POTS AND PANS CITY BLOG

A favourite at Thanksgiving and Christmas tables, this sweet potato casserole dish is easy to make and sure to please, especially for those with a sweet tooth. It is so good, it is almost like a dessert, but is typically served with the main meal. Ingredients:

• 4-5 large sweet potatoes, peeled and cut into rounds
• 1/3 cup brown sugar
• 2 TBSP. melted butter
• Salt & pepper
• 3 cups miniature marshmallows
• 2 TBSP. melted butter

Preheat oven to 375? F. Place sweet potatoes in large flat (9’ X 13”) casserole/baking dish that has been sprayed with non-stick cooking spray. Sprinkle salt and pepper over sweet potatoes, then top with brown sugar. Mix together lightly. Gently pour first 2 TBSP. of melted butter over all. Cover with tin foil and bake for approximately ¾ hour. Remove from oven. Test that potatoes are done (tender when pierced with a fork). Mix together marshmallows and second batch of melted butter. Remove foil from baking pan and spread marshmallows over top. Place oven on broil with rack mid-way in oven. Place potatoes back in oven and broil for 3-4 minutes, watching closely that marshmallows don’t burn but are browned and golden. Serve hot.

Served at the start, soup gives a satisfying feeling to any meal. A rich, creamy soup like the Cream of Squash soup below is a great way to begin a fall meal, add to a Thanksgiving dinner or you can even serve it on its own, with a loaf of crusty bread to sop up the delicious flavours.

Ingredients:

• 1 TBSP. butter
• 1 onion
• 1 stalk celery
• 6 cups water
• 2 cups steamed squash (like Butternut or Acorn Squash)
• 3 cubes of chicken bouillon
• 1 tsp. ginger
• 1 tsp. cinnamon
• ½ tsp. nutmeg
• 1 tsp. garlic powder
• Salt & pepper 1 cup half & half cream

Melt butter in large stockpot. Chop onions and sauté in butter until onions are transparent. Cut celery into chunks and add to pot. Add water, crumbled bouillon, squash and spices. Bring to a boil and then reduce to medium-low heat. Simmer for approximately 30 minutes, until all the vegetables are tender. Remove from heat and let cool for about 15 minutes. In 3 batches, purée soup in blender. Pour soup purée back into stockpot and return to stove. Over medium heat bring soup back to a simmer. Turn heat to low and add cream. Stir until all the cream is blended. (Do not boil.) Serve immediately. Top each bowl of soup with a sprinkle of nutmeg. Note: You can use an infusion blender to puree the soup in the pot.

This vegetarian dish is ideal to serve as a main course at a holiday dinner. It combines great taste with the protein that vegetarians need in their meals. It is packed with taste and healthy foods that everyone—even non-vegetarians—will love!

• ½ medium butternut squash, peeled & boiled until soft
• 1 pkg. soft or medium tofu
• 1 ½ cups ½ & ½ cream
• ½ tsp. garlic powder
• ½ tsp. nutmeg
• Salt & pepper

Beat above ingredients together until smooth.

• 3 sweet potatoes, peeled and cut into rounds ¼” thick
• 4-5 table potatoes, peeled and cut into rounds 1/4 “ thick
• 1 pkg frozen spinach, defrosted & excess moisture squeezed out
• Salt & pepper
• Garlic powder
• 1/3-cup breadcrumbs
• ½ tsp. paprika
• 3 TBSP. grated Parmesan cheese, separated

Spray an 8-quart casserole dish with non-stick cooking spray. Layer One: Using both sweet potatoes and table potato rounds, place 1/3 of potatoes in one layer in bottom of casserole dish. Top with 1/3 of creamed mixture. Spread ½ of spinach over this, then sprinkle with salt, pepper, garlic powder and 1 TBSP. Parmesan cheese. Layer Two: Repeat layer one. Layer Three: Top with remaining potatoes & remaining creamed mixture. Sprinkle with salt, pepper, and garlic powder. Then sprinkle 1/3-cup breadcrumbs and 1 TBSP. Parmesan cheese. Sprinkle with paprika. Bake in 450? oven, uncovered, for 1-½ hours.

This creamy soup is a great addition to a Thanksgiving or Christmas dinner.  Reminiscent of the flavour of pumpkin pie with the ginger and nutmeg flavours added into it, it is a light creamy soup that offers a magnificent taste.  Using fresh pumpkin (instead of canned) definitely adds to the flavour.

• 2 cups steamed pumpkin (or 1 large can pumpkin)
• 3 extra-large carrots
• 1 onion
• 1 stalk celery
• 1 TBSP. butter
• 1 can vegetable broth
• 5 cups water
• 2 cubes of vegetable bouillon
• 1 tsp. basil
• 1 tsp. ginger
• ½ tsp. nutmeg
• ½ tsp. garlic
• 1 cup half & half cream

Melt butter in large stock pot.  Chop onions and sauté in butter until onions are transparent.  Cut carrots and celery into large chunks and add to pot.  Add canned broth, water, crumbled bouillon and spices.  Bring to a boil and then reduce to medium-low heat.  Simmer for approximately 30 minutes, until all the vegetables are tender. 

