Grilled Chicken Salad

this recipe comes from the cookbook Mexican Everyday

This is my favorite salad!

½ c vegetable or olive oil + more for onion
4 garlic cloves
2 serranos or 1 lg jalapeno, stemmed and halved
½ c fresh lime juice

¾ c loosely packed cilantro
¼ tsp pepper
Salt
4 chicken breast halves
1 medium white onion chopped
2 avocados
Romaine lettuce
~1/3 c grated Romano, Parmesan, or Mexican queso anejo cheese

Heat oil and add garlic and chiles. Cook, stirring frequently, until garlic is soft and lightly browned, 1-2 minutes. Pour oil, garlic, and chile into food processor. Add lime juice, cilantro, pepper, and scant 1 tsp salt. Process until smooth.
Place chicken in a bowl and pour 1/3 of dressing over, spreading evenly. Lightly brush onions with oil. Sprinkle with salt. Cook both over medium heat in separate pans. Sear chicken. Cook onion until well browned, 3-4 minutes on each side.
Place onions in a bowl with avocados. Add another 1/3 dressing, then mash together. Season to taste with about ½ tsp salt.
Place cut romaine lettuce into a large bowl and toss with remaining dressing. If you plan to have left overs, do not toss lettuce w/dressing, the leftovers will get soggy. Just pour dressing individually.

Serve with guacamole, chicken, and cheese.

Buttermilk Pancakes

from Fine Cooking Magazine, Dec 09

I always use real buttermilk, I find they turn out fluffier.
Avoid overmixing, which will make pancakes heavier.

3 T butter
9 oz (2 c) unbleached, all purpose flour
1/4 c sugar
2 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp kosher salt
2 c buttermilk
2 eggs
vegetable oil for the griddle
Syrup

Heat oven to 200 (if you want to make them all at once and keep warm until ready to serve).

Melt butter in a small bowl and set aside to cool briefly.

In a large bowl, whisk dry ingredients.
In a medium bowl, whisk buttermilk and eggs. Pour wet into dry ingredients.

Whisk gently until the dry ingredients are almost incorporated. STOP before the batter is evenly moistened.

Add the cooled butter and mix just until the batter is evenly moistened (there will be lumps). Let the batter rest while you heat the griddle (to relax any gluten that has formed, which will produce a more tender pancake.)

Heat the griddle to 375 or a skillet over medium heat until drops of water briefly dance on the surface before evaporating. Lightly oil the griddle.

Pour 1/4 c of the batter for each pancake. Let cook undisturbed until bubbles rise to the surface and edges look dry, 1-2 minutes. Check the underside to make sure it is nicely browned then flip. Cook until nicely browned, about 1 minute.

Transfer pancakes to a baking sheet if desired to keep warm while you cook the remaining batter.

*Cooked pancakes will keep in sealed freezer bags for up to 2 days in the refrigerator or up to 1 month in the freezer. Defrost in the refrigerator overnight and reheat in a 350 oven for 5 minutes.

How to Roast a Pumpkin

So there are a lot of pumpkin recipes out there this time of year. While canned pumpkin certainly is convenient, it just doesn't compare in flavor to fresh pumpkin. Not to mention it is twice as expensive; also, I remember 2 years ago there was a shortage of canned and the only thing you COULD do was used fresh. Or pay $10 for a can.

For all these reasons and more, I make my own pumpkin puree by roasting a pumpkin. It's really really simple:

For your pumpkin, you will want to use a sugar pumpkin, or a "pie pumpkin" - they are the little round ones that weigh around 2-4 pounds. You CAN use a regular ol' jack-o-lantern pumpkin, but they are less sweet and have a higher water content, so if you do use one of the big ones, just put your roasted pumpkin meat into a strainer to get as much liquid out as possible, and then add 2T brown sugar and 1 egg yolk for every 2c pumpkin puree used.


Moving on...
Cut your pumpkin in half - remove all the seeds and yuck. Place them, cut side down, in a large baking dish or roasting pan and fill the pan with 1/4" of water.
Cook at 350 for 45-60 minutes. Check it at 45 minutes (poke it with a fork- you want it to be very tender). If it's not done at 45 minutes, continue baking and check it at 5 minute intervals.

Once tender, remove from the pan of water and let it cool. Then scoop out all the meat and put it in a blender / food processor and puree until smooth.
If your puree is too dry, add water, a tablespoon at a time, until desired consistency is reached. If it's too runny, put it in a strainer and let it release some of its liquid.

(If you're using a large pumpkin, you can quarter it (or cut it into as many pieces as necessary) to fit it into the pan.)


