Doing Dressing

Though Thanksgiving is still a couple of weeks away, I currently have a huge amount of celery and onions. With the possibility of those ingredients going bad, of course I would never want to waste a stalk of celery. Therefore, I have chopped all the celery and three big onions along with fresh garlic and have sautéed all in a stick of butter. After cooling, the vegetables will be zip bagged and stuck in the freezer to pull out in two weeks when I assemble my dressing. The cornbread will also be baked for the freezer today for usage in 2 weeks. Last year was my first time to put together dressing 2 days before the actual feast, thanks to a tip from a good cookfriend. I watched my mother do the dressing on the day of Thanksgiving always because of the baking turkey drippings. Last year I just used low-sodium chicken stock without the turkey drippings. The turkey drippings, however, were not wasted. After defatting, those drippings were added to the gravy on the day of our big feast. You can also drizzle some of the drippings on top of your dressing before baking. One more step  to simplify Thanksgiving morning - get that dressing DONE before all of your guests arrive. Have a mimosa that morning and chill! And, yes, my third child has provided today's illustration with her very own hands and machine.

Painless (literally) Croutons

Have you ever bitten into some of those store-bought croutons and thought you might have cracked a tooth? Sigh. THAT was an expensive salad. Years ago a cookfriend shared a delightful tip with me. Make your own croutons with leftover hot dog buns. This shape is good because 2 length-wise cuts, then small crosscuts will yield nice cubes. Dump cubes into large bowl, add a good dose of olive oil, seasoning salt, garlic, pepper, and Parmesan cheese if you like. Toss gently but thoroughly. Bake in single layer 350° for 15 minutes. Cool, then store in ziplocs. Will keep for several days. These are even good served as is in a pretty bowl for nibbling. They are both soft AND crunchy. A great addition to any salad. Any still not eaten? Crush again in ziploc bag to top your favorite casserole. Now that's a lot of uses for the lonely leftover hot dog bun.

Meatloaf Improved

Recently I took a few more tips from my favorite Barefoot Contessa and doctored my meatloaf. The most significant change is that I sauteed the onions in a bit of oil before adding them to raw meat mixture. What a difference! No burps! I also shaped them into individual loaves, baked all of them, and froze the extra ones for later. They are so cute easy to take out when serving just one for dinner. The other tip I will share with you is one I have used for many years borrowed from the great magazine, Cook's Illustrated. I do not have a fancy "meatloaf pan." Rather, I use a cookie sheet with sides, place parchment on it, place a cooling rack on that, cover cooling rack with aluminum foil, punch holes in foil for grease draining, then finally, spray the foil with Pam. This way the meatloaf doesn't sit in the grease while baking, and the clean up is a snap. Who ever said meatloaf wasn't a meal fit for my king?


Barefoot Contessa Mini Meat Loaves
 sauté one minced onion in oil
 In large bowl combine the following:
 1 T tom paste (I omitted - see BBQ sauce below)
 3 T Worcestershire (I did not use quite this much)
 1/3 c chix stock (I used good BBQ sauce)
 salt & pepper
 2.5# ground beef
 2 eggs
1/2 cup bread crumbs (I used one hamburger bun)

Bake 350 for 40-45 min. I have baked these fully, cooled, then frozen for later. Perfect for single meal dining.
Makes 6 mini loaves.

Holy Cumin, Batman

When my son played football at Auburn, a cookfriend introduced us to her infamous corn dip. It immediately became a staple at our AU tailgates. With the Tigers coming to town this weekend, I thought others might enjoy this simple yet delicious dip. It can be made ahead early in the week, and this was essential for my travel preparation. The original recipe calls for green chilies, but I have substituted jalapeños: they are way cheaper. I buy the bulk size jar and keep in the beer frig. Do not reduce the amount of cumin - it is the dealbreaker for this wonderful dip, and the Fritoes are most definitely the preferred chip. Try it, you will see. 

