The Great Debate...Thanksgiving Part 2

Now that the presidential election has been decided we move on to the next great debate in our nation...STUFFING or DRESSING!  Depending upon where you live and what your ingredients are you are enjoying either stuffing or dressing this year for the big feast.  I will be enjoying BOTH!  People seem very passionate about their stuffing/dressing.  Oysters, sausage, fruits, cornbread, Stove Top...these all evoke big emotions and I'm sure some wonderful memories.  I am not quite as passionate about my stuffing/dressing as some may be, but I do tend to use the same recipes each year for both.  They are tried and true and while the dressing is a traditional cornbread dressing, the stuffing is anything but traditional.  For the stuffing I use a variation on Rachael Ray's Stuffing Muffins recipe.  They are super easy to make and even easier to transport.  They are packed with sweet and savory flavors thanks to a combination of traditional herbs and apples and dried cranberries.  The dressing is a traditional cornbread dressing-soft and yummy.  The subtle bacon flavor brings a saltiness to the dressing.  No fruits, no sausage, just the straight up cornbread and sauteed veggie taste.

I begin taking out my Thanksgiving recipes the week before and start writing my lists.  I only do the stuffing and desserts and the turkey with my Mom, my sister and Mom do the rest, with me helping out along the way.  Usually on Thanksgiving you can find me downing bloody marys and alternating between cooking with my sister and Mom and watching football with Big Daddy.  Being the one to make the stuffing/dressing and desserts is a great job!  I can get most of the cooking done the day before and on Thanksgiving I can focus on helping out in the kitchen and enjoying the holiday.  As much as I like turkey, let's face it, the sides really end up being the stars of the dinner show, at least in our house.  My one other job is a huge one-that is the job of keeping every one's bloody marys flowing!  I make the bloody mary mix 2 days in advance so the flavors can blend.  This year there has been so much happening in the past two weeks, I actually went against all my instincts and bought a pre made mix!!!!  But in true Dana fashion, I can't leave it at that-I have to add pureed celery, lime juice and horseradish to at least make it a little more like homemade.

So on to the point of this rambling blog...Stuffing or Dressing!  Whatever your preference, hope you try these recipes and enjoy them!

Stuffing Muffins (Rachael Ray's recipe with a few change ups)

3TBSP olive oil
1 stick butter, softened
2 bay leaves
3 celery stalks & leaves, chopped
1 medium carrot, chopped
1 medium onion, diced
handful Craisins (dried cranberries)
2 Gala apples, peeled and chopped
2 TBSP poultry seasoning (I use Bell's)
handful flat leaf parsley, chopped
8 cups cubed stuffing
2 1/2 cups chicken stock
salt and pepper

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.  Using 3 Tbsp butter, grease a 12 cup muffin tin.  Heat olive oil and 5 TBSP butter in large stock pot.  You use the pot to accommodate the 8 cups of stuffing later.  Saute the carrots, celery and onion with the bay leaf for 5 minutes.  Add the craisins, apples, salt, pepper and poultry seasoning.  Stir and cook until the veggies begin to soften-about 8-10 minutes.  Add the chopped parsley and stuffing to pot and stir to distribute veggies through cubes.  Remove bay leaf at this point.  Remove from heat and begin to add stock, one cup at a time.  Mix until moist but not wet.  Fill each cup and bake 20 minutes.  Allow the cool so you can comfortably remove the muffins.  These are best served warm and travel well.   

Cornbread Dressing

This is a traditional Southern dressing.  Before you get started on the dressing, you will need to make the cornbread-I usually make mine by Monday evening, so it will be a little drier by Wednesday when I fix the dressing itself.

Cornbread with buttermilk and bacon

Ingredients for the cornbread-the Jack Daniels mug is where I store my bacon drippings in the fridge.  I use a much larger glass for my actual Jack Daniels!

