Trump Card Casserole

My Mom is a school teacher.  And for me as a person who works year round and has little patience for stranger's children, by far the most appealing part of that profession in my opinion is the summers off ;-)  Oddly enough, that is the thorn in my Mother's side.  Although she always welcomes the break from the school year come late May, she is normally going stir crazy two weeks in to her summer break.  She doesn't sit well and after the first few weeks of furiously working her way through stacks of novels as tall as she is, she is normally ready to pull her hair out.  So she basically plays tourist in her own city for the rest of the summer months.  She and one of her other teacher friends attend every NOMA art exhibit, take every French Quarter tour and dine at several local restuarants to keep busy during the days.

On one of her French Quarter excursions she picked up a very "souvenirish" gift for me, but something so neat that I was ecstatic to be the recipient.  It was a deck of playing cards called "Deck 'o Meals, 52 Creole recipes".  The deck of cards had more to offer than just 52 classic creole recipes, the recipes had to fit on one side of a standard playing card so they were all very easy recipes with few ingredients.  I quickly thumbed through them and decided I would be making several of them very soon.  The first one I chose was this zucchini casserole.  I wanted to add it as a side for a weeknight meal, but this was so good that I immediately deemed it Thanksgiving/Christmas dinner worthy.  I made a few changes in the preparation of the recipe, but stuck with the original ingredient list and it was AMAZING!


Zucchini Casserole
Loosely adapted from Creole "Deck 'o Meals" Playing Cards

Ingredients:

• 2 slices of bacon, cut up
• 8 oz white button mushrooms, chopped
• 1/2 cup diced yellow onions
• dash of garlic salt
• 3 medium zucchini, grated
• 1 1/2 cup cracker crumbs (Saltines)
• 1 egg, beaten
• 2/3 cup Monterey Jack Cheese, shredded
• 1/2 cup melted butter
• 1/4 tsp pepper
• 1/2 tsp salt

Preparation:

1.  Partly cook bacon slices.  Remove from pan and place aside in large mixing bowl.



 Drain all but 1 Tbs of bacon grease from pan.  Cook the onions and mushrooms in the remaining bacon grease.



2.  Add cooked mushrooms and onions to the bacon.  Combine the remaining ingredients.



Adding cracker crumbs and eggs last.



3.  Bake in a 2 quart casserole dish, un-covered for 40 minutes at 350 degrees.



Click Here for My Printable Recipe

Come out of the Candy Coma

Is everyone ready to detox from all the Halloween candy yet?  I couldn't wait for it to be out of my house.  There is just no need for a huge bucket of candy when two of three people in the household are either a toddler or a Type 1 diabetic!  So glad it is gone.

This is the perfect recipe for returning to healthy eating, not to mention probably the last thing your kids want to be served after eating candy for a week straight ;-)  I don't know why brussels sprouts get such a bad rap - these little guys are delicious, and cute too!  This recipe was very simple and used hardly any ingredients.  It was perfect for a weeknight side dish.  But I feel inclined to warn you, roasting these tiny green veggies will stink up your house.  Something awful!  So even though they are delicious, don't add them to your menu when you are having guest over that you need to impress.

Roasted Romano Brussels Sprouts
Adapted from Cooking Light November 2012

 

Ingredients

• 3 tablespoons olive oil
• 1/2 teaspoon sea salt
• 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 2 pounds Brussels sprouts, trimmed and halved lengthwise
• Cooking spray
• 1 ounce pecorino Romano cheese, shaved (about 1/3 cup)

 

Preparation

1. Preheat oven to 425°.
2. Combine olive oil, salt, black pepper, and Brussels sprouts in a medium bowl; toss well to coat.



Divide Brussels sprouts mixture evenly between 2 small roasting pans or jelly-roll pans coated with cooking spray. Bake at 425° for 20 minutes or until Brussels sprouts are browned and crisp-tender, rotating pans after 10 minutes. Remove from oven. Sprinkle Brussels sprouts evenly with cheese. Serve immediately.



