I thought I’d share a couple little quick recipes that I was asked to share before I head off to enjoy my Mom’s good cooking. Mmmm a home cooked meal that I didn’t have to make, this is gonna be sweeeeet!
Sage Butter
2 sticks of butter softened
4 tablespoons of rubbed sage powder or about 10-12 fresh sage leaves
1/2 teaspoon white pepper
Mix it up in a food processor until… well until it is mixed up.
You can either slather it on the skin of the bird on the outside and/or you can drop some teaspoon fulls onto a sheet of foil and shove it into the fridge until they firm up. Then take those hard balls of sage goodness and jam them under the skin around the breast area of the bird. Geez balls and breast… that just sounds bad. hehehe
The fresh sage is prettier, but the rubbed sage will do in a pinch.
Cranberry Sauce
1 package of fresh cranberries
1/2 cup of sugar
1/2 cup orange juice
grated orange peel
Just cram it all into a sauce pan, turn it on medium heat and cook it until all the berries deflate. Remove it from the heat. It will thicken the cooler it gets. You know the drill for cooling it faster, put it in a shallow pan to chill it faster then scrape it out into a serving dish top it with some grated orange peel. If it is too stiff soften it with a little orange juice.
Maple Brown Sugar Sweet Potatoes
5 or 6 Sweet potatoes, peeled and cubed
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 stick butter
1/4 cup maple syrup
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon clove
1/2 cup chopped Pecans
1/2 cup Sultana Raisins or Regular Raisins will do
1/8 brown sugar for sprinkling
Peel ,wash, dry and chop up your taters. In a sauce pan add the rest of the ingredients and cook it over medium low heat until the sugar is dissolved. In a shallow baking pan dump all of the potato chunks and pour the syrup mixture over the chunks. Lightly stir to coat the taters. Throw it all into a 350 degree oven and roast those suckers covered with foil for about 20 minutes then uncover, continue to cook for another 15 minutes. Open the oven and sprinkle the remaining brown sugar on the taters and continue to cook, uncovered, for another 5-10 minutes. Place in a serving bowl and lightly toss to coat it with the juices. Throw a cinnamon stick on top of the whole damn thing and bam… nummy taters.
(You can also hollow out a a sugar pumpkin and roast it alongside the potatoes for the last 25 minutes and fill the roasted pumpkin shell with your potatoes. Try rubbing some butter and brown sugar on the inside of the pumpkin prior to roasting. It makes for a lovely presentation and great holiday centerpiece at the table)