4 TBSP butter melted
3 TBSP bacon dripping(warm)
1 1/2 cups yellow cornmeal (I do not use self rising.  I use the stone ground)
1/2 cup flour
1 tsp coarse salt
1 tsp pepper
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 large egg, beaten lightly
1 1/4 cups buttermilk
1/2 cup milk
*optional-3 slices crispy bacon broken into small pieces.  Honestly, I'm still on the fence about this being optional.  If there is an option for bacon, I don't think I know many people who wouldn't take that option.

Preheat oven to 450 degrees.  Add 1 TBSP melted butter and 1 TBSP drippings into the a cast iron skillet (10").  Heat in the oven 5 minutes.  Sift cornmeal, flour, salt, pepper, baking soda and baking powder in a large bowl.  Beat the egg and both milks together.  Slowly whisk into the cornmeal mixture.  If using the bacon pieces (and how could you not), this is the time to add them.  Whisk in the rest of the melted butter and drippings.  Pour this yummy mixture into the hot skillet and return to oven.  Bake for 20 minutes at 450.  The finished cornbread should be a golden brown color and be firm to the touch.  Cool before adding to the dressing.  Or you can serve it as is. 

Cornbread Dressing

1 cornbread
6-7 slices white bread, dried in oven
1 sleeve saltines
2 cups celery, chopped
1 medium onion, diced
1 stick butter, softened
1 bay leaf
6 cups chicken stock
1 1/2 tsp coarse salt
pepper
1 1/2 TBSP poultry seasoning
4-5 eggs, beaten
1/4 cup flat leaf parsley, chopped

Preheat oven to 350.  Grease a 13 x 9 pan with butter.  In a very large bowl, combine cornbread (crumbled), dried white bread (crumbled) and broken up saltines. 
Meanwhile in a skillet, saute the celery, onion and bay leaf until slightly softened.  This should be about 5-8 minutes.  Add the sauteed veggies to the bowl of cornbread mixture.  Add stock, starting with 5 cups, mix and add salt, pepper, poultry seasoning and parsley.  Remove bay leaf when you come across it.  Add eggs, starting with 4 and mix well.  Add the extra cup of stock and 5th egg if mixture seems dry.  Pour mixture into prepared pan and bake about 45-50 minutes.  The consistency is more like a wet cake, not the usual dry crumbly texture some of us used to stuffing may be used to.  It is yummy and delicious though!

So here's two sides to try and tomorrow, if I'm not in a bacon coma (how can you cook only 3 slices of bacon and not eat any) I'll post some of my favorite desserts and my favorite Bloody Mary recipe.  It's spicy and thick and oh so worth the vodka!    



 

Football and Squash (not the sport) Ahhh yes...It's Fall!

I can't believe how fast this Fall seems to have flown by!  We came across Christmas music already on the satellite radio while driving home from school this week and it has even snowed already.  Even though Winter seems to be knocking on the door, I'm still not yet ready to give up Autumn and all it's charms.  One of the best parts of Fall is football and there is nothing better than hearing my Stina cheering for UGA and Army and of course the Chicago Bears.  Those cheers are even better when they are coming from the bleachers only a handful of rows from the field at Michie Stadium at West Point!!!!  Stina is now officially inducted into the West Point football trip!  And amazingly enough, so has my sister!  For many, many years my Mom and I have been driving up to West Point for football.  It has always been such a great trip and a wonderful experience-there is no place more beautiful than West Point's campus in the Fall.  Now being able to share this with my daughter and my sister has only made it even more special.  Even though they lost, and have usually lost most of the games we have attended, it is great to be there and cheer on the Black Knights. 

Aunt Beady, Stina and me at West Point!

Mimi, Aunt Beady and Stina cheer on Army!

Even an Army Jeep calls for the best modeling pose!
 

