Roasting Garlic as easy as 123

Happy Thanksgiving Friends & family!! Hope this post finds you in cheerful spirits.
Today I have for you 3 easy steps to roasting garlic. This is perfect for adding to mashed potatoes & veggie purees

•Slice garlic across the bottom, exposing all cloves in side & leave skin intact

•place on a square of foil.. Add oil & kosher salt. Fold into a pouch

•place in a 350 degree oven for 35-45 minutes.. It will be like butter, you can then squeeze right out of skins into potatoes as you mash.

Nothing like freshly roasted garlic to amp up your tatars.

Enjoy!!

I yam what I yam.. The sweet potatoe!

Whether you call them yams or sweet potatoes, It turns out that sweet potatoes and yams that we find here in the States are really all sweet potatoes. What we think of as yams are called this by mistake. It started long ago when the slaves were brought over and identified sweet potatoes with the “nyami” from Africa. The name stuck and we’ve been eating em ever since. To further the complication, neither of them are really potatoes at all! They are both tubers

Sweet potatoes (Ipomoea batatas) come in two main varieties here in the States. One has a golden skin with creamy white flesh and a crumbly texture. The other has a copper skin with an orange flesh that is sweet and soft. All sweet potato varieties generally have the same shape and size -- they are tapered at the ends and much smaller than the yams.
The USDA decided to label them as "yams" to differentiate the two varieties

Holiday Mashed Potatoes

Mashed potatoes are a crowd pleaser across the board. To make your spuds extra special around the holidays I like to add extra flavors & textures
Here are a few pointers for tantalizing taters

• use 2lbs of potatoes (I prefer Yukon gold for their great color & texture) boil skins on in kosher salt water for about 45 minutes. Drain. Then peel if desired

•Add 1 stick of butter or 1/2c of olive oil to the potatoes.

•Add 1cup of dairy ( milk, half/half, buttermilk or 1 1/2c of plain yogurt or sour cream )

• Choose a flavor base ( herbs, roasted garlic, chipotle )

• optional ( shredded or crumbled, cheddar, parm, Gouda or goat cheese, mustard or horseradish)

• Festive toppings ( olives, bacon, scallions, carmalized shallots, parsley or dill)

The possibilities are endless & delicious. Just remember to have fun with it. Trial & error. Happy Thanksgiving!

Mix N Match stuffing

Thanksgiving day doesn't need to be stressful. Take the time to make your favorite dishes from scratch. Recipes are made easy buy mixing & matching different flavors that you like.

•choose a bread of your choice
( white,hawaiian,multigrain,sough dough, cornbread)
•mix ins (mushrooms, wild rice, apples, butternut squash, kale/greens,
•Meats (sausage, bacon, pancetta,chorizo)
•optional extras ( shredded cheese, dried fruits, chopped nuts )

Cut bread into 1/2 inch cubes, preferably stale. If your using fresh spread cubes on a cookie sheet, bake 20 min in a 300degree oven.

Melt 1 stick of butter add 2 cups chopped onions, leeks, 2 cups diced celery with 1tbs each minced sage & fresh thyme. Season to taste, cooking until veggies are tender. Add 3 cups of broth.

Beat 2 eggs with 1/4 c chopped parsley, stir in bread cubes add vegetable broth mixture & mix ins

Transfer to buttered 4 quart baking dish. Dot with butter, cover with foil & bake for 30 minutes in a 375 degree oven. Uncover & bake 20 more minutes. Enjoy!

Whats your favorite combos? I personally love cornbread with leeks,apples and sausage

Classic Turkey Gravy

With Thanksgiving coming up tomorrow I wanted to give out some pointers for FABULOUS GRAVY!

No matter what type of gravy You prefer, the rules are the same:

• 1/2c fat (meat drippings,butter)
• 1/2c flour
• 8c of liquid such as stock or broth ( upgrade store bought broth by boiling with bay leaves, onions, garlic & herbs. Then strain before using )

This will make 8 cups of gravy

For flavorful gravies always Degrease your pan to remove fat from the pan drippings saving only the flavorful juices ( use a degreasing cup if you have one )
Deglazing is a way of saving the yummy bits that are left in the roasting pan. Add liquid to the pan, stirring with a wooden spoon to loosen the brown bits. Add them to the saved juices

Make a roux by cooking a mixture of equal parts fat & flour until golden brown. This will act as a base & thickening agent for gravy