Weekly Cooking Thread: THANKSGIVING EDITION cont'd.

The first dish I recall making when I began helping with the family Thanksgiving dinner, was my Aunt's recipe for Sweet Potato Souffle. If you don't like marshmallows (V K Lee, I'm talking to you!) they can be left out; but I think it would be tragic to leave out the raisins :-)

I usually cheat on this: I don't whip the whites separately and fold them in - too much work for Thanksgiving, and it's wonderful even if you just throw it all together and mix it up. I also make the sweet potatoes the night before and refrigerate them, so that part is done ahead.

Prepare 2 cups of mashed sweet potatoes: Boil potatoes in their skins until done; remove skins and mash.

Add: one-half C. sugar, 1 tsp. salt, 3 T. butter, 1 tsp. nutmeg, and the potatoes. Beat until fluffy.

Separate 2 eggs. Beat yolks and add to the potato mixture. Add: one-half C. raisins, and stir in well.

Beat the 2 egg whites until stiff, and fold into the first mixture. Pour into greased baking dish (I use a large Pyrex deep-dish pie plate).

Bake at 350 for 50 to 60 minutes, or until knife comes out clean. When done, top with a circle of marshmallows around the edge of the plate, and brown briefly under broiler.

I've never had much luck with 'crockpot' cooking, but I keep trying. Last week we made this recipe that I've seen several versions of on the Internet:

It turned out alright - I could tell that with the right kind of tweaking it would be great - but it had the same somewhat washed-out blandness of every slow-cooker dish I've tried. I would have wanted it to have more intense flavor, and I'm starting to think that there are 'secrets' to this that I just don't know.

Is anyone aware of a really good book on slow-cooker cooking? It's such a handy thing, especially at busy times like this, and when you can combine it with do-ahead prep and freezing. I'd like to learn more about it and be able to rely on it to produce really good meals.

Here’s a slow cooker chicken that really has come out well for me. Got it from Sister Martha :-)

Spiced Chicken Stew with Carrots

INGREDIENTS

2 pounds carrots, peeled and cut into 1 1/2-inch lengths
8 skinless chicken thighs (about 2 1/2 pounds total)
1 garlic clove, thinly sliced
1 cinnamon stick
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
Coarse salt and ground pepper
1/4 cup golden raisins
1/2 cup cilantro leaves
1/4 cup sliced almonds, toasted if desired
Couscous, for serving (optional)

DIRECTIONS

SLOW-COOKER METHOD:

Place carrots in slow cooker. In a bowl, toss together chicken, garlic, cinnamon, cumin, 1 teaspoon salt, and 1/4 teaspoon pepper; add to slow cooker. Cover, and cook on high, 4 hours (or on low, 8 hours), adding raisins 15 minutes before cooking is done.

Using a slotted spoon, transfer chicken and carrots to a dish (remove cinnamon stick); top with cilantro and almonds. Season cooking liquid with salt and pepper; spoon over chicken. Serve with couscous, if desired.

OVEN METHOD:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In step 1, use a 5-quart Dutch oven or ovenproof pot with a tight-fitting lid, adding 1 cup water. Cover, and bake until chicken is tender, 1 1/2 to 2 hours. Proceed with step 2.

Here’s an interesting slow cooker recipe I’m going to try:

Slow Cooker Hissy Fit Dip

Ingredients
1 pound ground country style pork sausage
8 ounces cream cheese
16 ounces sour cream
8 ounces Velveeta, cut into small cubes
4 ounces Muenster cheese, shredded (or 4 thick cut slices cut into small pieces)
2 tablespoons shallot, minced (about 1/2 of a medium sized shallot)
1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
1/2 teaspoon dried ground sage

Instructions
Cook the sausage in a large skillet over medium-high heat until browned all the way through, about 8-10 minutes. Drain.
Turn your slow cooker to HIGH and place the cream cheese in the pot. This will soften your cheese while you cook the meat.
Pour the sausage into the slow cooker, and add the sour cream, Velveeta, Muenster cheese, shallot, Worcestershire sauce, and sage. Mix until well combined.
Cover the slow cooker and cook for 1 hour. Stir. If the Velveeta is completely melted, turn slow cooker to WARM and serve at your leisure. If it is not melted, recover and cook for another 20 minutes and then check again. (There’s no reason it shouldn’t be melted. If you need to, use a rubber spatula to smush the Velveeta a bit to help incorporate it.)

Notes
You can also cook this dip on LOW for 1.5 to 2 hours.

If you prefer to bake your dip. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees F. Prep and combine the ingredients as directed. Pour into a 9-inch x 9-inch baking dish, spread into an even layer, and bake for 1 hour. Remove from the oven and serve warm.

http://breadboozebacon.com/slow-cooker-hissy-fit-dip/

This one sounds good too:

Rosemary White Bean Artichoke Spinach Dip

Ingredients:
3 teaspoons olive oil, divided
1 shallot, minced
2 cloves garlic, minced
5 ounces chopped fresh spinach
1 block cream cheese
1 - 14 ounce can cannellini beans, drained and rinse
1 - 14 ounce can artichoke heart quarters
4 ounces mozzarella cheese, grated
3 ounces fresh parmesan, grated
1/2 teaspoon finely minced fresh rosemary
salt and pepper, to taste
1 bag Food Should Taste Good Multigrain Tortilla Chips

Directions:
Heat 2 teaspoons of the olive oil (reserve the remaining teaspoon for later use) over medium heat in a medium sized sautÃ© pan. Add the shallot, garlic, and spinach. SautÃ© until the shallot and garlic are fragrant and the spinach is wilted, about 3 minutes. Remove from heat and set aside.

