Something Different

I had a nice Thanksgiving dinner with the usual turkey, dressing, and mashed potatoes, but we tried some different things this year that turned out pretty good.  I make horrible dressing (or stuffing, if you prefer), but this year I made it in a Crockpot and it turned out pretty good.  We also had Green Beans with Cranberries and Tropical Sweet Potatoes.  I also made Amish Pickled Beets and they were excellent.

These are the recipes in case you are interested.  They'll serve 2 or 3 people with leftovers.  I'm not a great cook and I don't follow recipes very well, but these dishes all turned out very good. 

Slow Cooker Dressing for a 1 1/2 quart CrockPot

 

6 cups cubed bread (You can cut it into cubes or just tear it with your fingers into about 1" pieces. It's about 10 - 12 slices of bread, more or less)

1/4 cup butter
1/2 cup chopped onion
1/2 cup chopped celery
1 teaspoon dried sage
1 teaspoon poultry seasoning
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
1/2 - 3/4 teaspoon salt (depends on how salty the broth is)
1 egg, beaten
2 - 2 1/2 cups broth, AS NEEDED (depends on how dry the bread is)

1. Put bread in large bowl. 
2. Melt butter in skillet.  Add onions and celery.  Saute till just tender.   Add to bread cubes
3. Add seasonings.
4. Add 1 cup broth and beaten egg.  (don't add hot broth with the egg or you'll cook the egg)
5. Grease the slow cooker pot, then spoon in the dressing.
6. Stir every couple of hours or so and add more broth as needed - depends on how moist or dry you like it. (I like my dressing moist which is why I don't like it cooked in the oven.) 

The directions said: Cook on High for 45 minutes, then reduce heat to Low, and cook for 4 to 8 hours, but I wasn't using the adjustable Crock-pot so I cooked it about 3 hours, then put it into a greased dish and stuck it in the oven for 20 minutes while the turkey rested.  It could have stayed in the crock pot, but I had added a little too much broth.

I liked the consistency and flavor of this, but it needed more sage - I added more sage but it didn't help so I think it's the sage I have.  Also I didn't have any celery and it needed some.  Some of the recipes called for chopped fresh parsley, cooked sausage, or raisins.  I think I may make it with oysters next time. 

Green Beans with Cranberries

1 can green beans (14 - 16 oz)
2 tablespoons dried cranberries
1/8 - 1/4 teaspoon grated orange rind
1 or 2 tablespoons fried bacon pieces (the real stuff, not artificial - Hormel & Oscar Myers are good brands to try if you don't want to fry up your own)

Simmer on stove about 10 minutes (more or less).  Serves 2 or 3, depending on what else you're having.

The original recipes I saw called for frozen or fresh green beans (I don't like frozen green beans and I didn't have fresh) and a tablespoon of honey (which I didn't have - I could have substituted a little brown sugar but I just left out the sweetener altogether).  This dish had an unexpected flavor, which was quite good and I'll make it again.  It would be a lovely Christmas dish.  You could add a 1 or 2 tablespoons slivered almonds or chopped walnuts just before serving if you're feeling a little nutty.

Tropical Sweet Potatoes

2 - 4 sweet potatoes, depending on size (about 1/2 pound per person)
1 can Tropical Fruit or Tropical Fruit Salad with juice
1 tablespoon butter
1 tablespoon brown sugar
1/2 tablespoon corn starch
2 - 4 tablespoons sweetened flaked or shredded coconut
Miniature marshmallows.

1. Cook sweet potatoes as desired just until fork tender (baked, microwaved, or boiled)  Peel and slice in 1 inch slices when cool enough to handle.  Place in greased baking dish,
2. Pour fruit and juices into a pan with butter, brown sugar, and corn starch (you may not need all of the fruit - depends on how you like it and how many sweet potatoes you cooked.  Add more or less butter, sugar, and cornstarch to suit yourself.  Cook and stir until it boils and thickens.  Pour over sweet potatoes.
3. Sprinkle coconut and marshmallows on top.
4. Bake at 325 - 350 degrees for 15 - 20 minutes until coconut and marshmallows are browned to your liking.

I don't particularly like overly sweet casseroles made with mashed sweet potatoes so I usually make pineapple and sweet potatoes (a recipe I created after having Jamaican sweet potatoes at the farmer's market in Nashville, TN), but I was inadvertently out of pineapple so I used the tropical fruit and I had just happened to buy coconut for the first time in a long time so I decided to add that.  The coconut and sweet potato combination is really good. 

You can:

• leave out the marshmallows if you like; I only used them because it was Thanksgiving and people expect them on their sweet potatoes. 
• omit the coconut   If you aren't using coconut or marshmallows, there's not need to put them in the oven.  Just put sweet potatoes in pan with fruit and sauce to heat. 
• add some pecans to the coconut if you want.  That sounds good. 
• use pineapple only, if you prefer
• add a little cinnamon or ginger or Bourbon or rum
• use canned sweet potatoes
• add 1/4 - 1/2 cup pineapple or orange juice with 1/4 - 1/2 tablespoon cornstarch if you want more sauce.

Some Other Recipes:
Gayle Wagner's Slow Cooker Stuffing
Busy Cooks Traditional Crockpot Stuffing
Food.com's Crockpot Cornbread Dressing
Food.com's Homemade Poultry Seasoning

Betty Crocker's Holiday Beans and Cranberries
OSU Green Beans, Cranberries, and Nuts

Taste of Home Pineapple Coconut Potatoes