Thanksgiving Dinner side dishes ideas. Does anyone have a recipe that is “WOW” special?

HArvard style pickeled beets...look brilliant and taste great.

I'm looking for a good chestnut recipe, anyone?
Chestnut dressing, or desserts maybe?
Thanks

I have an outstanding recipe for Brussel Sprouts. (Ya, I know, most people don't like the). The trick is to freeze them...before cooking...the freezing process takes the bitterness away.

Anyhow...you cook the Brussel Sprouts...(boil in salted water) butdon't over cook...they loose their color.
Then drain them. You splash some soy sauce on them and a generous amout of coconut flakes (not the sweetened..the regular coconut). Just before serving, you cut up 1 or 2 bananas in large chunks and mix with the Brussel sprouts. It has a nice sweet/salty flavor and is definatly a unique recipe it is a favorite at our house.

why do you subscribe to this religion?

Blueberry Sunrise Shiraz

6 lbs blueberries
6 cans of frozen grape concentrate
5 pounds of sugar boiled in 2 1/2 gallons of water

Mix crushed blueberries and juice in fermenting bucket, and add the grape concentrate. Pour the boiling sugar water over the fruits and cover to cool. Next day add some pectinase, a few teaspoons of acid blend and a pinch of tannin extract. Add Pasteur Red yeast at the end of the day and ferment for a few weeks. Rack and ferment a few weeks again, and then bottle.

I always make cornbread stuffing,
don't have the receipe with me,
but you basically substitute
cornbread for the normal bread
crumbs. Makes a nice dressing.

Also, I cook my green beans in
bacon drippings for a long time.

Well...
you could serve your guests the same thing
I'm serving mine this year...








It's a good thing!

MS

Oh, I almost forgot. Add about 1 1/2 teaspoons of potassium sorbate to stop yeast fermentation, and sweeten the wine with 2 or 3 cups of sugar before bottling. Also add a teaspoon of sodium metabisulphite if you want to protect it from oxidation, or use 2 or 3 teaspoons of ascorbic acid. Makes a nice deliciously dark purple wine with a fruity bouquet. The dark purple color is very attractive to the eye.

*cook the brussell sprouts till almost tender.
*drain.
*melt butter in a heavy skillet, add minced garlic.
*add brussell sprouts (single layer), cover, cook on medium until butter starts to disappear.
*add a little virgin olive oil and roll them around in the pan until the outer leaves start turning a light, crispy brown.
*serve with lemon.

If you add lemon or vinegar while cooking vegetables it bleaches out the green color. It's good to use on corn, cauliflower and other light colored vegetables though.

after the dishes are done (or upon the arrival of inlaws)


1 quart j.w. dant bottled in bond
ice


place ice cubes in clear glass
add j.w. dant bottled in bond


consume

continue until quart is empty

...here's a link to our local forum...yummy sounding foodies..yep...

[link to www.geekfest.com]

Everyone always wants this recipe from me:

Corn Pudding

1 stick unsalted butter
5 cups corn kernels (fresh or sweet, white frozen works best)
1 cup chopped yellow onion
4 large eggs
1 cup milk
1 cup half-and-half
1/2 cup yellow cornmeal
1 cup ricotta cheese
3 tablespoons chopped fresh basil
1 tablespoon sugar
1 tablespoon kosher salt
pepper to taste
3/4 cup grated extra-sharp cheddar (white cheddar looks better) plus extra to sprinkle on top

Preheat to 375 and butter the inside of 8-10 cup baking dish.

Melt butter in large pan and saute the corn and onion over medium-high heat for 4 minutes. Cool slightly.

Whisk together eggs, milk, and half-and-half in a large bowl. Slowly whisk in the cornmeal and then the ricotta. Add the basil, sugar, salt, and pepper. Add the corn mixture and grated cheddar and then pour it all into the baking dish. Sprinkle cheddar over the top.

Place the baking dish in a larger pan and fill the pan halfway up the sides of the dish with hot tap water. Bake the pudding for 40 - 45 minutes until the top begins to brown and a knife inserted in the center comes out clean.

Careful not to overbake. Let the custard just set up in the oven and then let the rest happen while it sits on the counter for awhile.

Green Bean Cassorole. Do what the can of French's onions says, just add cheese on top.

Try carrot souffle. It beats the heck out of sweet potatoes and its delicious. You can find the recipe online.

Broccoli, cheese & rice casserole-yum! Brown rice is the best.

