You Say Potato, I Say...Potato

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After a mui busy week thus far, Shaun and I finally finished up the last of our Thanksgiving leftovers last night. I have to say, we were both pretty sad to see them go but it made me happy to know that none of the food we made went to waste! (I have serious issues with keeping leftovers and then said food going bad before being eaten. I hate being wasteful!) So are you sick of Thanksgiving food yet? I hope not. Because today I’m dishing up two more delightful sides. And what is Thanksgiving without carb-o loading on potatoes? For our pre-Thanksgiving dinner with our friends Lindsey and Eric, we made two potato versions. The first were creamy, velvety, mashed Yukon gold potatoes.

The second were mapley sweet 'n savory mashed sweet potatoes. Can you tell that I have a love for all things mashed?

While the mashed potatoes were dense and decadent, the sweet potatoes were light and airy. Though I could have used a crunchy brown sugar topping on the sweet potatoes, I decided to let my sweet tooth subside for the rest of the guests and left these with just a hint of sweetness from the maple syrup and bit of brown sugar. Meanwhile, the mashed potatoes were filled with buttery goodness and made creamy with the addition of heavy cream - an ingredient that I've come to find makes everything just a little bit better. Oh and if the mashed potatoes look familiar, it's because they were also featured over at Haute Apple Pie's Virtual Thanksgiving Potluck earlier this week! Be sure to head on over to check out the whole rundown and the fun dinner that the ladies put together with some other great guest bloggers!

Thanksgiving Mashed Potatoes (serves 4-6)
*Adapted from the Sandy Cannon recipe collection
2-3 tbsp salt (or more if needed)
2-3 lbs potatoes, peeled & cubed
1/2 C heavy cream (or more if needed)
4 tbsp butter
pinch black pepper
chives, dried or fresh

Peel the potatoes and cut into cubes. In a large pot, add the potatoes and cover with cold water. Add salt and bring to a boil. Once boiling, lower heat slightly to a light boil and cook for 20 minutes or until the potatoes are tender. Remove from the water and place in large mixing bowl. Add butter and heavy cream. With the back of a wooden spoon or a fork, smush (yep, it’s a technical term) the potatoes and lightly mix together. This will prevent splatter all over your beautiful kitchen once you break out the mixer. Add black pepper. With a hand mixer, or in a stand mixer, beat until smooth and creamy. Add more salt or more heavy cream if needed. Garnish with chives.

Luckily for me, Lindsey is not only a potato peeler extraordinaire, but she is also a whiz with the hand mixer! Not only were these potato perfection, but they were easy to boot. A little too easy if you ask me. In fact, Shaun came home from work the next day with another bag of potatoes. Should I take the hint?

And as much as I love the rich, heavy cream laden mashed potatoes, I need a little sweetness in my life. Though I love all sweet potato varieties equally, I just love the hint of sweet that these brought to the table.

Sweet Potato Casserole
*Adapted from Food Network
3 lbs sweet potatoes, washed
2 large eggs, lightly beaten
3 tbsp unsalted butter, melted plus more for the preparing the pan
2 tbsp dark brown sugar
1 tsp kosher salt
2 tbsp maple syrup
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground ginger
1/8 tsp ground nutmeg
1/4 C chopped pecans

Preheat your oven to 400 degrees. Prick washed potatoes all over with a fork. Lay on a foil-lined baking sheet (which will make your clean up easy peasy!) and bake for about an hour until the potatoes are very soft. Let them cool and turn the oven down to 350 degrees.
Scoop the sweet potato out of their skins and into a mixing bowl. Mash the potatoes until smooth (Lindsey, the whip-master, used a hand mixer to get ‘er done). Add the eggs, butter, brown sugar, salt, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, and syrup. Mix until smooth. Add mixture to a buttered baking dish, top with pecans and bake for 30-40 minutes.

I feel confident that if you like 'em sweet, these would be absolute perfection with a brown sugar crust made from brown sugar, flour, butter and pecans. Or perhaps with a few marshmallows on top? Some coconut perhaps? Just sayin'.

So there you have it. A sweet & savory roundup of the potato dishes from our pre-Thanksgiving celebration! So what do you think? Are you a fan of the mashed potato? Do you prefer a sweet or savory sweet potato dish? And bonus question: Which do you prefer? White potatoes or sweet potatoes?

In case you missed it, check out how we brined a turkey at 3AM and made the perfect turkey sausage stuffing! And for even more Thanksgiving food ideas, check out our Recipes page, under Thanksgiving!

Stuffed

I don’t know about you, but my alarm went off way too soon this morning after a work dinner at Arturo’s last night (side note: it was deeeelicious!).

While mashed potatoes really have my heart for Thanksgiving, I do have a special love for stuffing - and all side dishes for that matter. And for my pre-Thanksgiving Dinner last weekend, it was my favorite dish on the table. Well, that and the gravy (oooooh the gravy). Part of my love for stuffing is that this is really the only time of the year when it’s eaten. It would never occur to me to eat stuffing in the spring or summer. No, only the Thanksgiving season will suffice. Not to mention that everything about stuffing just screams Thanksgiving. The moist yet toasted bread, the bits of celery (and in this case, apples), and the poultry seasoning all come together to make one delightful combination of stuffing yumminess. And don’t even get me started on the fragrance that permeates the kitchen while it’s cooking. Is your mouth watering yet? Mine is.

