I absolutely love Thanksgiving food! I have a special place in my heart for Green Bean Casserole, Cranberry Sauce, Pumpkin pie, Pecan Pie, and Broccoli Cheese Casserole (…the way my mother used to make it before she tried to make the recipe more healthy and then proceeded to forget how she used to make it…..If you have a good Broccoli Cheese Casserole recipe please post it as a comment so I can try it out!!!). I do not have a recipe for any of those previous items that I absolutely think is better than any other recipe. However, there are a few Thankgiving recipes that I think are head and shoulders above all others, and wouldn’t you know that every single one of those recipes is a Traditional Southern Recipe???
While stuffing may be universal, pan dressing is a traditionally Southern dish. It is very moist and yummy when done right, almost completely different in taste from stuffing!
6 cups Corn Light Bread crumbs
6 cold biscuits, crumbled
1/2 cup butter
1 cup finely chopped celery
2 medium onions, chopped
1 tsp black pepper
3 hard-boiled eggs, chopped
3 raw eggs, lightly beaten
1 1/2 tsp poultry seasoning
2 or more cups chicken broth
Mix cornbread and biscuit crumbs in a bowl. Melt butter in heavy pan, add onion and celery. Saute until vegetables are soft. Add onions, celery, seasoning and other ingredients except liquid to bread mixture and toss until well mixed. Pour on enough broth to moisten cornbread (do not make soggy). Spread 2″ deep in greased baking pan. Bake 400 degrees until lightly browned and cooked through.
Easy Giblet Gravy Recipe
I threw this one in because you need a really good gravy to go with turkey and dressing, and this one is completely idiot proof!
1/4 cup butter
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
4 cups chicken broth
1 can cream of chicken soup
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
2 hard-boiled eggs, chopped
chicken or turkey giblets, cooked and chopped
Mix and whisk together, stirring occasionally, on simmer after it comes to a boil.
My Mother-in-Law’s Deviled Eggs Recipe
No one makes better deviled eggs than my Mother-in-Law. This is an approximate recipe.
3 boiled-eggs cut in half with yolks separated
a little less than 2 Tablespoons of Mayonnaise (for texture)
a little less than 1 teaspoon of mustard (for taste)
a little less than 2 teaspoons of sugar (for taste)
salt and pepper to taste
paprika
Mash yolks. Add remaining ingredients and mix well. Spoon or use a icing bag to put mixture into the holes left by the yolk halves. Sprinkle with paprika to make it look pretty!
My Mother’s Sweet Potato Casserole Recipe
I never really liked sweet potatoes until my Mom started cooking them this way!
3 cups sweet potatoes, mashed
1/2 tsp salt
1 egg, beaten
1/3 cup milk
3 T margarine
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 cup sugar
Topping: 3 T melted margarine
1/3 cup flour
2/3 cup brown sugar
1/2 finely chopped nuts (pecans are my favorite)
Stir together the first group of ingredients and spread in greased 9×13 pan. Stir topping ingredients together. Top casserole with toppping and bake 30 – 35 minutes at 350 degrees.
Constance’s Mom’s Sweet Potato Pie Recipe
I had never had Sweet Potato Pie until I moved to Mississippi and Constance’s Mom made me a Sweet Potato Pie! It is the other best way to eat sweet potatoes!!!
2 cups cooked Mashed Sweet Potatoes (about 2 medium potatoes)
1/2 stick oleo (what they used to call margarine)
1 1/2 cup sugar
2 large eggs
1/4 tsp baking powder
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 tsp ground nutmeg
1/3 cup milk
1 deep dish pie crust (I make my own using the recipe on the Crisco package. It not only tastes better, but it is also more fun because you can make all kinds of crazy designs on the edge of the crust!)
Mix ingredients together well and pour into pie crust. Bake at 350 degrees for about 45 minutes to an hour. If you are really savy, mold aluminum foil around the edges of the pie crust to keep the crust from browning.
