Thanksgiving recipe thread

Cafe Society
1

There’s a thread about what food item makes or breaks Thanksgiving for you. I saw many great food items mentioned, and suggested we need a seperate recipe thread. I wouldn’t want to hijack. So…

Chocolate Pecan Pie

5-1/3 ounces chocolate chips(about 7/8 cups)
8 teaspoons butter
7 tablespoons sugar
1-1/3 cups corn syrup
4 eggs
1-1/2 teaspoons vanilla
1-1/2 cups chopped pecans
1 unbaked pie crust

Melt the chips and the butter in a microwave at medium, taking care not to overheat them. When melted smooth, add the rest of the ingredients and pour into the pie crust. Bake at 350 degrees Fahrenheit for about 50 minutes.

Basic Sage Dressing

35 ounces dried bread*, chopped
7 ounces onion, chopped
7 ounces celery, chopped
1/2 cup oil or butter or margarine
2-1/2 cups broth
3 tablespoons dried sage
1 tablespoon ground garlic or garlic powder
1 tablespoon paprika

Saute the celery and onion in the oil, until soft.

Sprinkle the seasonings over the dried bread, add the sauteed vegetables, and too them together. Pour over the broth. If you feel it’s still a little dry, you can add more broth.

Place in a greased pan and bake at about 350 degrees Fahrenheit until lightly browned on top.

*The bread can be any kind of non sweet bread you have saved. As Thanksgiving approaches, save the heels of loaves of bread, or dried dinner rolls, hamburger buns, whatever. I suspect dressing was created so there wouldn’t be any wasted food.

I’ll add more later. Feel free to contribute your own.

2

Best pecan pie ever (courtesy of some Junior League cookbook that I randomly acquired aeons ago)

Bottom crust for one deep dish pie (personally, I use the Pillsbury refrigerated ones, because I can cook and bake up a storm, but pie crust and biscuits escape me.)

One stick unsalted butter, plus .5 teaspoon salt, or one stick salted butter.
One cup light Karo syrup
One cup sugar
1.5 teaspoons vanilla extract

Stovetop or microwave: melt butter. Add next three ingredients, and stir to dissolve sugar crystals. Let mixture sit until it cools to room temperature.

After above cools, add three large eggs. Mix well, pour into unbaked pie shell. Top with pecans. Bake @ 350° F approximately 50 minutes. Cool. Eat. Call dibs on a second slice. Alienate friends and family so that you aren’t socially obligated to share the last piece.

Give me fifteen minutes to look up a couple of proportions, and I’ll share the best pumpkin pie recipe on the planet.

3

Grandmother’s Pumpkin Meringue Pie

One standard pie crust

One 15 oz. can pumpkin
4 oz. granulated white sugar
4 oz. dark brown sugar
1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice, or .5 tsp. each cinnamon and nutmeg.
Zest of one lemon
1 tsp. vanilla extract
2 egg yolks

Mix all ingredients, add to unbaked pie crust, bake @ 350°f for 35 minutes. Raise oven temperature to 425°f.

While pie bakes, make meringue with two reserved egg whites, 1/4 cup sugar, 1/4 tsp cream of tartar. Spread over pie. Return to oven for 15 minutes, until meringue is set.

4

Also, at total risk of taking over your thread (sorry!)

The world’s easiest cauliflower casserole

One pound fresh or frozen cauliflower: steam or microwave to your preferred texture.

Place in shallow casserole dish, and add 1/3 cup each mayonnaise and mustard. (Seriously, basic yellow ballpark mustard is fine. Good, even.) Mix well.
Top with grated sharp cheddar, bake @ 350-375° until cheese is melted. Dig in.

5

This was a big hit at our table last year.

Rosemary Rolls

Bridgeford Rolls
Fresh Rosemary
Butter
Sea Salt

Follow package directions for rising the rolls. Prior to baking, brush tops with butter then sprinkle chopped rosemary and salt over the that. Bake as directed.

So easy and really good.

6

All these are good and I’ve got them copied. Hope others come in and share.

When I wake up enough(insomnia last night) I’m going to start a thread inspired by a Waldorf Salad question somewhere else. It rang a bell and I found an old “famous hotel recipes” cookbook I’ve got—though that particular one isn’t in it. Somebody might be looking for an oldie but goodie.

