Sweet Potato and Sage Sausage Casserole

Sweet Potato and Sage Sausage Casserole

1/2 lbs sage Jimmy Dean ground sausage

3 Tbls olive oil

1/2 tsp red pepper flakes

5-6 cups cubed sweet potatoes

1 1/2 cups chicken stock

1/2 cup heavy cream

5 ounces goat cheese

1 cup bread crumbs (I used italian panko bread crumbs, it is what i had)

1 cup parmesan cheese

salt and pepper

Brown sausage, olive oil and red pepper flakes, don't drain.

add sweet potatoes. cook 8 mins.

add chicken stock and cream, bring to gentle boil for 3 mins until mostly cooked

add the goat cheese and mix

this is where i pour it in a square disposable tin pan and cover and put in the refrigerator until the next day.

combine bread crumbs and parmesan cheese 

pour over potatoes  

bake 375 degrees for 25-30 minutes until potatoes soft. 

remove from oven and let sit for 5 minutes before serving. 

Yum, this tastes like biscuit and gravy. you also can add half sweet potatoes and half brussel sprouts cut in half. 

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Berry Pie

Berry Pie

Fruit filling:

3 bags (12 ounces each) frozen cherry and berry fruit, thawed and drained

1 cup sugar

1/4 cup corn starch

1/2 tsp vanilla extract

1/4 tsp almond extract

2 Tbls butter, cut up

Egg Wash:

1 egg

1 Tbls milk

Make Fruit filling:

Thaw and drain fruit, this takes several hours in a strainer on my counter. 

I don't how it would turn out if you don't drain the fruit and just mix ingredients when the fruit is still frozen. This pie was firm when right out of the refrigerator. Great flavor. 

add all other ingredients except for butter

Add to pie shell

Dot top of fruit with butter.

Cover with pie dough

brush with egg wash 

Sprinkle with sugar if you want

Make pie dough:

2 1/2 cup flour

1 tsp salt

2 sticks cold butter

1/4 cup to 1/2 cup ice water

Add flour and salt to food processor, blend

Add butter and mix to pea size dough

add ice water slowly as it is on until a dough forms. 

take the dough out. divide in half.  flatten into a disc.

refrigerate for 1 hour or over night.

Take out of refrigerator and flatten to 1/8 inch.

Add to bottom of pie plate.

second dough disc roll out. cut in strips if you want or how ever you want the top to look.

Bake the Pie

preheat oven to 375 degrees

Place pan lined with foil under the pie to catch drippings.

I cover the outside of the crust with foil

 bake 1 hour with the crust covered. 

take foil off

uncover and bake pie for another 45 minutes. 

Cool and place in refrigerator. 

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Gravy

I just added ingredients to the gravy and it turned out good. So I will give an estimate ingredients.

Gravy

1/2 cup butter

1/2 tsp pepper

1/2 cup flour (you could use corn starch too)

4 cups pan drippings or chicken stock

1/2 tsp dried sage

salt if needed

seasoning depends on how seasoned the turkey drippings were. Taste and add what you need.

Melt butter in pan, add pepper and flour. Whisk to combine and cook a few minutes to cook the flour off. 

Slowly add drippings or chicken stock

Add seasoning, sage, salt and whatever else. 

simmer until consistency you would like. somewhat thin to almost thick.

I then add my gravy to a small crock pot and turn on warm. Or pour in a gravy bowl. 

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Herb Roasted Turkey

Herb Roasted Turkey

16 lbs turkey
1/2 cup of olive oil with garlic or plain
1 juice from 1 lemon
1/2 cup minced fresh parsley
1/4 cup minced rosemary
1/4 cup minced thyme
10 fresh sage leaves
1 Tbls salt
1 Tbls pepper
2 medium onions quartered
Chicken stock

Mix all above into a paste, rub all over thawed turkey, under the skin and on top and bottom the night before you are to cook the turkey. Stuff the cavity with the onions.
Day to cook turkey, take the turkey out at room temperature for 1 hour.
pour some chicken stock in the bottom of the pan
preheat oven to 425 degrees
Put turkey in the oven uncovered for 1 hour.
Decrease temperature to 300 degrees and cover turkey.
Baste the turkey every hour.
Cook until internal temperature is 165.


