Baked Brie-- Super Easy Thanksgiving Starter

This is a fantastic dead-easy recipe for a Thanksgiving starter.  

INGREDIENTS:

-1 Brie cheese.

-1 Camembert cheese.

-2 or 3 spoonfuls of jam of fig or raspberry 

or whatever you have.

STEPS:

1. Place the cheeses with the jam on top on a plate that you can place in the oven for about 30-40 minutes. 

2. Bake at 180 degrees for 30-40 minutes until the cheese is very soft and jam has caramelized.

3. When you serve, let it cool off 10 minutes so that it is not volcanic hot.

 

So so so good, and so easy. Even you can take it somewhere because the cheese will harden a little but it is still so good with the jam caramelized. 

Bread Stuffing for Thanksgiving

Let's be honest, stuffing is perhaps my favorite dish of Thanksgiving. But it does require some serious work (as in hours and hours, I'd say 3 hours!) of total cooking and prep time.

 

Worth it though. I have followed this recipe every year and it has worked year after year. I like my stuffing more on the dry side of things, not wet and mushy and soggy but a little tough. The way you make this work is by

1. not adding too much stock at the end and 2. drying out the bread before hand.

So let's get started!

INGREDIENTS:

-1 big loaf of crusty bread Surdough.  

-1 cup of walnuts or pecans.

-400 grms of sausage meat.

-1 large yellow onion, diced.

-3 medium celery stalks.

-2 tablespoons of sage, thyme and oregano (mixed).

-1 large apple.

-1 tsp of salt.

-150 aprox.  of concentrated chicken stock.

STEPS:

1. Dice up the bread in small dices and toast it for 10 minutes at 220 degrees in the oven.

2. Now add the nuts and toast again for another 10 minutes. Set apart.

3. In the meantime, cook the sausages and break it up into crumbles and brown it for 1o minutes.

4. Now add the vegetables to the sausage.  Start with the onions in small dices for 5 minutes until they are translucent. Now add the celery in thin slices too for another 5 minutes. Now dice up the apple too for 3 minutes. Add a little pepper to all this.

5. Now combine all the ingredients. Mix the toasted bread, nuts, 2 eggs and stir until it is all evenly coated.

6. Now transfer all to a baking dish (or two!).

7. Now add the broth. I put one broth cube for the 200 ml so that it tastes strong. Now I like stuffing on the dry side, not mushy so I put less broth. If you like it dry like me do not put more liquid. 

8. Stick in oven for about 1 hour in 180 degrees until it all begins to dry out. 

9. Now open the door of the oven and let all the steam go and continue cooking with the oven open about 25 degrees. The water has to disappear! and the bread has to go hard again, the only way to do this is to opening the door of the oven. WEIRD! but yup, necessary. I have never had to open the oven door to cook a this, but turns out you have to. 

10. Continue watching it until it is all crispy and golden but do not let it brown. Use the grill as well, but watch out it is so easy to have it burned. 

11. Let it cool briefly before serving.

That's it. This recipe is quite a gem.

  

Abraham Lincoln told me it was awesome.

Spinach Salad for Thanksgiving

Another Thanksgiving classic recipe of my friend Julie:

INGREDIENTS:

- 2 bags of salad.
-1 package of feta cheese 
-1/2 red onion thinly sliced
-3 handfuls of cranberries.
-Almonds sliced or walnuts crushed a bit.
-4 spoonful of balsamic vinegar 
-1/4 of a glass of olive oil.

-5 spoonful of raspberry jam. 

-salt and pepper.

-1 tspoon of sugar if it is too acidic.

STEPS:

1. Place all salad in a bowl.

2. Add all ingredients, the red onion sliced and the feta cheese.

3. Now mix the balsamic vinegar, the jam, the olive oil and salt pepper. It should be a mix of sweet and salty.

4. Season with the dressing, and with the cranberries.

5. The sliced almonds/walnuts are the superb finish but not necessary. 

So so festive. Perfect for Christmas too.

