In honor of the Holy Turkey Day, we’ve asked our staff members to share their favorite family recipes.
1 lb. boiled potatoes, peeled, cooled and chopped
4 hard-boiled eggs, peeled and chopped into small cubes
2 large carrots boiled, cooled and chopped into small cubes
½ lb. cooked beef, cooled and chopped into small cubes
½ cup parsley, chopped
4 small pickles, chopped into small cubes
1 small can of peas (or fresh peas) cooked and cooled
Salt and pepper
Directions:
1. After chopping and cooking/boiling the appropriate ingredients, place everything in a large bowl and mix them all together.
2. Gently toss in sour cream.
3. Serve immediately and store the leftovers in the fridge.
4. Enjoy!
To fully experience a Stolichnaya salad, serve it in an eloquent plate and decorate the dish with sliced, black olives and a touch of parsley in the middle. Delicious. Makes 4-6 servings.
Sourdough Stuffing with Sausage and Apples
Ingredients:
¾ lbs. loaf of sourdough bread, crusts removed, cut into 1/2-inch cubes
1 lb. bulk pork breakfast sausage
1 large onion, chopped
1 cup chopped celery
½ stick butter
3 cups ½-inch cubes peeled Granny Smith apples, about 3 large apples
1/3 cup golden raisins
1 tablespoon chopped fresh sage
1 ¼ cups chicken broth
2 eggs, lightly whisked
Directions:
1. Position rack in center of oven and preheat to 350°F. Spread bread cubes in single layer on large rimmed baking sheet. Bake until pale golden, stirring occasionally, 15 to 20 minutes. Transfer bread to large bowl.
2. Sauté sausage in a large heavy skillet over medium-high heat until cooked through, breaking up into small pieces with a fork, 8 to 10 minutes. Using a slotted spoon, transfer sausage to bowl with bread cubes.
3. Add onions and celery to drippings in skillet; sauté until golden brown, about 12 minutes. Transfer to bowl with bread mixture. Keep fat in skillet.
4. Melt half the butter in same skillet over medium-high heat. Add apples and sauté until tender, about 10 minutes. Add to bread mixture. Mix in raisins.
5. Melt remaining butter in same skillet over low heat. Add 2 tablespoons sage and stir 30 seconds. Add sage butter to bowl with bread-sausage mixture and toss to blend. Season stuffing with salt and freshly ground black pepper.
6. Butter 15 x 10 x 2-inch glass baking dish. Whisk broth and ¾ of the eggs in medium bowl; add to stuffing and toss to mix. Transfer to prepared baking dish. Bake stuffing uncovered until top is golden and crisp in spots, 45 minutes to 1 hour. Let stand 10 to 15 minutes and serve.
*Stuffing can be made one day ahead (up to step 5).
Sweet Potato Casserole
Ingredients:
5-7 Sweet potatoes (my family usually uses 5-7 depending on how large they are, but for a smaller casserole 3-4 yams would work)
Brown sugar
1 stick of butter (or less for a smaller casserole)
1 1/2 cups Walnuts, coarsely chopped (I usually ballpark it, but do less for a smaller casserole)
Mini marshmallows
Directions:
- Fill a very large pot with enough water to completely submerge the sweet potatoes. Boil until the potatoes are tender, about 20-30 minutes. Drain the water from the pot and allow the potatoes to cool. Once they’re cool enough to handle, peel off the skin of each potato, using a knife or vegetable peeler if necessary. Transfer the peeled potatoes into a bowl and mash with a potato masher.
- Microwave the butter until thoroughly melted.
- In the bottom of a medium to 2-quart baking casserole dish (this is the bowl in which the casserole will be served), make a layer of mashed sweet potatoes 1-1 ½ inches thick. Top the potato layer evenly with a generous amount of walnuts and then sprinkle brown sugar thickly and evenly. Drizzle some melted butter over the walnuts and sugar. Add another layer of sweet potatoes and repeat the process until the bowl is almost full. Bake at 350 degrees for 45-60 minutes, or until the edges are bubbly.
- About five minutes before serving it, evenly cover the top of the casserole with mini marshmallows and broil (in an oven, with a baking tray under the bowl in case some of the butter leaks over) until the marshmallows are golden brown. Serve immediately.
Meghan Gilligan, Campus Writer:
Truffle-Parmesan Mashed Potatoes
This recipe has never been used in my family, but I plan to make it a tradition starting this Thanksgiving.
Ingredients:
2 ½ pounds Yukon potatoes (peeled and cubed)
½ cupgrated parmesan cheese
½ cup warm milk
1 tbsp. butter
2 tbsp. sour cream
1 tsp. white truffle oil
Salt & pepper to taste
Directions:
1. Place the potatoes in a saucepan and cover them with water. Add salt to the water and bring it to boil. Reduce heat and simmer until potatoes are softened.
2. Drain the water and place the hot potatoes in a bowl.
3. Add the remaining ingredients to the potatoes and use an electric mixer until the potatoes are at the desired consistency.
