Thanksgiving 2018 Recipes

I tried two new recipes for Thanksgiving this year. I love using phyllo dough cups since they are so easy and perfect for bite-sized appetizers. I thought I was bringing cranberry sauce, but turns out that dish was already taken. Since I already bought the berries, I coated them in sugar and added them to a sweet potato tartlet recipe that I found. They were so pretty and really added a lot of flavor! Plus, the original recipe topped the tartlets with brown sugar pecans, but I absolutely love Trader Joe’s sweet & spicy pecans since they have a kick to them, so I used them instead. 

In addition to the tartlets, I brought iced tea (I’m pregnant so no wine for me this year). We have a lot of rosemary growing in our backyard so I threw that into the tea with some peaches and a ginger simple syrup. The tea was really tasty but I should have given myself more time to make it. I put the hot water into my drink dispenser to brew the green tea but the heat ruined the seal so it started leaking. Luckily my grandma had a backup dispenser that we transferred it to when we got there.

Hope you all had a wonderful holiday and got to spend quality time with your loved ones! 

Sweet Potato Tartlets with Sugared Cranberries, Sweet & Spicy Pecans & Mint (adapted from My Recipes)

Ingredients:

• 4 (1.9 oz) packages frozen mini-phyllo shells, thawed
• 8 ounces cream cheese, softened
• ½ cup sugar
• 1 sweet potato
• ½ cup sour cream
• 1 large egg
• 1 T vanilla extract
• Trader Joe’s sweet & spicy pecans (if you don’t have a Trader Joe’s near you, you can follow this recipe to make them yourself)
• Sugared cranberries (recipe below)
• Mint leaves

Directions:

1. Wash the sweet potato, stab holes in it, rub in olive oil, wrap in aluminum foil, then cook in the crock pot for 8 hours on low or 4 hours on high (or cook the sweet potato by your preferred method).

2. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Place shells on baking sheets.

3. In a food processor or with a mixer, blend cream cheese and sugar until smooth. Add sweet potato (no skin), sour cream, egg, and vanilla. Spoon filling into shells.

4. Bake at 350 for 15 minutes or until center is set. While still warm, press on pecans.

5. Once cooled, garnish with mint leaves and sugared cranberries.

Sugared Cranberries (adapted from Cincy Shopper)

Ingredients:

• 2 cups sugar, divided
• 1 cup water
• 12 oz fresh cranberries

Directions:

1. In a medium saucepan, heat water and 1 cup sugar over medium heat until boiling. Keep just at a boil for 10 minutes or until it thickens slightly.

2. Allow to cool for 15 minutes. Line a cookie sheet with foil and place a cooling rack over. Toss batches of cranberries in the simple syrup and transfer to the rack to dry (try to space the berries out so they don’t stick together).

3. Allow to dry for 30-45 minutes, then toss the berries in the remaining 1 cup of sugar.

Iced Rosemary-Ginger Peach Green Tea (adapted from She Knows)

Ingredients:

• 4 cups boiling water
• 6 green tea bags
• Several rosemary sprigs
• 2 peaches, slices
• ¾ cup fresh ginger, chopped
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 cup water
• Ice cubes
• Cranberries for garnish (optional)

Directions:

1. Add tea bags and rosemary to a pitcher and top with boiling water. Allow to steep for 6-8 minutes depending on how strong you like your tea.

2. Remove the tea bags and allow the tea to cool.

3. Meanwhile, boil 1 cup water, 1 cup sugar, and ginger in a small pot over high heat. Reduce heat to medium then allow to simmer uncovered until the syrup thickens Remove from heat and allow to cool.

4. Fill a drink dispenser part way with ice. Top with sliced peaches, cranberries, rosemary iced tea, and ginger simple syrup.

Mother's Day Brunch Recipes

Hope you all had a happy Mother’s Day!  I tried two new recipes this past weekend for our brunch. It was at my parents’ place, but I didn’t want my mom to have to make anything.  My dad made our traditional “John Wayne” casserole along with bacon and cinnamon rolls. I made a sweet potato crusted quiche and a fruit tart.  And my Grandma Anne brought some beautiful tulips.

The quiche was a huge success – it was healthy and a lot simpler than I expected.  I’ll definitely make that again. 

The fruit tart looked beautiful, but unfortunately it was a way more complicated recipe than I had planned for. I should have read ahead of time that it requires several hours or up to a day of preparation, so it didn’t set properly. The pastry cream was more of a yogurt consistency and after putting it in the freezer to try to get it to firm up, the crust was so hard we couldn’t cut through it.  So we ended up serving it more like a parfait instead. 

I’ll also post the recipe for the “John Wayne” casserole. This is one of my dad’s all-time favorite dishes to make. My Grandma Anne came across this recipe in a magazine years ago and it’s been in our family ever since. If you’re looking for a healthy egg dish, this is not your thing. It is loaded with two pounds of cheese and has evaporated milk to give it a creamy consistency.  The green chiles give it just the right amount of spiciness. 

