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Festive Yam Casserole

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Baked yam casserole25 years ago I was given this recipe for Festive Yam Casserole from a co-worker and have been serving it at my Thanksgiving dinner since.  The layer of creamy yam filling with the crunchy topping of pecans and coconut will become  a family favorite at your dinner table.  This is a great side dish at any holiday table or everyday meal.

Festive Yam Casserole
4 cups yams, cookedWhole yams being peeled with peels
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1/4 cup milk
1/3 cup butter, melted
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 eggs, beaten

Topping
2/3 cup shredded coconut
2/3 cup brown sugarYam casserole with pecans and coconut
1/3 cup flour
1/3 cup butter, melted
2/3 cup pecans

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  In large bowl add the yams and mash with a potato masher or fork.  Add the sugar, milk, butter, vanilla and eggs and mix well.  You can also combine all the ingredients in the bowl of a Ninja Food Processor and pulse until creamy, about 45 seconds.  Spoon into an 8 inch baking dish that has been sprayed with cooking spray.  In the bowl of a food processor combine the coconut, brown sugar, flour, butter and pecans and pulse for 30 seconds.  In the Ninja Food Processor pulse 4 times.  Sprinkle over yam mixture and bake uncovered for 30 minutes or until golden brown and hot.

 

Classic Deviled Eggs

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Photo: John Trax

Thanksgiving dinner would not be complete without “Classic Deviled Eggs”.  My family does not like anything fancy just your basic deviled eggs like I remember growing up.  If there are any extra leftover deviled eggs add them to your favorite potato salad recipe the next day to enjoy with your turkey sandwich! Egg yolks in Ninja food processoregg yolks in Ninja food processor

Classic Deviled Eggs
8 eggs
1/3 cup Miracle Whip or Mayonnaise if your prefer
1/2 teaspoon dry mustard
1 teaspoon white vinegar
Salt & pepper to taste
Paprika, garnish
Fresh Parsley, garnish

Add eggs to a pot and add enough water to cover eggs about 1 inch.  Bring to a boil, remove from heat and cover with a lid for 20 minutes.  Drain water and run cold water over eggs for a few minutes.  Crack and peel off the egg shells.  Cut eggs in half lengthwise and remove the yolk and set the egg whites aside for now. Place the egg yolks, Miracle Whip, dry mustard, vinegar and a pinch of salt and pepper in a bowl of a food processor and blend until creamy.  If you have a Ninja Food Processor just use the puree button which pulses and blends for 65 seconds.  If you want to do by hand mash with a potato masher until no longer lumpy.  Taste and add more salt and pepper if needed.  I wanted to be a little fancy so I placed the mixture to a pastry piping bag that I had attached a star tip.  Pipe mixture into each egg white sprinkle with a little paprika and garnish with a piece of parsley.  It is that simply and easy.

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Roasted Turkey with Homemade Cracker Stuffing

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Turkey in blue roasting panThe roasted golden bird, the Turkey is the center piece of any Thanksgiving table.  But in my family the favorite dish is my family’s cracker stuffing passed down from my mom from my grandmother and great grandmother.  For four generations and probably longer it has been a holiday tradition making cracker stuffing in my family.  My great grandmother comes for the town of Vejvanov, West Bohemia, Czech Republic a small city south west of Prague.  I wanted to learn more about the history of cracker stuffing and read several Bohemian cookbooks and searched the internet.  I found that it is called (Nádivkou) or Bohemian Cracker Stuffing. Crackers seemed to be an easy substitute for stale bread or bread crumbs.  All the recipes I found online seem to be just a little different than mine, with an extra ingredient or seasoning but we like our basic one made with the recipe below.  It was even featured on the Food Network’s kitchen website when I entered the recipe in a Stuffing Cook-off contest.

