Green bean casserole

Green bean casserole is another must have at our Thanksgiving table. My daughter absolutely loves it and insists I make it every year. This year she made it herself. It is a dish that I am not particularly fond of. If I had my way I would stop making it. Instead I always make it as a double batch so she can have leftovers.

When I first started gathering recipes for the Thanksgiving meal I picked this recipe as it was easy to put together. Over the years I have tried to talk my daughter into letting me make the mushroom soup instead of using a can but she won't hear of it. She is afraid I will ruin the taste of the casserole. Even though I never buy canned soup, this is my one exception.

You will need
10 ¾ ounces (1 can) cream of mushroom soup (I use Campbell)
½ cup milk
1 (16 ounces) bag frozen green beans, not thawed or cooked
1 1/3 cups French-fried onions, divided

Preheat oven to 350F. Do not thaw the beans before use. They will become soggy. Use directly from the freezer.

In a casserole dish mix soup, milk, pepper, green beans and 2/3 cup fried onions. Bake for 25 minutes  uncovered or until hot. Take it out of the oven and stir. Sprinkle with remaining onions and bake for another 5 minutes.

Enjoy!

Creamy mashed potatoes with chives

Mashed potatoes with chives is one of our must have recipes at the Thanksgiving table. I got this recipe several years back when I started looking out for recipes for a traditional Thanksgiving meal. My daughter loves potatoes and mashed potatoes are her favorite. This is one of the original recipes that has not changed at all over the years. I have offered to make the cream from scratch using fresh chives but my daughter will not allow it. And so every year we go looking for the cream cheese with onions and chives before the stores run out. Luckily, we all like the recipe and it is also liked by the visiting extended family. Thanksgiving would not be complete without it.

These mashed potatoes taste best with Yukon gold potatoes. They are available in every supermarket before Thanksgiving. However, just before Thanksgiving they usually sell out. One year I forgot to stock up early and had to go looking for them the day before Thanksgiving. I had a very hard time finding them. I had to go from store to store until I found a few in one of the stores. Stock up early if you plan on making mashed potatoes using Yukon gold potatoes.

You will need
3 lbs. peeled Yukon gold potatoes
2/3 cup nonfat milk
1 tsp. salt
2/3 cup light cream cheese with chives and onion

Wash and peel the potatoes.

Quarter the peeled potatoes.

Place the potatoes in a Dutch oven, and cover with water. Bring the water to a boil. Reduce heat, and simmer for 10 minutes or until the potatoes are tender. Drain. Return potatoes to pan. Add the milk and salt. Mash the potato mixture with a potato masher to desired consistency. Add the cheese, and stir just until blended. Mashed potatoes are ready.

Enjoy!

Cranberry Sauce

I first made this Cranberry sauce for Thanksgiving back in 2007. It was the first time I had bought and used cranberries. I have made this sauce every year since then.

 I make it in small quantities and it adds a sweet and tart flavor to the meal.

Over the years I have changed it a little with organic ingredients, fresh squeezed juice and extended cook time. What I really like about this sauce is that it is tart and sweet at the same time. It can be used as a spread or substituted for jam if needed.

You will need
6 oz. fresh organic cranberries
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup fresh squeezed orange juice

Add all the ingredients to a medium saucepan and bring to a boil. Simmer until berries pop. Mash gently with the back of a spoon or masher. Let the sauce simmer for about 3-5 minutes more.

Turn off heat. Chill until ready to serve. The sauce thickens as it cools.

Enjoy!

Thanksgiving Stuffing

Several years back we started celebrating Thanksgiving with a traditional meal. Stuffing was one of the recipes I wanted to make. Though the word stuffing suggests it is used to stuff something, stuffing is also eaten as a side. It was the side that I wanted to make. Having no idea where to begin I started asking around and searching online. I found prepackaged bags of bread cubes with spices. You were supposed to add the vegetables and bake it. It seemed simple enough so I bought a package and tried it. We did not enjoy it. Next year I bought a different brand but stuffing remained the least popular of the Thanksgiving dishes. Over the years I have refined all my thanksgiving recipes and a couple years ago I found this stuffing recipe made of a day old challah loaf.

I have not made any other recipe since then. This is my annual go to recipe. It has a mix of vegetables, fresh made vegetable stock and the very flavorful challah loaf. Challah is a rich flavorful bread and my daughter munches on the loaf all by itself. This year I had planned to bake the challah myself but things got rather hectic just before Thanksgiving so that did not happen. I have promised myself to make it next year. We shall see. In the meantime here is the recipe for stuffing.

Recipe adapted from here.

You will need (for one 13 x 17 baking pan)
1 loaf of day old challah (I got it from Whole Foods)
2 cups celery, diced
2 cups onion, diced
2 cups carrots, diced
8-10 sprigs thyme, use leaves, discard stem
1/4 cup chopped flat leaf parsley
3 cups vegetable stock
2 oz. butter for cooking
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. black pepper, freshly ground

Cut the challah into small cubes. Spread the cubes on a baking sheet for at least a day up to 3 days.

Preheat oven to 350 F. Dice the onion, carrots and celery.

Heat 1 oz. butter in a heavy bottomed pan. Add the onions and sauté until transparent.

Add thyme, parsley, celery and carrots. Cook for about 10 minutes, do not cook them completely.

Prepare a 13x9 baking dish by rubbing some of the remaining butter on the bottom. Melt the rest to combine with the stuffing mixture. In a large bowl, combine the bread, partially cooked vegetable mixture, vegetable broth and the melted butter. Season it with salt and black pepper.

Transfer the mixture to the baking dish.

Bake covered with foil for 45 minutes. Remove foil and let it brown for about 15 minutes. Serve hot.

Enjoy!