Kale and Cannellini Bean Soup

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NOTE: This originally appeared in print the day after Thanksgiving.

As we gorge ourselves full of turkey, dressing and pumpkin pie for Thanksgiving, I thought it was my duty as someone who shares my kitchen creations with the public to produce a healthy and tasty bite to counter-balance the gut-busting, diet-crashing cuisine that seems to accompany most holiday celebrations.

One of the healthiest foods available in grocery stores today is kale. The non-heading, leafy member of the cabbage family is rich in vitamins A and C, frolic acid, calcium and iron. Kale can be grown in warm climates but it thrives in cooler ones which may explain its popularity among Northern Europeans.

For this recipe, I use it in a soup and it is cooked like spinach, but the kale takes longer to wilt and it doesn’t cook down as much. It’s mild flavor is a nice addition to the cannellini beans that become rich and buttery after a long simmer. This soup will be a flavorful and healthy addition to that turkey sandwich smothered in gravy the day after Thanksgiving.

BEHIND THIS BITE

Kale and Cannellini Bean Soup

This is the first time I had ever cooked with kale. I picked up a batch on sale and I thought it would be nice to try in a soup. I removed the stems and had a large amount of the leaves stuffed in a bowl. I thought that it would wilt down into just a fraction of its size like fresh spinach does.

Boy, was I wrong!

Once it was time for the kale I tossed in a couple hand fulls and waited for it to wilt down. And I kept waiting ... and waiting. I was seriously debating on weather to pull some of it out, but eventually it did cook down, and luckily I had thrown in just the right amount. I didn’t need to add anymore. I ended up using only a third of what I originally thought I was going to use.

It was a good experience and I want to use kale again, it has a mild flavor so I think I want to try and sauté it and make it the center piece of a side dish. Then well see how its taste really holds up.

Eat well, cook often ...

THE RECIPE

Kale and Cannellini Bean Soup

Serves 4; 35 minutes
1 C Onion, diced
1/2 C Celery, diced
1/2 C Carrot, diced
2 tsp Garlic, minced
3 Can Cannellini beans (15 oz each)
2 1/2 to 3 C Kale, Torn into pieces and stems removed
4 C Chicken broth
1 tsp Italian seasonings

Make base
In a soup pot over medium heat sauté onion, carrot and celery in a little olive oil until soft, 3 to 4 minutes. Salt and pepper to taste. Add garlic, cook 1 minute more or until fragrant.

Finish
Stir in beans, kale, broth and Italian seasoning. Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer until kale has wilted, 20 to 25 minutes. Spoon into bowls and serve

Sausage, Sage and Green Pepper Dressing

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For the last few Thanksgivings I’ve made dressing separately, rather than stuffing which is cooked inside the bird. I usually brine my turkey and the last time I made stuffing inside, it was edible, but the overload of salt from the brine was obvious and it really ruined the flavor. Since that disaster I have always kept it separate.

This recipe was the best dressing I have ever made, the sausage, green pepper and fresh sage combine to take the flavors off the charts. I used a loaf of french bread that I cubed and put in the oven at 200° for about 2 hours. This dried the bread out and replicated the results of leaving the bread out in the open for a couple of days.

This was a great dish and sadly, it's the final post from my Thanksgiving feast of 2013. I’m already looking forward to next year.

BEHIND THIS BITE

Sausage, Sage and Green Pepper Dressing

I’m so glad this dish turned out. The biggest disappointment of last year's Thanksgiving feast was my dressing. I didn’t have dry enough bread and I didn’t use enough chicken broth to get everything to congeal together. It was more like soggy bread with mirepoix vegetables, so it was important to me this year to have a tasty dressing.

This is also my favorite infographic recipe of all the Thanksgiving 2013 dishes.

The red dish featuring the finished dressing at the bottom was a clearance item at Pier 1 Imports and it really helps this recipe stand out from the rest. When I mixed everything in the bowl I thought there was no way it would fit into the vessel, by like the sweet corn casserole, all of it fit and the rest is history.

Now it’s on to Christmas cooking!

Eat well, cook often ...

THE RECIPE

Sausage, Sage and Green Pepper Dressing

Serves 12 to 15; 50 minutes
1 lb Breakfast sausage
1 C Onion diced
1 C Celery diced
1 C Green pepper, diced
1 Tbs Garlic, minced
6 C Stale bread cubed
3 C Chicken broth
1 Tbs Italian seasoning

Brown sausage, sauté veggies
Preheat oven to 375°
In a sauté pan over medium heat cook sausage until no longer pink, 6 to 8 minutes. Remove from pan to a large bowl. Discard all but 1 tablespoon of drippings. Cook onion, celery and green pepper until soft, 4 to 6 minutes. Salt and pepper to taste. Add garlic cook two minutes more. Transfer to large bowl with sausage.

