Meghan's Pecan Brie Goodness

Meghan brought a dessertlicious (haha) appetizer to Thanksgiving last week. She found it on this site.

Ingredients:

1/2 cup lightly packed brown sugar
1/4 cup corn syrup
1/4 cup unsalted butter
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1-1/2 Cup pecan halves, roughly chopped
One 3-inch round, Brie cheese

Preparation:Combine brown sugar, corn syrup and butter in a small, heavy-bottomed saucepan set over medium heat. Stir mixture until it comes to a boil. Boil gently, without stirring, for 1 minute.

Remove from heat and, shielding hands with oven mitts, quickly whisk in baking soda. Stir in salt and pecans until mixture begins to set, about 30 seconds.

Working quickly, mound warm nut mixture on top of Brie and let caramel cascade down sides of cheese.

Caitie's Taco Dip

 

Here's another Smithe family favorite served on Thanksgiving last Thursday! 

 

Sour Cream (as much as you need)

Taco seasoning (add to desired "sodium level")

Cheddar Cheese

Jalapeno

Green Onions

 

Chop up the jalapeno and green onions and mix in to sour cream with taco seasoning and cheese... use however much of each ingredient you want!

(Great) Grandma Flynn's Coleslaw

Here's another recipe from Thursday's Thanksgiving feast!

It seems like my dad/Wally/Captain has taken the responsibility of carrying on Grandma Flynn's coleslaw recipe.  I'm so glad he did because it is such a nice side to have along with all the hot-n-heavy foods.  He said it is based loosely on recipes found on-line like this one http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/bobby-flay/creamy-cole-slaw-recipe/index.html

As Dad/Wally/Captain said, one whole cabbage will feed an army, so don't worry about cutting this recipe in half.

Finely chop a whole cabbage, 2 large carrots, 1 small to medium onion and a handful of fresh curly parsley.  The chopping is a lot of work.  Put in a really big bowl and mix well by flipping the bowl like you flip an omelet.

Dressing is a cup or so of mayonnaise, a few table spoons sour cream, a few tablespoons white vinegar, a tablespoon or two of sugar. Cover with a layer of celery salt and garlic powder.  Whisk in a half cup or so of heavy cream, then as whisking add a bit more cream to get a consistency that will spread over the cabbage.  If too thick add some milk.  Fold it in to cabbage a couple of batches to get good distribution and stir well till evenly distributed.  Add regular salt and ground pepper to taste.   Better if refrigerated for an hour before serving.  Stir well before each serving since some dressing pools to bottom.

U. Mark's Rutabegas

For those of us gathered together at Mom/Mary/Granmary's home on Thursday, we all know just how delicious Mark's rutabegas were.  I asked for his recipe, and it is short, sweet and simple:

Organic rutabegas boiled in water with sea salt. Whip with a handheld mixer and a little butter.

Lebanese Lentil Soup

 This lentil soup is inspired by one on a blog written by a Lebanese woman.  I add additional seasoning, and I cook it a bit longer. It is a very comforting, tasty and easily vegetarian soup to make.


The recipe calls for red lentils. These are not the same as the lentils most of us are used to, and they can't be interchanged.  I buy them at Treasure Island because our Dominick's doesn't sell them.  The brand I use is Ziyad.

2 small onions, roughly chopped 
4-5 garlic cloves 
2 cups red lentils
10 cups of water or chicken/vegetable stock (I use chicken stock)
2 T cumin 
2 T tumeric
salt & pepper 

Saute the onion in a large pot with some olive oil until softened. Add the garlic and saute for another minute. Add the lentils and stock/water. Season with salt, pepper, cumin and tumeric. Bring to a boil then simmer on low heat (covered) for 30 minutes. Serve with a quick squeeze of fresh lemon juice.

Sour Cream Chicken

I found this recipe on a cooking blog today, and I made it for dinner tonight.  It will definitely become part of our regular dinner repertoire for a few reasons: 1) it was incredibly easy to prepare, 2) clean-up was a breeze and 3) normally picky Evie LOVED it and asked for seconds!

I know there are a few vegetarian Sisters out there - this is a good dish to prepare for your meat-eating family members because there is minimal meat-handling required :)

Along with this chicken we had mashed sweet potatoes and steamed broccoli.

• 2 pounds chicken breasts or tenders
• 1 1/2 cups of Pepperidge Farm Herbed Stuffing, the crumbles not the cubes
• 1 cup (approximately) of sour cream
• kosher salt
• freshly ground pepper
• garlic powder
• 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, cubed

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.  Lay the chicken close together on a foil lined baking sheet.  Sprinkle with salt, pepper and garlic powder. Coat chicken with a thick layer of sour cream. Top that with the seasoned Pepperidge Farm breadcrumbs and then dot with the butter cubes. Bake for 35 minutes for chicken tenders or up to an hour for chicken breasts. Its ready when the chicken is cooked through and the breadcrumbs are nicely browned.