Roasted Pear Stuffing

Roasted Pear Stuffing

Ingredients

2  teaspoons  olive oil
4  cups  sliced peeled Bosc pear (about 3 1/2 pounds)
1  cup  diced onion
1  cup  diced peeled celeriac (celery root)
3  garlic cloves, minced
1/2  cup  dry sherry
5  cups  (1/2-inch) cubed dense white bread (about 8 ounces)
1  cup  fat-free, less-sodium chicken broth
1/2  cup  chopped hazelnuts, toasted
2  teaspoons  chopped fresh or 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
1/2  teaspoon  salt
1/4  teaspoon  freshly ground black pepper
2  large eggs, lightly beaten
Preparation

Preheat oven to 350°.

Heat the oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add pear slices, and cook, without stirring, 2 minutes or until golden brown. Carefully turn pear slices; cook for 2 minutes or until golden brown. Add onion, celeriac, and garlic; saute 3 minutes or until lightly browned. Add sherry and brandy, and cook until liquid almost evaporates. Remove from heat; cool.

Combine pear mixture, bread, and remaining ingredients in a large bowl, tossing gently. Spoon the bread mixture into a 2-quart casserole. Cover with lid, and bake at 350° for 45 minutes or until thoroughly heated.

Wild Rice Stuffing with fruit

Wild Rice Stuffing with fruit

Ingredients

• 6 tablespoons (3/4 stick) butter
• 18 ounces pearl onions, blanched in boiling water 1 minute, peeled

• 4 1/2 cups canned low-salt chicken broth
• 3 tablespoons chopped fresh thyme
• 1 1/4 cups wild rice (about 6 1/2 ounces)
• 1 1/4 cups long-grain white rice

• 1 6-ounce package dried apricots, coarsely chopped
• 1 cup dried tart cherries
• 1 cup raisins
• 1 cup pecans, toasted, chopped

Preparation

Melt 2 tablespoons butter in large skillet over medium heat. Add onions and sauté until brown, about 15 minutes. Set aside.

Bring 4 1/2 cups broth and 1 tablespoon thyme to boil in large saucepan. Add wild rice; bring to boil. Reduce heat; cover and simmer 30 minutes. Add white rice; cover and simmer until all rice is tender and liquid is almost absorbed, about 15 minutes longer.

Stir dried apricots, dried cherries, raisins and 2 tablespoons thyme into rice mixture; cover and simmer 3 minutes. Stir pearl onions and remaining 4 tablespoons butter into rice. Mix in pecans. Season generously with salt and pepper.

To bake stuffing in turkey:
Loosely fill main cavity with cool stuffing. Butter glass baking dish. Spoon remaining stuffing into prepared dish. Cover with buttered foil, buttered side down. Bake stuffing in dish alongside turkey until heated through, about 20 minutes.

To bake all of stuffing in baking dish:
Preheat oven to 350°F. Butter 13 x 9 x 2-inch glass baking dish. Transfer stuffing to prepared dish. Cover with buttered foil, buttered side down, and bake until heated through, about 30 minutes.

Baked Artiochoke dip

BAKED Artichoke dip

Ingredients:

1 cup mayonnaise
1 cup grated Parmesan cheese
14 oz. can artichoke hearts, well drained (marinated or not, as you wish)
10 oz. pkg. frozen chopped spinach, thawed, well drained
1 red bell pepper, chopped
1 cup shredded Monterey Jack cheese
Preparation:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Mix mayonnaise and Parmesan cheese. Stir in artichokes, spinach and bell pepper. Place in 1 quart ovenproof casserole and sprinkle with Monterey Jack cheese. Bake at 350 degrees 15-20 minutes until heated and bubbly and cheese is melted. Serve with baguette slices, crackers or pita crisps.

FAST crisp sugar cookies

CRISP SUGAR COOKIES
 preheat oven to 350

in a large bowl mix

1 c confectioners sugar
1 c brown sugar
1 c butter
1 cup veg oil

(Cream these together)
add in
2 eggs
2 tsp vanilla extract
(stir it all up!)

In a smaller bowl,

4.5 c flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
1 tsp cream of tartar

Stir into creamed mixture.

Roll balls into walnut sized balls lay on ungreased cookie sheet.
squish down with the palm of your hand...
I find a glass doesn't work as these are a bit mushy...

sprinkle with sugars,  bake 5-10 minutes... till lightly brown edges...


then put a lock on the cookie jar, because they disappear fast...

