Usually, I go to Thanksgiving, but this year, Thanksgiving is coming to me. So, I'm making dinner. This is a first. I've made dinner before, of course, and even cute mini-Thanksgiving dinners, but never the whole enchilada, for more than two people.
I spent the morning looking through cooking magazines and my recipe files, made some phone calls, and set the menu. This afternoon I went grocery shopping. I went first to Trader Joe's, which was horribly packed. I grabbed a cart, parked it only slightly in the way of other shoppers, and went on a Supermarket Sweep dash through the store, darting past the people, carts, children and other obstacles, grabbing items from the shelves as I dashed by. I had a list, but no time to look at it. I'd get trampled if I stopped moving. I checked out, got back to the car and checked my list. Pretty good. I missed a few items, but things easily purchased elsewhere. There was a regular grocery store on the way home, so I popped in to pick up the missing items.
I put everything away when I got home, tied up my hair, washed my hands, put on an apron and got to work. I picked several recipes that can be made ahead, so hopefully Thanksgiving day can be spent relaxing, visiting and eating instead of slaving over a stove.
Streuseled Sweet Potato Casserole
Assemble the potato mixture and sprinkle with the streusel, then freeze the casserole up to 2 weeks ahead of Thanksgiving. Thaw in refrigerator and bake as directed. Or cook just the potatoes a day ahead, mash and refrigerate and proceed with the recipe as directed (starting with the addition of half-and-half) the day you're serving the dish.
*Add 1/8 teaspoon ground red pepper if you want to add a bit of heat to this sweet dish.*
14 cups (1-inch) cubed peeled sweet potato (about 5 pounds)
1/2 cup half-and-half
1/2 cup maple syrup
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3/4 teaspoon salt
1 large egg, lightly beaten
Cooking spray
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1/4 cup chilled butter, cut into small pieces
1/2 cup chopped pecans
Preheat oven to 375°.
Place potato in a Dutch oven, and cover with water. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat; simmer 12 minutes or until tender. Drain.
Combine the half-and-half and next 4 ingredients (half-and-half through egg) in a large bowl, stirring with a whisk. Add potato to egg mixture; beat with a mixer at medium speed until smooth. Spoon potato mixture into a 13 x 9-inch baking dish coated with cooking spray.
Combine flour and sugar in a food processor; pulse to combine. Add chilled butter; pulse until mixture resembles coarse meal. Stir in pecans; sprinkle over potato mixture.
Cover and bake at 375° for 15 minutes. Uncover and bake an additional 25 minutes or until the topping is browned and the potatoes are thoroughly heated.
Yield: 18 servings (serving size: about 1/2 cup)
CALORIES 250 (23% from fat); FAT 6.3g (sat 2.4g,mono 2.5g,poly 1g); IRON 1.2mg; CHOLESTEROL 22mg; CALCIUM 49mg; CARBOHYDRATE 46.1g; SODIUM 149mg; PROTEIN 3.3g; FIBER 2.7g
Cooking Light, NOVEMBER 2002
This was pretty easy to make. It's cooling in the fridge right now, and I'll put it in the freezer tonight. I covered only 2/3 of the casserole with the streusel topping because GC prefers marshmallow-topped sweet potato casserole. Before I bake the casserole, I'll sprinkle some mini marshmallows over the bare portion of the casserole for GC.
I also made a loaf of Grandma's banana bread. My mom is coming to town next week, and she'll need something to eat.
Getting to Know All About You: Best topping for sweet potato casserole = marshmallow, pecan streusel or something else?