Make dressing
Add dried bread, chicken broth and Italian seasonings to bowl. Mix until well incorporated and bread has soaked up broth. Transfer to a prepared 9 x 13 baking dish. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes or until top becomes brown and with crispy bits. Let cool a few minutes before serving.

Creamy Cheddar and Chive Mashed Potatoes

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If I’m eating roasted turkey with gravy, I love to have mashed potatoes on the plate. Creamy spuds are my second favorite Thanksgiving side dish behind green bean casserole and when I say creamy, I mean creamy! No lumps, lots of butter and nice wispy peaks.

Earlier this fall I made basic creamy mashed potatoes and I prepared this batch the exact same way, but this time I added cheddar cheese and chives to punch up the flavor.

I could eat this stuff by the fist full! And that is what I basically did when I served them. I used my finger to scoop a bite out of the bowl every time I passed by and no one was looking. Mashed potatoes to me are like frosting on cake and it’s nearly impossible for me to walk passed without snatching up a sample. Adding further to the temptation was the flavorful cheddar cheese and fresh chives.

BEHIND THIS BITE

Cheddar and Chive Mashed Potatoes

As I mention in the introduction, I documented a prime rib dinner back in September and creamy mashed potatoes were part of the spread. I made them as basic as possible because I knew that I could use many of the elements again whenever I wanted to make mashed potatoes for a new post. Most of the photography in this recipe information graphic was originally shot for the basic creamy mashed potatoes. Only the last stage featuring the chives and cheddar and the final shot at the bottom of the recipe are new. I made this exactly like the basic version until I made the additions of cheddar and chives.

I have been re-using photographs of prepped ingredients for a long time, but this is a relatively knew technique I’ve started to develop involving basic recipes. This allows me more time to be creative and less time doing production work. Look for another mashed potato recipe soon, because Christmas dinner wouldn’t be as special without a batch of creamy spuds.

Eat well cook, often ...

THE RECIPE

Cheddar and Chive Mashed Potatoes

 
Serves 12 to 15; 40 minutes
5 lbs Potatoes, peeled, diced
3 Tbs salt
1 stick Unsalted butter
1/4 to 3/4 C Milk
1 C Sour cream
2 C Cheddar cheese, shredded
1/4 C Chives sliced

Cook potatoes
Put potatoes in a large pot. Fill with enough water to cover potatoes by at least 1 inch. Stir in salt. Place pot over high heat, bring to a boil and cook potatoes until tender. 12 to 15 minutes.

Drain, mash, serve
Drain potatoes in a colander. Return to pot and add butter and a splash of milk. Mash potatoes until creamy and smooth with a potato masher. Add more milk if necessary to achieve desired creaminess. Stir in sour cream, cheddar cheese and chives, place in a bowl and serve

Sweet Corn Casserole

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Of all my Thanksgiving sides this year, this was the most experimental. I had no idea how it would turn out, it was inspired by the classic green bean casserole, only I went with sweet corn and cream of chicken rather than green beans and cream of mushroom. The addition of bacon added a smoky and salty element to the creamy sweet corn mixture. I topped it with fresh grated Parmesan cheese and chives which added rich and oniony hints to the overall taste.

The dish was the most simple of all my Thanksgiving sides. Rendering the bacon takes longer than putting it together, and I baked it along side the dressing to kill two birds with one stone. I do think that another element could be added.

What element?

I’m not sure – but the addition of something like red or green pepper might punch up the flavor even more. I’ll have to try that next time. As it is, this is a quick and tasty addition to any Turkey day spread.

BEHIND THIS BITE

Sweet Corn Casserole

This dish is really the result of an over-stocked pantry. I closed my camper at our family campground at the end of October. Two of the things I brought home were three cans of sweet corn and two cans of cream of chicken soup. As I was trying to find room on the shelves, the idea hit me to combine the corn and soup and try it for Thanksgiving. I added the bacon for texture and flavor, much like the french fried onions add to green bean casserole.

On a side note, I was surprised that the mixture fit in the baking vessel I had chosen, which is pictured in the information graphic. I used the cast iron vessel strictly for aesthetics and to get a great photo. When I started pouring the mix in I thought there was no way it would all fit, but, to my amazement, it did. I had a similar experience with the dressing I made this year.

So, I have a tip: Some baking dishes may not look like they can hold a lot, but give it a try, you’ll be surprised at how much a two quart vessel or a 9 x 13 baking dish will hold.

Eat well, cook often ...