This 16 lbs turkey: i took out of refrigerator at 8am to get room temperature,
I put in oven at 9am at 425 uncovered
at 10am i turned temp to 300 and covered.
by 12 noon it was done.
I turned oven to warm until 1:30, kept covered temp 170
I then took the turkey out of the oven and sat on top of the stove covered for 1 hour until 2:30.
Carved the turkey at 2:30. Yum.

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Thanksgiving 2020

8.5 LBS turkey breast: We put the Turkey breast in the Traeger covered with foil at 350 degrees until internal temperature was 150. then we uncovered the turkey and increased the temperature to 375 degrees until internal temperature was 165. We took it out to rest before cutting into it. It was really good and juicy. 

We used the rub above ( cut it in half)  except left the lemon out. we ADDED in 1/4 c butter with the herbs and some olive oil to loosen it up. We put salt and pepper all over the bird. mix butter, olive oil, sage, rosemary, thyme and parsley. We rubbed it all over the turkey in under the skin. Stuff the turkey with onions and apple and a rosemary stem. put the turkey on onions and carrots. 

Corn Casserole

Corn Casserole

1/2 cup butter

1/4 cup chopped onions

1/2 cup flour

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp pepper

4 cups milk

6 eggs, slightly beaten

2 cups shredded cheddar cheese

2 bags (12 ounces) frozen corn, thawed, drained

2 Tbls parsley flakes dry

3/4 cup plain or italian bread crumbs

3 Tbls butter, melted. 

Heat oven to 350 degree.  Spray a 9x13 glass baking dish. 

In a large pan, melt 1/2 cup butter, add onions; cook 3-4 minutes, stirring frequently, until tender.  

Stir in flour, salt and pepper. 

Stir in milk.  Cook 4-5 minutes, stirring constantly, until thickened.  Gradually stir in eggs and cheese. 

Stir in corn and parsley. 

Pour into baking dish. 

At this point you can cover and put in refrigerator for 24 hours then cook.  

In a small bowl, mix bread crumbs and 3 Tbls melted butter; sprinkle over corn mixture. 

Bake uncovered 55-65 minutes or until mixture is set and knife inserted in center comes out clean. 

Let stand 5-10 minutes before serving.  

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Green Bean Casserole

Green Bean Casserole

4 Tbls butter

1/4 cup flour

2 cups milk

1/4 tsp cayenne pepper

1 pinch grated nutmeg

1/4 tsp salt 

1/4 tsp pepper

4 cans green beans, drained

fried onion pieces, from a package as many as you want on top

Melt the butter in a saucepan over medium-low heat.  Add flour, whisk constantly until mixture begins to turn golden, about 2 minutes.  

Pour in milk, and continue whisking until mixture has thickened, about 3 minutes.

Stir in cayenne, nutmeg, salt and pepper.  

Remove from heat, and let cool to room temperature, stirring occasionally. 

Pour over beans, and toss to combine in a 9x13 sprayed pan.

Bake 350 degree for around 30 minutes

Stir beans and add fried onions, bake another 10-15 minutes until golden and bubbly.

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Dressing

Dressing or Stuffing

1 LBS bread (16 oz) cubed and dried

1/2 lbs cooked Italian sausage crumbles (optional)

2 cups Onions diced

 1 1/2 cups Celery diced

1 stick of butter

2 Tbls fresh Sage minced fine

1 TBls fresh rosemary minced fine

2/3 cup fresh parsley mince fine

1 tsp dry poultry season

1 tsp salt

1 tsp pepper

2 1/2 cups chicken broth

2 eggs

If the bread isn't stale, put on large sheet pan, mix with some olive oil, salt and pepper and bake on 250 degrees for 1 hour, stirring every 15 minutes. 

in a large pot melt butter (1 TBLS of sausage grease if you used Italian sausage with the butter) and soften onions and celery. Don't brown

Add seasons to butter, onions and celery once they are softened.

