Ye Olde Stuffing Recipe

Thanksgiving is a food holiday that, for my family, is strictly old school. We do not do radicchio, or tofu, or quinoa. Think Betty Crocker, not Giada. We also believe that stuffing doesn't have any "stuff" in it that you can clearly identify. If you find a mushroom or chestnut or (god forbid) a cranberry in it, then it isn't "true" stuffing. This is my recipe for stuffing that is adapted from how my mother taught me. It cooks down so long it begins to resemble dark matter. Enjoy.
Ye Olde Stuffing Recipe
Ingredients:

• 2 boxes of stuffing mix (Mrs. Cubbison's Unseasoned is good - do not get cornbread type)
• 1 lb. Jimmy Dean Sausage (plain is best, or try Sage)
• 1/2 cup butter
• 1 onion
• 1 bunch celery
• White Wine (or chicken broth, or other liquid)
• Ground sage, salt & pepper to taste
  

Directions:

1. Open wine. If it is after breakfast have a glass. It's Thanksgiving, what the hell. Plus, you know it's going to be a long day.
   
2. Empty boxes of stuffing into really large mixing bowl
3. Cook & crumble sausage until browned; drain on paper towel
4. Put skillet back on (don't waste time washing it) and melt the butter on low heat until it is foamy.
   
5. While the butter is melting, chop the onion and celery until fine. Save the heart of the celery for stuffing with cream cheese, because that is an important part of Thanksgiving Dinner. Even if no one eats it.
6. Top off your wine.
7. Cook the celery and onion in the melty butter until they are translucent. Don't let them get brown.
8. Dump the sausage and onion-celery-butter mix and seasonings onto the stuffing cubes.
9. Add liquid for however much the boxes of Dressing say to add, making it half wine and half chicken broth. I think it's about 2 cups per box. It should be moist, but not soggy.
   
10. Now stuff it into a greased crock pot (this makes it "stuffing" on a technicality). Cram it in there, it should all fit.
11. Cook on "low" for at least 4 hours. If you want to get fancy, do two things: add some of the drippings from your turkey pan part way through the cooking time, and bump it up to "high" for the last hour; this will make crispy edges that are delicious.
    

If you cook it this way and for long enough, you shouldn't be able to tell there was celery in it at all.

The Legend of Meat Roll

My husband is the only grandson to a lovely Italian lady named Rose. At 80-something, Rose still makes her own pasta; putting out entire holiday dinners from scratch. Once she got up at 4:00 am to make a few dozen pizzelles for Chris when he was away in college, because he likes them. In other words, she's a tough act to follow.

The tales of her mad skills in the kitchen are epic, but nothing tops The Legend of Meat Roll. When I first heard about this dish I couldn't get my head around it. A roll where you wrap meat around more meat, then serve it with... meat. However, because Chris likes it*, I ended up getting the recipe from his sweet grandma Rose (handwritten, double-sided on notebook paper in delicate spidery grandma script). Here it is, transcribed verbatim:

"Basic recipe for 1 loaf - I always double it.

• 1 1/2 lb. meat loaf mix. Beef & pork or 1 lb. or 1 1/4 lbs.
• 1/2 lb. Genoa salami - slices - diced
• 1/2 lb. provolone cheese slices - diced
• 2 hard boiled eggs diced 1/4 inch
• For the sauce I use 2 lb. meat for meatballs and 2 lb. for the sauce
• Garlic, finely minced - parsley, eggs, bread crumbs

Mix the meat loaf, garlic - 1 or 2 cloves (or if you prefer garlic powder) - basil (optional) chopped fresh parsley (or dried), salt and pepper. Mix the ingredients like when you are mixing for meat balls. Using parchment paper, spread out the meat to about 1/2" thick or less on the paper - spread out the cheese, then the salami, then the egg.

Start rolling out the parchment & the meat to the end - press in the edges - put seam side down (when spreading out the ingredients - keep a clear 1/2 inch border so you can enclose all without falling out. Place on a baking sheet - oil the part where the meat roll is going to be. Bake about 45 to 60 minutes until done. I now freeze them wrapped in freezer paper.

About two days before Christmas put them in the refrigerator to thaw out. Slice them 1/2" or a little less - lay them in a casserole - glass 9"x13" or less - on some sauce spread in the bottom. Sauce the top - sprinkle cheese over sauce - Cover with foil and bake 45 mins - (350 degrees) or until hot.

Note: Stagger them card style. I use Romano-Pecorino, Parmesan or other Italian cheeses. "

This is served as a side dish. As in next to meat sauce over spaghetti and meat balls, with some lasagna. I'm not making that up.

Here is a shot of the finished product:

It's actually pretty delicious. I served it with angel hair pasta in a basic marinara sauce, paired with a bottle of A. Rafanelli Zin. Thanks, Grandma Rose!

* Spoiled much?

Rolls I Like to Make

My sister's second marriage ended in 2010. She didn't get much out of her 10+ years with the guy, but she did get this amazing dinner roll recipe from his mother. She called it "Rolls I Like to Make."

The recipe notes that "the secret to good rolls is: The 'rising' of the dough. 1st rising at least 1 hr. and 15 or 20 min. 2nd rising the same amount of time."

I have had a lot of luck cutting this recipe in half, and with making interesting shapes out of the dough. I suppose sometimes the best family recipes come from other families.

Ingredients:

• 2 cups warm water
• 2 packages yeast (dry yeast)
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 egg (beaten)
• 1/4 cup shortening (FW note: I use butter.)
• 6 1/2 to 7 cups flour

Mix the first 6 ingredients all together. Pour into the flour and mix well ("a dough"). Set in a warm place to rise (an hour and a 1/2). Knead the dough and shape into balls and put on two greased cookie sheets. Set in a warm place and let rise another hour and 20 minutes at least. Set oven at 350 degrees and have oven on for the 2nd rising. Bake rolls until light brown (almost 15 minutes).

Coloma County Casserole

My dad found this recipe, but I am not able to find a "Coloma County" in the south (California gold country and Wisconsin are the two that come up). I also haven't seen black eyed peas done this way, but it is the best way and will convert most people who say they hate black eyed peas.

Ingredients:

• 1 lb. bag dried black eyed peas
• Bay Leaf
  
• 2 cups chopped ham
• 2 cups cheddar cheese, shredded & divided
• 2 tbsp butter
• 1/2 onion, chopped (save other half for beans)
  
• 2 cups milk
• 2 tbsp cornstarch
  
• 2 tsp Seasoned Salt (Lawry's)
• 1 tbsp Tabasco sauce

Soak beans overnight, and rinse. Cover with fresh water and bring to boil in large pot. Add a ham bone if you have one, and the non-chopped half of onion & bay leaf. Reduce to simmer and let cook until the peas are soft, an hour to 90 minutes.

Make a cheese sauce by sauteing the onion and butter until onions are soft. Add milk and heat to almost boiling. Add cornstarch dissolved into a little cold milk, and stir with a whisk into the milk mixture. Keep stirring as it thickens. Add Seasoned Salt, Tabasco, and 1 cup of the cheese.

Grease a 13"x9" casserole dish. Add drained black eyed peas, ham & cheese sauce. Top with remaining cheese, and bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes. Serve with corn bread and collard greens on New Year's Day for luck & prosperity. And if you double up on the ham and cheese, it still comes out okay.

[photo from sleepyneko's flickr stream]