THE RECIPE

Sweet Corn Casserole

Side for 6 to 8; 40 minutes
1/2 lb Bacon, diced
3 Cans Sweet corn (15 oz)
1 Can Cream of chicken soup (15 oz )
1/2 C Milk
1/2 C Parmesan cheese, fresh grated
1 Tbs Chives sliced

Cook bacon, mix 
Preheat oven to 375°
In a pan over medium heat cook bacon until brown and crispy. 6 to 8 minutes. Remove from pan and mix bacon with sweet corn, cream of chicken soup and milk in a large bowl until well incorporated. Transfer to a 2 quart baking dish.

Bake
Cook in oven 15 to 20 minutes or until hot and bubbly. Remove and top with Parmesan cheese, return to oven and cook until cheese is melted, 5 to 10 minutes more. Remove, let cool for a few minutes, garnish with chives, then serve.

Deluxe Green Bean Casserole

Printable version

Since I was a little kid I have always loved green bean casserole and looked forward to it every year at Thanksgiving. My Aunt always made a batch for the occasion and it was one of just a few dishes that she ever made. Cooking wasn’t her passion so she kept it simple and green bean casserole was one of her staples. It’s made from a combination of processed ingredients and it comes together in a snap.

I have made green bean casserole several times as an adult and I have learned a few tricks to making it extra delicious.

The traditional casserole uses canned cream of mushroom soup, for this recipe I replace it with fresh sauteéd baby bella mushrooms and sausage gravy made from scratch. Bursts of flavor from the fresh mushrooms and seasoning from the sausage add an element of savoriness that the traditional dish doesn’t have. This is a simple way of taking a tasty classic and cranking up the flavor for a special treat fit for any Thanksgiving spread.

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Deluxe Green Bean Casserole

As I mentioned in the intro, I have made green bean casserole many times. A few years back I watched an episode of Good Eats and host Alton Brown made it completely from scratch. This was a week or so before I would be hosting my own Thanksgiving party, so I decided to make it part of my spread. Of all the stuff I was planning to cook, I thought the scratch-made casserole would be the crown jewel. To make it from scratch requires some attention to detail, and when you’re making the Turkey and a number of other dishes at the same time, the ultimate green bean casserole might be a little too much to handle.*

I figured this out the hard way.

I had too much going on to do the recipe justice. The first task of making the crispy onions was a complete failure. With my attention elsewhere, I burnt the entire batch and had to throw them out. I didn't have the time or product to re-make them. Next, I did something wrong with the roux to make the creamy part of the recipe and it never thickened. The beans and mushrooms turned out just fine. The end result was nicely cooked green beans and sautéed mushrooms in a warm milk mixture.

People still ate it, but for me, my crown jewel became the thorn in my side.

Eat well, cook often ...

*The recipe presented in this post is really quite simple to pull off for a Thanksgiving spread, especially if you make the sides ahead. At the time, I didn't have the slightest clue on how to plan a big meal.

THE RECIPE

Deluxe Green Bean Casserole

Side for 8 to 10; 1 hour
1 lb Baby bella mushrooms, quartered
1 lb Breakfast sausage
1/4 C Flour
2 C Milk
6 C Green beans, cooked or canned
French fried onions, divided

Sauté mushrooms
Preheat oven to 350°
In a large oven-safe skillet or pot over medium heat sauté mushrooms until juices are rendered and cooked through, 8 to 10 minutes. Season with salt and pepper to taste at the end of cooking. Remove from pot with slotted spoon, discard liquids.

Make gravy
Brown sausage until cooked through and fat is rendered, 6 to 8 minutes. Sift in flour, stir until it soaks up liquid and coats sausage, let cook 2 minutes more. Stir in milk, bring to a simmer stirring occasionally, cook until mixture thickens into a gravy. Remove from heat.

Make casserole
Let gravy cool off heat for a few minutes. Stir in reserved mushrooms, green beans and part of the french fried onions. Bake in oven until hot bubbly, 15 to 20 minutes. Top with remaining onions, return to oven for 5 to 10 minutes more, or until onions are brown and crispy. Remove and serve.

Sweet Potato Chips

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Little is known about the menu at the first Thanksgiving dinner with the pilgrims and Native Americans at Plymouth, but more than likely sweet potatoes weren’t on it. Their introduction as a Thanksgiving staple occurred during the 20th century and is the result of the spread of Southern cooking throughout the United States, where it had been a regional mainstay for generations.

I personally have never been crazy for sweet potatoes but that is because I don’t have much of a sweet tooth. I enjoy them most when they are prepared without lots of sugar.