Add bread crumbs to the pot. 

Slowly add the stock around a half of a cup at a time. Stir after each 1/2 cup of stock.

the last 1 cup of stock add in the eggs to the 1 cup of stock and mix. 

Slowly add the eggs and stock mixture to the bread and stir until well combined

Add the dressing to a well buttered pan. 9x13 or larger if you want it flatter. 

When ready to bake, blot 1/4 c butter slices on top of casserole spread out

cover with tin foil and bake 30 minutes cover in a 350 degree oven

Uncover after 30 minutes and make 15-20 minutes

NOTE: The dressing was better the next day. So maybe bake it the day before and reheat the next day maybe adding chicken broth or turkey juice to make it not so dry. 

My Sage and rosemary was fresh from my garden this year 2020. 

2022 note: I added italian sausage. I also made my own chicken stock the day before. I baked it in the oven 2 days before thanksgiving. I will then rewarm it in my roaster oven the day of thanksgiving.

This dressing is what my mom has made for years and we are used to it even though it is stove top stuffing from a box. It is delicious.  We like our stuffing moist. 

DRESSING

2 medium onions, diced

2 sticks butter

5 cups chicken stock

4 boxes chicken stove top stuffing

drippings from turkey

Saute onions in butter in a large pan. 

When onions soft add chicken stock until boil

Add 4 boxes of stove top stuffing to a large cooker sprayed with pam spray.  

Pour the chicken stock onions over the stove top stuffing in the cooker. 

Gently mix.

Cool and put in refrigerator and use the next day when you cook a turkey

Or use same day, turn on really low. 

When turkey drippings are ready, Add to dressing until moist. Keep mixing as it heats up.

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Pumpkin Cheesecake Bars

Pumpkin Cheesecake Bars

Crust

1 1/2 cup graham cracker crumbs

1/4 cup melted butter

Filling

4 packages (8 ounces each) cream cheese, softened

1 1/2 cups granulated sugar

4 eggs

1 cup canned pumpkin (not pumpkin pie mix)

2 tsp pumpkin pie spice

Topping

Whipped cream

Heat oven to 300 degrees.

Spray a 9x13 baking pan with non stick spray

Combine the graham cracker crumbs and melted butter.  Press the crust on the bottom of the prepared pan.  Set aside while making the filling.

In a mixing bowl, add the cream cheese and sugar.  Beat on low speed until light and fluffy.

Beat in eggs, one at a time, just until blended.  

Spoon half of the mixture over the crust and spread evenly.

Add to remaining cream cheese mixture the pumpkin puree and pumpkin pie spice. 

Carefully, spoon over mixture in the pan.  

Bake the cheesecake in the preheated oven for 50 minutes or until just set.  

Turn off the oven and leave the door ajar allowing the cheesecake to slowly cool down for about 1 hour or so.  

Refrigerate for at least 3 hours before cutting into the bars.

Top each bar with whipped cream.

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Gingered Orange Cranberry Sauce

Gingered Orange Cranberry Sauce

3/4 cup sugar

1/2 cup water

1/2 cup orange juice (1 1/2 oranges juiced- you must measure)

12 ounces fresh cranberries, rinsed and drained

1/2 tsp ground ginger

1 Tbls grated orange zest from oranges

First, zest orange before you juice it. You need 1 Tbls. 

Mix sugar, water and orange juice in a medium saucepan.  Bring to boil on medium-high heat.  

Add cranberries and ginger; return to boil.  Reduce heat to medium-low; simmer 10 minutes or until the cranberries burst and sauce begins to thicken, stirring occasionally. 

Remove from heat. Stir in orange zest.  Cool to room temperature.  Cover.

Refrigerate until ready to serve. 

Make ahead: Cranberry sauce can be prepared up to 1 week ahead.  Store in refrigerator.  Stir before serving.

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