Gloria’s Corn Dip

3 cans Mexicorn, drained                                                                       

jalapeños to taste                                                                       

1 cup mayo           

1 cup sour cream

2 cups cheddar cheese

4 TBSP. cumin (this is NOT a mistype!)           

chopped green onions

Combine all and serve with large Fritoes. I buy the all ingredients (especially cumin) at Sam’s (they don’t have green onions) because I never make just one recipe. When doubling, I use that very large 6# can of yellow corn. 

An Artist In Town

Cheekwood: truly one of Nashville's greatest treasures. In the newly renovated Howe Garden, a beautiful table and chairs reside where children can sit and color and learn about Mrs. Howe and the history of her amazing garden. This spectacular table and chairs was hand-crafted by my friend, Brian Stone. A lifelong friend of my son's, Brian is very gifted in many areas. I was delighted to learn that this was his handiwork. Thank you, Brian, for making Cheekwood even more enjoyable for all who visit. What an incredible artist you are.

My New Favorite Appetizer

These are so good that even when I left a plate of them out overnight unwrapped, they were still delicious the next morning. I eliminated the painting-the-roll-with-eggwash part. Sort of by accident (forgot to do that step), but didn't even miss it. Just shape the roll and press into your crushed walnuts back and forth.

Blue Cheese Walnut Crackers by Barefoot Contessa

• 1/4 pound (1 stick) unsalted butter at room temperature
• 8 ounces Stilton cheese, crumbled (about 12 ounces with rind), at room temp. (I used blue cheese crumbles in a tub from Costco)
• 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 teaspoons kosher salt
• 1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 1/2 cup roughly chopped walnuts
• In the bowl of mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream butter & Stilton together for 1 minute, or until smooth. With the mixer on low, add the flour, salt and pepper and mix until it's in large crumbles, about 1 minute. Add 1 tablespoon of water and mix until combined. Dump the dough onto a floured board, press it into a ball, and roll into a 12-inch long log. Spread the walnuts in a square on a cutting board and roll the log back and forth in the walnuts, pressing lightly, and distributing them evenly on the outside of the log. Wrap in plastic, refrigerate for at least 30 minutes or for up to a week or so. Preheat 350 oven. Cut the log 3/8ths-inch thick with a small, sharp knife and place the crackers on a sheet pan lined with parchment paper. Bake for 22 minutes until very lightly browned. Rotate the pan once during baking. Cool and serve at room temperature.

Connie's Country Ham

I have been trained by many good cooks over the years, and one of the most influential of them is my husband's baby sister. She is the contributor of this most favorite way to do a whole ham. It is nice for a large crowd and is tradition around our Christmas morning breakfast, along with cheese grits, biscuits, and cranberry casserole. Having baked slowly all night, nobody has a hard time waking up to this outstanding aroma. And don't forget to save the bone and all bits that don't slice so well. I put all remnants in a giant zip bag and freeze, drawing from it all year long when doing green beans, red beans and rice, black-eyed peas, etc. Don't wait until Christmas nor breakfast: good for dinner, too. Your guests will love you forever.

whole country ham
brown sugar
mustard

1.Scrub whole ham, if needed. (To some of you city types, country ham ages & therefore sometimes has mold on the outside. It’s O.K. Just wash it off with cold water.) Soak whole ham in a sink of cold water for 12-24 hrs. (I usually do 12 hrs. because I can’t give up my sink for longer than that).

2.Put ham in oven fat-side up under a tent of aluminum foil 375 for 1 hr. Turn oven down to 250 & bake 45-50 min. per pound. For the average ham, you will bake it approx. 12 hrs. Internal temperature should be 170 degrees when done. It will continue to bake when removed from oven.

3.Let ham cool so that you can handle it without burning your hands. Cut off fat. This is the messiest part. Score ham with knife.

4.Brown sugar/mustard glaze: spread regular mustard over the ham. Pat brown sugar over it thoroughly. Return ham to oven at 350 degrees for 30 min.

5.Country hams usually carve better when they are almost cooled. However, if your house is like mine, your family will not be able to stand smelling it bake for 12 hrs. & have to wait another minute once it is done.