Community Corner

Patch's Thanksgiving Recipe Swap: Readers Share Recipes

The day of thanks is nearly here and Patch readers shared recipes and fun food memories.

 

Happy almost Thanksgiving, readers!

If you've got a Thanksgiving recipe and/or accompanying memory to share, e-mail jaimie.cura@patch.com.

Find out what's happening in Woodbury-Middleburywith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Patch will post the recipes leading up to the day of thanks.

 

Find out what's happening in Woodbury-Middleburywith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Savory Baked Apples with Butternut Puree (By Chef Carol Byer-Alcorace at New Morning Natural and Organic)

The perfect New England apple is both simple, enigmatic and packed with the complex flavors of each season. This fall favorite can be made with local Crispin, Winesap or Jonagold apples. Enjoy! (Serves 8)

Ingredients

  • 8 apples
  • 1 large butternut squash
  • ½  cup orange juice
  • 1 tbsp. tahini
  • 8 teaspoons of olive oil
  • ¼ cup real maple syrup
  • ½ tsp. salt
  • 1 pinch of black pepper 

Directions

1. Core apples. Roast with orange juice and olive oil until firm but cooked through.

2. Cut butternut squash in half lengthwise and remove the seeds. Leave the skin on.

3. Place the butternut face down on a parchment-lined pan in the oven and roast well. Allow 45 minutes to an hour.

4. Scoop squash and puree with tahini, salt and pepper.

5. Pipe squash into apples.

6. Drizzle with maple syrup and serve.

 

Minnesota Wild Rice Casserole (By Woodbury resident Sharon Sherman)

Ingredients

  • 1 lb. hamburger
  • 1 large onion, cut up
  • 2-3 minced garlic cloves
  • 2 small cans of mushrooms, drained
  • 1 can cream of mushroom soup
  • 1 can cream of chicken soup
  • 2/3 to 1 cup of rinsed wild rice
  • 1 cup milk
  • ½ cup water
  • 1 cup shredded cheddar cheese (can substitute with Monterey Jack or another type of cheese)
  • 1 box Uncle Ben's long grain and wild rice (original recipe)

Directions

1. Butter 9 x 13 casserole dish or pan. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

2. Brown hamburger with garlic, onions and mushrooms.

3. Add spices from Uncle Ben’s mix to hamburger mixture.

4. Add soups, water, milk, wild rice and long grain rice. Cook until bubbly.

5. Add shredded cheese to bubbly mixture and pour into a greased/buttered casserole or pan.

6. Bake for about one hour. 

Optional: If you choose, you may add extra cheese as a topping for 10 minutes before one hour of baking is up.

Sharon Sherman's Thanksgiving Memory

When I was a child, my mother whipped up Thanksgiving dinner by rising early in the morning, making her own turkey dressing with ground up turkey gizzard, heart and liver and adding bread crumbs and spices.

The smell in the kitchen was fantastic. The various ethic dishes -- German, Swiss and Czech -- were prepared and waiting to be enjoyed by all the aunts, uncles and cousins, who would descend on our house about 2 p.m.

Since there was quite a crowd, my cousins and I ate our Thanksgiving dinner sitting on the steps going upstairs and the adults occupied the dining room and kitchen tables.

After dinner, we would play all sorts of games and the grown-ups played cards. My dad and uncles pretended to cheat at the card games, giving the women a fit. Everyone had a great time because there was lots of laughter and we were all together.


Broccoli and Chicken Casserole (By Karen Robillard)

 Ingredients

  • 3 medium sized broccoli crowns
  • Approximately 3/4 cup of 2 percent milk
  • Mrs. Dash (to taste) 
  • 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
  • Two boneless/skinless chicken breasts
  • Shredded cheese to taste (pepper jack or any other cheese is fine)
  • Bread crumbs
  • 1 can of cream of chicken soup

Directions

1. Cube chicken breasts and saute them in extra virgin olive oil with a liberal sprinkling of Mrs. Dash for flavor.

2. While the chicken is cooking, cut the broccoli into bit sized pieces. When the chicken is nearly finished cooking, add broccoli to the sauté pan. Stir frequently.

3. In a bowl, mix one can of cream of chicken soup with the shredded cheese of your choice. I usually use about half of a small block of pepper jack cheese, but you can add as much or as little cheese as desired.

4. Once this is thoroughly mixed, add small amounts of milk and stir frequently until the consistency of this mixture is that of a thick gravy. Add liberal amounts of Mrs. Dash to season.

5. By this time, the chicken and broccoli should be cooked. Put the sautéed contents of the pan into the bowl of cream of chicken soup, cheese and milk. Mix thoroughly.

6. Once mixed, place the contents of bowl into an oven safe dish. Top with bread crumbs, and bake at 400 degrees for 20 minutes.

7. Let stand for approximately eight minutes. Serve and enjoy!

The Recipe's Origin by Karen Robillard

"One night, I asked my picky husband if he would mind if I experimented for our dinner. From that came broccoli chicken casserole and it's now his favorite meal! From then on, when dinnertime comes and I say, "Mind if I experiment?" he replies: "If it's as good as your first experiment, go right ahead!"


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