7

nm (told you I’m not awake)

8

Does anyone have a tried-and-true sweet potato-coconut pie recipe?

9

I’d go rogue and make both of those 8 ounces. :smiley:

Cranberry sauce:

Just follow the directions on the bag, but use only 3/4 the sugar they say to use and substitute fresh squeezed orange juice for 1/2 the water. Add a few thin slices of orange (with peel on) to the mix.

Make it the day before, and it’s even better. One less thing to worry about on T-day.

10

I always get assigned the unglamorous ‘green veg’ but this is always a hit (it also travels well for those of you who are bringing a dish):

Green Beans, Carmelized Onions and Almonds:

3 lb.s green beans
1/2 cup sliced almonds (skin on is best)
3 TBSP unsalted butter
5 TBSP extra virgin olive oil
2 large onions, sliced thin
2 TBSP chopped fresh thyme
salt and freshly ground black pepper

Blanch green beans (5 minutes at most) then run under cold water to stop cooking and set color.

Toast slivered almonds in a skillet, 3-5 minutes. Reserve.

In a large skillet, melt butter, add evo. Add onions, salt and pepper. Cook stirring frequently 20-25 minutes. Yes, carmelize the hell out of the onions. Add thyme and cook five more minutes.

Add beans and almonds back to the skillet, combine, add salt/pepper to taste.

You can serve this hot or at room temp. If you’re bringing a dish it’s great because you don’t have to clog up the host’s kitchen by reheating at the last minute when everyone’s rushing around. I make it in the morning and bring it to the host’s house and it’s always eaten up.

11

For my bird I have faithfully used Alton Brown’s Brined turkey recipe that can be found here, except we rotisserie on the grill instead of baking in the oven. Turns out amazing every time.

Turkey Dressing

1 14oz bag Pepperidge Farm Herb Seasoned Stuffing mix
1 14oz bag Pepperidge Farm Cornbread Stuffing mix
1 stick butter
1 cup chopped onion
1 cup chopped celery
Turkey wings, neck and excess fat/skin, Roasted with pan juices reserved
1 32oz container chicken broth or homemade turkey stock

Obtain a couple of turkey legs and necks, or cut the wings off your turkey and toss in a baking pan along with the neck and any
excess fat or skin you want to cut off. You can roast the giblets too if you want. I do
this the day before when I’m putting my turkey in the brine solution. Roast the parts at
350 degrees for 1 hour and 15 minutes. Let cool and take all the meat you can off the
bones. Cut the meat into small pieces. Save the pan juices to go in the dressing. I cut
up the meat and cover it with the pan juices to store overnight.

Place stick of butter in a saute pan over medium heat. When melted, add onions and
celery and sweat until soft and translucent. Cool slightly. In a large bowl, combine the
stuffing mixes, onions and celery with all the butter, and the turkey meat and drippings.
(Warm up the meat slightly to loosen if refrigerated.) Mix well. Add the broth a cup at
a time until the mixture is wet. I use all 4 cups. Pack the mixture into a baking dish
and bake at 350 degrees until top is browned.

Sorry, But Your Pecan Pie Recipe Isn’t the Best One on the Planet, THIS ONE IS!
(or, Nelson’s Pecan Pies)

2 1/4 cups firmly packed brown sugar (1 box)
1 stick of room temp butter
4 eggs
2 tablespoons vanilla (yes, that’s right)
2 tablespoons water
2 tablespoons corn meal
pinch of salt
2 cups of broken pecans

Cream together brown sugar and butter. Add to that mixture the eggs, vanilla, water, corn meal, salt, and pecans (pieces don’t need to be chopped small) and mix until well blended. Pour mixture into prepared unbaked pie crusts. Recipe is enough to fill 2 9-inch pies. Bake at 350 degrees for 30-35 minutes.

Notice the lack of Karo syrup? Yeah, this pie is sweet without being sickly gooey sweet with that “taste” of corn syrup. Everyone who has tried a piece has told me it’s better than any pecan pie they ever had. Back in the late 80’s we found the recipe printed on the Brunswick County Electric Coop newsletter that came with one of the monthly bills. Haven’t made a pecan pie with a different recipe since.

12

Going to try this.

But some clarification needed.

Semi-sweet Chocolate chips?
Dark Corn syrup?

And I assume that the chips and butter can be heated with double boiler? My Microwave is not dependable.