Sweet Potato Casserole

This is a staple on our Thanksgiving & Christmas dinner menu. I have personally never prepared this dish. That responsibility always fell to someone else. My mom made it for our christmas dinner on Friday. Mmm!

Sweet Potato Casserole

3 cups sweet potatoes, cooked and mashed
1 cup sugar
2 eggs
1/2 cup milk
1/2 cup melted butter
dash of salt

Mix the above ingredients together. Put in a buttered dish. Cover with topping

Topping:
1 cup brown sugar
1/3 cup flour
1/3 cup melted butter
1/2 cup pecans

Mix thoroughly. Put on top of potatoes. Bake for 30 minutes at 350 degrees.

Orange Slice Cookies a.k.a. Christmas Cookies

For as long as I can remember, my granny always made these cookies for christmas. Hence the name, christmas cookies. We never had them any other time during the year. Now my mom makes them and boy are they good. These rank pretty high on my list of favorite sweets. Unfortunately I ate them all before thinking to take a picture.

Orange Slice Cookies

1 lb. candy orange slices
2 cups sifted self-rising flour
1 lb. brown sugar or 3 cups
4 eggs slightly beaten
1 cup chopped nuts
1 teaspoon vanilla

Cut orange slices in small pieces, using scissors dipped in cold water. Add flour, then combine remaining ingredients and mix well. Spread in greased cookie pan. Bake in moderate oven (350) for about 35 minutes or until brown. Cool in pan. Cut into bars while warm. Do not refrigerate.

How To Deep Fry a Turkey

My dad has been frying turkeys for at least 10 years. A fried turkey never disappoints. Frying a turkey requires several steps. First you need to defrost the turkey. Then the turkey needs to be cleaned and injected with the marinade. You also need to prep your cooking space.



Start with a 12-14 lb. turkey. To ensure the turkey is completely defrosted, remove the turkey from the freezer at least 24 hours prior to cooking. Once the turkey is defrosted, clean the turkey of all feathers and fat. Prepare the marinade (recipe and instructions below). After injecting the marinade into the turkey, refrigerate the turkey 10-12 hours before cooking.



Because of the smoke and oil splatters (and potentially a fire), it is best to cook the turkey outdoors. Cooking in a garage with the door open is also a possibility. Make sure to wear long sleeves, long pants, gloves and shoes to fully protect your skin from pops of oil. To prepare the cooking space, place a piece of cardboard or a piece of board down to sit the cooker on. This will catch any oil splatters and protect your flooring. Fill a 22 quart aluminum pot with approx 3 gallons of peanut oil. You might need to increase or decrease the amount of oil. The goal is to completely cover the turkey with oil while it cooks. And remember, it is easier to remove oil than to add it once it starts boiling. Attach the tank of gas to the burner via a regulator. Turn the heat up until the flames are coming from under the pot.


Heat the oil to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. This will take approximately 30 minutes. Warning: Keep a fire extinguisher nearby in case oil boils over and catches fire.





Once oil has heated to 350 degrees, lower the turkey very slowly into the oil (about 5 minutes to completely lower). Oil temperature will lower to about 300 degrees. If not, manually lower the heat to 300 degrees.




Cook the turkey approximately 3 minutes per pound and then check the internal temperature. The turkey should be well done before removing from the oil. Let the turkey sit for 15 minutes before cutting. Traditionally we cook two turkeys: one for picking immediately and one for the meal. Trust me.



You will want a turkey to pick. You won't be able to resist the crisy, golden skin and juicy meat.







Marinade Recipe & Instructions

2 tablespoons of salt
2 tablespoons of Tony's Creole Seasoning
2 tablespoons of worcestershire sauce
1 tablespoon of tabasco (chipotle)
1 tablespoon of celery salt
1 teaspoon of garlic juice
1 teaspoon of onion juice
1 teaspoon of lemon & pepper seasoning salt
1 teaspoon of meat tenderizer
2 teaspoons of Accent seasoning

Mix seasonings in a pint jar about 3/4 full in hot water. Inject liquid into turkey with syringe. When injecting, slowly pull the syringe out so the marinade doesn't collect in one spot. Refrigerate the turkey 10-12 hours before cooking.

Pumpkin Crunch

This dessert won me over from my dislike of pumpkins and pumpkin flavored foods. Well, that is not entirely true as this is pretty much the only food I like that involves pumpkins. I will eat a piece of pumpkin pie if it's the only dessert in the room and if it is refrigerator cold. Anyway, you get the point. I don't like pumpkin. I signed up to make this dessert for our Thanksgiving meal with friends without even having the recipe. I realized a week ago that I better call my mom. She gladly passed it on and here it is for you:

Pumpkin Crunch

1 box yellow cake mix
1 can (15 oz) pumpkin
1 can (12 oz) evaporated milk
3 large eggs
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 - 1 cup pecans (depending on your love of pecans)
1 cup butter (2 sticks), melted
Whipped topping, or not

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease bottom of 13" x 9" pan. Combine pumpkin, evaporated milk, eggs, sugar, cinnamon and salt in a large bowl. Pour into 13" x 9" pan. Sprinkle dry cake mix evenly over the pumpkin mixture. Top with pecans. Drizzle melted butter over pecans. Bake @ 350 degrees for 50-55 minutes or until brown. Cool. Serve chilled. Top with whipped topping, if desired.