Green Bean Casserole for Thanksgiving

Another great and easy recipe for Thanksgiving and for bland green beans, who knew beans could taste so good, seriously.  Unfortunately this is the only photo I have of the beans, but you can see how yummy it all looks.

INGREDIENTS:

-French cut beans (from bottle already cooked or fresh ones). 
-1 can of condensed mushroom soup (Campbell's).
-Onion flakes (the type you buy).

STEPS:

1. Put the beans in glass container and then pour the mushroom soup and mix everything. 

(If they are fresh boil them for 10 minutes but don't let them get too mushy). 

2. The day of Thanksgiving, place green beans of oven dish and add the entire mushroom Campbell soup and toss so that they are all covered in the sauce. 

3. After 20-30 minutes in 180 degrees baking, add and then and only then, the onion flakes on top and grill for 5 minutes.  Be careful with the order of this step.

4. Be careful with the flakes, they burn in NO TIME.

Sweet Potatoes with Marshmellows--Thanksgiving

 

This dish of the Thanksgiving dinner is one of my favorites. The thing about this dish is that you can make it good or so so good, and it all depends on these little things that make it taste from another world (but also more fattening too). I got the recipe last year from this site. 

INGREDIENTS:

-6 sweet potatoes. 

-50 grams of brown sugar.

-1/4 teaspoon of ground cinnamon.

-250 grams of white marshmallows.

-1/4 teaspoons of all ground spice or pumpkin spice.

-1/2 teaspoon of salt.

-2 handfuls of pecan nuts.

STEPS:

1. Peel and boil the sweet potatoes for 20 minutes and then roast them in low heat for 2 or 3 hours until they are very very soft.

 

2. Now mash potatoes and mix with the sugar, cinnamon, salt, and all ground spice. Make sure it is neither too sweet not too salty. 

It has to be balanced because of the layer of sugar you are adding next with the marshmallows.

3. Now add to a baking dish and cover with a little bit of brown sugar and some pecan nuts and then a layer of marshmallows. 

(This step is totally optional).

4. Now add a layer of marshmallows and stick in oven in top grill for 5 minutes, but be REAL CAREFUL, they burn in NO TIME.

This dish is Thanksgiving in a nutshell. 

Mashed Potatoes--Thanksgiving

A while ago, my friend Julie gave me some great Thanksgiving recipes. I wanted to keep them all together in one place. They were very good and easy.  So here they are in the next posts, even if it is not for a Thanksgiving dinner, this one will spice up your mashed potatoes. 

INGREDIENTS: 

-7-8 big potatoes. (1,5 kg).

-200 grms. cream cheese.

-2 spoonfuls of butter.
-1,5 teaspoons of salt.
-2,5 spoonfuls of onion powder.

-0,5 teaspoons of garlic.

-a few chives or herbs for decoration.

STEPS:

1. Peel the potatoes, boil them and smash them, really, really, really well.
2. Add the butter, cream cheese, onion powder, garlic powder and salt. Keep adding up more of these spices as you like, but be careful it is not super oniony or salty.
3. Mix it all up until is super creamy and then decorate with some chives or some green neutral herb on top.
 
You can also use Ranch dressing with the mashed potatoes if you want to go crazy american. 

Thanksgiving Dinner Planning & Organization

I love Thanksgiving and even more after going to Massachusetts last year and going to Plymouth, Boston and all the New England colonies.  

The Pilgrims were such courageous people who took so seriously the call of God in their lives, seeking God's will, fighting for religious freedom, and wanting to create a new country, a new start. Also they way it ties with the Civil War in USA, when Abraham Lincoln made it an official holiday right after the bloody war to give thanks to God for his goodness and provision despite all the bad. 

Anyway, ramblings of a English Philologist...

But Thanksgiving dinners are so much work!  So this year, I have organized myself better and I don't wanna forget how I am doing it, so I thought I would write before I forget.