In a food processor, combine the cream cheese and the beans. Puree until completely smooth. Add the artichoke heart quarters, mozzarella, and parmesan. Pulse to combine and coarsely chop the artichokes.

Transfer to and oven safe bowl. Stir in the spinach mixture, rosemary, and salt and pepper. Bake uncovered at 350 degrees F for 20 minutes, or until it is hot all the way through and bubbly.

Remove from the oven, drizzle the top with the remaining teaspoon of olive oil and serve hot with Food Should Taste Good Multigrain Tortilla Chips.

http://www.goodlifeeats.com/2015/11/rosemary-white-bean-artichoke-spinach-dip.html

The secret to the best turkey you will ever have is to soak it in a brine solution the night before you bake it, smoke it, or deep fry it.

One simple recipe you can use is:

1 1/2 cups of Molasses

24 oz. of Sea or Kosher salt

8-12 oz. of honey

Mixed into a Gallon of water.

Pore into a cooler and stick the turkey in it you want the mixture to cover the whole bird, add Ice it keep it cold over night. When you bake, smoke or deep fry pull it out of the solution drain but do not rinse or season. The brine has done it for you and it will NOT be TOO salty.

When you bake or smoke it get a temperature probe and stick in the thickest part of the breast not touching the bone.

cook till the temperature hits 165 degrees. Anything higher will OVER cook it, and don't worry about the plastic "timer" button not popping out. When they do it's over cooked!

When you slice the breast it will be the Juiciest,BEST tasting turkey you will ever eat!

JT -
A question..it is supposed you might bake the yams rather than boiling? Your family recipe sounds similar to what has been done in the past -with the praline topping other than marshmallows :) - however, those yams were baked rather than boiled. Don’t remember ever having boiled a sweet potato or ever eating a boiled one. In Texas they are either baked, roasted or fried. LOL or eaten raw when the mood hits ya’.

BTW, can’t remember is it you who likes Amish cooking? Seems to remember there might be some here who do. And your King Ranch Casserole experiment... A CHEESY CHICKEN CASSEROLE recipe was seen yesterday which might be a tastier version than the original King Ranch Casserole with the cream of soup.

For Amish flavor recipes try this
MENNONITE GIRLS CAN COOK
http://www.mennonitegirlscancook.ca/

Cheesy Chicken Enchilada Casserole

Ingredients:

12 corn tortillas
5 chicken thighs (or two cups leftover chicken)
Â½ cup chicken stock or water
2 large Anaheim peppers chopped
Â½ large onion chopped
1 Tbsp plus Â½ tsp Ancho or Chipotle chili powder (regular chili powder can be subbed in, but the Ancho and Chipotle are so good they’re worth seeking out)
1 tsp cumin
1 Tbsp Mexican oregano (or regular)
1 15 oz can diced tomatoes
Salt and pepper to taste
2/3 cup sour cream
Â¼ cup milk
1 cup shredded Monterey jack, Colby or cheddar cheese (use 1 Â½ cups if not using Cotijo)
Â½ cup Cotijo cheese (optional)
1 Tbsp lime juice
Â¼ cup chopped cilantro (optional)
1 Tbsp corn or vegetable oil (or enough to thinly coat the bottom of a large pan)

Preparation:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

2. If using fresh chicken, place thighs in a pan, sprinkle with salt, pepper and about Â½ tsp chili powder and then cover with chicken stock or water. Cook covered for 7-10 minutes, turning over after about 4 minutes. Simmer until cooked through and then remove both chicken and broth from the pan to cool. Shred chicken and keep the broth in a separate dish.

3. Heat the same pan (now empty) to medium heat and then add in the oil, chopped Anaheim peppers and onions. If using jalapeno, add now. SautÃ© for 10 minutes.

4. Add in the rest of your chili powder plus your cumin and oregano. Be sure to crush the oregano in your hand first (as this releases the flavors more thoroughly into the dish). Add salt and pepper to taste.

5. Add in your shredded chicken (if using chopped leftover chicken add in now), broth, and tomatoes and stir until everything is thoroughly mixed in. Taste and then add more salt if needed. Simmer for 15 - 20 minutes on low heat.

6. Heat a medium pan (I like to use cast iron) to warm up your tortillas. I use medium high heat. Add in a little oil (must enough to barely cover the bottom of the pan) and fry each tortilla until warmed through and slightly crisp. Set aside on a plate.

7. Mix the cilantro and lime juice into your filling and stir. Taste one more time to see if you need to add any salt or pepper and then remove from heat.

8. Mix the milk into your sour cream (whisking to combine) and then set up a workspace with your 9 x 13” pan (which you should spray or line with oil), tortillas, grated cheeses, and filling.

9. Using a ladle, scoop mostly sauce (i.e., not much meat or vegetables) into the bottom of the casserole dish and then lay 6 of your heated tortillas into the bottom of the pan. Top with half your filling followed by drizzling on half your sour cream (making sure you even distribute). Set half your cheese on top of that and then repeat by laying on the remaining tortillas, filling, sour cream and cheeses.

10. Set dish in the oven for about 30 minutes (25 if using a convection oven) or until the entire casserole is warmed through and the cheese is bubbly.

11. Serve and enjoy

A prayerful, blessed Thanksgiving to All

Eat Dessert First....even if it might only be Coconut Ambrosia.

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