Thanksgiving Dish #5 - Strudel with Phyllo dough

Finally. Last, but not least. No meal would be complete without dessert. As much as I wanted to make pie, I wasn't going to make pie this year. I already had a full menu and I wanted to try and spend a little time in the kitchen and still enjoy the cooking. I had seen something similar to this on one of those Food Network Challenge show. It was the Thanksgiving episode. One of the contestants made a strudel using phyllo dough that she had made herself. It was a cool process to see homemade phyllo dough. Though I wouldn't really attempt to make my own. I wasn't quite clearly paying attention to what ingredients she made the filling with , but I remember vaguely bits and pieces of it.

For mine, I used a combination of chopped walnut, crushed pistachios and cranberry sauce. With a nice little mix of cinnamon-sugar. Tangy and sweet would be the two words that come to mind with this dessert. THe nice crisp crunch of the phyllo dough when you bite into it. Be sure to let it off off a bit before taking a bite or you'll burn your tongue like I did. I was hungry and eager by that point. It's a nice way to end a meal, too. Kind of gets rid of that meaty herby taste of the chicken. Deliciousness.

Strudel with Phyllo dough

4 12-inch sheets of phyllo dough

2 Tbsp cinnamon

2 Tbsp granulated sugar

2 Tbsp brown sugar

1 c chopped pistachios

1 c chopped walnuts

1 c cranberry jam or sauce

egg wash (1 egg beaten with 1 Tbsp water)

Preheat your oven to 350˚F. Combine the cinnamon, granulated sugar and brown sugar. Mix well and set aside.

Lay out two phyllo dough on a flat surface. Cover the rest with a damp paper towel to keep it from drying out. Layout two sheets of the phyllo dough, one on top of the other. Sprinkle half of the cinnamon mixture over and spread it evenly all over. Sprinkle half the walnuts and half the pistachios. evenly distribute the cranberry sauce over various areas.

Then, carefully roll the phyllo dough from one end to the other. Gently lifting one end as to not tear the sheets. Try to roll them as tight as possible to prevent from spilling the filling.  Cut into even smaller pieces and place onto a baking sheet. Baste with the egg wash and place on a baking sheet.

Repeat the process with the other two sheets of phyllo dough. Bake for 10-15 minutes until the phyllo dough has lightly browned. Serve warm.

Thanksgiving Dish #4 - Herb-Butter Roast Chicken

As legend has it, in the first Thanksgiving, the settlers didn't really have turkey. It was some kind of bird, but it was never specify what. With several types of fowl to chose from I went for a whole chicken.  I would have gone turkey, but cooking a 25lb turkey for two is a bit much don't you think? Plus, imagine how much left over there would be. One can only go on turkey for so long until you get tired of eating leftovers for a while.

This a perfect match with those honey-herb biscuits. I also put a simple recipe for chicken gravy as well. Juicy, drool-worthy chicken. Luckily, since I was cooking for two, I didn't have to fight for the leg or thigh. Ha!

Herb-Butter Roast Chicken

1 2-3 lb whole chicken

3 Tbsp unsalted butter

1 Tbsp chopped fresh thyme - chopped

1 Tbsp chopped fresh rosemary - chopped

3 sprigs of thyme

3 sprigs of rosemary

1/2 sweet onion
1 lemon - halved

Salt

pepper

paprika

Preheat your oven to 375˚F. Combine the butter, chopped thyme and chopped rosemary in a small bowl.  Set aside. Tie to sprigs of rosemary and thyme together. Set aside.

Remove the giblets (usually packed in the cavity). Pat the chicken dry with a paper towel. Season (all over) with salt pepper and paprika. Rub evenly over the surface as well as in the cavity. Gently separate the skin from the breast. Stuff the butter in between. Rub into the breast and neck area. The stuff the tied herbs, onion and lemon into the cavity of the chicken. Gently place on a roasting pan and cook for roughly 1 1/2 hours until the thickest hart of the thigh is at 180˚F.


Baste every 20 minutes with it's own juices. If the skin looks to be browning quicker loosely cover with foil. When done roasting let the chicken rest for 15-20 minutes. Serve warm. 

