Thanksgiving Recipes

Parent Cafe
1

<p>I am thinking about trying some new recipes this year. I am expecting about 18 people (including my immediate family), though the numbers always change just a couple of weeks before.</p>

<p>Anyone have any recipes that they like for sweet potatoes? I might try something new if sounds good. I always make them with marshallow topping. I don’t even mind doing that again, but am looking for a twist to the recipe.</p>

<p>Also, anyone have a recipe for green beans that works well for a crowd? </p>

<p>Also, I would love to look at any other recipes that anyone would like to share.</p>

2

<p>I have a rice casserole dish that I often serve.</p>

<p>It is from James McNair’s Rice Cookbook, and includes brown, Wehani, wild and white rices, as well as onion, almonds, currant and mint.</p>

<p>With the green beans, I would just steam them, add some melted butter with toasted almonds if you like.</p>

3

<p>One staple of our Thanksgiving tradition is [Mama</a> Stamberg’s Cranberry Relish](<a href=“http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=4176014]Mama”>www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=4176014). You either love it or you hate it: we <em>LOVE</em> it. It is chilled, shocking pink, tart yet sweet, and tangy with horseradish. If you want something different that will start a conversation this year, make it ahead of time and serve it with dinner. :slight_smile: (Our other staple is listening to Alice’s Restaurant, but that doesn’t involve any cooking.)</p>

4

<p>For the past several Thanksgivings, my contribution has been a sweet potato casserole recipe from "Great Good Food’ by Julee Rosso, the co-author of The “Silver Palate Cookbook”. The addition of mango to this dish makes it delightful. If you are interested I can email the recipe to you.</p>

5

<p>The sweet potato souffle from The original Moosewood cookbook is really good. I always just mash them like regular potatoes with butter and a little OJ instead of milk or cream. </p>

<p>My favorite way to cook green beans is to roast them in the oven. 20 minutes at about 325 degrees and olive oil that I’ve zapped with a few chopped up garlic cloves for about 20 seconds. Usually I slice tomatoes and roast them as well. </p>

<p>There’s also a very good recipe in Atkins - The Complete Cookbook. You steam or boil the beans till crisp. While they are cooking saute two leeks, 2 chopped garlic cloves till soft. Then add .5 cups of white wine, 2 Tb sundried tomatoes, 2 tsp fresh thyme (or 3/4 tsp dried). Cook till wine is almost gone. Add to beans season with salt and pepper and stir in 4 oz of goat cheese. If you like goat cheese this is yummy!</p>

6

<p>“Mama Stamberg’s Cranberry Relish.”</p>

<p>I tried it one year and thought it was nothing special. And everyone was put off by the fact that it is exactly the same color as Pepto-Bismol.</p>

<p>For sweet potatoes - like to keep it simple. Cook them just as you would a baked potato. For a topping mix some (real) maple syrup in the sour cream and use that.</p>

7

<p>Mashed Sweet Potatoes and Pears (Bon Appetit Nov 1994)</p>

<p>5lbs red skinned sweet potatoes</p>

<p>6TB unsalted butter room temp
4 large firm and ripe Bartlett pears, peeled, cored and cut into 1/3 inch thick slices
3/4 cup (or more) pear nectar (Goya makes some)</p>

<p>1/4 cup sugar
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp (generous) ground cardamom</p>

<p>Preheat Oven 400F Butter 13x9x2 inch glass baking dish for final cooking</p>

<p>Pierce potatoes all over with fork, place on cookie sheet, bake til tender when pierced with knife, about 1 hr…remove from oven, reduce heat to 350F</p>

<p>Meantime, melt 2TB butter in heavy large nonstick skillet over medium high heat, add pears, sautee until they start to soften, about 5 min, then add 3/4 cup nectar, bring to simmer…reduce heat to med low, cover and simmer til very tender, adding more nectar if mixture sticks to skillet… stir often about 4 minutes…transfer to food processor and puree…</p>

<p>Peel sweet potatoes, place in large bowl of electric mixer,
Add 4 TB butter, beat til smooth…
Mix in pear puree, sugar, cinnamon and cardamom
Season with salt & pepper
Transfer to prepared, buttered baking disk…can be covered and chilled for up to 1 day ahead…</p>