Cracker StuffingCrackers in a Ninja food processorCracker, onions and celery in vintage bowlBowl of cracker stuffing with eggsCracker stuffing in vintage bowl
4 sleeves saltine crackers
2 stalks celery
1 cup butter
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
1 medium onion, chopped
4 eggs
1/2 cup milk
12-14 pound Turkey
4 stalks celery
6 carrots, peeled
2 can chicken broth
Olive oil
Salt & pepper
To make my cracker stuffing I used my Ninja food processor attachment this year to crush my crackers and chop the celery, it made my crackers more consistent in size.  In the bowl of the Ninja food processor place one sleeve of crackers and pulse three times.   That’s all it takes to make the perfect size cracker for this recipe.  Empty crackers from the Ninja into a large bowl and repeat with the remaining crackers.  In the same food processor bowl add the celery and pulse 8 times then add the celery to the crackers in the bowl.  If you do not have a Ninja (add it to your wish list) you can crush the crackers by hand.  With the crackers still in their sleeves, crush them with your hands (easier to crush this way, and it keeps your hands cleaner) then empty the sleeves into a large bowl. Chop celery into small pieces and add to the crackers.  In a frying pan, saute the butter, onion and black pepper until the onions are tender, about 5 minutes. No need to add salt since you are using saltine crackers.  Add cooked onions  to the crackers and mix well. Add eggs and mix well. Add milk a little at a time (you might not use all of the milk), until the cracker mix is moistened. Cracker mix should form a ball which you can hold in your hand. When stuffing a turkey with cracker stuffing it does not expand, so you want to pack it in tight. With traditional bread stuffing you would pack it in the turkey loosely.  When the turkey is ready, you pull out the cracker stuffing in one big chunk and slice it. Also great on a turkey sandwich the next day!
To prepare the turkey remove from packaging.  Remove the neck (Do not worry it has been already cut off and is inside the turkey cavity).  On the back end of the turkey there will be a bag of giblets including the heart, gizzard and liver.  It may not sound good but do NOT throw away the neck and the giblets it will make a great turkey stock so just place all together in a bag and refrigerate.  I will share in a later post the best turkey stock recipe using these parts and the carcass of the turkey after you have carved off all the meat.  Rinse turkey under cold water and pat dry with paper towel.  In your roasting pan add 4 stalks of celery and 6 carrots that have been cut up and toss with 2 tablespoons of olive oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper. They will also be used later in making the turkey stock.  Carrots and celery in roasting panPlace turkey on top of carrots and celery.  Stuff the cavity of the turkey with the cracker stuffing and remember to pack it in tight.  Do not forgot there is room in the back of the turkey where the giblets were so pack some stuffing in there as well.  There is no need to tie the legs together just let the stuffing flow out the cavity.  Rub some olive oil on the turkey and sprinkle with salt and pepper.  This will help give your turkey a nice golden brown color and add flavor to the skin.   Add two cans of chicken stock to the pan and cover with a nice tall lid.*  Place in a preheated 325 degree oven and since we stuffed the turkey it will take 4 to 4 1/2 hours to cook.  The turkey is done when the thigh meat reaches an internal temperature of 165 degrees F.Cracker stuffing in vintage bowl
* I have found over the years that if you have a tall lid on your turkey when it is cooking the air can circulate and your turkey will come out a golden brown without having to remove the lid the last 30 minutes to brown it.  You may choose to bast the turkey once an hour with the juices from the bottom of the pan.  I seem to get so busy I never remember and it bastes itself just fine with the tall roasting pan I use.
Do not forget after Thanksgiving dinner is over, save anything left in the pan, the turkey bones, pieces, carrots, celery, juice and bits left in the roasting pan.  Place in a container and get ready to make some turkey broth to use in some other great dishes like turkey chili, turkey wild rice soup, turkey pot pie or in place of chicken broth in any of your favorite recipes.
Roasted turkey in blue roasting pan

Around My French Table in Oregon!

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2013.01.20@17.46.38I finished this week with my last meal from the Cook to Books Challenge from Around My French Table by Dorie Greenspan. 2013.01.20@16.23.472013.01.20@16.42.042013.01.20@16.44.292013.01.20@16.46.222013.01.20@16.48.57 I made the Short Ribs in Red Wine, Corn Pancakes and Brown-sugar Squash and Brussels Sprouts.  I enjoyed taking my family on a trip to France through my cooking from this great cookbook.  Everything I made was a combination of fresh flavors and so easy with all the things I could buy Fresh From Oregon to make everything.  I especially enjoyed the Brown Sugar Squash and Brussels Sprouts and ask my mom, I do NOT like Brussels sprouts. But I made this dish and yes mom, I ate the Brussels Sprouts and did not need two glasses of milk to get them down.  When I read this recipe so many other combinations of fresh vegetables and fruit came to mind that I can do throughout the year as different things come into season. I was very lucky that Brussels Sprouts are in season now in Oregon and got some last week at the Portland Farmers Winter Market.
Here is how you can make your own bundle of sweet vegetables Fresh From Oregon.  Preheat oven to 400 degrees and cut four squares of foil about 12″ x 12″.  In large bowl combine 1 pound of butternut squash that has been peeled and cubed with 16 small Brussels Sprouts that have been cut in half.  Add 1 apple (I used a sweet one) that has been peeled and diced.  Toss with 4 teaspoons of olive oil, salt and pepper to taste.  Divide the mixture between the four pieces of foil and top each with a teaspoon of brown sugar, I used a heaping teaspoon of brown sugar.  The original recipe calls for a fresh piece of sage on top of the brown sugar but since my sage plants were covered with snow I skipped adding one.  Draw up the edges of the foil and seal making a little package.  Place on baking sheet and cook for 25 minutes or until vegetables are tender.  I am already thinking that the orange, yellow, white and purple carrots I also got at the winter market will be my next combination with some fresh thyme!

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Recipe Master: Carrie Trax Editor: John Trax
Photographer: John Trax

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