Our family likes to have at least one additional dressing dish along with the stuffing that’s cooking inside the Thanksgiving turkey.  A classic corn and cornbread dressing is a good choice if you want to give a nod to our first Thanksgiving feast.

½ stick of butter
1 cup diced celery
2 cups diced onions
2 cups water
1 16 oz can of corn, drained
3 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley
½ teaspoon paprika
¼ teaspoon dried oregano
2 chicken flavored bouillons
6 cups crumbled cornbread
½ cup chopped pecans
Dash of black pepper

Preheat oven to 350F.  Lightly grease a 2 ½ quart baking dish and set aside.

Melt the butter in large skillet over low heat.  Add onion and celery and cook for approximately 5 minutes or until tender.  Add water, corn, bouillon, paprika, oregano and pepper.  Mix well and then add the cornbread and chopped pecans.  Stir through the chopped parsley and spoon mixture into baking dish.  Cover with foil and bake for approximately 30 minutes.

When you have a house full of sleepy, hungry folks this holiday season, fill their tummies up fast with this hearty and delicious breakfast casserole.  Nothing starts out a busy day full of holiday activities like a hot breakfast!  This dish will be much appreciated by all your holiday guests.

3 plain bagels (sliced thin)
12 eggs (beaten with a fork)
1/2 pound cooked diced ham (option: may choose other form of meat or even black beans for your vegetarian guests.)
1/4 cup finely chopped onion
1 tablespoon fresh chopped parsley
1 cup grated cheddar cheese
1 cup milk
salt and pepper to taste
1 tablespoons butter with 1 tablespoon canola oil

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.

Place butter/oil mix in heavy skillet. Add ham and onion. Sauté over low heat until tender (approximately 2 minutes). Set aside.

Slice each bagel into 4 thin slices. Arrange 6 bagel slices in lightly greased baking dish. Top bagels with ham and onion mixture. Then top with cheddar cheese. Finally top with remaining bagel slices.

In a separate bowl whisk together eggs, milk, parsley, and salt and pepper to taste. Pour the egg mixture over the bagel layers.

Bake uncovered at 375F for approximately 30 minutes or until eggs are firm and cooked through.

If a traditionally prepared turkey for Thanksgiving is part of your holiday table, you will appreciate the nostalgic look and delicious taste of this recipe.  The warm aroma of chestnuts and apple will certainly bring images of a Norman Rockwell Thanksgiving portrait to mind. Enjoy!

10 lb. turkey, completely thawed properly

An hour or more before stuffing the thawed turkey:

At least one hour before cooking time, prepare your turkey.  Remove any giblets and rise well (inside and out) with cold water, then pat dry with paper towels.  Generously rub turkey with olive oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Cover and place back in refrigerator until time to cook. (You can do this the night before cooking if desired.)

Prepare stuffing:

½ cup whole chestnuts
2 Tablespoons olive oil
1 onion, diced
2 celery stalks, chopped small
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 teaspoon dried sage
1 teaspoon dried rosemary
1 teaspoon dried thyme
1 apple, peeled, cored, and diced small
1 egg, lightly beaten with fork
5 cups stale bread, crusts removed, cubed
1 ¼ cups chicken broth
¼ cup butter, melted
olive oil
salt (sea salt is preferable)
pepper

To roast the chestnuts, cut an X on the flat side of each chestnut and bake 15 to 20 minutes at 375F oven.  Let cool for 10 minutes and then peel and chop.

Leave oven on to preheat for cooking the turkey.

In a large pot over low heat, heat the olive oil then add onions and celery.  Saute for about 3 minutes or until soft.  Stir in crushed garlic, sage, rosemary, thyme and apple and sauté for a further 3 to 5 minutes. Remove from heat and stir in egg, then add chestnuts and bread cubes. Toss mixture well. Stir in warm broth and season with salt and pepper. Set aside to cool.

Stuffing the turkey:

Remove turkey from fridge and loosely stuff the neck cavity with chestnut stuffing, fold the skin under and secure in place with a toothpick.  Then loosely stuff the main cavity, making sure to leave room for expansion and the air to flow through.

Then prepare your roasting pan.  Use a large roasting pan and at the bottom add two roughly chopped carrots, onion and celery.  Place the rack over the vegetables.  Now place your turkey, breast side up, on the rack.  Drizzle with melted butter if desired.