Click Here for My Adapted Printable Recipe

Prime Pumpkin Pick

My friend Melanie ran a contest on her blog recently. She was looking for some recipe ideas for the upcoming holiday season and decided a great giveaway would be a good idea for encouraging her readers to submit recipes to her inspiration folder. One of the prizes for the random winner was the opportunity for their recipe to be featured on my blog.

I liked the idea because it gave me the chance to cook with Mel in my new kitchen and it was one less recipe I needed to search out and research on my own. Plus, this particular winning recipe was a great way to use up some leftover pumpkin from the last holiday we just had! This recipe was very easy to pull together and everyone loved the results. I split the cake I kept (Mel took the other two for gifts) between my sister and Forrest and they both gave it glaring reviews! Give this one a try, you won't be disappointed. Thanks April!

Yummy Pumpkin Bread
From April T.

We used regular sized loaf pans and made 3 loaves.

Ingredients

3 cups canned pumpkin puree
1 1/2 cups vegetable oil
4 cups white sugar
6 eggs
4 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 1/2 teaspoons ground nutmeg
1 1/2 teaspoons ground cloves

Directions

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease and flour three 9x5 inch loaf pans.
In a large bowl, mix together the pumpkin, oil, sugar, and eggs.

Combine the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, and cloves;

stir into the pumpkin mixture

until well blended.

Divide the batter evenly between the prepared pans.

Bake in preheated oven for 45 minutes to 1 hour and 15 minutes (we found our cakes were ready at 1 hour and 10 minutes. The top of the loaf should spring back when lightly pressed.

Click Here for the Printable Recipe

Turkey Day Troubles - Installment #6

There are many downfalls to living 1000 miles away from your family like I do. And not surprisingly, the biggest downfall is the Holidays without them. Forrest and I have been lucky enough to travel home during some holidays, but we always stay in DC for Thanksgiving. And Thanksgiving is a hard holiday to be away from home. I miss decorating the table at my parents' house, I miss waking up early and watching the Macy's Parade with the other early risers, I miss my niece and nephew's expressions as they sit down to their pint sized table we have set especially for them, I miss the annual Kris Kringle name pull after dinner, and I miss my Daddy's annual declaration of "You really outdid yourself this year, Momma!" But the one thing I miss most every Thanksgiving away from home is- my Momma. She is an amazing creature in the kitchen and Thanksgiving is one of her times to shine. She cooks every single dish we eat including the turkey and does it all without a single recipe. She doesn't get stressed, she doesn't appear flustered, and she always has it ready right on time. The menu remains the same each year, but the dishes are deliciously consistent. Every year you know what you are about to experience as you settle down to the table with your overflowing plate. I admire her composure and her ability to perform what she so aptly defined once as "mommering". Mommering is the ability in any situation to do something that seems superhuman. It is that admirable quality to swoop in during what seems to be some of the most hectic situations and gain immediate control. The ability to put the metaphoric band-aid on any problem. But you can only posses these powers if you are in fact a momma - and that I am not!

So as I prepped for my first big Thanksgiving dinner I am cooking alone, I called my mom several times in order for her to execute a little mommering. She guided me through prepping the turkey - telling me to calm down or I would have a stroke (I am not nearly as calm or composed as my dear mother). She helped me determine cooking times and schedules for my dishes and she listened as I revealed every single miniscule detail from my recipes to my supermarket excursions.

As I sit here on this Thanksgiving-Eve I can't help but feel a little saddened. Saddened by the fact that I will not wake up tomorrow and stumble into the kitchen to find my mother in her red striped apron, chopping away, listening to country music, and trying to convince my Daddy to join her for a glass of wine.

It seems very fitting to finish my Turkey Day Trouble Installments off by talking about my mother. She is, after all, the person who inspired this recurring series. I wanted to share a couple pictures of this precious turkey shaped butter I picked up today at the grocery. What does this bird butter have to do with my mother? Well nothing really, except for the fact that as I placed it in my basket I couldn't help but think how ridiculous she would have told me I was being for buying butter shaped like poultry that cost twice as much as a pound of regular butter. She is very practical (I guess that is a good counterpart to "calm and in control") and she would have laughed at my extravagance. But it was too cute to pass up!