Award Winning Chili

This is my mother's chili recipe. Some people in our family rave about it while others find it too spicy for enjoyable consumption. When the company my husband worked for announced an upcoming chili cookoff for charity, we decided to enter this recipe (with a little tweaking). My husband named it "Medina's teeth-kicker" and it won in the hot category and second place overall. I am actually not certain of the exact rankings, but I do recall an award. That's all that is required to call this an "Award Winning Chili". I think it is best served with a moist, sweet cornbread. Here's the recipe:

1 pound ground chuck
1 green bell pepper, chopped
1 onion, chopped
minced garlic (to your taste)
3 cans of Brooks brand chili beans (preferably hot & spicy)
2 cans Rotel brand tomatoes (diced tomatoes w/ green chilies)
Chili powder (to your taste)
Salt and pepper or a seasoned salt

Brown the ground chuck, pepper and onion. Drain off any grease. Add garlic and salt and pepper. Simmer about 10 minutes. In a large pot, add the beans, tomatoes and chili powder. Stir then add remaining ingredients. Heat to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer uncovered for 30 to 45 minutes.

MY NOTES: I add a couple of freshly chopped jalapeno peppers (with seeds) to the meat mixture as well as chili powder. Also, depending on the level of spiciness desired, I sometimes add cayenne pepper to the bean and tomato mixture.

Father's Day #2

Here's the recipe for the creamy, cheesy potato casserole that accompanied the steak sandwich in the Father's Day feast:

Potato Casserole
1 1/2 cups fat-free sour cream
1 1/4 cups (5 oz.) finely shredded reduced-fat sharp cheddar cheese
1/2 cup fat-free, less-sodium chicken broth
2 tablespoons minced fresh onion
5 teaspoons butter, melted
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon ground red pepper
1 (30 oz.) package frozen hash browns, thawed
1 (10.75 oz) can reduced-fat cream of chicken soup
cooking spray
1 cup coarsely crushed cornflakes
2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley

Preheat oven to 350 degrees
Combine first 10 ingredients in a large bowl; spread evenly into a 13x9 inch baking dish coated with cooking spray. Sprinkle cornflakes over potato mixture.
Bake at 350 degrees for 1 hour or until bubbly. Sprinkle with fresh parsley.

My Notes
With the exception of a couple of changes, I followed this recipe exactly. I forgot to crush the cornflakes so they were whole and didn't settle into the casserole as much as I would have liked. I also forgot to sprinkle the casserole with fresh parsley. I specifically went in search of fresh parsley at the farmer's market yesterday with this casserole in mind and then I forgot it. Oops! The casserole turned out great and was a big hit. I think everyone went back for seconds. The recipe is supposed to yield 10 servings and I think that is pretty accurate. We had four people and after the meal we had a couple servings leftover.

Father's Day

My parents came over for lunch today and in honor of father's day I cooked a meal that would make any man's mouth water. It involved meat, potatoes, cheese and butter. 'Nuff said. On the menu today was a steak sandwich and potato casserole. I have to give credit to The Pioneer Woman for the steak sandwich recipe. Over there she calls it "Marlboro Man's Favorite Sandwich". I call it delicious. Here's the recipe copied exactly from The Pioneer Woman with my notes to follow:

Steak Sandwich
2 to 3 pounds cube steak
1 large onion OR 2 small/medium onions
4 French/deli rolls
butter,man
Lawry's seasoned salt
Worcestershire sauce
tabasco

Slice onions and cook in 1/4 stick butter until soft and light brown. Remove and set aside. Slice cube steak against the grain. Season with Lawry's. Heat 2 tbsp butter over high heat (in the same skillet) until melted and beginning to brown. Add meat in single layer. Cook one side until brown, then flip and cook until brown, about a minute on both sides. Add 1/2 (at least) Worcestershire sauce, 5 to 6 shakes Tabasco and 2 tbsp butter. Add cooked onions. Stir to combine. Butter halved rolls and brown on skillet. To assember, lay bottom half of roll on plate. Place meat mixture followed by a spoonful of juice from the pan. Top with other half of roll, cut in half and devour!

My Notes
I used salt, cayenne pepper and garlic powder in place of Lawry's and I used 4 small onions. I chose hoagie rolls for the bread and I toasted them under the broiler instead of browning them in a skillet. A little mayo on the bread took the sandwich up a notch. My dad and my husband (and myself) love this sandwich. It's always a big hit and worth the extra time in the gym.