Thanksgiving Menu 2011

Making a lot of food made sense the for the first time ever since the Peterson clan joined us this year!

The best part of the menu is the Sovereignty Farms fresh turkey, raised just for us. We also enjoyed:

• Shimai and Chan Dressing (new this year!)
• Greenbean Casserole
• Apple, Onion and Potato Gratin
• Mashed Root Vegetables
• Ina Garten's Popovers
• Fresh Cranberry Sauce
• Pumpkin Pie (new this year!)

And of course our entire week was smothered in chocolate chocolate chip cookies, chocolate chip cookies, and homemade hot chocolate (although this time minus the chipotle and plus Grand Marnier). I'd say we're a chocoholic family, and the Savory Sweet Life creator is fabulous at cookie recipes!

Pumpkin Pie

• 2 cups canned organic pumpkin puree
• 12 oz can evaporated milk
• 1/2 c dark brown sugar
• 1/3 c sugar
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 2 eggs plus 1 egg yolk
• 2 tsp cinnamon
• 1 tsp ground ginger
• 1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
• 1/4 tsp ground cloves
• 1/4 tsp ground cardamon
• zest of 1/2 large lemon
• 2 frozen prepared whole wheat pie crusts
• 1/2 heavy whipping cream

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Mix everything except the whipping cream in a large bowl and pour into the pie crusts. Bake for 40 minutes. Whip the cream until it fluffs and top each slice when serving.

Modified from Simply Recipe's version.

Cranberry Sauce

• 7 oz cranberries
• 1/4 c raw honey
• 2 oranges, juiced + zest of 1
• juice of 2 oranges
• cinnamon stick

Add all ingredients into a pot and cook on medium heat for about 20 minutes or until cranberries have all popped and some are mushy. Cool and then chill for about hour 1 before serving.

Shimai and Chan Dressing

To prevent taking our grocery shopping to yet another store, my sister and I made up this recipe for dressing on the fly, and it actually turned out really great - even worth a repeat in the future.

Ingredients:

• 1 loaf wheat bread, sliced
• 8 slices pumpernickel bread, chopped
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 1 tbsp butter
• 1 large onion, chopped
• 6 sticks celery, chopped
• 4 carrots, chopped
• 1 leek, chopped
• 1 lb bacon
• 8 oz mushrooms, chopped
• 1 apple, cored and chopped
• 1 pear, cored and chopped
• 1/2 c parsley, chopped
• 4-5 tbsp dried sage
• 1 large spring fresh rosemary, chopped
• 2 tbsp dried thyme
• 5-6 cups chicken broth, seperated 
• salt and pepper

Instructions:

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
2. Toast all the slices of wheat bread in toaster or oven until crispy. Break up the toast and the pumpernickel into bite size crumbles and put in a large mixing bowl.
3. Heat the olive oil and butter in a large pot until the butter stops making bubbles, and sauté the onion, celery, carrots and leeks until the onions are transparent. During the sauté flavor with some salt and pepper and add some of the parsley. Set aside to cool.
4. While the vegetables are sautéing, cook the bacon to be crispy and set aside to cool. 
5. Discard most of the bacon grease but leave a coating in the skillet. Sauté the mushrooms in the remaining grease.
6. To the bowl of bread add the sautéed vegetables, crumbled the bacon, mushrooms, apple, pear, remaining parsley, sage, rosemary, thyme, and about 1 cup of broth. Mix well. Add more broth if the mixture is dry.
7. Cover a large casserole dish or roasting pan in aluminum foil (for easy clean up), and pour the dressing mixture in. The dish should be large so that the dressing is only about 1/2 deep. 
8. Cover lightly with another sheet of foil and bake in oven for about 30-40 minutes, adding additional cups of broth during the cooking time to keep the entire thing moist. Remove the top foil and brown for another 10 minutes. Note: if your dressing is a thicker layer, then you may need to cook it longer to heat well all the way through, but continue to add more broth to keep it moist.

Note on labels: I think this would be a perfectly good recipe by leaving out the bacon and using vegetable broth.

Bok Choy Breakfast

This breakfast recommendation from Clean Eating Magazine surprised me so I had to try it. The best part about it is that I am not hungry mid morning!

• 2-3 baby bok choy, cleaned and chopped into bite size pieces (great to prep this the night before if you rush in the morning)
• 1/2 c instant brown rice
• 2 eggs
• 1/2 tsp tamari (or coconut aminos)

Steam the bok choy and serve over brown rice mixed with tamari. Serve next to scrambled eggs with a little salt and pepper.

Artichoke Dip

This was a huge hit at a party because of the unexpected "kick," and it is incredibly easy to make.

Ingredients:

• 2 14 oz cans artichoke hearts in water (not oil)
• 2 c shredded parmesan cheese (shred it yourself so it melts better
• 1 c mayonnaise
• big dash of cayenne
• salt and pepper
• 1 baguette and olive oil or other "dipping device"

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 400.
2. Drain the artichoke hearts and cut large pieces in half.
3. Shred the cheese into a large bowl. Add cayenne, salt and pepper and mix well. Add artichoke hearts and mayo, mix well.
4. Pour into ungreased 8x8 baking dish and bake for about 20-30 minutes or until peaks in the dip start to brown slightly.
5. While that is cooking, slice baguette (or something else if you are eating this paleo) into very thin slices. Place on cookie sheet and drizzle very lightly with olive oil. Add to the oven and cook for about 5-10 minutes or until crispy. 

Adjusted from Simply Recipes.