Sweet Potato Crusted Quiche (adapted from Cooking Light)

Ingredients:

·        2 medium sweet potatoes

·        1 teaspoon canola oil

·        1 (5-ounce) bag baby spinach

·        1/2 cup 1% low-fat milk

·        1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

·        1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

·        1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper

·        4 large eggs

·        2 large egg whites

·        1.5 oz feta cheese, crumbled

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 350°, then peel and slice sweet potatoes into rounds.

2. Coat a pie dish with cooking spray, then fill the bottom of the dish with a layer of sweet potato slices. Cut the sweet potato rounds in half and fill around the edges of the pie dish; round side facing up.

3. Once the entire dish is filled, coat one more time with cooking spray. Bake for 20 minutes. Turn heat up to 375°.

4. For the filling, heat a nonstick skillet over medium heat. Add spinach; sauté 3 minutes. Remove from heat; cool.

5. Combine milk and next 5 ingredients in a bowl; stir with a whisk. Arrange spinach mixture in crust; pour egg mixture over spinach. Sprinkle with feta. Bake at 375° for 35 minutes.

Fruit Tart with Vanilla Pastry Cream (adapted from Erica’s Sweet Tooth)

Ingredients:

Crust:

·        1 large egg yolk

·        1 tbsp heavy cream

·        1/2 tsp vanilla extract

·        1-1/4 cups all-purpose flour

·        2/3 cup confectioners' sugar

·        1/4 tsp salt

·        8 tbsp unsalted butter, cold and cut into 1/2" cubes

Pastry cream:

·        2 cups whole milk

·        1/2 cup granulated sugar, plus 2 tbsp

·        4 tbsp cornstarch

·        2 egg yolks

·        1-1/2 tsp vanilla extract

·        3 tbsp unsalted butter, cut into pieces

Topping:

·        Whatever fruit you’d like! I used strawberries, kiwis, blackberries, blueberries and raspberries, but use whatever is in season

Directions:

Crust:

1. Whisk together the egg yolk, cream, and vanilla in a small bowl and set aside.

2. In a food processor, combine the flour, sugar, and salt and pulse briefly to combine. Add the butter pieces over the flour mixture and process until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs - about 15 1-second pulses. With the machine running, add the egg mixture until the dough just comes together (about 15 seconds).

3. Turn the dough onto a sheet of plastic wrap and press into a 6" disc. Wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 1 hour and up to 2 days.

4. When the dough is ready, unwrap and roll the dough out onto a lightly floured surface into a 13" round. Transfer the dough to a 9" tart pan and mold the dough to the sides of the pan. Freeze the pan for 30 minutes.4

5. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Put the tart pan on a baking sheet and press foil over the frozen shell and fill with pie weights. (I didn’t use the pie weights…perhaps this would have helped)

6. Bake for 30 minutes, rotating halfway through. Remove from oven, remove the foil and weights, and then bake another 5-8 minutes longer until golden brown. Transfer to a wire rack to cool.

Pastry Cream:

1. Combine the milk and 1/2 cup sugar in a saucepan over medium-high heat and stir until simmering.

2. Meanwhile in another bowl, whisk together the egg yolks and remaining 2 tbsp of sugar for about 15 seconds. Then add the cornstarch and mix until pale yellow and thick.

3. When the milk has reached a simmer, slowly add the milk to the egg yolk mixture, whisking constantly as you combine. Return the mixture to the saucepan and return to medium heat, whisking constantly until the mixture just starts to boil and the mixture is thickened.

4. Remove from heat and whisk in the butter and vanilla extract. Strain pastry cream through a fine mesh sieve set over a medium bowl.

5. Cover pastry cream with plastic wrap, making sure the wrap touches the top of the cream so that a skin doesn't form. Refrigerate until set, at least 3 hours and up to 2 days.

Topping:

1. Spread pastry cream evenly in tart shell and top with desired fruit.

John Wayne Casserole (family recipe)

Ingredients:

·        2 cans (4 oz) chopped green chilies

·        1 lb Monterrey Jack cheese, grated

·        1 lb cheddar cheese, grated

·        2/3 cup evaporated milk

·        2 tomatoes, sliced

·        1 T flour

·        ½ t salt

·        4 egg whites

·        4 egg yolks

·        1/8 t pepper

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 325°.

2. Drain and dice green chiles. Combine the grated cheeses and chiles in buttered shallow casserole dish (12x8x2).

3. In a large bowl, beat egg whites until stiff peaks form. In a small bowl, combine egg yolks, milk, flour, salt & pepper. Mix until well blended.

4. Gently fold beaten egg whites with a rubber spatula into the egg yolk mixture. Pour the mixture over the cheese in the casserole dish using a fork to ooze it through the cheese.

5. Bake for 30 minutes. Remove from oven and arrange the sliced tomatoes on the casserole. Bake for another 30 minutes or until the cheese in the center is firm. (If you do not use the tomatoes, bake for the full hour, but check periodically and once the top begins to brown, cover with tin foil).

Enjoy!