Category: Recipe

One of my favorite Thanksgiving traditions is eating this delicious andouille sausage stuffing that my husband Rod makes each year. He loves music, so while he makes it there is always a Zydeco playlist going and a good bottle of red wine flowing.

My mom also makes a delicious sage stuffing, so we always have two kinds of stuffing at Thanksgiving. As with every big family, we never fail to have a long debate about which one is better. One of my favorite  Thanksgiving memories is the year my mom decided to get fake pink nails the day before Thanksgiving. She is the least vain  person I know, so this was completely uncharacteristic of her– fake nails and cleaning up after 6 kids just don’t mix. One year, as she stuffed the turkey, she realized that one of her nails was missing. She was absolutely horrified; she diligently unraveled the bird and combed through it to find her nail, where lo and behold, it was glistening with the uncooked stuffing. We always chuckle about it each year as she stuffs the turkey and remind her to check for pink nails. She hasn’t gotten fake nails since.

This recipe goes out to my loving husband and mom, who always manage to put a smile on my face and make me laugh throughout all of the craziness of Thanksgiving

Ingredients:
Buckwheat Zydeco New Orleans Jazzfest 1 hour playlist
Fine Red Wine, quantity optional
8 tablespoons butter
4 Yellow Onions
4 cloves of Garlic
2 teaspoons of salt
2 Large Red Bell Peppers
2 Cups of Chopped Celery
2 Lbs. of Andouille Sausage (pork or chicken)
2 Tablespoons of Tabasco
3 Cups of Chicken Stock
3 cups of Cornbread breadcrumbs

Turn on the playlist. Play it Loud.
Start drinking wine.
Chop your veggies and andouille sausage.
Get a big colorful Le Crueset pot
Melt half your butter
Sautee Half of your garlic and onions til light brown, then push to the side and add ½ the peppers, then finally half the celery, cook about 10 mins on medium heat, stirring occasionally, ‘til the water is mostly boiled out. Push veggies to the edges of the pan and gradually add all the Andouille and cook ‘til the meat is browned about 5 minutes, stirring frequently. Add the remaining onions, garlic, celery, butter, peppers, salt and the Tabasco, stirring it all well, cooking on medium for another 3 minutes. Add the 2 cups Chicken Stock and bring to a simmer, cook til oil rises up and water evaporates, about 10 minutes. Turn off the heat.
Stir in the cornbread gradually, adding the remaining stock as need to get your consistency as you like it.
Transfer to two ungreased 8×8 baking dishes. Bake uncovered at 350 degrees about 45 minutes ‘til nice and purdy and brown on top.
Finish Wine and Laissez les bon temps roulez!

Makes 12 servings 

In celebration of Julia Child’s birthday this week, I decided to make her roasted chicken that I have been hearing about for years. It didn’t disappoint! It was according to my husband, “The best roasted chicken you have ever made.” It was moist, had great color and tasted amazing. It was so good that I went to bed thinking about how wonderful it tasted and then woke up thinking the same thing. I couldn’t wait to eat the leftovers from the night before.

The recipe is not difficult to follow, I suggest reading it all the way through before making it. The buttve carrots on hand so I used er on the skin gives it the dark brown caramel color and the lemon makes it fresh tasting. The recipe calls for adding a 1/2 cup of water while it is roasting, which makes the chicken moist.   Hope your chicken comes out as great as mine did!

Ingredients
2 1/2 tablespoons unsalted butter
1/3 cup finely diced carrots
1/3 cup finely diced onion
1/3 cup finely diced celery
1 teaspoon thyme, savory or mixed herbs, or 2 fresh thyme or savory sprigs
One 3 1/2- to 4-pound chicken
Salt
Freshly ground pepper
Parsley stems
Celery leaves
Six 1/8-inch-thick lemon slices
1/2 cup sliced onion
1/2 cup sliced carrots
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
3/4 cup chicken stock or broth

How to Make It
Step 1
Preheat the oven to 425 degrees. Melt 1 tablespoon of the butter in a skillet. Add the diced carrots, onion and celery and cook over moderate heat until softened. Stir in the herbs.
Step 2
Wash the chicken rapidly inside and out with hot water and pat thoroughly dry. For easier carving, cut out and discard the wishbone. Pull the neck skin up over the breast and secure it to the back with a toothpick. Salt and pepper the cavity and spoon in the cooked vegetables, a handful of parsley stems and celery leaves and the lemon slices. Massage the chicken all over with 1 tablespoon of the butter, then truss it. Alternatively, tie the ends of the drumsticks together and tuck the wings under the body.
Step 3
Choose a flameproof roasting pan that is about 1 inch larger than the chicken. Salt the chicken all over and set it breast up on a rack in the pan. (Thoroughly wash all surfaces and utensils that have been in contact with the raw chicken.)
Step 4
Roast the chicken in the oven for about 1 hour and 15 minutes, as follows:
At 15 minutes Brush the chicken with the remaining 1/2 tablespoon of butter. Scatter the sliced onion and carrot all around. Reduce the oven temperature to 350 degrees.
At 45 minutes Brush the lemon juice over the chicken. If necessary, add 1/2 cup of water to the vegetables to prevent burning.
At 60 minutes Baste with the pan juices. Test for doneness: The drumsticks should move easily in their sockets; their flesh should feel somewhat soft. If not, continue roasting, basting and testing every 7 to 8 minutes, until an instant-read thermometer registers 165 degrees.

Step 5
Spear the chicken through the shoulders; lift to drain; if the last of the juices run clear yellow, the chicken is done. Let rest on a carving board for 15 minutes; discard the string.

