Thanksgiving Recipes

I probably should have shared these recipes before Turkey day but last week was a busy one for me. My mom does most of the cooking on thanksgiving but this year I handled the stuffing and yams. Both came out delicious! My friend Nikki and I attended a cooking class at Sur La Table a couple weeks ago, so that is where these recipes are from. Maybe you can try them next Thanksgiving!

Sourdough Stuffing with Sausage, Apples, and Golden Raisins (copyright: Bon Appétit 2009)

Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 pound loaf sourdough bread, crusts recomed, cut into 1/2 inch cubes (about 13 cups)
• 2 pounds bulk pork breakfast sausage (I like the maple breakfast sausage for this)
• 2 large onions, chopped (about 4 generous cups)
• 4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) butter, divided
• 6 cups 1/2 inch cubes peeled Granny Smith apples (about 28 oz.)
• 3/4 cup golden raisins (about 4 oz.)
• 2 tablespoons chopped fresh sage (I used about double this amount of sage, plus about 1-2 tbsp. fresh thyme because that's what we did in cooking class)
• 2 1/2 cups low-salt chicken broth (I made this twice, once with Turkey broth and once with chicken. Using Turkey broth made it sooooo much more flavorful-- highly recommend)
• 3 large eggs

Method:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees and position rack in center of oven.
• Spead bread cubes in a single layer on large rimmed baking sheat. Bake until pale golden, stirring occasionally, 15 to 20 min. Transfer bread to a very large bowl.
• Sauté sausage in heavy large skillet over medium-high heat until cooked through, breaking into small people with back of fork, 8-10 min. Transfer to separate bowl (don't add to bread bowl yet).
• Add onions and celery to drippings in skillet; sauté until golden brown, about 12 min. Transfer to sausage bowl.
• Melt 2 tbsp. butter in same skillet over med-high heat. Add apples, satué until tender, about 10 min. 
• To plum up your raisins, let simmer in shallow water for a few min.  
• Position rack in center of oven and preheat to 350 degrees. Generously butter 15x10x2-inch glass baking dish.
• Add apples, raisins, and sausage mixture to bread bowl. Toss. 
• Whisk broth and eggs in medium bowl. Add egg mixture, along with thyme and sage to stuffing bowl. Toss. Season with salt and freshly ground black pepper. Toss... again.
• Bake stuffing uncovered until top is golden and crisp in spots, 45 min to 1 hour. Let stand 10 to 15 min. and serve.

Maple-Glazed Yams with Pecan Topping  (copyright: Bon Appétit 1998)
Ingredients:

• 4 pounds yams (red-skinned sweet potatoes), peeled, cut into 1/4 inch thick rounds
• 1/2 cup pure maple syrup
• 8 tablespoons (1 stick) chilled butter, cut into 1/2 inch cubes
• 1/3 cup all purpose flour
• 1/3 cup (packed) golden brown sugar
• 1/2 cup coarsely chopped pecans (I used a full cup)

Method:

• Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Butter 13x9x2-inch glass baking dish. Bring large pot of salted water to boil. Add yams. Cook until water returns to simmer, about 4 min. Drain. Rinse under cold water.
• Arrange yams in prepared dish, overlapping slightly. Season with salt. Pour syrup over yams. Dot with 3 tablespoons butter. Cover and bake until yams are almost tender, about 25 min. 
• Miz flour and brown sugar in medium bowl. Add remaining 5 tablespoons butter. Rub in with fingers until mixture resembles coarse meal. Mix in pecans.
• Sprinkle pecan mixture atop yams. Bake yams until tender, about 20 min.

(sorry, forgot to take a picture of the finished product! Was too anxious to eat!!)

Rosemary Serloin Skewers with Grilled Veggies and Risotto

Tonight we had SND (Sunday Night Dinner) with a few friends at our place. Our guests took care of drinks, dessert, and our side dish (veggies: onions, peppers, squash & cherry tomatoes to be grilled) so all I had to take care of was preparing the skewers and making risotto. Everything came out deeelish!

Skewers

Ingredients:

• 2 fillet tips or other pieces of beef fillet, about 2 lbs total weight, cut into 3/4 inch chunks.
• 8 large rosemary stems, stripped and trimmed to a point, or wooden skewers, soaked in water for at least 30 min.
• 1 tbsp garlic powder
• 2 tsp onion powder
• 1 tbsp chopped fresh rosemary or 1 1/2 tsp dried
• Salt and freshly ground pepper

Method:

• Get charcoal grill, gas grill, or broiler grill (whichever) ready and preheated.
• Thread the chinks of fillet onto the rosemary skewers, leaving a little space between the chunks so that the meat cooks evenly on all sides.
• To make the rub: in a small bowl, mix together garlic powder, onion powder, rosemary, 2 tsp. salt and 1 tsp. pepper. Sprinkle the rub all over the meat. Let skewers stand at room temperature for at least 15 min, or up to an hour.
• Grill or broil the skewers to desired doneness, 4-7 min. on each side. Let skewers stand for 5 min. Serve about 2 skewers per person.