There you go, perfect FRESH pumpkin puree! :)
*If you enjoy canned pumpkin (I don't, but some people prefer its flavor), the reason it's so orange and has such a strong flavor is because it uses the rind of the pumpkin as well. So if you'd like more of a canned pumpkin flavor, scrub your pumpkin really well first, and then don't scoop out your meat, just put the whole thing in a blender. *

Double-Coconut Cream Pie

When we were young, my siblings and I were not big fans of pumpkin pie (one of my sisters even threw up after eating it and still won't touch the stuff!), so my mom would take requests and make whatever we wanted for Thanksgiving. Pumpkin pie was not a staple, or really that necessary at our house. My husband thinks we are so weird. "It's not Thanksgiving without pumpkin pie!" Whatever! Though I do like pumpkin pie now, there are plenty of pies way more delicious than pumpkin. Some of our favorites were chocolate, lemon meringue, and banana cream; you know all the sweet, creamy pudding pies. In honor of our family tradition, I will be making Coconut Cream Pie, because that is what I requested this year. And Cody can have his pumpkin.



3 egg whites
1/4 c. cornstarch
1/4 tsp. salt
2 c. milk
3/4 c. cream of coconut
3 beaten egg yolks
2 Tbs. butter
1 c. flaked coconut
2 tsp. vanilla
1/2 tsp. vanilla
1/4 tsp cream of tartar
1/3 c. sugar
1 9-inch baked pie crust shell
2 Tbs. flaked coconut

1. Let egg whites stand at room temperature for 30 minutes. Meanwhile, for filling, in a medium saucepan combine cornstarch and salt; stir in 1/4 c. of the milk until smooth. Stir in remaining milk and cream of coconut. Cook and stir over medium heat until thickened. Cook and stir for 2 minutes more.

2. Remove from heat. Gradually stir about 1 c. of the hot filling into egg yolks, stirring constantly. Pour yolk mixture into remaining hot filling in saucepan. Bring to a gentle boil. Cook and stir for 2 min. more. Remove from heat. Stir in butter until melted. Stir in 1 c. coconut and 2 tsp vanilla. Keep warm. Preheat oven to 350 ° F.

3. For meringue, in a large mixing bowl combine egg whites, the 1/2 tsp. vanilla, and cream of tartar. Beat with an electric mixer on medium speed about 1 min. or until soft peaks form (tips curl). Gradually add the 1/3 c. sugar, 1 Tbs. at a time, beating on high speed about 4 min. more or until mixture forms stiff, glossy peaks (tips stand straight) and sugar dissolves.

4. Spoon warm filling into the cooled baked pie crust shell. Immediately spread meringue over warm filling, carefully sealing to edge of pastry to prevent shrinkage. Sprinkle with the 2 Tbs. coconut. Bake for 15 minutes. Cool on a wire rack for 1 hour. Chill for 3 to 6 hours before serving; cover for longer storage. Makes 8 servings.

From Better Homes and Gardens: All-Time Favorites Cookbook Volume 2

Turkey Stuffing

A traditional stuffing recipe that has been passed down four generations (and for good reason)!

1 1/2 loaves bread
2 c. onion
1 1/2 c. celery
6 eggs
1/2 c. butter
12 boullion cubes, dissolved in 1 1/2 c. water
1 tsp. poultry seasoning
1 tsp. sage
pepper

Saute onions in 1/2 of the butter. Cut bread into bite size pieces. Add seasoning to bread, then onion, celery, eggs, and butter. If not moist enough, add some water. Add salt to taste. This recipe is enough to stuff a 12 lb. turkey or 1 1/2 the recipe for 18 to 20 lbs, 2 times the recipe for 25 lbs. Or do like I do and cook it in a crock pot for 4 to 5 hours.

Sweet Potato Pie

I'll be honest, growing up I was scared of anything yam or sweet potato. But only because everyone else was. Then I tried my in-laws' sweet potato pie. And I went back for seconds, and thirds, and probably fourths. Now I love all things sweet potato. This one has got to be the best though, because it is pretty much dessert but you get to eat it as a side with the rest of the meal. No waiting necessary. My kind of vegetable!

1/4 tsp. salt
1/4 c. butter, melted
2 eggs
1 tsp. vanilla
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 tsp. sugar
2 Tbs. cream
8 oz. yams (or sweet potatoes, technically they are not the same thing, but I interchange them and can't tell much difference)

Mix until well combined. Spread in greased pie dish.

Topping:
1/4 c. butter, melted
3/4 c. brown sugar
3 Tbs. flour
1/2 c. chopped pecans

Mix and sprinkle over potatoes.

Bake uncovered at 350 ° F for 30 minutes.

Shrimp Dip

My in-laws always, ALWAYS, make shrimp dip for Thanksgiving and Christmas. We all gorge ourselves on it while waiting for the Turkey feast to be ready. Then we eat even more with the meal... and after the meal... and you get the idea. It is so good and so addicting. A must in the Rowland household. A tradition I will very gladly be carrying on.

8 oz. cream cheese
1/3 c. cream
2 tsp. lemon juice
1 tsp. grated onion

Cream together.

6 oz. canned shrimp
Dash Worcestershire sauce
1 carton cottage cheese

Add, stir to combine. Serve with potato chips or crackers.