Step 6
Spoon all but 1 tablespoon of fat from the juices in the pan. Add the stock and boil until lightly syrupy, 5 minutes. Strain; you will have just enough to bathe each serving with a fragrant spoonful.

Serves 6.

You can serve it over mashed potatoes or rice. Delicious!

These high-quality dog treats are easy to make.  They don’t look like dog treats, unless you use a dog bone cookie cutter.  One year I gave them to my doctor’s wife for her dog and the doctor thought they were for him and he ate one.  He said they were delicious!

2 cups of whole wheat flour
1 cup of rolled oats
½ cup of nonfat milk powder
½ tsp salt
1 cup of crunchy peanut butter
¼ cup honey
2 eggs
½ cup water

Combine the flour, oats, nonfat milk powder and salt in large bowl, stir to combine. Add peanut butter, honey and eggs. Beat to combine, gradually adding ¼ cup of water to make the dough come together. Put dough onto a 13 x 18” cookie sheet, lined with parchment paper. Roll out dough into ½” thick rectangle. Chill for an hour.

Preheat oven to 300 degrees. Cut dough into 3 x 1 ½ “ squares or use a dog shaped cookie cutter. Place on parchment-lined cookie sheet and bake for 45-55 minutes or until firm and golden brown.

Makes about 20-25 dog treats.

I made these today for my dog Chino’s 11th Birthday!

It just isn’t party if there isn’t a flaming cheese ball!  This is one of the most requested recipes.  My sister Tracey has been making this for years and it is always a hit that is super-easy to make.

(1) Loaf of round bread, usually found in the Bakery Dept. at your local grocery store

(1) 8 ounce bag of Shredded Italian Cheese, the 6-cheese blend works best

(1) 8 ounce package of cream cheese, softened

1 cup of mayonnaise

1. Blend together the shredded cheese, cream cheese and mayonnaise in a medium sized bowl and mix well until are ingredients are combined.
2. Cut a large hole in the top of the bread, being careful not to cut through to the bottom of the bread.  Cut the large piece of the bread that was cut out of the bread bowl into 1 inch pieces.
3. Spoon the cream cheese mixture into the bread.
4. Put onto a cookie sheet  with the bread pieces.
5. Bake at 350 degrees for 25 minutes or until the cheese mixture is lightly brown.

The entire bread bowl can be eaten, making for an easy clean-up.

Tired of Thanksgiving leftovers but you have some turkey that you want to use up?  This tortellini soup is perfect for that.  It’s quick and easy and makes a great weeknight meal.  You can also make it without the turkey or chicken if you would like,  and use vegetable broth instead of chicken broth if you want to make it a vegetarian meal.

3 Tbsp. Olive Oil

1 medium onion, chopped into small 1″ pieces

3 cloves of garlic, minced fine

2 large carrots, peeled and sliced into small rounds

1  48-ounce box of chicken broth, you can use unsalted if you would like

3 cups of water

1 cup of cooked, shredded turkey or chicken, this is optional

1 14.5 ounce of canned, diced tomatoes

1 tsp. sugar

1/4 tsp pepper

1 9 ounce package of fresh  three cheese tortellini, found in the refrigerated section, I like the Buitoni brand

3 cups of fresh spinach, chopped into small pieces, they will shrink when they are added to the soup

3 Tbsps. shredded  parmesan cheese

Heat olive oil in a large soup pot and add the chopped onions, garlic and carrots, cook until the onion is tender, about 5-7 minutes.  Add the chicken broth and water and bring to a boil, add the chicken or turkey,  tomatoes, sugar, pepper and spinach leaves and tortellini and bring the pot back to a boil again.  Add the parmesan cheese and serve immediately.

Makes 6 servings.

Thanksgiving is one of my favorite holidays.  What could be bad about a holiday where you can eat all day and not worry about calories?  When I was young I would love to wake up to the smell of the cooking turkey and the Macy’s Day Parade on the television.  When my parents moved to Melbourne Beach, Florida, I hosted Thanksgiving each year.  It did get hectic a few times, especially the year when the septic tank backed up, the kids were sick and a few guests were added on at the last minute.  My mom and I got smarter each year by hiring a cleaning lady, ordering pizza the night before and having the septic tank cleaned out more often .    We always managed to have a great time and inevitably my dad would say, “Good job,” to my mom and I.  Our feet were always in pain by the end of the night so to this day when our feet are really tired we say we have “Thanksgiving Feet”!  Now we head up to Melbourne Beach and my sister Mary does the hosting.  There’s always plenty to go around, even for my brother-in-law, Andy who falls asleep within five minutes of leaving the table.

To make Thanksgiving a little easier, here’s a recipe for mashed potatoes that you can make a day or two  ahead of time and then heat them up in the oven.  They are not for the calorie counting, but they are delicious and really, who wants to count calories on Thanksgiving?   My friend,  Jennifer requested them so everyone is not in the kitchen helping with the potatoes at the last minute and they get to the table piping hot.

This pumpkin bread is easy and a great hostess gift for Thanksgiving dinner.  It actually gets better after a day or two so it’s great to make ahead of time and the walnuts and coconut are a big hit in Miami. It makes enough for two loaves so you can keep one and give the other one away.

• 3 cups all purpose white flour
• 1 Tbsp, plus 2 teaspoons of pumpkin pie spice
• 2 tsps.  of baking soda
• 1 tsp. salt
• 2 cups granulated white sugar
• 1 (15-oz) can of Pure Pumpkin Puree
• 4 large eggs
• ½ cup of coconut oil
• ½ cup of orange juice
• 1 cup of shredded coconut
• 1 cup of walnuts, coarsely chopped
• 1 tsp. vanilla