Baked Creamy Potato Casserole

Source: Sally D., modified

My family's favorite traditional Christmas dinner casserole!

• 4 cups cubed, cooked potatoes
• 1/2 cup chopped onion
• 2 T. green pepper
• 2 T. red sweet pepper
• 4 T. butter
• 1/4 cup flour
• 2 cup milk
• 1 t. salt
• 1 t. garlic powder
• 1/4 t. black pepper
• 3/4 cup shredded cheddar cheese
• 6 slices turkey bacon, cooked and chopped (save half for topping)

Peel, cube, and cook potatoes. Fry onion and peppers in butter for about 5 minutes. Stir in flour. Add milk gradually and stir until thickened. Add salt, pepper, and cheese; stir until thick. Add chopped bacon. Pour into a casserole dish. Top with more cheese, remainder of bacon, and sprinkle with paprika powder. Bake at 350 degrees F for approximately 30-40 minutes or until bubbly.

Yield: 4 servings

Potato Pancakes

Source: Home-cooking In Montana

• 2 cups diced raw potatoes
• 1/2 cup chopped onion
• 2 cloves garlic, crushed
• 2 eggs
• 2-3 T. flour
• 1/2 t. baking powder
• 1/4 t. salt
• 1/8 t. pepper

Peel and dice potatoes. Cut onion and peel garlic. Place potatoes, garlic and onion in food processor and puree until smooth. Add flour, salt, pepper, and eggs. Add any additional seasonings of your choice (chives/parsley/garlic powder). Blend until all ingredients are thoroughly mixed.

Pouring 2-3 tablespoons of batter per pancake (about the size of the palm of your hand), fry in oil over medium/low heat. (I actually didn't use oil/butter, but fried them in a non-stick pan and they turned out great!) Turn them over and continue cooking until golden brown.

Top with butter and your choice of topping---cream cheese/smoked salmon/bacon/lunch meat/chives/onions/cucumber. I prefer applesauce, but my husband likes them with maple syrup, like regular pancakes.

Egg-Stuffed Baked Potato & Potato Puffs

Source: Home-cooking In Montana

You will feel like royalty eating this elegant and delicious variation of a baked potato. Perfect as a sidedish with dinner or served as brunch. Absolutely mouth-watering!

• 2 baked potatoes
• 2 eggs
• turkey bacon/turkey lunch meat, cooked and diced
• shredded Cheddar cheese
• salt/ground black pepper/garlic powder
  
• cilantro/parsley/chives
• butter/cream

Directions:
Use a knife to carefully cut off the top third of the baked potato. With a spoon, hollow out the middle of the potato. (Save the "insides.") Take out as much of the inside potato as you like. You do want to have enough room to be able to place the egg, cheese, meat, etc. Place some butter/cream in the middle of each potato bowl. Season with some salt and pepper. Add a small amount of meat/cheese or whatever filling you like, making sure you leave enough room for the egg. Then gently break an egg into each bowl, careful not to break the yolk. Top with some more meat, cheese, and then season with salt/pepper/garlic powder.
Bake at 350 degrees F for 25-30 minutes, or until the egg whites are set. Sprinkle with fresh cilantro/parsley/chives. Serve immediately.






What to do with leftover potato pulp?

Make some Potato Puffs!

Add an egg to the leftover potato pulp (from 2 baked potatoes), meat, cheese, chives/parsley, salt and pepper....Mix thoroughly. Place in buttered mini muffin tins. Sprinkle with extra cheese and chives/parsely. Bake at 350 until nicely puffed.

Southern-Style Green Beans

My Southern hubby loves his green beans cooked this way!

• fresh green beans, washed and cut in half
• oil or butter
• onion, chopped
• smoked turkey lunch meat or turkey bacon, chopped into strips
• salt and pepper

Place green beans in a small amount of water in a pan and steam until just tender (they should still maintain their bright green color). Do not overcook! Once beans are steamed, drain off excess liquids (I freeze it to add to soups for extra flavor and nutrition). In a large frying pan, fry onions and turkey meat in oil or butter over medium heat in a frying pan until browned. Add green beans and stir, adding salt and pepper to taste. Serve immediately.