<p>Bake uncovered until just heated thru … about 20 min</p>

<p>8 servings…enough for normal Thanksgiving crowds as folks take a little of everything…I like these because they are lighter than most sweet potatoe dishes…so many things are “heavy” that these are a nice variation…</p>

8

<p>Mmm, Mathmom, I like the sound of your green beans.</p>

<p>I also use your method to roast broccoli or cauliflower (except I use a hotter oven, more like 425 degrees).</p>

9

<p>“For a topping mix some (real) maple syrup in the sour cream and use that.”</p>

<p>Now that sounds really good.</p>

10

<p>I just got home and was happy to see some recipes. Keep them coming! I love glancing through recipes. I usually make the same old, but I do try one new thing if possible. The cranberry relish looks different than my usual. I usually use the recipe on the plastic bag of Ocean Spray’s fresh cranberries. Last year, I made up something with bing cherries, cranberries, orange, and I guess some brown sugar. I had it simmering for a long time. It was very good.</p>

<p>un-soccermom, I did send a pm to you. Thanks.</p>

11

<p>maineparent that recipe does sound very good. </p>

<p>mathmom, when you make you roast your string beans, are you mixing your tomatoes (sliced) into the dish, or are you just roasting your tomatoes as a seperate dish? I have made sting beans both this way, as well as in a pan many, many times. I also love to add in toasted almond slivers.</p>

12

<p>I always make cauliflower au graten, and it goes like hotcakes, even for those that don’t like cauliflower. </p>

<p>It is pretty simple. Steam the cauliflower until tender but not too soft. Make about two cups of heavy white sauce (for those that don’t remember, 3 tablespoons of flour (and butter) per cup of milk make a heavy white sauce), stir in about 1 lb of grated sharp cheddar (white cheddar makes a nice looking dish) until melted, and pour over the cut up cauliflower in a casserole (or two, as we usually start with a big head…). Top with crumbs, pop into the oven until the crumbs are browned and the sauce bubbling, and serve.</p>

<p>I’ve tried lots of additions to the sauce, from nutmeg to dried mustard to worchester sauce, and find the simplest tastes best.</p>

<p>yea, this is not low cal, but you get your cruciferous veggies this way.</p>

13

<p>newmassdad: your recipe for cauliflower au gratin is much like the one in French Women Don’t Get Fat. In her recipe, you cook the cauliflower in milk, then mix some of the cooking milk with an egg. Pour over the cauliflower, dot with butter, add in grated high-quality cheese, and bake. My H and D love this–H said it was the best cauliflower he has ever tasted.</p>

14

<p>Here is the potato recipe my family loves at Thanksgiving. </p>

<p>“This smoky, creamy combination of white and sweet potatoes may be the ultimate Thanksgiving side dish.” Bon Appetit Nov 2001
<a href=“http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/recipe_views/views/105831[/url]”>http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/recipe_views/views/105831&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

15

<p>bookiemom, I am not much of a cauliflower fan, but that does sound easy, and tasty.</p>

16

<p>I don’t eat this one myself, as it is too sweet for my taste. But everyone loves it, including those who generally refuse to eat any vegetable at all. Could be a dessert in my book :).
My Cousin’s Carrots
In blender or food processor, mix :
1 lb cooked carrots
3 eggs
Add:
1/3 cup sugar
1T vanilla
3 T flour
Add:
1 c melted butter
Nutmeg to taste
Blend together. Put in souffl</p>

17

<p>jmmom, It sounds very good. I don’t think that I would make them with sweet potatoes though-it would be orange and sweet overkill, IMO.</p>

18

<p>I mix the tomatoes into the beans. Almonds sound good. I also think pine nuts might be tasty. :)</p>

19

<p>Thank you mathmom. BTW, I enjoy pine nuts. I add them frequently to salads.</p>

20

<p>Lately I’ve been pureeing cauliflower with white sauce liberally sprinkled with grated nutmeg, salt and white pepper. Even the people who don’t think they like cauliflower eat it.</p>