Bake, uncovered, at 375F for the first 30 minutes, then baste and reduce oven temperature to 325F.  Continue basting turkey every 25 to 30 minutes.  The cooking time should be approximately 20 minutes per pound of turkey, which would be about 3.5 hours for a 10 pound turkey.  To check if the turkey is cooked pierce the thigh bone, juices should run clear without any pink.  Also use a meat thermometer on the thickest part of the thigh.  The temperature should show 180F.  Turkey should be golden and crispy on the outside too.

Remove the turkey from roasting tray and cover loosely with a foil tent.

Tip:  For extra added safety, I like to remove the stuffing from turkey once turkey is cooked and bake on a separate dish for approximately 10 extra minutes.

Making the gravy:

2 carrots, roughly chopped
1 onion, diced
2 celery stalks, roughly chopped
corn flour
chicken stock (richer than broth, but you can use broth if you wish)
butter (if desired)

Mash the vegetables that were cooked with the turkey right in the roasting pan with a potato masher, then scoop into a colander or sieve placed over a large saucepan, and push all ingredients through to strain out any bones, etc.  Place the sauce pan with the strained liquid on the stove and simmer over low heat.  If you don’t have enough liquid then add 1 cup or more (depending on how much gravy you need) of chicken stock; you can also add a butter if you like.

In a small bowl add two tablespoons of corn flour and mix with cold water (about ½ cup) until all lumps dissolve.  Slowly add a little of this mixture (tablespoon by tablespoon) to the saucepan, stirring well after each addition and allowing time for gravy to thicken.  Keep adding corn flour/water mixture until gravy thickens.

Tip: You can also add a couple of tablespoons of red wine to the gravy for a richer, darker gravy.  The alcohol will dissolve during the cooking process.

This is a filling dinner that’s very suitable for a cool fall evening.  Similar to grilled all-in-one recipes, this is also a great way to serve a meal in the middle of the winter when you just want a little reminder of summer!

I use the bone-in chicken breasts for the extra flavor the chicken bone provides as it bakes in the bundle with the veggies.

4 chicken breasts, skinless with bone in
2 tablespoons vegetable or canola oil for frying

1 cup fresh mushrooms, sliced fine
2 cups potatoes, diced fine
2 tablespoons onion, diced fine
2 tablespoons vegetable oil or canola oil
salt and pepper to taste
1 tablespoon fresh parsley (finely chopped)
juice from 1 large lemon

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

In a large skillet, lightly brown the chicken breasts in hot oil, then remove to a plate and set aside.

In that large skillet with all the brown drippings, add the mushrooms, potatoes, onions, vegetable oil, and salt and pepper.  Turn the heat under the skillet to low and stir the ingredients together until warmed through and you get the brown drippings up from the pan and mixed with the veggies. Turn off the heat and stir in the parsley and lemon juice.

Tear off four sheets of heavy duty aluminum foil (large enough to hold the chicken breasts and mixture together).

Place one piece of foil on top of a baking sheet and put one chicken breast and a handful of the veggie mixture on each sheet of aluminum foil. Fold over the edges several times to make a parcel, being sure to press and fold seams tightly so the juices don’t leak out. Do this for each of the four separate parcels.

The holiday season is upon us once again!  I love baking warm, sweet muffins for the family on a cool, crisp fall morning.  These muffins are especially moist and colorful – perfect for a Thanksgiving morning or even Christmas Day breakfast.

2 cups all-purpose flour
½ cup sugar
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
½ teaspoon salt
1 egg – lightly beaten with fork
1/3 cup vegetable oil
1 cup unsweetened applesauce (if you only have sweet applesauce, just cut your sugar in half)
1 cup fresh or frozen cranberries, chopped into smaller pieces
½ cup pecans chopped

Preheat oven to 350F.  Lightly grease the muffin tin.  In a large bowl mix together the flour, sugar, baking soda, salt and cinnamon.  In a separate bowl mix the eggs, applesauce and oil.  Add the applesauce mixture to the dry ingredients and mix together gently (do not over mix).
Gently fold in cranberries and scoop mixture into muffin cups until 2/3 full. Bake at 350F for approximately 30 minutes.  Cool for 5 minutes before removing from pan.