I also included some pics of my table setting from my last Thanksgiving in New Orleans:

And my table setting for my Thanksgiving Dinner Tomorrow (a much smaller table, much more cramped):

Turkey Day Troubles - Installment #5

Forrest volunteered to deliver the Thanksgiving meals his office had donated to two needy families today. Everyone in his office contributed by donating gift cards, non-perishable food items, and Christmas gifts for the children in the families. He suggested that I bake a Thanksgiving treat so they had something homemade. I knew exactly what I wanted to make after seeing Paula Deen whip up these pretty goodies.

Pumpkin Bars
Paula Deen

Igredients

Bars:

• 4 eggs
• 1 2/3 cups granulated sugar
• 1 cup vegetable oil
• 15-ounce can pumpkin
• 2 cups sifted all-purpose flour
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon baking soda

Icing:

• 8-ounce package cream cheese, softened
• 1/2 cup butter or margarine, softened
• 2 cups sifted confectioners' sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Using an electric mixer at medium speed, combine the eggs, sugar, oil and pumpkin until light and fluffy.

Stir together the flour, baking powder, cinnamon, salt and baking soda. Add the dry ingredients to the pumpkin mixture and mix at low speed until thoroughly combined and the batter is smooth.

Spread the batter into a greased 13 by 10-inch baking pan.

Bake for 30 minutes. Let cool completely before frosting. Cut into bars.

To make the icing: Combine the cream cheese and butter in a medium bowl

with an electric mixer until smooth. Add the sugar and mix at low speed until combined.

Stir in the vanilla and mix again.

Spread on cooled pumpkin bars (I piped them for a cleaner presentation).

I didn't try these treats because I don't eat Pumpkin. But of course Forrest had to try them and he loved them. I also brought a couple leftover bars to work and everyone who tried them seemed to really enjoy them.

Turkey Day Troubles - Installment #4

I figure that I have overdone the starch category in my Thanksgiving installments. It was time to round out the menu with some vegetables. I have been wanting to try parsnips for a very long time. This recipe is a perfect addition to any T-Day menu because of its simplicity. Not every dish needs to be time consuming in order to be delicious.

Roasted Carrots and Parsnips with Thyme
Recipe Courtesy Danny Boome

Ingredients

• 1 pound carrots
• 1 pound parsnips
• 3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
• 2 tablespoons honey
• Coarse salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 6 sprigs fresh thyme

Directions

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Peel the carrots and parsnips and cut them in half lengthwise, larger ones can be quartered. Place them on a large rimmed baking sheet.

Drizzle the carrots and parsnips with the olive oil and honey.

Season with salt and pepper and toss to coat. Scatter the thyme sprigs on top. Place them in the preheated oven.

After 10 minutes, give the veggies a toss and put back in the oven for another 10 minutes until the vegetables are soft and slightly caramelized. Serve warm.

Parsnips not only look a lot like carrots, but they also taste like them. Although the flavor is VERY similar, parsnips have a stronger bite than carrots. I like the idea of adding them to the dish because they give the dish an interesting color combination.

Turkey Day Troubles - Installment #3

Mashed Potatoes are the ultimate comfort food. Every Thanksgiving dinner table must have them because they are essential for pairing with that amazing turkey gravy. Just keep your eye on the other dinner guests to make sure they don't start constructing Devil's Tower out of this creamy creation. That could be scary!

Mashed Potatoes
Recipe Courtesy Emeril Lagasse

Ingredients

• 2 pounds potatoes, peeled and diced
• 1 stick butter, cubed
• 1/2 to 3/4 cup heavy cream
• Salt and white pepper

Directions

Peel potatoes.

Place the potatoes in a pot of salted water and bring to a boil.

