Thanksgiving Dinner- Fried Sweet Potatoes

Simple dish with lots of flavor. Inspired by the dinner being prepared here (at the Firestone Farm House in Greenfield Village).
makes 8-10 servings

6 sweet potatoes
3 tablespoons butter
salt

The day before, bake sweet potatoes in 400 degree oven for about an hour.  No need to prep them n any way. Just wash and set them on the top shelf of the cold oven. Turn temp to 400 degrees and check for doneness in one hour with a sharp knife. If the nice slides through, it's done! Still a little hard? Give it a little more time.

Cool and put in refrigerator overnight.

Day of, slice into 1/4-1/2" slices. (remove the skin if you want to)Sprinkle with a pinch or two of salt.

Place 3 tablespoons butter in large skillet over medium/high heat. Add potatoes when butter has melted. Let the potatoes brown & caramelize before flipping- a good 5 minutes. Flip potatoes and turn the heat down a bit to medium-medium/low. Once the other side is browned, turn off heat, place lid on potatoes until ready to serve. They will stay nice and warm for quite a while.

Chicken Noodle Soup

This recipes almost fills up my 8 qt stock pot. The egg noodles are sturdy and hold up to freezing. Just thaw & reheat. Better than the canned stuff!

1 large softball size onion, chopped
1/2 bunch of celery, chopped- including the greens at the top!
1 lb. carrots, sliced
1 tbsp butter
1 tbsp (or more) parsley
1 tsp garlic (fresh or powder)
1/2 gallon of chicken stock
3 boneless chicken breasts (about 8oz.-1lb.)
Water to fill pot
Salt & Pepper to taste

Saute onions, celery, & carrots in butter over medium until they have some caramel color and the onions start to turn translucent- about 5-8 minutes.
Add parsley & garlic.

Add stock and chicken breasts. Bring to a boil. Poach chicken breasts about 20 minutes. Remove chicken from pot to a cutting board or plate. Let cool until you can handle it, then use two forks to shred chicken into bite size pieces.

Add chicken back to the stock pot. Fill the pot the rest of the way with water (or more stock if you think it needs the extra flavor).

Simmer on low while you prepare noodles.

2 cups flour
4 eggs
1 tsp salt

Using your bread machine (can be done in a big mixing bowl by hand, too), add flour, eggs, & salt to the bowl with paddle attached. Set machine to "dough" setting. Run for 10 minutes. You may need to add a little more flour or a 1/2 tsp of water at a time until the dough is a smooth, slightly sticky ball. 10 minutes total ensures that the dough is mixed and kneaded the proper amount of time. After time is up, stop machine, and rest dough for 10 more minutes.

Using pasta machine, roll sheets of dough out to thickest setting. Take each sheet, roll it up, and slice 1/2" spirals. Unroll the spirals into long noodles.

Heat soup to a boil. Add pasta to the soup, breaking noodles into smaller lengths if desired. Pasta will be finished cooking in 5 minutes.  Serve immediately or portion for freezing once slightly cooled.

Millet Pumpkin Chocolate Muffins

Slightly sweet with a nutty crunch from the millet. Goes nicely with morning coffee.

1/2 cup melted butter
1 cup pumpkin puree
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup honey
2 eggs
1/4 cup plain yogurt
2 tsp vanilla
1/4 cup cocoa powder
1 3/4 cup whole wheat flour
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 cup dry millet

Preheat oven to 350.

Combine butter, pumpkin, sugar, honey, eggs, yogurt, vanilla, & cocoa powder in a large mixing bowl.
Dump in flour, cinnamon, salt, soda, & millet. Fold mixture until mostly combined…not too much though- batter will be thick and lumpy.

Scoop with large-3tbsp size- scoop (I use this one) into greased muffin tins. Bake for about 15 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into center of muffin comes out clean.

Makes about 18.

inspired by Joy the Baker's recipe

Pumpkin Pie Truffles

1 sleeve graham crackers, finely crushed
1/4 cup butter, softened
4 cups powdered sugar
1 tsp. vanilla
1/2 cup pumpkin puree
2 tsp. pumpkin pie spice

Blend everything together in mixer bowl until well combined. Scoop 1 tsp. rounds with a small scoop onto a cookie sheet lined with plastic wrap. Chill until firm. Put them in the freezer to speed up the process.

Once chilled, melt about 1lb. chocolate candy melts or chips (any flavor will work, I used milk chocolate) in a double boiler until completely melted. Stir in 1 tbsp oil.

Dip the truffles in chocolate to coat using forks or spoons. The mixture is soft, so you'll need to work quickly when dipping in the warm chocolate. Place back on tray until chocolate sets. Sprinkle with graham cracker crumbs or sanding sugar/sprinkles while chocolate is still shiny if you want to decorate them.

Makes about 30.

Avocado Red Pepper Pasta

4 ripe avocados, halved and pit removed.
1 medium/large sweet red pepper
1 clove garlic, peeled
1/2 cup parmesan cheese
1/2 tsp black pepper
2 tbsp olive oil
2 tbsp lemon juice
splash of milk, I used almond milk

Place garlic and red pepper into food processor. Pulse until finely chopped. Scoop out avocado flesh into food processor. Add remaining ingredients. Blend until smooth.

Add to hot, cooked pasta. I used angel hair. Makes enough sauce for 1lb pasta.

Store extra sauce in airtight container.

Hummus

This recipe makes about 20 cups of hummus. It could easily be divided. It can be frozen for up to 6 months, but it won't last that long because it's so delicious! It's made with white northern beans instead of chick peas. This give the hummus a creamy texture like the brands from the grocery store.

2lbs dried white northern beans- cooked (I use the crock pot method)- makes about 14-16 cups OR 8-10 cans beans, drained
6-8 cloves garlic, peeled
6oz. Tahini
1 cup olive oil
1 1/2 cups bottled lemon juice- this reduces the chances of spoiling
1 tsp. red pepper flakes
3tsp. salt- more or less to taste

Measure out all of your ingredients. Add 2 garlic cloves to the processor and mince. Add about 4-6 cups of beans to the processor with garlic. Add about 1/3 of each of the other ingredients and run processor until the mixture is smooth and creamy. Dump contents into a large mixing bowl.
Repeat until you've used up all of the measured ingredients.
Mix all of the batches well in the large mixing bowl. It will seem a little thin but it will firm up when it's refrigerated.
Divide into appropriate serving containers.
Refrigerate or freeze. Lasts in the refrigerator about 2 weeks.

You can experiment with different amounts of the ingredients- more lemon, more tahini, etc. or add flavorings just like the store brands. Go here for some ideas!

You can also leave out the tahini and it will be white bean dip.

Apple Chips

Simple snack that only uses on ingredient!

Cookie Sheet
3 small apples per cookie sheet
Parchment Paper

Preheat oven to 250 degrees, 235 if you have a convection oven.

Use apple slicer to core and slice apples. I have this one. If you don't have this tool, just core and thinly slice apples.

Line cookie sheet with parchment paper. Arrange apple slices very closely on pan, being careful not to overlap. Bake for 2 hours. Let cool and store in an air tight container.