Thanksgiving dinner (my main basic recipe) has basically 6 main dishes and desserts and then all the others little additions: 

MAIN DISHES:

-Turkey.

-Stuffing.

-Mashes Potatoes.

-Sweet potatoes casserole.

-Green beans casserole.

-Spinach salad.

SAUCES:

-Cranberry sauce.

-Gravy for turkey.

DESSERTS:

-Pumpkin pie.

-Apple pie.

-Chocolate cake.

DRINKS:

-Apple juice.

-Cranberry juice.

-Red and white wine.

-Apple cider.

So the way I have done it this year is the following starting from the Monday of the Thanksgiving week:

1. On Monday: 

-Order turkey, or even Friday of the week before 

 -Make a list of ALL the ingredients necessary and shop for all of them in Taste of America and normal supermarket, including plates and cups.

2. On Tuesday: 

-Prepare 2 dishes: the mashed potatoes and the sweet potatoes and stick in fridge. 

-Prepare and toast the bread for the stuffing. Leave outside. 

-Prepare decorations and possible play.

3. On Wednesday: 

-Prepare the stuffing until step 3 in my recipe.

-Prepare the green casserole, by boiling the beans.

-Prepare the spinach salad, except pouring dressing on top.

-Clean your house.

4. On Thursday:

-Prepare turkey first of all because it will take many hours!

-Then, finish cooking stuffing. 

-Finish the cooking in the oven of green beans casserole, sweet potatoes, drizzle salad, heat up mashed potatoes in the microwave.

-Prepare table.

-Carve turkey.

-Do the brie starters.

-Make sure people arrive on time 7pm is quite perfect.

That's kinda it! 

I have not prepared the desserts up until this point, but with desserts you can ALWAYS freeze them.  I hope this helps you as it has helped me this year.

Easy Greek Lamb Meatballs and pasta

(So sorry I am missing a photo of this great recipe! but hey it is coming)

 Wait! I know you don't want to believe this recipe is easy, but trust me, it is!!! My sister showed me this recipe and wow, I'm a believer, great flavours and very simple. It comes from this article of the Guardian.  I did it twice in Cambridge and my guests loved it.

INGREDIENTS:

For the tomato sauce:
-2 cans of 400 grams chopped tomatoes.

-1 garlic clove crushed.

-1 cinnamon stick.

-150 feta cheese.

-a handful of mint leaves.

For the meatballs:

-500 grams of lamb mince

-2 teaspoons of oregano.

-1 egg.

-50 grams of soaked breadcrumbs.

STEPS:

1. Make the sauce. Saute the garlic clove crushed in saucepan for 2-3 minutes. 

2. Now add the tomatoes tins and a tiny bit of water and add the cinnamon stick, pepper and let it simmer for 20 to 30 minutes. The cinnamon stick is the magic part because it makes deep and sweet and delicious.

2. Make the meatballs. For that you need to mix together the mince, the egg, the oregano and the breacrumbs and salt and pepper. (Highly important to use egg because it acts like the glue). 

3. Now shape into golf balls and place them on the simmering sauce until they are fully immersed, cover and let them poach for about 20 minutes.

4. Now transfer the meatballs and sauce to a baking dish and cover with crumbled feta cheese and mint leaves and stick in the oven in highest temperature for 15 minutes until feta cheese is golden.

5. That's it. So many wonderful yummy flavors, just amazing. 

Serve with pasta, orzo is ideal but any would do. You'll love it. This recipe is good for when you want to impress your guests like you actually know how to cook well. 

 

5 Ingredient Cauliflower Soup

       

I love October and November. Don't you think they are magic months? I love the leaves, the cold coming, but not too cold, the shorter days, the streets of people going about in the darkness, and soups at night. And of course there is Thanksgiving! which takes me to my true loves in life, my beloved writers, Puritans and the Founding fathers...

