Ahhh Thanksgiving... (long)

dawn_mo

dawn_mo

Well-known member
We had a wonderful Thanksgiving. It had snowed the day before so the kids could go sledding. Our menu was roast turkey, mashed potatoes with caramelized onions, asiago sage potatoes gratin, oyster stuffing, charlie's grandma's stuffing, bourbon sweet potatoes, another sweet potato dish with candied ginger, broccoli cheese casserole, green bean casserole, rolls, raspberry jello mold, pumpkin pie, pecan pie, cranberry apple pie, and a chocolate, cashew coconut tart. My stepdaughter and I split the menu so some of the recipes I do not have.

The pies...I didn't have any except a bite of my husbands pumpkin pie. I made the pumpkin and pecan pies. I was making two pumpkin pies, one from canned pumpkin and one from scratch. I baked the pumpkin the day before and went to puree it in the morning. I usually use my food processor, but it is the mega gigantic model that is really heavy, so I opted to use the blender. I have the blender that is a smoothie type model, and haven't used it much. I put the pumpkin in and pureed it. It was doing fine, but then made this awful sounding noise, I thought I had killed it, so I used my stick blender to finish the job. I made the two pumpkin pies and stuck them in the oven. Then I was scooping the rest of the pumpkin out and noticed what appeared to be a broken glass candle votive in the pumpkin puree. I looked at it a long time because my brain just couldn't register a broken glass candle votive in my blender. Then, I realized there was probably broken or ground glass in one of my pumpkin pies. So I tossed the puree in the blender and the pie. We had Bloody Mary's around 2, had dinner, cleaned up, then had martinis and played cards around 6. Needless to say it was an early night to bed. I woke up this morning thinking, pecan pie and coffee for breakfast, only to discover that I had not put the pies in a safe place, and that my two adorable dogs had eaten both pies during the course of the night. So, I made three pies of which I had one bite of a canned pumpkin pie. Oh, and I finally figured out that it was not a glass candle votive, but the glass insert from the blender top. smileys/tongue.gif

 
REC: Asiago and Sage Scalloped Potatoes, Mashed Potatoes with Caramelized Onions, Dotty's Pecan Pie

I don't know who posted this originally, but it was very good. I used half Golden Yukons and half sweet potatoes. I am going to make soup out of the leftovers. I made them the day before and thought they were a little on the dry side, so I added a little half and half when I reheated them.

* Exported from MasterCook *

ASIAGO & SAGE SCALLOPED POTATOES

Recipe By :SANFORD D'AMATO
Serving Size : 8 Preparation Time :0:00
Categories : Potatoes Vegetables

Amount Measure Ingredient -- Preparation Method

2 tablespoons unsalted butter
2 medium onions -- thinly sliced
1 1/2 teaspoons finely chopped garlic
2 imported bay leaves
1/4 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
Coarse salt and freshly ground pepper
1 1/4 cups heavy cream
1/2 cup milk
1 cup freshly grated Asiago cheese (about 3
1 ounce ), preferably aged
1 cup plain dry bread crumbs
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
2 1/2 tablespoons finely shredded fresh sage
leaves
2 1/2 pounds medium Idaho potatoes -- peeled
and sliced lengthwise 1/8 inch thick

1. Preheat the oven to 400°. Melt the butter in a large heavy saucepan. Add the onions and cook over high heat, stirring, until golden, about 8 minutes. Add the garlic, bay leaves, nutmeg, 1 tablespoon coarse salt and 3/4 teaspoon pepper and cook for 30 seconds. Add the heavy cream and milk and bring to a boil. Remove from the heat, cover and let stand for 5 minutes.
2. In a medium bowl, toss the cheese with the bread crumbs, olive oil, 1/2 tablespoon of the sage, 1/4 teaspoon coarse salt and 1/4 teaspoon pepper.
3. Remove the bay leaves from the onion mixture and stir in the remaining 2
tablespoons sage. Put the sliced potatoes in a large bowl, add the onion mixture and toss gently. Spread half of the potatoes and liquid in a 2-quart nonreactive baking dish and sprinkle 2/3 cup of the cheese bread crumbs over the top. Cover with the remaining potatoes and press firmly to pack them down. Spoon the remaining liquid over the potatoes and cover with the remaining bread crumbs.
4. Bake in the middle of the oven for about 1 hour, or until the potatoes are tender and the top is golden; if they brown too quickly, loosely cover the dish with foil.
MAKE AHEAD:The potatoes can be baked up to 5 hours ahead; let stand at room temperature. Rewarm in the oven before serving.

