Thanksgiving Basics

Thanksgiving Basics
1. Mashed Potatoes
Definitely an essential on Thanksgiving day! The hardest part about making mashed potatoes is knowing how many potatoes to cook! I know how many potatoes my family eats, but our potatoes are smaller than Idaho Potatoes, so I can’t really tell you how many to cook. I looked it up though, and it seems like ½ lb (about 250 grams) of raw potato should be enough per person.
Once you have decided how many potatoes to cook, peel them. You technically can skip this process..... But please don’t. Wash your potatoes after you have peeled them!  Depending on how pressed you are for time, throw the potatoes into a big pot whole, halved, or quartered. Cover the potatoes with water, and sprinkle generously with salt. Bring pot to a boil and allow to boil until you can easily stick a fork or butter knife all the way through the potatoes. You don’t need to stir the potatoes while they are cooking.  Just leave them alone and they will cook just fine. Carefully drain potatoes.  You want to drain them as soon as possible. The longer you allow them to sit in the hot water, the more gummy the mashed potatoes will be. (Not what we want)
Using a hand mixer, stand mixer, or potato masher, mash those potatoes! Remember, you can’t mash them too much! You want them as smooth as possible! DO NOT ADD ANYTHING TO THE POTATOES WHILE YOU ARE MASHING THEM! Now, I don’t think I have ever measured how much butter to add to the mashed potatoes….I don’t measure the milk either….neither does my mom…..nor my grandmother. I use about a tablespoon of butter per person….so since I’ll be making mashed potatoes for  about 15 people, I’ll probably use about 1 cup of butter for all of my potatoes. (4 tablespoons in ¼ cup) I normally make a well in the potatoes, put the butter in the well, and then cover the well with more potatoes. Leave it alone for about 3-5 min (depending on how cold your butter is).  Gently mix in the butter. Pour milk into the mashed potatoes slowly. Add some, mix, add, mix, add, mix. You do this until the potatoes are the texture you want them to be! Add additional salt and pepper to taste. (This is a good excuse to keep tasting and licking your fingers) Enjoy!

2. Gravy
If you’re having mashed potatoes, you need gravy!
Take all the broth/drippings from your delicious turkey and put them in a small-med saucepan. (if you don’t have a turkey, don’t worry! Next week we will be giving you a recipe for turning a chicken from tasting like a chicken, to a turkey!) If you want a smooth gravy, strain the broth/drippings so you only have the flavor and grease. Gravy is super easy to make. To make one cup of gravy, you need 1 oz of butter, 1 oz flour, 1 cup liquid.  Isn’t that easy to remember? Make a roux by combining butter with the drippings and whisk until butter is melted. Add flour, and whisk to combine. Remove pan from heat (don’t turn off the heat) and slowly add about half of the liquid. If you are making gravy for your mashed potatoes, use broth, if making gravy for biscuits, use milk. Whisk until smooth. Return to heat, and slowly add the remaining liquid. Whisk again until smooth, and allow to simmer on low heat. Once thickened, remove from heat and serve!


3. Pie
https://youtu.be/IIqr8ASjB7g faux apple pie
https://youtu.be/LJWtE9qXaIA pumpkin pie (you can use squash if you don’t have pumpkin)
https://youtu.be/0nkxqGtR8A8 pie crust

4. Sweet Potato Pie

This is also a “fly by the seat of your pants” recipe. Steam or boil your peeled sweet potatoes/yams (you can use pumpkin/squash if you don’t have sweet potatoes). Once completely cooked through (a knife or fork easily pushed all the way through) mash or beat potatoes. Add enough butter to get the texture you want.  Depending on how sweet your sweet potatoes/pumpkin/yams are, add brown sugar to taste. Spoon out mashed sweet potatoes into an oven safe dish, and then sprinkle with more brown sugar, walnuts and or marshmallows. Throw in the oven until marshmallows start browning! Don’t have marshmallows easily available? That’s ok, Kayleigh has a fantastic recipe for homemade marshmallows.
http://inhershoesbmw.blogspot.com/2019/07/marshmallows.html?m=1


5. Cream ofs
There are so many Thanksgiving casseroles that call for cream of mushroom, cream or broccoli, cream of celery, cream of chicken, or cream of…whatever. We have a good recipe for a homemade “cream of” base!
http://inhershoesbmw.blogspot.com/2019/09/cream-of-mushroom-soup.html


6. Fried Onions
What is a topping on most casseroles? Fried onions! The other day I was making an Egyptian dish, and needed to make fried onions. I was in a rush, and didn’t want to look up a fancy way of frying onions. I sliced up my onions to the desired size, sprinkled them with salt, and let them sit on the counter for at least 15 min. I think mine sat on the counter for an hour! Sprinkle onions with cornstarch right before frying. Make sure onions are completely separated and covered with corn starch. Fry in hot oil or hot lard, and remove from oil once crispy and starting to brown.  Use like you would normally use on your casseroles.

Amber Wells
Papua New Guinea 🇵🇬