Risotto:  I followed a basic parmisian risotto recipe in one of my old cookbooks. The recipie called for sauteed spinach but my spinach was looking a little wilted, so I left that out. Instead, I sauteed some mushrooms in white wine and butter and added them the the risotto right as it was finishing up. I also added the zest from one whole lemon, and the juice of half a lemon. Pretty good :)

Brentwood Farmers Market

Every Sunday I visit the Brentwood farmers market. It's such a relaxing experiance. You're out in the sun, getting fresh, organic produce, supporting your local farmers, all for a great price! Every time I go I get about a pound of grapes for $1.00. Yes! $1.00-- and they are soo sweet and delicious. How about a bag of 5 huge bell peppers for $2.00. Yep! 

Also, you aren't sacrificing selection- you can find anything you'd find at your local grocery store, in fact, sometimes I find even more options. Check out the photo of the mushrooms-- ever seen those at Ralphs? I dont think so!

If you ever have a Sunday morning free, plan to visit your local farmer's market- you wont be disappointed!

 

'Real Simple' Spinach Stuffed Mushrooms

I was flipping through the November issue of Real Simple Magazine and noticed a stuffed mushroom recipe. I wasnt really looking for anything like this, but after glancing through the recipe and ingredients, I realized I already had everything I'd need to make these. Little did I know, this recipe was the jack-pot recipe for stuffed mushrooms. They are DELICIOUS! I dont really even like mushrooms, but this has to be my new favorite appetizer/snack. Yumm... they have a slightly peppery bite from the Gruyère, the moistness from the mushroom, and the crunchiness from breadcrumbs that just turned out amazing.

Although the recipe calls for medium sized mushrooms, I used small, white button mushrooms because that's what I had. After being stuffed, about four of these little guys are only around 105 calories. Can't beat that!

Ingredients

• 24 medium sized mushrooms (about 1 1/2 pounds)
• 2 tablespoons olive oil, plus more for the baking sheet
• 2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
• 5 oz. baby spinach, chopped
• kosher salt and black pepper to taste
• 3/4 cup panko break crumbs
• 1/2 cup Gruyère, grated (2 ounces)

Method

• Heat oven to 375° F. Remove the stems from the mushrooms; finely chop the stems and reserve. Coat a baking sheet with oil. Bake the mushroom caps, stem-side down, until just tender, 10 to 12 minutes.
• Meanwhile, heat the oil in a medium skillet over medium heat. Add the garlic and chopped mushroom stems and cook, stirring, until tender, 3 to 5 minutes. Add the spinach, ¼ teaspoon salt, and ⅛ teaspoon pepper and cook, tossing, until wilted, 2 to 3 minutes more.
• In a bowl, combine the spinach mixture with the bread crumbs and cheese. Spoon into the mushroom caps and bake until golden brown, 12 to 15 minutes.

Chicken Milanese with Tomato Fennel Sauce

Yummy! You need to make this! I've had pretty good luck with Giada's recipes and this is another winner. It's the perfect balance of crispiness from the chicken and creaminess from the sauce. I decided to pair this dish with grilled asparagus drizzled in EVOO. Because the sauce is creamy, I wanted a lighter side. If you don't have asparagus i'd do broccoli or grilled bell peppers and squash. Potatoes might be too heavy.

Find the recipe: here

Oh! Also, If you decide to try this one, keep in mind that fennel is sometimes labeled as anise at the grocery store. It's the same thing. I didnt know this the first time I used fennel and it would have saved me a lot of searching in the produce section if I had know ;)  

Tomato Feta Pasta Salad

Every Sunday that we can, we get together with our good friends, Andrew and Nikki for 'Sunday Night Dinner'. Last night dinner was at their place and we (meaning I) decided to make a pasta salad to take over in addition to dessert. We were going to be barbecuing so I wanted something that would compliment chargrilled chicken, roasted peppers and squash, etc. I went to my go to source, foodnetwork.com, to find a recipe and came across Ina Garten's Tomato Feta Pasta Salad. Mmm was it good! If you like mediterannian flavors, you will love this!

I followed the recipe but made a couple changes:

• Instead of 1 cup feta, I only used a half cup (this was plenty)
• Instead of diced tomatoes, I used cherry tomatoes (halved)
• Added juice from half a lemon when tossing everything together

It was deeeee-licious! It tasted so fresh and was booming with flavor. Will be making this recipe often!