And now onto something else that just screams Fall and Thanksgiving...SQUASH!!!!  I could eat squash everyday.  I love cooking with all kinds of squash-spaghetti squash, acorn, carnival, butternut.  I have yet to meet a squash I didn't like.  They are versatile, tasty, easy to cook and best of all pack a big nutritional punch.  They are a perfect dish for every night and especially for Thanksgiving.  Thanksgiving and Christmas are two of my favorite days in the year.  You have a great combination of family and cooking.

Acorn squash is yummy, small and simple to fix.  They are a pain to try to peel and the skin is edible, unlike many other squashes, so I find it is best to cook them with the skin on.  My favorite recipe for acorn squash is Brown Sugar Roasted Squash.  The color is bright and the flavor is sweet.  Each half holds a buttery, sugary sweet treat. 

Brown Sugar Acorn Squash

Acorn Squash is a perfect side for Roast Chicken.  My friend Stina is stealing Buttered Noodles!

 The other squash I love to cook with is Butternut Squash.  Butternut squash has a beautiful bright orange color and tends to have a firmer texture than acorn squash.  You do have to peel the butternut squash, but the hard work of peeling is well worth the treat you get when the squash is roasted and yummy.  I'm going to give you two ways to fix the butternut squash.  The best part of that is the recipe is the same for each, but you just go a little further to make the soup.  Roasted butternut has a caramelized, deep roasted flavor.  The soup has this same roasted caramelized yumminess, but with an added creaminess that is irresistible and this recipe doesn't use any cream, so it isn't calorie laden.

 

Recipes for Squash:

Brown Sugar Acorn Squash (serves 2)

1 acorn squash, scrubbed and cut in half
2 TBSP butter, plus butter for greasing pan
1/2 cup brown sugar
sea salt or kosher salt

Preheat oven to 425 degrees.  Butter a foil lined baking pan.  Halve squash and scoop out seeds.  Place in pan open side down.  Bake 20 minutes.  Turn squash over and pierce flesh with a fork being careful not to pierce the skin.  Put 1 TBSP butter into each.  Sprinkle 1/4 cup brown sugar into each half.  Bake for another 20 minutes.  Sprinkle with a dash of coarse salt when finished.

 

   

Herb Roasted Butternut Squash

1 large butternut squash, peeled and cubed, seeds removed
3-4 leaves fresh sage, chopped
1 sprig rosemary, chopped
3-4 sprigs thyme, tiny leaves removed from twiggy stems
olive oil
salt and pepper

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.  In a large bowl, sprinkle cubed squash with chopped fresh herbs.  Add 2-3 turns olive oil and mix together making sure squash is well coated.  Turn squash out onto a foil lined cookie sheet and season with salt and pepper.  Roast in oven for about 45 minutes, taking out halfway through cooking time to stir.  Season with additional salt if needed.

Roasted Butternut Squash Soup

Follow the recipe above and then...

1 stalk celery, chopped with leaves
1 large carrot, chopped
1 small onion, diced
1 TBSP olive oil
1 carton chicken or vegetable stock

In large pot, saute celery, carrot and onion in olive oil for 5 minutes.  Add roasted squash and cook 5 minutes.  Add stock and bring to a boil.  Lower heat and simmer 20-25 minutes with cover on halfway.  Once the vegetables have softened, turn off heat.  Using a hand immersion blender, puree to a smooth texture.  If you do not have an immersion blender, you can use a regular blender, doing it in small batches.  If the soup is too thick you can always add more warm stock. 
*use vegetable stock for a vegetarian version.

Sauteing yummy veggies for a creamy butternut squash soup.

Nothing could be easier than stock in a box!

An immersion blender is one of the handiest tools in my kitchen.

 

 

The best part of the soup recipe is that it can be used with leftover roasted squash from the first recipe.  I usually double the roasted butternut squash recipe so I know I have enough to make soup the next day.

Happy Thanksgiving to all!  Planning to post a few more Thanksgiving recipes tomorrow and Tuesday...as long as I don't drown in pie dough tomorrow!