Cheese on top? How about cornflakes?

Ahh, bet you've never had Sweet Potato Crunch? It's delicious!! Anyone want the recipe, let me know.

And Happy Thanksgiving, everyone!

SPUR OF THE MOMENT BREAST OF DUCK

Recently, I bought a box of breast of duck (7.5 ounces) frozen – Mapleaf Farms ( www.mapleaffarms.com ) at the “Toney” Publixs on Palm Beach, just for the hell of it instead of the whole bird. The instructions on the outside of the box were simple enough, 10 mins skin side down med heat, 10 mins other side, then back to the skin side down for another 2 mins. Pretty boring, and the inside of the box had an OK teriyaki sauce recipe. Did not want to “go there”, not for me.

I went on-line to find duck breast recipes, and found some of my own old ones, those that got close and they were incredibly fussy; one needed 4 French prep sous chefs and spice and larder reserves to rival the Ritz Carltons.

Last minute invention went like this. Open a nice large bottle of Australian Shiraz, pour 8 ounces, and drink it. Open a bottle of Marsala wine – for marinade and sauce.

INGREDIENTS:
7.5 to 8. Ounce breast of duck with skin on one side – courtesy of Maple Leaf Farms – or your favorite butcher if they still exist
4 to 6 half strips of bacon
1/3 finely sliced and chopped small onion
Small fist full of parsley finely chopped
1 tablespoon small capers finely chopped
3 cloves of garlic smashed and finely chopped
10 or so button mushrooms finely sliced- fresh, canned or in a jar
Freshly ground pepper
Sea salt
Marsala Wine
¼ stick of real butter

PROCESS:
Place the defrosted duck breast into a large soup bowl, lay strips of bacon around the sides of the duck, add all of the chopped garlic, onion, mushrooms, capers; and pour enough Marsala wine to cover ingredients completely, add sea salt and ground pepper; cover with plastic wrap and press down removing the air and forcing the wine to cover everything. Let sit for about 1 hour

Let it rest on the counter, drink more wine, prepare Acorn Squash, cut in ½, scoop out seeds and place them in a Ban Marie (Pyrex dish with water bath) add salt & pepper and butter to the squash and place into oven for 1 hour at 350 degrees.

In a medium iron skillet at medium heat, add 3 generous pats of real butter, let it melt, add the duck breast skin side down and place the bacon strips around the duck. Be sure to NOT include any garlic bits that may stick to the bacon or duck when adding to the iron skillet at this time as the garlic will burn and it tastes like crap. If it happens, just remove the burned bits prior to the next step. Let the duck stay skin side down for 10 mins, turn the bacon as it cooks, and then remove the bacon, set the bacon aside when it is cooked.

Turn the duck breast over; add all of the chopped ingredients with the Marsala wine from the soup bowl and re add the bacon for the next 10 minutes. Stir the added ingredients around the breast of duck that is in the center during this step and allow it to become a reduction.

Remove the ingredients in the pan and place into a ceramic serving dish, small to medium sized and cover for heat retention, return the breast of duck once again skin side down to the now empty iron skillet and cook at a low heat for another 2 minutes, remove the duck and cover it with foil to seal in the juices.

Remove the Acorn squash from the oven and the Ban Marie, scoop out the squash and serve on plates or small bowls or ramekins, add more pepper to taste.

Return to the breast of duck, and slice it into thin medallions, it should be pink, juicy and leave on the small “rind” of fat. Place medallions onto the bed of the other cooked ingredients from the iron skillet onto the serving dish.

Results:
Incredible, serves two persons who are either not too hungry or just eat more of the squash, it is very rich, so it really is enough.

Other vegetables to use, add or vary with white rice with wild rice, sliced cooked beets, and or asparagus – white Belgian, jars or cans, or green asparagus with Hollandaise Sauce for a completely over the top side dish or use the asparagus as an antipasto with chopped capers and Italian salad dressing.

A retalatively fast, simple, with not too many ingredients to make a stunning meal.

An interesting little twist on the old standby pumpkin pie...pumpkin roll with a sweetened cream cheese filling.

4 egg yolks
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/3 cup sugar
1/2 cup pumpkin pie filling

4 egg whites
1/2 cup sugar

1/2 cup flour
1 tsp baking powder
2 tsp pumpkin pie spice

cream cheese filling:
2 3-ounce packages cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup butter, softened
4 1/4 to 4 3/4 cups powdered sugar

Combine dry ingredients and set aside.