Chicken Gravy 

3 tbsp flour, 
1/2 c Chicken drippings from roast
1/2 c chicken broth

Take the drippings of the chicken and place in a cup. Let it sit for a moment to let the fat separate from the juices.  When it floats to the top remove as much of the fat with a spoon. If you have a fat separator, you may use that. 

Once the fat has been removed whisk in the flour. Stir until smooth and no lumps. Serve with chicken.

Thanksgiving Dish #3 - Green Bean and Mushroom Casserole

I love green beans. I love casserole, but I didn't want to go the traditional route of the green bean casserole with the canned mushroom soup. There's just something about the canned stuff that I'm not a fan of. So I searched the interweb for a recipe that didn't use the canned stuff. And I found one that was made by Alton Brown (original recipe here). Woohoo... Love Alton Brown. I love Good Eats. It's a fun show and I actually learn quite a bit of stuff about certain ingredients and history about dishes that i wouldn't otherwise have known.

Now I didn't have the crisp onions to put on top and I sort of tried to bake some in the oven, but those turned out burnt to a crisp. Bummer. So I just kinda used it as decoration on top of the casserole, not really much for eating.  So I put some panko crumbs on top instead, which turned out pretty tasty actually. And sauteed the portion of onion that I didn't used into the mushroom brean bean mix. Oh, you can use crushed crackers, too. The original recipe also called for half and half, which I don't have. I'm not much of a coffee drink in my own home. I used evaporated milk instead. The whole thing turned out pretty tasty even with the substitutions. This is a recipe I will be using over and over and over for sure. There's no need to use the canned stuff. Yay!!

Serves 2-3

Green Bean and Mushroom Casserole
Original by Alton Brown
Adapted by Bread + Butter


salt (plus 1 tsp)
1 pound fresh green beans, rinsed, trimmed and halved
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
12 ounces sliced baby bella mushrooms
1/2 sweet onion - sliced
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 cup chicken broth
1/2 cup evaporated milk
1 c panko crumbs or crushed cracker


Preheat your oven to 350˚F

Bring a pot water seasoned with salt  to a boil. Add the beans and blanch for 5 minutes. Drain to and immediately soak in cold water. Drain again and set aside.

Melt the butter in a skillet over medium-high heat. Add the mushrooms and onions, 1 teaspoon salt and pepper and cook, stirring occasionally, until the mushrooms begin to give up some of their liquid and onions are tender. Add the garlic and nutmeg. Sprinkle the flour over the mixture and stir to combine.  Add the broth and simmer for 1 minute. Lower the heat to medium-low and add the evaporated milk. Cook until the mixture thickens, stirring occasionally for roughly 6-8 minutes.

Remove from the heat and stir in the green beans and place into a baking dish. Top with the panko crumbs or crushed cracker. Place into the oven and bake until bubbly, roughly 15 minutes. Remove and serve immediately.

Thanksgiving Dish #2 - Honey-Herb Buttermilk Biscuits

No meal can't be complete without some type of bread. I figured biscuits was the only way to go. I took my usual buttermilk recipe (here) and jazzed it up a little by adding some herbs and a dash of honey. I love making these biscuits as you can get your hands in there to mix up the dough. The taste of it actually reminds me a little of those from Red Lobster.

This was actually the first thing I made on Thanksgiving. It was a good way to start the day with the smell of fresh baked biscuits cooking up in the oven. You can actually smell the herbs as they bake up. A good way to start the day.

Makes 9 biscuits.

Honey-Herb Buttermilk Biscuits

1 1/2 c All Purpose Flour (cake flour works too if you don't have anything else)

1/2 tsp salt

1 tbsp sugar

1 tbsp baking powder

2/3 c buttermilk

1/2 c unsalted butter (best if cold, cut into cubes)

1 Tbsp dry thyme

1 Tbsp dry basil

1-2 Tbsp honey

Preheat oven to 425° 

Sift flour, salt, sugar and baking powder into a bowl. Add dry basil and thyme. Crumble in butter and mix well until almost like a powder-thick consistency. Add honey and buttermilk again mix thoroughly well until it is of a dough consistency. You can add more milk, if needed. 

Then place the dough on a well-floured flat surface and knead a few times. Cut dough into desired size and place on baking sheet. Baked in oven 10-13 min.