Going to an extended family get together for Turkey day. Good people. Asked what we should bring, and they said Sweet Potato casserole. However, they, and my wife, are rather insistent that i use canned sweet potatoes....
Really? I've found some awesome recipes, but its probably going to be basic canned sweet potato casserole w/ marshmallows on top. No pecans, even.
“What we are dealing with here is a perfect engine, er... an eating machine. It's really a miracle of evolution. All this machine does is swim and eat and make little sharks and that's all.”
Sweet Potato Pecan Pie
Unbaked pie crust
2 cups cooked and mashed sweet potatoes
2 eggs
3/4 cup white sugar
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground ginger
1/4 tsp ground cloves
1 2/3 cups light cream
3 T butter, softened
1/3 cups packed brown sugar
2/3 cup chopped pecans
Bake, peel and mash sweet potatoes. Stir in sugar, salt, cinnamon, ginger, and cloves. Blend in cream. Pour into pie shell.
Cover pie edges with foil. Bake at 400 degrees 45-55 minutes. Cool completely on rack.
Combine butter, brown sugar, and pecans. Drop by spoonfuls over cooled pie until top is covered. Broil 5 inches below heat until mixture begins to bubble, about three minutes. Do not overcook-- it will burn easily. Cool on rack.
...and the milk's in me.
If I'm making pies for Thanksgiving, I really do need the day off work beforehand. I was exhausted by the time I got to bed last night after all the baking and cleaning up. Also, I made the crust on Tuesday night to save time and it got so hard in the fridge that it wouldn't roll out properly and was twice the work.
And I still have two pies to do this morning.
...and the milk's in me.
Results: six pies are not too many. However, my proportions are wrong. One pumpkin pie was completely untouched, meanwhile the French Silk pie was gone in two minutes followed by tears and recriminations about who took too much. Apparently, I have a family of chocoholics with no respect for traditional autumnal ingredients.
Next year two chocolate pies... or three.
EDIT: my personal favorite, the pecan-and-sweet-potato, had good justice done to it, with one sliver left over and many compliments from the few people in the family who will eat nuts. Success!
...and the milk's in me.
Had sour beef and dumplings at a restaurant tonight because I discovered it's a Baltimore... thing.
Interesting, although I'm not sure I love it. It is beef cooked like a thick stew in lots and lots of vinegar. (They are not kidding about the "sour" part.) I would have liked it much more with some veggies or something to lighten the unremitting beefiness of it. The potato dumplings were good, though.
...and the milk's in me.
Is that like sauerbraten? Growing up I had that quite a bit as a kid. My mom's family is predominately German.Quoting Mara (view post)
Apparently, yes.
...and the milk's in me.
Made a Chorizo, Green Chile & Tortilla Chip Stuffing for Thanksgiving -- success!
Hey, does anyone have a recipe or two that calls for cherry puree? I need about 3.5 pounds of the stuff for a beer recipe, and the kind I need only comes in three pound cans, which means I have to buy two and I'll have 2.5 pounds left over, which I would rather see not go to waste.
Losing is like fertilizer: it stinks for a while, then you get used to it. (Tony, Hibbing)
I was told that I don't have to do a traditional Christmas feast the Saturday before Christmas. I'm thinking that if the weather isn't brutally cold, I'll smoke a pork butt and do a butterflied jerk pork butt. There will obviously be coleslaw, 'cause my pulled pork demands to be served with it, as well as corn bread.
I'm open to suggestions on soul food 'esque recipes. Definitely want to do a mac n cheese, and bac0n gave me an awesome sweet potato recipe as well.
“What we are dealing with here is a perfect engine, er... an eating machine. It's really a miracle of evolution. All this machine does is swim and eat and make little sharks and that's all.”
Ya need some collard greens somewhere in there.
Losing is like fertilizer: it stinks for a while, then you get used to it. (Tony, Hibbing)
Made smoked salmon fettuccine alfredo tonight. Ridiculously easy.
5 oz, give or take, smoked salmon shredded into alfredo sauce (Paul Newman's), heated very slowly so the flavors can get to know each other. When the pasta is al dente, reserve 1/2c of pasta water, and add the pasta and water to the sauce, toss well and cover on extremely low heat.