Roasted Cauliflower Recipe

Roasted Cauliflower Recipe

Ingredients

• 1 head of cauliflower
• 2-3 cloves of garlic, peeled and coarsely minced
• Lemon juice from half a lemon
• Olive oil
• Coarse salt and freshly ground black pepper
• Parmesan cheese

Method

1 Preheat oven to 400°F. Cut cauliflower into florets and put in a single layer in an oven-proof baking dish. Toss in the garlic. Sprinkle lemon juice over cauliflower and drizzle each piece with olive oil. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. If the oven hasn't reached 400°F yet, set aside until it has.

2 Place casserole in the hot oven, uncovered, for 25-30 minutes, or until the top is lightly brown. Test with a fork for desired doneness. Fork tines should be able to easily pierce the cauliflower. Remove from oven and sprinkle generously with Parmesan cheese. Serve immediately.

Serves 4.

Candy cane Faux-Jo's

 I have not made these yet, but boy do they sound good!

But I hope to make these this week.. I'll let you know.

Candy Cane Faux-Jo’s

from Savour Fare by Kate

Adapted from Smitten Kitchen
Makes 25 to 30 sandwich cookies

For the chocolate cookies:
1 1/4 c flour
1/2 c unsweetened Dutch process cocoa (I used a very dark Callebaut cocoa)
1 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 c. sugar
10 Tablespoons (1 stick + 2 T) salted butter
1 large egg

For the filling:
1/4 c. salted butter (1/2 a stick)
1/4 c. vegetable shortening (measure it by filling a pyrex cup to 3/4 cup with water, then adding shortening until the water level reaches 1 cup)
2 cups sifted powdered sugar
1/2 tsp. peppermint extract
1.5 ounces candy canes

In a food processor, combine the flour, cocoa, baking soda, baking powder, salt, and sugar. Add the butter and pulse until it’s incorporated, then add the egg. Preheat the oven to 375. Chill the dough for a few minutes in the refrigerator while your oven is preheating.

Take rounded teaspoons of the batter and form them into balls, placed evenly on a parchment lined cookie sheet about 2 inches apart. Because these are sandwich cookies, it’s important to make the balls as evenly sized and shaped as possible — I found a melon baller to be useful. With the heel of your hand, flatten each ball slightly — you want them to look like chubby disks.

Bake for 9 minutes. Let the cookies cool on the sheet for a few minutes, then transfer to a rack to cool.

Crush the candy canes — you want there to be recognizable shards, but nothing too big. I found the best way to do this was to put the canes (I used mini) in a ziploc bag, bang them with a rolling pin until they were in small pieces, then roll them with said rolling pin until I had candy cane dust/powder.

To make the filling, combine the butter and shortening in a mixing bowl, and add until combined. Slowly beat in the powdered sugar until incorporated. Add the extract, beat until combined, then add your candy cane “dust” and stir until just combined.

To assemble the cookies, try to match up your cookies with a pair of roughly equal size and shape. Place the filling in a pastry bag and, using a 1/2 inch pastry tip, pipe a small blob of filling right in the center of one of your cookies. Using the other half of the sandwich, press the halves together until the filling has spread to the edge, or nearly. Repeat for the remaining sandwiches.

Try to restrain yourself.

ITALIAN SAUSAGE WITH PEPPER AND ONIONS

2 lg. (about 1 lb.) red peppers
1 med. Spanish onion (about 8 oz.)
2 tbsp. olive oil
1 clove garlic, minced
3/4 tsp. dried thyme leaves
6 fresh Italian sausage links (about 1 1/2 lbs.)
1/2 c. water
1/2 c. dry white wine

Cut peppers into 12 wedges. Cut onion into 1/2 inch slices; separate into rings. Cook peppers in olive oil in large frying pan over medium heat 5 minutes, stirring frequently. Add onion, then garlic and thyme and continue cooking until onions are limp. Meanwhile place Italian sausage and water in another frying pan. Cover tightly and cook over medium heat 10 to 12 minutes, turning once.
Remove cover and continue cooking 15 to 18 minutes or until cooked through and browned, turning occasionally. Remove sausage from frying pan, pour off drippings. Increase heat to medium-high; add wine to deglaze pan, scraping up brown pieces. Add vegetables and return sausage to frying pan, stirring to coat with sauce. Continue cooking 2 to 3 minutes.