Getting Ready for Thanksgiving

For Thanksgiving this year, as usual, my aunt and uncle will be taking care of the turkey(s). My mom will be doing her signature roast char siu dish and braised abalone. There will also probably be a chicken involved somewhere just to cover all the meat bases 😉 So entree wise we’re in pretty good shape.

So I’m thinking about doing an appetizer, side dish, or dessert.

I made all three of the following for a pre-Thanksgiving get together with M & A: a caramelized onion & sweet potato flatbread/pizza, cheddar biscuits, and a no-bake eclair “cake.”

Caramelized Onions & Sweet Potato Flatbread

No-bake Eclair Cake

Appetizer:
Caramelized Onion & Sweet Potato Flatbread:

For this I used store bought naan pizza crust.

The onions (yellow or vidalia are the best for this) are caramelize in a little bit of olive oil under low heat. The longer you cook it, the more caramelized it gets. I cooked it for under half an hour because I just didn’t have the patience to keep it going for longer but usually an hour would produce a gorgeous caramelization of onions bursting with sweetness.

The sweet potatoes gets roasted in the oven (season with sat and pepper and drizzle a bit of olive over them) for 10 – 15 mins at 450 degrees.

My favorite part is the sweet, creamy ricotta base

Assemble by putting ricotta (mixed with a teaspoon of olive oil) as the based then topping with the caramelized onions and roasted sweet potatoes. Bake according to the instructions per the pizza crust package. The one I bought said at 425 degrees for 5 to 6 mins. I don’t know if it’s because my pizza stone wasn’t properly preheated enough or what but 5 mins definitely did not produce the crispy crust I wanted. So keep it in for longer if needed for your desired crispiness. Once out of the oven, season with sea salt and drizzle olive oil on top as desired.

I would recommend serving this right away. We had this cold and it wasn’t that good but I warmed up the leftovers and it was much tastier that way. I’m actually not a big onion fan but it does provide a different sweetness and texture than the sweet potato and ricotta.

Side Dish:
Cheddar Biscuits:

Ingredients:
1. 3 cups all purpose flour
2. 1/2 teaspoon salt
3. 4 teaspoons baking powder
4. 1/2 cup unsalted butter
5. 1 egg
6. 1 cup milk
7. 1/2 cup mild cheddar (for a more pronounce cheese flavor, you could probably use sharp cheddar or add more of the mild cheddar)

Herbed Butter:
Melt a stick of butter and mixed in a teaspoon of garlic powder and/or onion powder and a teaspoon of oregano or parsley. Brush (generously!) on top of the biscuits and enjoy.

Wish I could’ve captured the glorious sheen of the herbed butter slather on top

This is a crowd pleaser for most. People love biscuits, cheese, and butter all in one glorious package.

Dessert:
No-bake eclair cake:

As you can probably tell by now, I love doing no-bake treats; easy and delicious. This no-bake eclair cake is just graham crackers, vanilla pudding, whipped cream, and chocolate sauce.

No-bake Eclair Cake

You can use packaged vanilla pudding. Make the pudding according to the package. Then combine the pudding with whipped cream (12 oz).

Assemble the “cake” by first doing a layer of graham crackers with half of the pudding/whipped cream mixture on top. Another layer of graham crackers goes on top with the remaining pudding/whipped cream that is topped with a final layer of graham crackers.

Chocolate sauce:
1. 1/3 cup cocoa
2. 1/4 cup milk
3. 1/2 cup sugar
4. 1 stick butter
5. 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

First boil the cocoa, milk, and sugar mixture. When it comes to a boil, let it cook for about a minute. Stir it frequently so it doesn’t burn.

Take it off the heat and let it cool for a minute. Then mix in the butter and vanilla.

Pour the mixture over the cake and refrigerate it overnight.

Very easy to polish off

When serving, you can top with more whip cream (why not?) and maybe some fruits (strawberries/cherries, get yo healthy bites in!). This is a good dessert as it is so easy to make and you can do the night off so one less thing to worry about on the day of the big feast.

Try out any of these dishes if you want to contribute something delicious to the dinner table this Thursday. These are really simple to make and will fill a lot of happy bellies. 🙂

 

Happy Holidays,