist.

Rub the outside with a little olive oil and season with Maldon salt and pepper. Place on a cooling wire on a tray with the skin side facing up. Slice a piece of butter to go over the breast then slowly cook at 120ºC for approximately 60–70 minutes. Leave it to rest for 30 minutes. Reheat in the oven, this time at 210–215ºC, for 10 minutes to crisp the skin up, then rest again for 5 minutes before slicing.

For the sauce:

Place the cranberries, zest, orange juice, sugar, powdered spices, fresh ginger and salt in a pan. Tie the star anise, cinnamon stick, allspice berries and black peppercorns in a muslin bag and add it to the pan, giving it a bash to release the flavours. Bring this to a simmer and cook for 15–20 minutes on a low heat till thickened, then leave to cool.

Makes one tart, of 8 or 12 slices (depending on how full you are).  Can be prepared up to one day ahead.

Sweet pastry:

90g butter 90g caster sugar 10ml vanilla essence Large pinch of salt 2 small eggs 280g all-purpose flour

Pecan mix:

490g roughly chopped toasted pecans 140g finely chopped toasted pecans 6 eggs 300g sugar 450g golden syrup 115g melted butter 15ml vanilla essence 1/2 tsp salt 60ml Jack Daniel’s whiskey

Cream the butter until smooth, but do not over-beat. Then add the sugar, vanilla essence, salt and cream together till smooth – again, don’t over-beat. Add the eggs one by one and alternate with the sifted flour. Mix until just incorporated, and leave to rest for approximately 2 hours.

Butter and flour a 12in pastry mould/flan tin. After resting, roll out the pastry until it’s 0.5cm thick, then line the tin with the pastry. Cover with baking paper and fill with baking beans, then bake in the oven at 180ºC for approximately 30 minutes. Leave to cool.

To make the pecan filling, whisk all the ingredients together then add to the pre-baked tin. Turn the oven down to 160ºC and cook for another 30 minutes, then leave to cool.