Enough of that, I wanted to post this recipe that I did last year which reminds me of farm living. Very simple but healthy, good and comforting and only 5 ingredients. Here is the original recipe I followed. 

INGREDIENTS:

-1 Cauliflower.

-1 onion.

-1 spoonful of butter.

-1 spoonful of flour.

-1 chicken/veggie stock.

-1,5 litres of water.

-Italian herbs, pepper, salt, etc.

STEPS:

1. Melt the butter in a pot, and now add the flour and create paste.

2. Add the water and the stock and stir until it is all well dissolved.

3. In the meantime dice up the onions and add to pot. Bring to a boil.

4. Now add the cauliflower cut up in small florets and bring it to a boil again and then reduce to a simmer, and let it simmer for 20-30 minutes. 

5. Season the soup with Italian herbs, pepper, and chili peppers.

5. Now puree the whole soup with a hand blender.

That's it. I love this easy homy soup. The key is the seasoning, so add any you fancy. 

In the Orchard House, Little Women home in Concord, Massachusetts

Mushroom & Spinach & Sausage Pasta Bake

Where do you get these recipes? My sister said.  Yeah, I don't know, I mean, Instagram or the internet?

This is what my sister said after she tried this dish that I brought for Kenton and I to her house. I have been really enjoying these recipes and all the crazy variations you can do with them. And they have NO CREAM or chicken stock (sick of cooking with both of them).

So I had seen this variations of pasta bake with sausages and it just looked pretty fantastic. So I kinda made this recipe the other based on the other pasta bake I did the other day that you can find here: https://lajoliecuisine.blogspot.com/2020/11/artichoke-chicken-pasta-bake.html. 

The key to this recipe is to get super flavorful strong yummy sausages and let them be the star of the show. The rest of the ingredients, should be for color and soft and adding a slight bit of flavor but not too much, to not overpower the dish. 

INGREDIENTS:

-250 grams of pasta.

-30o grams of mushrooms.

-5 or 6 bunches of spinach.

-75 grams of grated cheese.

-10 yummy flavorful pork sausages. 

-A handful of breadcrumbs.

For the white sauce:

-1 spoonful of flour.

-1 spoonful of butter.

-200 ml of milk.

-salt and pepper.

-2 teaspoons of dijon mustard.

-50 grams of grated cheese.

1. Prepare the pasta, boil in water with some oil. (Tip: 250 grams of pasta is enough for one of those normal baking trays for about 4 meals). Set apart.

2. Cook the sausage, cutting all of them in slices, fry them and let them brown a little. Set apart.

3. Prepare the mushrooms and cut up in halves. Set apart.

4. Begin preparing the white sauce: melt the butter in a saucepan in low heat, now add the flour and create the paste, now add the milk and stir and stir until there are no lumps. Bring it to a boil and it will thicken. Now add the mushrooms and let the sauce get mushroomy flavor stirring. Add pepper and the dijon mustard to add flavor. Let it all cook there for 10 minutes at least and then when you see that all flavorful have come together, add the handful of spinach (no stems). You can add cheese to the sauce but it is not neccesary. I wanted mine to taste mushroomy and the spinach is simply for color purposes.

5. Okay, time to assemble it all together! So now turn the oven on to 220 degrees (almost higher temperature) both on the top and on the bottom. 

6. Add a little bit of the wonderful sauce to the baking dish, like a bed of cream for the pasta to sit on. Now add the pasta and on top add the sausage in slices that you have already cooked. Now toss around so that is all evenly distributed. 

7. Now add your wonderful sauce all around and toss well with a spoon so that everything is well mixed and the sauce is everywhere around the pasta.

8. Add the grated cheese and THEN, the breadcrumbs for the special touch. 

9. Stick it in oven for 2o minutes until the top is brown and that's it.

Very good! This dish is awesome because you can forget about cooking for at least 2 days, so you can dive into your books :)