Pre-Thanksgiving Feast

Thanksgiving is a time of gathering your family close and remembering all that we have and how very blessed we are. And how much we as Americans love to eat.

This year, thanks to my sister running the Philly 1/2 marathon, we decided to gather the family a few days early to gorge ourselves on a non traditional feast of caprese salad, braised beef, carrots, green beans, sweet potato casserole, lush and breads. I figured everyone would be having turkey in a few days time so I didn't want to over do it. Sadly I forgot to take pictures in the rush to get everything to the table.

Normally I tell people to never make something that you've never tried before for a dinner party but I never follow my own rules and this was no exception. Luckily everything turned out well and I know why. Julia Child and Ruth, owner of Ruth's Chris Steak House (actually I'm sure it's not Ruth's recipe but some awesome chef who works or worked there).

Most of what we made was simple. The green beans were steamed and I poured butter over them. The carrots were braised in beef broth.I left the breads and lush to my mother-in-law and my sister.

The major challenge, as is with every meal, was the main course of braised beef.The only reason I didn't miss something was by reading the recipe 4 times. The meat marinated over night in red wine, onion, and spices. The major dilemma was the size. I had 10 lbs of meat to cook. 2 stock pots worked nicely, however my refrigerator was a tad over stuffed the evening before. Julia Child wrote her recipes without much regard for how long things take. Good food takes time, how much times appears to be a mystery. Had I not read the recipe almost obsessively I would have missed how long it takes to brown the meat, and not had the beef on the table in time. Or I might have missed the carrots and onions, which are actually not necessary, and she calls for WAY too much carrot. 2 lbs of carrots is a lot. Even for 20 people. Everything turned out great, the gravy made from the marinade was amazing.

Disclaimer: If you're not confident with your recipe reading and following abilities don't try this at home! Make the recipe once first to make sure you don't miss something. I like to live on the edge a little. And I know I can make Julia's recipes, I understand them; but they're not for the feint of heart.

The real winner of the day had to be the Sweet Potato Casserole. It was like eating dessert made with a vegetable. Really it could be passed off as a dessert.
I can't take any responsibility for this recipe. It was pulled from the internet.

Ruth's Chris Sweet Potato Casserole:

Sweet Potato Mix:
3 cups mashed sweet potatoes
1 cup sugar
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp vanilla
2 eggs (well beaten)
1/4 cup butter melted

Crust ingredients:
1 cup brown sugar
1/3 cup flour
1 cup chopped nuts (pecans preferred)
1/2 cup butter (melted)

1. Preheat oven to 350.
2. Mix sweet potatoes, sugar, salt, vanilla, eggs, and butter.
3. Pour misture into a buttered baking dish (I used a 10 inch cast iron skillet)
4. Bake for 30 minutes.
5. While that bakes mix brown sugar, flour, chopped nuts and 1/2 cup butter together.
6. After 30 minutes sprinkle the surface of the sweet potato mixture with the crust mixture
7. Bake for 10 minutes.
8. Allow casserole to set for 30 minutes before serving.

If you want the casserole to be hot you can put it back in the oven right before you put it on the table for a minute or 2, but the cast iron should hold the heat pretty well.

Quesadillas!

Time for a little Mexican food! I was inspired yesterday by the beautiful red frying peppers I had in my refrigerator. We had steak quesadillas for dinner last night and they were awesome! I love it when something I make up works out so well.

You’ll need:
3 red frying peppers (or bell if you can’t find them)- chopped into small cubes
1 red or sweet onion - small cubes (the same size as the peppers)
1.5 lbs chipped beef
Tortilla shells
Shredded cheese
Cumin
Paprika
Red pepper
Chili powder
Oil (a little bit)
Salt
Garlic powder
Worcestershire sauce

So I know I didn’t give you any measurements on the spices. I’m sorry. I have no idea. It was “a little of this and a little of that” until it tasted right. I know I didn’t use much chili powder because they variety I have it hot as blazes which is great but it’s hard to work with because I have to remind myself not to put as much as I would if it were normal McCormick’s brand chili powder.

Preheat your oven to 325 degrees.

To make quesadillas I chopped the onion fine and softened it in a pan with a little vegetable oil. Once they were starting to turn translucent I added the red peppers and put a cover on the pan. I let them hang out over medium/low for about 5 minutes.

While they cooked I chopped the chipped beef down from long thin slices to shorter sections to make them easier to eat in the quesadillas.

Once the vegetables were pretty well cooked through I added a little bit of all the spices. I leaned pretty heavy on the paprika and the cumin. Again I used less that ¼ teaspoon of the hot chili powder because it is so strong.

Let the vegetables hang out for a bit and blend.Remove from the pan and hold off in a separate bowl.

Add the meat to the same pan with just a dash of oil, and garlic powder, Worcestershire sauce, and salt. Cook until browned and cooked through, 5 to 7 minutes (the chipped beef cooked up very quickly, if you use another cut like stir fry meat it may take longer).

Once the meat is cooked through spread out tortillas on a cookie sheet. You should be able to get 2 on a sheet, they may hang over the edge a little bit but that's fine. Add a layer of cheese, vegetables, meat, and more cheese (it helps the whole thing stick together). Place a tortilla on top of each quesadilla and place the whole cookie sheet in the oven. Cook for 10 minutes, or until the top tortilla starts to brown just a little bit, don't let it go to far or it will crumble.

Remove from oven and place on a cutting board. Chop into 4 to 6 sections and serve immediately. Personally I like a little guacamole, sour cream, and salsa with mine!

Enjoy my friends!