Reduce the heat to a simmer and cook the potatoes until fork tender, about 12 to 15 minutes. Remove the pan from the heat and drain. Place the potatoes back in the pot and return to the heat. Stir the potatoes, constantly, for 2 to 3 minutes to dehydrate the potatoes.

Remove the potatoes from the heat. Add the butter.

Using a hand-held masher, mash the butter into the potatoes.

Add enough cream until desired smoothness is achieved.

Season the potatoes with salt and pepper.

This is the best mashed potato recipe I have ever made. The step where you dehydrate the potatoes is very important. It ensures that you don't have runny potatoes. The white pepper gives an amazing kick and the cream smooths them out to perfection.

Turkey Day Troubles - Installment #2

I just finished reading a book (Cooking for Mr. Latte) written by Amanda Hesser, a food writer for the New York Times. In one of her chapters she writes, "I have a few favorite dishes, I rarely make them." She goes on further to describe those old tried and true recipes, "You know, ones that I'll want to return to for years and years. You make it again and again, altering it to your liking, it becomes an expression of you aesthetic, of your palate, of who you are. And when you serve that dish to guests, they come to understand you a little better."

I couldn't help but connect with her words. This blog keeps me on the chase. I am constantly trying new things and I rarely make anything twice. That wouldn't be so interesting if I continued to post the same recipe every week. So in the last six months I have posted about 90 different recipes on this blog and have never featured my "signature" dish. The dish I bring to all gatherings that are food focused. The dish that I have probably made a couple of dozen of times. The dish that I believe identifies part of me. The dish that tells so much about my childhood eating habits........

Growing up I was a very picky eater. I can remember my Thanksgiving plate had Artichoke Dressing, Crescent Rolls and "The Dish". Baked Macaroni and Cheese. For years it was one of the only side items at gatherings that I truly enjoyed. And it reminds me of the holidays. Even though times have changed and these days my plate is running over with everything available, I still crave that classic dish. It wouldn't be Thanksgiving (or Christmas, or Easter, or - ok you get the point) without that side item. So if I were home this Thanksgiving, I would most assuredly bring my Golden Macaroni and Cheese to my mom's house and would like to suggest it to the members of my family who will be pitching in to help my mom this year with Thanksgiving dinner.

Golden Macaroni and Cheese
Adapted from Southern Living 2004 Annual Recipes

Ingredients

1 (8-ounce) package elbow macaroni
2 cups milk (I use whole milk)
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon onion salt
2 (10-ounce) blocks sharp Cheddar cheese, shredded and divided ( I use one block of Sharp Cheddar and one block of Extra-Sharp Cheddar cheese)
1 cup soft plain breadcrumbs ( The recipe suggest homemade breadcrumbs, but I use store bought - not Italian breadcrumbs, just plain)
1/4 cup butter or margarine, melted (I use butter)

COOK macaroni according to package directions; drain well. Set aside.

PLACE milk, flour, and onion salt in a quart jar; cover tightly, and shake vigorously 1 minute.

STIR together flour mixture, 3 1/2 cups cheese, and macaroni.

POUR macaroni mixture into a lightly greased 13x9 baking dish or 2 (11 inch) oval baking dishes.

Sprinkle evenly with breadcrumbs and remaining 1 cup cheese; drizzle evenly with melted butter.


BAKE at 350 degrees for 45 minutes or until golden brown.

The easy method for making the thickener for the cheese sauce is the key to this recipe. You simply shake the ingredients in a jar - it is fool proof and fun! I know that Baked Macaroni and Cheese may not be the most traditional Thanksgiving side item, but I promise you it will be a hit if you decide to include it on your menu. The children at your dinner will be ecstatic, because what child doesn't love Mac n' Cheese? And the adults will be thankful for this classically rich dish as well.


In the past I have posted some recipes that could be considered Thanksgiving Day options as well. Check out the links below:

1. Pumpkin Pie

2. Artichoke Stuffing

3. Andouille Cornbread Dressing

Click Here for My Adapted Printable Recipe