At this point, sear some sliced zucchini and yellow squash, season w/ salt, pepper, garlic and onion, or whatever floats your boat. Serve together, or with the veggies on the side.
“What we are dealing with here is a perfect engine, er... an eating machine. It's really a miracle of evolution. All this machine does is swim and eat and make little sharks and that's all.”
What does adding water to the sauce do?
The pasta water has a bunch of starch in it that can be used to thicken sauces. One of my goto homemade pasta sauces is a simple carbonara. Start with 1 T of olive oil, some garlic, and some red pepper flakes on medium heat. Then, I beat three eggs, a heaping amount of parmesan cheese (probably almost equal amounts eggs to cheese), and some freshly ground black pepper in a separate bowl. Add about 1/2 cup pasta water. Add the egg mixture to the olive oil/garlic/red pepper flakes. Continue to whisk constantly on and off the flame. You don't want to get the pan too hot to scramble the eggs, but you want to cook them slowly enough to thicken your sauce. It's a balancing act that takes some practice, but that's it. It thickens more when you let it rest for a couple minutes off the flame. Pour over pasta.
The traditional recipe calls for chopped prosciutto and peas to be tossed with the sauce and pasta. I typically make it without to cover premade ravioli/tortellini.
It also helps the pasta absorb more of the sauce. Instead of adding 1/2c pasta water, you can remove the pasta directly from the boiling water with tongs and throw it right in the sauce, so some pasta water will come with it.
“What we are dealing with here is a perfect engine, er... an eating machine. It's really a miracle of evolution. All this machine does is swim and eat and make little sharks and that's all.”
Pasta Carbonera, let's see how this goes.
I just let the heat of the pasta cook my egg mixture when I make Carbonara. I usually add peas to give it a bit of colour and health.
Yeah, the egg concerned me at first, but all made sense as I put it together.
You know those brownie/cake in a mug recipes that have been going around forever? I fixed them. This one is great and not too floury or too spongy. Cannot be simpler. Also, they all asked for oil instead of butter, and brownies should always be made with butter.
In the mug, melt 2 T butter. Then, mix in 3 T flour, 4 T sugar, 2 T water and 2 T cocoa powder. Mix very thoroughly. I have to microwave for 1 1/2 minutes, but my microwave is crappy and you might need to not go as long. It shouldn't look quite completely dry.
...and the milk's in me.
Never realized before that old corn kernels don't pop when cooked - they create a smoke bomb instead!
Here's a nice trick i picked up from a cooking magazine. When chopping onions, to avoid your eyes stinging (which happens to me all the time), put the cutting board on the stove top and turn on the fan, then chop away. No more tears!
Losing is like fertilizer: it stinks for a while, then you get used to it. (Tony, Hibbing)
You know, I haven't had the onions problem since I was a kid. I wonder if wearing contacts helps with that.
I am much less sensitive than I was when I was younger, and I chop away. Usually. The only time I'll be affected is if I'm making a big pot of something (like chili or homemade spaghetti sauce and there's suddenly six chopped onions in a contained space and I might need to walk away for a minute.
...and the milk's in me.
It's been awhile since I last posted here... Well at the moment, I'm making cakes and biscuits, and I borrowed a recipe book from the library where there are lots of not too difficult recipes from Alsace (East of France near Germany), of winter, christmas biscuits mostly called winachtsbredele in this area. I've tried some of them (the easies ones :P), but there is one that I quite like and now made a few times, including today. Unfortunately I didn't take photos, because there were eaten too fast (some friends came around and they have a little boy who liked them very much, I was quite pleased!)
It's called : Snowballs
You just need :
100 g almond powder
125 g icing sugar
1 egg white
You mix everything (I use the mixer) and then you take bits that you roll into some icing sugar until it makes a little ball (mine always look like a "flat ball") and put them into little paper boxes for cooking (don't know the right word) and put them in the oven for 40 minutes at 120° (th.4). And that's the most difficult part (not too cooked but cooked enough).
And that's it.
I found a pic of the snowballs (but of course mine looked better! :P )
Man, I love almond cookies. I bet homemade ones are even better. I never knew they even had almond flour until now, I always assumed they were made with almond extract.
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