Dnote: I made these the night before and cooked them half the time called for. I added a little half and half when I reheated them in the oven the next day. My potato slices were more like a quarter inch thick because I sliced them by hand. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -


* Exported from MasterCook *

Caramelized Onion Mashed Potatoes (make-ahead)

Recipe By :Adapted from Karen in No.CA and Dorothy
Serving Size : 10 Preparation Time :0:00
Categories : Christmas Overnights
Potatoes Thanksgiving

Amount Measure Ingredient -- Preparation Method5 pounds russet potatoes -- peeled and quartered
1/2 cup butter -- divided use
8 ounces cream cheese
3 large onions -- peeled, halved and very thinly sliced
1/2 cup milk or half and half
salt and pepper

In a large frying pan melt 4 tablespoons of butter and saute onions over a low-medium heat until they are caramelized, stirring often so as not to let them scorch. Cook them until they are very soft, about 15-20 minutes. Turn off heat and add the cream cheese to the onion and stir until it is melted.
While you are caramelizing the onions, in a large pot of water cook your potatoes until they are fork tender and ready to mash. Drain and mash them with the remaining butter and milk. When you have the desired consistency add your onion/cream cheese mixture. Mix well and season to taste with salt and pepper. You may need to thin it a little more with some milk or half and half.
Place potatoes in a large microwave safe casserole dish. Refrigerate overnight or up to two days. Reheat in oven or microwave.
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I used 1 1/2 cups of pecan halves because that was how much was in the bag, and I didn't want to save them. It gave the pie a nice thickness of pecans and I will do it again like that when I remake the pies today. smileys/tongue.gif

* Exported from MasterCook *

DOROTHY'S GOLDEN PECAN PIE

Recipe By :Dorothy
Serving Size : 6 Preparation Time :0:00
Categories : Pies

Amount Measure Ingredient -- Preparation Method3 eggs
1 cup light corn syrup
2/3 cup sugar
2 tablespoons butter
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/8 teaspoon salt
1 cup pecan halves
1 pie crust (9 inch) -- unbaked
whipped cream

In a medium bowl beat eggs slightly. Beat in next 5 ingredients. Add pecan halves and stir. Pour into pie crust. Bake in 350° oven for 55 minutes or until knife comes our clean. Cool and serve with whipped cream.

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They are fine. They were just begging for some turkey scraps

as I was making turkey stock. They are big dogs, one is a Golden Retriever and the other is half Great Pyrenees. They have done worse. They are lucky I am a dog lover!

 
Thank God no one tasted THOSE pies!

What a story. This tops most other kitchen mishaps. Take care of those dogs - they must be on a sugar-high. smileys/wink.gif

 
This sounds like the murder plot from an Agatha Christie book. How WAS the master

of the house killed? Was it the sous chef in the butler pantry with the blender? Or the suspicious dogs with the pecans in their whiskers?

Well, sweetie, just add up all the calories you DIDN'T eat!

 
Dawn, that's so funny. My dog once ate half a plum pudding cake off the counter...

I was soooooo mad at her that if I had had access to ground-glass-infused pumpkin pie at the time, I can't say for sure what I wouldn't have used it ;>)

I hope the martinis hit the spot, since you were deprived of dessert.

 
What a menu! You'll have to get a padlock for the fridge before your dogs...

figure out how to get in :eek:)

 
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