Sharon Weissburg, Fashion Writer:
Turkey Cutlets
For those tired of typical roasted turkey, this is my very favorite way to serve it! This, to me, is comfort food, and I eat it every time I go home (and throughout the year, because it’s amazing). It’s fast, easy, and soul-comforting. This recipe is so close to my heart. I hope you love it as much as I do.
Ingredients:
1 package of turkey cutlets
1 egg
1-2 tablespoons ginger (according to preference–I like LOTS)
1 cup soy sauce
½ cup sesame seeds
3 cups bread crumbs
1 tablespoon olive oil
Directions:
1. Whisk together egg, soy sauce, and ginger.
2. Combine bread crumbs and sesame seeds.
3. Place uncooked turkey cutlets into the egg-and-soy mixture and let sit (you can let it marinate overnight or for a few minutes, according to how much time you have).
4. Remove turkey cutlets from egg mixture and coat in bread crumb and sesame seed mixture. Coat evenly.
5. Heat olive oil in a cast-iron skilley. Cook turkey cutlets a few minutes on each side, or until the edges begin to shrink up.
6. Serve immediately.
Ashley Hansberry, Photographer/Campus Writer:
Creamy Mac & Cheese
Though this macaroni and cheese is certainly a diet buster, what better time than Thanksgiving to live a little? I promise it’s worth it to splurge a little and buy some nice cheese. The extra effort you put in to making your own sauce is well worth it. Add some bread cubes to the top and you have the best mixture of creamy and crispy ever found in one casserole dish. If you’re planning to eat it outside of Thanksgiving, it goes great with fresh green vegetables like green beans or broccoli. It even heats up well so you can have leftovers all week!
This recipe is for a large batch, perfect for Thanksgiving gatherings, but it works just as well in small batches as well.
Ingredients:
1 stick unsalted butter (plus more for greasing the caserole)
6 slices French bread, cut into bite-sized cubes (other types of bread work fine too)
5 1/2 cups milk
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons coarse salt
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
4 1/2 cups (about 18 ounces) sharp white cheddar cheese, freshly grated
2 cups (about 8 ounces) Gruyère, freshly grated
1 pound conchiglie pasta (the small seashell ones)
Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 375°F. Butter a large (around 3 quart) casserole dish.
2. Place the cubed bread in a medium bowl. Melt 2 tablespoons of your stick of butter. Pour the melted butter into the bowl with the bread and mix. Set aside.
3. Warm the milk in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Be careful not to let the milk burn. Melt the remaining 6 tablespoons butter in a large, high-sided skillet over medium heat. When the butter bubbles, add the flour. Stirring constantly, cook for about 1 minute until it comes together into a paste.
4. While whisking, slowly pour in the hot milk a little at a time to keep mixture smooth. Continue whisking constantly so the mixture stays smooth. Cook until it bubbles and becomes thick, probably around 12 to 15 minutes. You’ll know it’s done when you can stick a metal spoon in it and the sauce coats the spoon thickly and evenly.
5. Remove the pan from the heat. Stir in salt, nutmeg, black pepper, cayenne pepper, 3 cups cheddar cheese, and 1 1/2 cups Gruyère. Set the cheese sauce aside.
6. Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Cook the pasta until the outside of pasta is cooked and the inside is underdone, up to 5 minutes. You want it to be slightly underdone so it can finish in the sauce. Transfer the semi-cooked pasta into a colander. Rinse under cold running water and drain well. Stir the pasta into the cheese sauce.
7. Pour the mixture into the buttered casserole dish. Sprinkle the remaining 1 1/2 cups cheddar cheese and 1/2 cup Gruyère over the top. Spread the breadcubes evenly over the cheese. Bake until golden brown, probably about 30 minutes.
8. Let it cool and set for about 5 minutes before you serve.
Pumpkin Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting
Be prepared to die and go to heaven… with each bite. Between the sweetness of the pumpkin cake, and the creaminess of the frosting, you’re sure to leave the dinner table on Thanksgiving day in an even bigger food coma than ever before. Enjoy!
Mix the following dry ingredients together:
3 cups flour 2 tsp baking powder
2 tsp baking soda 3 ½ tsp cinnamon
2 cups sugar 1 tsp salt
In a separate bowl, beat the following together then add to the dry ingredients:
4 large eggs 1 ½ cups vegetable oil
1 15oz. can pumpkin 1 cup chopped walnuts
Beat all together until smooth (3-4 minutes). Pour into a bundt cake pan (do not flour or grease the pan).
Bake for 1 hour at 350 degrees
After the cake has cooled completely, frost it with Cream Cheese Frosting.
Cream Cheese Frosting:
8 oz. cream cheese (softened)
1 tsp vanilla
1 16 oz. box powdered (confectioner’s) sugar
Beat cream cheese with vanilla until smooth. Slowly add confectioner’s sugar, ¼ of a box at a time, beating until creamy. Frost cooled cake. Refrigerate until ready to serve.