Remove from heat and let cool for about 15 minutes.  In 3 batches, purée soup in blender.  Pour soup purée back into stock pot and return to stove.  Over medium heat bring soup back to a simmer.  Turn heat to low and add cream.   Stir until all the cream is blended. (Do not boil.) Serve immediately.

Pumpkins are typically a fall fruit that are made into pies, but this recipe incorporates all the great spicy taste of a pumpkin pie into a thick pudding cake. The added pumpkin gives bread pudding a whole new taste, one that your family is sure to love. Try serving it as a finishing treat to your Thanksgiving dinner.

 Ingredients:

• 2 cups puréed pumpkin (or 1 large can)
• 8-10 slices day-old white or crusty bread
• 2 TBSP. butter
• ¾ cup raisins
• 4 eggs
• 1 cup milk
• 1 cup half/half cream
• ¾ cup packed brown sugar
• 1 tsp. cinnamon
• ½ tsp. nutmeg
• 1 tsp. vanilla

Preheat oven to 365°. Cut bread into ½” cubes and place in 8 qt. Casserole dish. Melt butter in microwave for 30 seconds and stir into bread cubes. Add raisins. Place puréed pumpkin in food processor. Add all remaining ingredients and process until smooth, spooning sides down. Pour pumpkin mixture over breadcrumbs and mix together thoroughly. Let sit to let bread soak up mixture for 15 minutes. Bake for one hour, uncovered. Serve hot or cold. (Good served with milk or ice cream)

This oven-roasted potato dish consists of regular white potatoes and sweet potatoes.  The rosemary marries all the flavours together to create a wonderfully fragrant and tasty potato side dish.  This potato dish is great served with turkey (or other poultry), lamb or beef.

Ingredients:

• 6-8 large potatoes, cut into large chunks
• 3 large sweet potatoes, cut into large chunks
• 2 onions, quartered
• 4 large carrots, cut into large chunks
• 2 TBSP. olive oil
• 1 tsp. salt
• 1 tsp. pepper
• 1 tsp. garlic powder
  3 TBSP. dried rosemary, crumbled with fingers (or you can use 3-4 sprigs of fresh rosemary, chopped up)

  Preheat oven to 375º.

  Arrange potatoes, sweet potatoes, onions and carrots in large roasting pan.  Pour olive oil over top and sprinkle with spices.  Stir together thoroughly.

  Bake covered for ½ hour.  Remove from oven and remove cover.  Stir lightly. 

  Return to oven and bake for another 40 minutes, uncovered.

Roast Duck provides a rich, full flavoured dark meat that is a favourite with food connoisseurs. Roasting a whole duck in the manner below ensures a tasty, crispy skin and the meat inside is sweet and succulent.  The flavour of the orange from inside gently permeates through the meat and is accented by the orange-marmalade glaze.  Why not try serving this delicious bird in place of your traditional holiday turkey?

Ingredients:

• ½ orange, cut in chunks
• ½ lemon, cut in chunks
• 1 duck
• salt & pepper
• garlic powder
• basil

Prick duck all over with a kitchen fork.  Fill duck cavity with orange and lemon chunks.  Season outside of duck with spices.

Place duck on rack in large roasting pan.  Cover and bake at 350? for 2 hours, basting twice with pan drippings.

Prepare Glaze:

• 3 TBSP. orange marmalade
• 1 TBSP. hot pan drippings
• Mix together in small cup.

After duck has been cooking for 2 hours, spread ½ of the glaze over duck.  Return to oven for 15 more minutes.  Spread remaining glaze over duck and return to oven, uncovered to brown.  (About 10 minutes.)  Remove duck from oven and let sit (covered) for 10 minutes for juices to reabsorb.

Serve duck with Sauce for Roast Duck

Sauce For Roast Duck

• 1 small onion, finely diced
• ½ stalk celery, finely diced
• grated rind of ½ orange
• grated rind of ½ lemon
• 1 TBSP. butter
• ½ cup water
• 2 pkg. chicken OXO
• 2 TBSP. marmalade
• 1 TBSP. brown sugar

Sauté onion and celery in butter in small pot.  Add all other ingredients above.  Bring to a boil, and then simmer for 20 minutes.

Add:
1 TBSP. cornstarch mixed with ½ cup water. 
1/3 cup sliced mushrooms

Simmer together for 10 minutes, until mushrooms are cooked.

Just before serving, add 2 TBSP. Grand Marnier. 

Serve sauce hot over roast duck.