For this recipe, I turn the sweet potato into a savory baked chip and serve it with a roasted garlic and chive dip. The potatoes need to be watched closely near the end of cooking because the window between under cooked and over-cooked is small, but well worth watching for. A tray of sweet potato chips and creamy dip is a nice little compliment to go with the mounds of savory Thanksgiving turkey and delicious sides.

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Sweet Potato Chips with Roasted Garlic Dip

With this recipe, I launch the first salvo of Thanksgiving 2013.

This is the fourth time around for me as far as writing and documenting recipes for the holidays. I’m improving each time. (I hope to have it down pat by year 10!) This time I made a couple of dishes early on for the weekly print column (Sweet potato chips is one of them) then served a full-on Thanksgiving dinner to my niece, two nephews and my Mom and Dad on November 16. This will allow me to have all the recipes written with graphics and pretty photos published in time for people to use them or get ideas for creating there own Holiday spread. I still have one more recipe to complete though, which involves the leftovers, so I'm not totally finished.

I’m really happy with how all of my dishes turned out this year. I planned well, which resulted in a yummy turkey and five better than average sides. I didn’t make any dessert, because when it comes to Thanksgiving I’m way too full of the savory stuff to want any sweets. I’d rather just snack on turkey and green bean casserole as day goes along. I'll save the deserts for Christmas.

Eat well, cook often ...

THE RECIPE

Sweet Potato Chips and Garlic Chive Dip

 
Serves 4; 1 hour
2 Sweet potatoes (sliced 1/8 inch thick or less)
5 cloves Garlic
1/2 C Sour cream
3 Tbs Mayonnaise
2 Tbs Chives minced

Slice, bake chips
Preheat oven to 400°.
Brush both sides of sweet potato slices with oil and season with salt and pepper to taste. Arrange in a single layer on a baking sheet. In batches, bake slices for 20 to 25 minutes, or until crispy, flipping half way through and rotating pan if necessary. Monitor closely near end of cooking.

Make dip
Drizzle garlic with a little olive oil and season with salt and pepper, then wrap with aluminum foil. Place in oven with sweet potatoes and cook 20 minutes. Remove, let cool and mince. Mix sour cream, mayo, chives and garlic together in a bowl, let flavors meld at least 20 minutes, then serve with sweet potato chips. 

Thanksgiving: Turkey, Creamy Mashed Potatoes, and Green Beans with Caramelized Onions

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It’s commonly believed that the first Thanksgiving was celebrated in Plymouth colony by the pilgrims and Native Americans in 1621, but similar celebrations occurred before in Jamestown and the feasts were not held on an annual basis.

Thanksgiving wasn’t an official holiday until 1863, when Abraham Lincoln designated the last Thursday of November as a “national day of thanksgiving.” He made the declaration after key victories of the Union army in the Civil War at Vicksburg and Gettysburg. Since then every president has declared Thanksgiving a national holiday.

For this recipe, I have prepared turkey, the traditional centerpiece of the Thanksgiving meal. For flavor and moisture, I soak a turkey breast in a salt brine overnight. The brine will lock in moisture and infuse the meat with the flavorful spices included in the mix. The use of a meat thermometer is also essential, the turkey is cooked to perfection when the internal temperature of the thickest part reaches 165°.


Creamy Mashed Potatoes

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No Thanksgiving dinner can be complete without mashed potatoes. For this version, I went for creamy and smooth. What does that really mean? Lots of added fat! Heavy cream and butter make these potatoes rich and decadent. The chives add a hint of onion.

This is the way I expect mashed potatoes when I order them at a nice restaurant as a side to a cut of meat or some other star on the plate. Just a nice flavorful side of potatoes. Usually, I like to add cheese, bacon bits or a more fragrant herb like rosemary or thyme. But those flavors appear elsewhere in this Thanksgiving feast and that's what makes this version so good – it's just about the potato!



Green Beans with Caramelized Onions

I bought these beans fresh the night before cooking this feast and when I cleaned them the next day I decided to leave them long and intact, rather than cut them into thirds. This choice made the final product a different experience when it came to consuming. Instead of stabbing at a pile of beans with my fork and getting 4 or 5 bean chunks on it before taking a bite, I was just fishing for one at a time, much like the way I eat asparagus. It was a different and welcomed change. I also left the beans slightly crunchy. It made for a nicer texture and gave this side a savory salad feel.

The other two elements in this dish put this one out of the park. Smoky bacon and sweet caramelized onions. Need I say more? Well yes, I need to say just a little more – the sweet onions and smoky bacon act as a smoky and sweet dressing to the beans. The bacon provides the salt in the dish, a little pepper can be thrown in if desired. The crunchy, al denté-cooked beans are the star here and the other two ingredients come along for the show, providing small hints of extra flavor.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Eat well, cook often ...