Merciful God, You are great in compassion and Your tenderness for us is without measure. We ask You to give us today our daily bread, and also provide for the needs of all of Your hungry children around the world. Through Christ Your Son and Our Lord. Amen.

Monday, October 29, 2007

The Best of Fall

On Tuesday, Kristen and Suzanne are hosting a Feast to Remember at The Virtual Kitchen with the very best of Autumn recipes. I've been posting pumpkin recipes for a week or more, so I'll post something different here.

This first recipe is for Sweet Potato Souffle. I've never prepared this dish for Thanksgiving Dinner, because I discovered this recipe last winter, but they are definitely going to be on the table
this Thanksgiving. The recipe originally came from Allrecipes and I made a few modifications. My recipe is below.

My second recipe, Green Beans with Shallots and Peppers, is a dish that I usually serve at Thanksgiving. It's easy, but pretty and delicious. If you're having a big crowd, like me, and will be pressed for time toward dinner, you can steam the beans earlier in the day, and then saute the shallots and peppers and add the beans right before dinner. I don't know why I consider this dish an autumn dish, but I never seem to make it in the warmer months.

The last recipe is for Cranberry Relish. This is a recipe from my husband's family, and we have adopted it at our Thanksgiving meal. It's a delicious concoction of fruit and nuts, and our Thanksgiving plates would be sad without it. Besides tasting good, it looks so pretty. I usually make cranberry sauce in addition, but this relish is my personal favorite. I could just take a spoon to the serving bowl!



Sweet Potato Souffle

6 sweet potatoes, peeled and cubed
1/2 cup white sugar
1/2 cup milk
1/2 cup melted butter
1 t. vanilla extract
2 eggs, beaten
1/2 t. salt
1 cup dark brown sugar
1/3 cup all-purpose flour
1/3 cup melted butter

In a large stockpot, cover sweet potatoes with 1 inch of water;
boil for 20 minutes, or until fork tender.
Drain, allow to cool.
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
Grease or butter 2-quart casserole dish.
Place potatoes in a mixing bowl and with an electric mixer,
beat on low speed until potatoes begin to break up.
Increase speed to medium high and blend until smooth.
Reduce speed to low and add sugar, milk, butter, vanilla, eggs and salt.
Mix well.
Pour sweet potato mixture into the casserole dish.
Prepare the topping in a small bowl
by whisking together the brown sugar, flour, and butter
Sprinkle mixture over potato mixture and bake for 40 minutes.


Green Beans with Shallots and Peppers

2 lb. fresh green beans
⅓ cup butter
3 lrg. shallots, chopped
1 lrg. red bell pepper, cut in strips
1 t. salt
½ t. pepper
½ t. garlic powder

Cook beans in boiling water for 3 to 4 minutes or until crisp-tender; drain.
Melt butter in pan over med-high heat.
Add shallots and bell pepper and saute for 4 minutes or until tender.
Add beans; toss with salt, pepper and garlic powder.






Cranberry Relish

2 cups cranberries
1 orange, quartered (leave peel on)
1 apple, pared and cored
1 cup sugar
2 T. lemon juice
1 ¾ cup crushed sweetened pineapple, well drained, reserve juice
1 cup chopped walnuts
1 sml. box lemon gelatin

Chop cranberries, orange and apple in food processor.
Add 1 c. sugar and let sit for 1 hour.
Meanwhile, add water to reserved pineapple juice to make 2 cups.
Bring to a boil and add to gelatin.
Stir to dissolve.
Refrigerate until gelatin is partially set.
After fruit and sugar has sat for 1 hour,
add lemon juice, pineapple and walnuts.
When gelatin is partially set, add to fruit/nut mixture.
Chill overnight.

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7 comments:

Charlotte (WaltzingM) said...

I have been looking for a good cranberry relish ever since we had some given to us many years ago. Let me ask though. Does this turn out to have the consistency of a "jell-o mold" or is it more like relish. I thought you couldn't add pineapple to gelatin or is that just fresh pineapple?

Barbara said...

Matilda,
This relish is not like jello. The gelatin really just kind of holds it all together, but it's not solid enough to act like jello (I think the fruit to jello ratio is too great). I think the pineapple rule applies just to fresh. I've made this dozens of times and it always turns out great.

Dea said...

Wow Barbara sounds incredible. I am going to try the sweet potato souffle this week. Am testing thanksgiving recipes for the next couple of weeks. Already have my cranberry sauce made! Hard to get fresh cranberries here, so when I saw them a couple of weeks ago I had to jump on it and freeze it. Too bad, because yours sounds wonderful!

JANET said...

Yum! Tastes like Thanksgiving!

Kristen Laurence said...

Thank you, Barbara! I can't wait to try these recipes - so perfect for fall!

inspired said...

I cannot wait to try these recipes!!

I noticed that you have a bagel picture on your sidebar. You should check out my blog about no-bake bagels. They are yummy and very easy!

Stephanie
www.homeschoolblogger.com/inspired

Barbara said...

Thanks, Stephanie. I checked out those bagels. They look great. I always boil, so I'm not certain what the difference is. Are they more like a roll? The next time bagels are on the menu I'll try it.