Thanksgiving Stuffing

Posted on November 17, 2010 by Lisa

For years I worked on finding the perfect stuffing recipe. I had always enjoyed my mom’s but I wanted to find one of my own that had some goodies in it that my mom’s didn’t have. So after years of experimenting I finally settled on a stuffing recipe that has been my standard for over a decade. I call it Stuffing a la Lisa. I hope you try it and the Sugar Snap Pea recipe that follows. Both recipes are the key to simple Thanksgiving sides.

See you next month, Meet me in the kitchen!
Lisa Breithaupt, The Gourmet Librarian

Stuffing a la Lisa
Ingredients:
1 lb. sausage
3/4 cup of raisins
1 cup of celery chopped
2 small onions chopped
1 1/2 cup mushrooms chopped
1 14 oz. bag cubed stuffing, plain
1 can of chicken broth
1 cup of Brazil nuts (optional)
salt and pepper

Directions:

Saute the 1 lb of sausage and drain. In skillet saute the raisins, celery, onions, and mushrooms. When these items are carmelized add the sausage back into the skillet. Stir in the cubed, plain, stuffing and add broth. Season. Pat into a greased 9X13 baking dish. Bake at 350 degrees for 1 hour.
If you are vegetarian you can make this without the sausage and use vegetable broth instead of chicken broth to moisten the stuffing.

Sugar Snap Peas and Red Grapes

Ingredients:
3/4 lb of sugar snap peas
1 t. unsalted butter
1 shallot finely chopped
1/4 t. salt
pepper
1/2 cup seedless red grapes halved

Directions:

Blanch peas. Cool. Heat butter. Saute shallot (or small onion). Add peas, salt, pepper, and grape halves. Heat through and serve immediatly.

New Books

Posted on November 17, 2010 by Laura

New books from the culinary world:

America the Edible by Adam Richman	Cake Boss by Buddy Valastro
Cooking for Geeks by Jeff Potter	Geometry of Pasta by Caz Hildebrand
Gourmet Cookie Book	Southern Plate by Christy Jordan

Thanksgiving Rolls

Posted on November 8, 2010 by Cindy

Yes! You can make these wonderful rolls for your Thanksgiving dinner, I promise! The thing I love about this recipe is that you can make them in advance and freeze them, saving precious time for the things that have to be prepared that morning.

On Thanksgiving morning just take your homemade rolls out of the freezer, let them rise until doubled, (approximately three hours) and put them in the oven to bake.

Thanksgiving Rolls

2 cups Warm Water
⅔ cups Non Fat Dry Powdered Milk
2 Tablespoons Dry Yeast (two 1/4 Ounce Packets)
¼ cups Sugar
2 teaspoons Salt
⅓ cups Real Butter
1 whole Egg
5-½ cups All-purpose Flour
Real Butter, Melted, For Brushing On Rolls

Instructions

In your mixer combine water and dry milk. Stir until dissolved. Add yeast, sugar, salt, butter, egg and 2 cups flour. Mix on low speed until ingredients are wet, then for 2 minutes on medium speed. Add 2 more cups flour, and mix on low speed until ingredients are wet, and 2 minutes on medium speed. Add remaining flour.

Once combined, knead with hands, or with your heavy duty mixer, using kneading hook attachment. Place dough in greased bowl. Turn over once to grease top of dough. Cover with damp cloth, and let rise in a warm place until double in size.

Place dough on floured surface. Roll out dough, and brush with melted butter. Cut rolls into desired shape and size. Place on a greased or parchment paper lined baking pan. Let rise in warm place until rolls are doubled in size. Bake at 375 degrees for 15 to 20 minutes or until browned. Brush with melted butter while hot. Recipe yields 40 rolls.

How to freeze rolls: After shaping the rolls place them 2 inches apart on a waxed paper-lined baking sheet. Place the rolls in the freezer and freeze until firm. When the rolls are firm, transfer to a large zip lock freezer bag. Date and freeze for up to 4 weeks.

To use freezer rolls: Arrange frozen rolls 2 inches apart on baking sheets coated with nonstick cooking spray or covered with parchment paper. Cover rolls with plastic wrap coated with baking spray. Place in a warm place and let the rolls rise until doubled in size. Then follow baking instructions above.