I changed it up a bit this year. While last year I made a giant batch of Paula Deen’s Country Stuffing, to try out something new and give all of you another stuffing option, I turned to my lady Ina Garten. Since everything she makes is done oh-so-deliciously, I felt confident that with a couple of my own alterations this stuffing would be tops. And it was.

With a base of soft white bread, onions and celery, this recipe also included chopped apples. Though I’m typically always a fan of apples - and any sweet & savory combination for that matter - I was a bit skeptical about this addition since at heart I’m a traditionalist (shocked?). I didn’t ever recal having apples in stuffing, but oh how happy I am that I gave it a try. I also traded traditional sausage for turkey breakfast sausage. The breakfast-style sausage is key here since it gave just the right amount of flavor without being overpoweringly sausagey. Follow me?

 Sausage & Herb Stuffing
*Adapted from Ina Garten
1 ½ loaves white bread, cut into 1-inch cubes
1 stick unsalted butter
2 onions, diced
3 celery stalks, diced
2 Granny Smith apples, unpeeled, cored and diced
1 tsp poultry seasoning
1 tbsp kosher salt
1 tsp freshly ground black pepper
1 lb breakfast sausage, casings removed (I used turkey sausage)
1 ½ C chicken stock

Preheat oven to 300 degrees. Meanwhile, cut up the bread into cubes and place on a sheet pan. Cook in oven for 7 minutes until bread just starts to harden. Place in a large mixing bowl and set aside.

Meanwhile, in a skillet over medium heat, melt the butter. Add onions, celery, apple, poultry seasoning, salt and pepper. Cook for about 10 minutes until the veggies are soft and your entire kitchen is flooded with the delightful aroma of Thanksgiving yumminess. Don't be afraid to get right in there and waft that aroma into your face...Shaun and I may have done this multiple times during the process...

Pour over the bread cubes and mix. In the same pan, cook the sausage. Remove the sausage from their casings and saute until browned, breaking up the pieces as it cooks. Add to the bread mixture.

Next, add some chicken broth. While the original recipe only called for a cup, I used about a cup and a half since it seemed to be a bit dry (not to mention that you bake it off in the oven, so I was very weary of not letting it dry out while also not becoming too soggy - use your judgement here!). Place in a baking dish and cook for about 30 minutes. Serve with gravy and be prepared to be smitten with this unbelievably savory and easy stuffing!

Doesn't it look like the ultimate stuffing? Fluffy bread, poultry seasoning, tart apples...mmmm I'm dreaming about this as we speak and hoping that there's still some left for a little dinner appetizer tonight! So what do you think? Are you a stuffing fan? And bonus question: What's your favorite side dish on the big day?

Psst...for more Thanksgiving ideas, check out our Recipes page under the Thanksgiving header!

Decadent Macaroni & Cheese

I don't like to lie to you.

In fact, I refuse to lie to you. So I'm not going to write this to you and pretend that this macaroni and cheese isn't the most decadent, filling and stomach-ache inducing of its kind. It is. But it's also the most delicious I've ever made. Or had. And I'd also be lying if I didn't tell you how I've been dreaming of it since preparing (and subsequently devouring) it at our dinner party on Saturday night.

This cheesy, rich macaroni & cheese is made grown-up by using cheeses for a sophisticated palette. No Velveeta here folks (though I'm not discounting its deliciousness). Instead, it's given an adult spin with Gruyere and Cheddar cheeses taking the spotlight. Since only a small portion is recommended (you know, for heart attack prevention purposes), we also dined on pulled pork and shredded turkey sandwiches with carrot-stuffed bell peppers made by my all-star chef Mom. Doesn't it scream Americana? I hope so, since that's the theme we were going for!

Since Mom is the keeper of the pulled pork/shredded turkey/stuffed pepper recipes, today I'm sharing with you my contribution to the main course, the mac & cheese. Is your mouth watering yet?

Decadent Macaroni & Cheese
*Adapted from Ina Garten
1 lb macaroni (elbow or cavatappi, which is what I used)
6 tbsp unsalted butter
1/2 C all purpose flour
1 quart milk (4 C)
4 C Gruyere cheese, grated (12 oz)
2 C cheddar cheese, grated (8 oz)
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1/2 tsp black pepper
1 C bread crumbs (I used white bread with crusts removed)
1 tbsp kosher salt + more for pasta water

Preheat your oven to 375 degrees. Cook pasta according to box directions (remember to salt the water). Meanwhile, in a small saucepan, heat the milk, but do not boil it. In a separate, larger saucepan, melt 6 tbsp of butter and whisk in the flour until it forms a paste. Cook on low for 1-2 minutes, whisking constantly so that it doesn’t burn. Whisk in the milk, making sure that it all combines together and thickens. Turn off the heat and whisk or stir in the grated Gruyere and cheddar cheeses until smooth (Note: I grated mine the night before in my food processor fitted with the grater attachment. It made grating so much cheese a snap!). Stir in the nutmeg, salt and pepper.

Mix in the macaroni. I used one of my ginormous red mixing bowls to get 'er done. 

Place in a large baking dish. If making in advance, cover and set aside or refrigerate. If baking immediately, cover with breadcrumbs and bake uncovered for 30-35 minutes until browned and bubbly.

 

So there you have it. A tale of decadent, rich, creamy macaroni & cheese. Is it an everyday food? Certainly not. Is it enough to make you go mmmm? It certainly is. So what do you think? Are you a fan of macaroni & cheese? What's your favorite kind? And bonus question: What's your favorite decadent indulgence?