Blend together egg yolks and vanilla. Add sugar slowly until almost dissolved. Stir in pumpkin pie filling and set aside.

Whip egg whites until soft peaks form. Slowly add sugar and continue whipping until stiff peaks form. Add egg yolk mixture slowly, blending at medium speed. Gradually add dry ingredients until just moistened.

Pour into greased and floured 15" x 10" x 1" jelly roll pan(cookie sheet will do), spread evenly and bake at 375 for 12 to 15 minutes until middle of cake springs up when gently pressed with finger. Loosen cake in pan and immediately flip onto towel dusted with powdered sugar. Roll from small side with towel outward and let cool for one hour.

Blend cream cheese and butter until creamy then slowly add sugar to taste. Unroll cake and spread with filling to within one inch of edges. Reroll without towel, sprinkle with powdered sugar, cover and refridgerate. Serves 10-12 people.

[link to www.youtube.com]

[link to www.justapinch.com]

One of my faves. I make my own bechamel (flour, butter, milk heated until desired thickness) sauce instead of using canned soup and also add chopped boiled eggs to the mix.

Enjoy!!!!

How about Paula Dean Cranberry / Apple Stuffing > ?

It's "WICK"
Ingredients
• 2 cups chicken broth
• 1 cup dried cranberries
• 1/4 cup butter
• 1 onion, chopped
• 1 red bell pepper, chopped
• 1 cup chopped celery
• 2 Granny Smith apples, cored and finely chopped
• 3 large eggs
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
• 1 (10.75-ounce) can cream of celery soup
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 8 cups Hawaiian sweet bread, cubed and toasted
Directions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Lightly grease a 13 by 9 by 2-inch baking dish.
In a small bowl, combine chicken broth and cranberries; let soak for 30 minutes.
In a large skillet, melt butter over medium heat. Add onion, pepper and celery; cook for 5 minutes stirring frequently or until tender. Add apples and cook for 5 minutes, stirring frequently. Remove from heat and place in a large bowl.
Beat 3 eggs in a separate bowl. Add salt and pepper. Set aside.
In the large bowl with vegetables, stir in chicken broth mixture, celery soup, and cinnamon. Add toasted bread, stirring gently to combine. Add eggs. Spoon mixture into prepared dish and bake for 30 to 40 minutes or until center is set.

If you like sweet potatoes that are so sweet that it could be a side or a dessert, then you should try this recipe:

[link to allrecipes.com]

I've made it for 3-4 years now, but I double the topping recipe. I don't even like sweet potatoes, but this recipe always gets compliments.

Deviled eggs!

Were having Stuffing, Green Beans, Mac and Cheese( with real cheese) and than shrimp to munch on before, and ill most likely make devlied eggs also.

Than we have a pumkpin pie, a turtle carmel pie and sweet poatatoe pie and mousse.

Here's a good and simple chestnut recipe...get a nice ripe juicy fresh pear, core it and cut it up into chunks. Put into a bowl and spoon a few dollops of creme freche on top. On top of that spoon some good French chestnut spread...mmmmm! delicious!!

This can be served as a salad or dessert & is great leftover for a snack, too.


I KNOW it sounds weird to eat cold rice, but it's wonderful & I've never had anyone who didn't love it. It's a light change from the heavier Thanksgiving dishes.


Heavenly Hash

combine: 2 c mini-marshmallows
2 c cooked rice (chilled)
1 small can drained crushed pineapple (abt 8 oz)
1/2 c (approx) maraschino cherry halves
1/4 c toasted slivered almonds/other nuts

Whip 1 c heavy cream, gradually adding 1/4 sugar & 1 tsp vanilla. Fold into rice mixture. Chill 8 servings.
Garnish with more nuts/cherries, if desired.




Sorry...I very carefully spaced this out in a nice column, but it auto-spaced into a blob.

Last Edited by weegie on 11/23/2011 08:20 PM

With your traditional Stuffing add some:

Pine Nuts

Apple Slices

walnuts and cranberries


Taste great with the turkey!

With your deviled eggs, use some Dijon Mustard to the Mayonaisse and Cayenne Pepper....

Butternut squash soup. So easy to make ahead and freeze, then just heat up on the day of Thanksgiving, stir in some sour cream, and keep warm in a crock pot. People go crazy for it at my house. Add just a hint of cayenne pepper for a surprising layer of flavor.