Creamed Onions

Another delicious Thanksgiving side-dish!

• 6 medium white onions
• 4 tablespoons butter
• 4 tablespoons flour
• 1 cup heavy cream
• 3/4 cup milk
• 1/8 teaspoon Cayenne pepper
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg

Peel onions and chop. Cook in about 3/4 cup water until tender. Make white sauce. Melt butter in saucepan over medium low heat, then stir in flour; gradually add cream, stirring constantly until thickened and bubbly. Thin the sauce with milk and add seasonings. Pour white sauce over onions and mix well. Cover with cracker crumbs or broken potato chips and bake at 325° until bubbly.

Silky Squash

Source: Made by Hannah Maynard

This delicious Thanksgiving side-dish almost tastes like dessert with a slightly sweet and rich, nutty flavor.

• 1 butternut squash, peeled and chopped
• 1/4 cup heavy cream
• 1 teaspoon honey or maple syrup
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• several dashes nutmeg

Place chopped squash in pan with a little water. Let water come to a boil and test readiness of squash by poking it with a fork. Once it is soft all the way through, drain the water/juice off. (I usually save it to add to mashed potatoes or soups.) Move squash from pan to a food processor and blend until smooth. Add heavy cream, honey, cinnamon and nutmeg and blend until thoroughly mixed in. Serve warm.

Southern Cornbread Stuffing

Modified by Leanne H.

Soak:
6 C. broken cornbread
4 C. broken bread
4 C. stock (or 2 bouillon cubes with 4 cups water and 1 "tea" bag) Sidenote: Here in Holland our bouillon cubes are larger, so I think you would have to use 4 bouillon cubes for 4 cups of water. I use a herb-filled "tea" bag. I'm not sure if they have those in the States, but you could make this recipe without it.

Sauté:
1-½ C. chopped onion
1-½ C. chopped celery
1/3 C. oil

Combine all the above ingredients with:
4 eggs
¾ t. sage
¾ t. thyme
1-½ t. marjoram
8 t. parsley (dried) or 1/2 C. chopped fresh parsley
¾ t. white pepper

Add:
4 more C. stock (or 2 bullion cubes with 4 cups water) Sidenote: Once again, here in Holland our bouillon cubes are larger, so I think you would have to use 4 bouillon cubes for 4 cups of water.

Bake in shallow, lightly greased pan, uncovered, at 325 degrees F for 1 hour.
Yield: 12 cups

This recipe can be baked and frozen, and then defrosted and reheated without it becoming dry.

Macaroni ’n Cheese

Crock pot Recipe

• 2 C. cooked macaroni
• 1 T. butter, melted
• 1 C. evaporated milk
• 1 C. shredded sharp cheese
• 1 T. minced onion
• ½ t. salt

Toss cooked macaroni with butter. Add remaining ingredients. Pour into lightly greased stoneware. Cover and cook 2-½ to 4 hours on low, stirring once or twice.

Old-Fashioned Bread Stuffing

• ¾ c. butter
• 3 c. chopped onions
• 1-½ t. marjoram leaves
• ¾ t. ground sage, thyme leaves
• ¼ t. pepper
• ½ t. salt
• 12 c. bread, cut into ½-inch cubes
• 2 c. chopped celery
• ½ c. chopped parsley

Melt ½ cup of the butter in frying pan. Add onions and cook till golden brown. Add remaining butter and spiced. Removed from heat. Combine all ingredients and toss till bread is moist.

Yield: 14 cups

Dumplings

• 2 C. flour
• ¾ t. baking soda
• Dash of salt
• 2/3 C. buttermilk
• 1/3 C. oil

Instructions: Drop batter into boiling stew in large spoonfuls. Cook for 10 minutes with lid off and sprinkle with parsley. Cook another 10 minutes with lid on. Don’t open the lid while they cook.