Crescent Rolls

So originally I was planning on making the Lion House Rolls. But the day I planned on making them I realized I did not have any powdered milk. So I went hunting for a new recipe and I'm so glad I did. These are Featherlight Overnight Rolls from the Mormon Rcipes Cookbook we got for our wedding. While they do take some advanced preparation, I love that you don't have to knead the dough and they really do turn out feather-light. You have to trust me that these are super easy. I wish they would have been a little bit sweeter, not sweet like a cinnamon roll dough, but still slightly sweeter. Besides that, I think this is a perfect recipe!

(photo courtesy of tasteofhome.com)

Feather-light Overnight Dinner Rolls
1 cup water
1 cup butter
3/4 cup sugar
2 tsp. salt
1 cup cold water
2 (.25 oz) packages yeast
1/2 cup warm water
4 beaten eggs
7 1/2 cups flour
butter for spreading (about 6 Tbs.)

In a large pot bring 1 cup water to boil. Add the 1 cup butter, sugar, and salt. Remove from the heat. Add the 1 cup cold water. Dissolve yeast in 1/2 cup warm water (not hot or it will kill the yeast). When first mixture is luke warm add yeast mixture and beaten eggs. Stir briefly. Add flour and stir together. Cover pan with the lid and refrigerate overnight. When ready to roll out, divide dough in thirds. Lightly flour your work surface. Roll out each third of dough into a large circle about 1/2 inch thick. Spread dough lightly with butter. (I melted 2 Tbs. for each sectioon of dough and brushed it on.) Cut dough into 12 wedges and roll each wedge up starting with the wide end, to form a crescent shape. Place on greased baking sheets. Cover and let rise for 4 hours. Bake at 400 degrees fro 12 minutes, until lightly browned.

Stuffing

I love Stove Top stuffing (technically called dressing because it was never "stuffed" in the bird). So sue me. I know there are a lot of delicious variations on stuffing (like the 4 mushroom stuffing my aunt made this year that I'm sure was divine) but I figure, if it's easy and it's good, why mess with it? I did jazz up the Stove Top a little, but not much. I like to keep things simple.

Stove Top Deluxe
2 boxes Stove Top Stuffing (I used the corn bread variety)
water
butter
chicken stock
1 onion, diced
2 celery stalks, diced
3 carrots, diced
olive oil
salt and pepper

Saute all the vegetable in olive oil, seasoning with salt and pepper until tender. Set aside. (This step can be done in advance.) Prepare stuffing according to directions on the box, replacing half the water with chicken stock. Stir in vegetables and put in a casserole dish. Stuffing should already be somewhat warm since the recipe called for warm water, but you still need to bake in the oven at 350 for 15-20 minutes to let it get a little crusty on top and thoroughly warm through.

Sweet Potatoes

I love traditional sweet potatoes with the mini marshmallows on top. However, most of my family does not care for them so I made a rather small batch for just me and my father-in-law. This was kind of made up on the spot, but it was pretty good.

 

Sweet Potatoes
2 regular sized cans of sweet potatoes or 1 large can
1-2 Tbs. brown sugar
1-2 Tbs. butter broken or cup into small pieces
salt and pepper
3/4-1 cup mini marshmallows

Drain off most of the liquid from the sweet potatoes. Dump them in a small casserole dish and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Then sprinkle brown sugar and butter on top. Cook in microwave for about 5 minutes until warm. Top with marshmallows and bake in oven at 350 for 5-10 minutes until marshmallows are melted and toasty. Or bake in the oven for 20-25 minutes then top with marshmallows and bake for an additional 5-10 minutes.

Green Bean Casserole

This is straight off of the side of the can of French Fried Onions. I LOVE those crispy little onions. I saw some recipes out there this year for green bean casserole from scratch without cream of mushroom soup.. But what can I say? I love the classic, straight out of the can with lots of those crispy onions on top. If I'm not careful I will eat the whole can of onions plain.

(image courtesy of americansweets.co.uk)

Green Bean Casserole
3 cans green beans, drained
1 can crispy onions
1 can cream of mushroom soup
3/4 cup milk
1/b tsp. pepper

Mix everything together except the onions. Bake at 350 for 30-35 minutes, until warmed through. Pour onions on top and bake for an additional 5 minutes.
*Note: I microwaved the casserole for 5-7 minutes then topped with the onions and put it in the oven for the last 5 minutes. This minimized the time in my already cramped oven.

(image courtesy of breakingnewsweek.com)

Garlic Mashed Potatoes

These mashed potatoes were totally experimental, but I must say they were delicious! Potatoes are the highlight for me. I usually just toss in a little of this and a little of that, and this wasn't much different. But I think I remember what I added more or less so that this divine creation may be duplicated. Unfortunately the only picture I have is of the entire feast. I'm sure you've seen what mashed potatoes look like. These didn't look  much different, but the flavor was better than most.

Garlic Mashed Potatoes
7-8 lbs. potatoes
1 head garlic
olive oil
1 1/2 cups heavy cream
1/4 cup butter
salt and pepper to taste

Chop off the top of the head of garlic so the tips of the individual cloves are exposed. Place head of garlic on a sheet of foil and drizzle with olive oil. Fold up the sides of the foil and bunch at the top. Put garlic package in the oven with turkey for 45 min-1 hour. While garlic is cooking, peel potatoes and chop into small pieces. Add potatoes to large pot of boiling water that has been salted. Cook potatoes until they are very tender. Once potatoes are done, drain off the water and return the potatoes to the pot. Open your garlic package and squeeze out cloves into a bowl. (You may need to wait a few minutes so the garlic is cool enough to manage.) Mash the garlic with a fork then add to the potatoes. Add the other ingredients and mix with your beaters until they are smooth. Serve with gravy.
This made enough for 6 adults with lots of leftovers.

Herb Roasted Brined Turkey

Let's start out with the star of the meal. Admittedly, I am not a huge fan of turkey. The side dishes are the real stars as far as I'm concerned. Being the traditionalist that I am, though, I refuse to serve anything but turkey on Thanksgiving. That said, I was pleasantly surprised with this turkey. It was moist and delicious. I think I am a convert to the brine. It really wasn't that much more work than usual. This recipe comes from Emeril Legasse. For simplicity's sake I will simply refer you to the food network site for the recipe. Click here for the recipe.

Thanksgiving Report

Are you still stuffed? Because I am. I'm pretty sure I don't need to eat again for a week! This week the plan is to give you the recipes and report on the things we served on our Thanksgiving table this year. While I realize that this may seem silly since none of us will be cooking Thanksgiving dinner for another year, I think many of these recipes may come in handy other times of the year as well. I'm going to shoot for 2 recipes a day so as not to leave anything out.