Cool as a Cucumber. Sandwich.

I'm having a super busy couple of days here at the frog pond, but want to leave you, my dear readers, a note just to say I'm still here! I've been thinking about that mad tea party the last couple of days and tea parties in general and am really starting to crave a nice crisp cucumber sandwich. Hm. Might be a necessary item on my to-do list.

So for your viewing (and if you're adventurous, eating!) pleasure, here is my special ingredient for tea parties...the cucumber sandwich. Crisp, soft, salty, savory, vinegary and creamy all at once...and so yummy, you can't stop at one! These are probably more a mom thing than a kid thing, but I always always end up having to make a few more plates for my guests when they are on the menu! 

CUMBER TEA SANDWICHES
Marinade:
1 cucumber (large), peeled and thinly sliced*
1/4 c. white wine vinegar
1/4 c. olive oil
2 T. chopped minced garlic
1 T. lemon juice
1 tsp. Italian seasoning
salt and pepper
Spread:
1/4 c. room temperature butter
8 oz. softened cream cheese
1 tsp. garlic salt
1 T. snipped chives

8 slices white bread

For marinade: Toss all in a bowl, seasoning with salt and pepper to taste. Let sit for at least an hour, preferably overnight.

For spread: Combine all in a bowl and use while soft. It keeps well in the refrigerator, but won't tear the bread when it's a little more pliant. This spread is also good with chopped fresh basil, if you have it available.

To assemble: Spread cream cheese mixture on bread (both sandwich pieces). Top with marinated cucumbers. Make sure to cut the crusts for a proper tea sandwich!

*English cucumbers without seeds would probably be best here, but I regularly make them with the regular kind with no problem.

Moist, Delicious Brined Roast Turkey

We've tried a number of different methods to cook up our holiday birds..deep fried, frou-frou herbs stuffed under the skin, cumbersome cooking bags, smoked out on the grill...but I believe we've settled on a favorite. Alton Brown over at the Food Network makes an absolutely fabulous fantastic Brined Turkey that will knock your socks off. Can't believe how moist it turns out year after year. I'm not going to type the whole recipe in, I'm just going to provide you the link so you can go see it for yourselves. Click here.

South Georgia alterations? Of course. No vegetable stock in the store. No matter. Making it from scratch is easy enough. I cut an onion in half, threw in four or five stalks of celery and a couple of whole carrots and boiled it all for about an hour in a pot full of water. You can throw whatever ends and scraps of veggies you happen to have laying around to make a stock, just remember the onion. At the end, for the purposes of brining the turkey, I did throw in a couple of chicken bullion cubes.

Andoille Sausage Stuffing

When this made its debut at Biggs Manor in 2003, we knew we had a winner. Every Thanksgiving and Christmas since, we have religiously made this stuffing. We chose it at first because it paid homage to our Louisiana roots, but since then have made it because it was so darn good! One year, we had a friend for dinner that had spent a lot of time in New Orleans, and insisted he liked his food spicy. I unloaded almost an entire bottle of Tabasco into a pan of this mad just for him, and we never heard that claim from him again!

I had to make a South Georgia alteration to my stuffing this year, as there was not an andoille sausage to be found at WalMart or Piggly Wiggly in the Southwest Georgia region. Spicy smoked sausage worked almost as well, and we were grateful to have found a few links amongst the selections. Without further adieu, here it is!

ANDOILLE SAUSAGE STUFFING

2 tablespoons (1/4 stick) butter

1 pound andouille sausages, cut into 1/3-inch pieces

1 12-ounce package breakfast-style bulk sausage

3 cups chopped onions

2 cups chopped celery

2 cups chopped red bell peppers

1 cup chopped green onions

2 teaspoons chopped fresh thyme

1 teaspoon hot pepper sauce

1 teaspoon dried rubbed sage

1 loaf cornbread, cubed

1 cups (about) combination of chicken broth and ham stock.

Melt butter in heavy large skillet over medium-high heat. Add all sausages and cook until brown and cooked through, breaking up bulk sausage with back of fork, about 5 minutes. Add onions, celery and red bell peppers. Cover and cook until vegetables are tender, stirring occasionally, about 12 minutes. Stir in green onions, thyme, hot pepper sauce and sage. Transfer sausage mixture to large bowl. (Can be prepared 1 day ahead. Cover and refrigerate.) Stir cubed cornbread into sausage mixture. Season with salt and pepper.

To bake all of stuffing in baking dish: Preheat oven to 350°F. Generously butter 13x9x2-inch glass or ceramic baking dish. Add enough broth/stock to stuffing to moisten (about 3/4 cup to 1 1/2 cups.) Transfer stuffing to prepared dish. Cover with buttered foil, buttered side down; bake until heated through, about 30 minutes. Uncover and bake until top is crisp and golden, about 20 minutes longer.

Holiday Cooking

I have been so darn busy cooking up fabulous holiday meals, lots (and lots) of cookies, and making heartfelt homemade Christmas gifts, I have neglected to put up a few posts this month. If you know me at all, you know I tend towards binge blogging anyway! Shortly, I'm going to attempt to put up recipes for all the fabulous things I cook over the holidays for you and yours to enjoy!

P

Sweet Potato Souffle

One of my many many faults is that when I say Thanksgiving dinner is a 4pm, I mean it. So when my favorite neighbors were late for dinner one year by about an hour, but all was forgiven and then some once I wrapped my lips around these sweet potatoes. I coulda died—only wish they had shown up sooner so I could have eaten less turkey and more sweet potatoes! So thank, you Julianne, we plan to enjoy these for years to come!

Sweet Potato Soufflé

Ingredients:
3 large cooked sweet potatoes, pureed
1 cup sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 cup melted butter
1/3 cup milk

Topping:
1 cup light brown sugar
1 cup chopped pecans
1/3 cup flour 1/3 cup butter softened

Mix all potato casserole ingredients together in processor and process
until well blended. Put into a greased baking dish and add topping that
has been mixed together and crumbled over potato mixture. Bake at 350
for 25 minutes.

Going Global: Chicken Satay

We love Asian and Indian influenced dishes, so when I stumbled on this recipe (and doctored it) it was instantly a new family favorite. The spicy peanut flavor is delicious, and everything is more fun to eat on a stick. Needless to say, the kiddo even loved it.

This makes a perfect appetizer, and if you would like to serve as a dinner, the adjustments are pretty easy. Reserve 1/2 cup or so of the marinade, and stir fry whatever veggies you like and add the sauce at the end. Serve veggies over rice, satay on veggies and dinner is served!

Easy Chicken Satay

3 Tbsp natural peanut butter

1/2 cup low sodium soy sauce

1/2 cup lemon or lime juice

1 Tbsp brown sugar

1 Tbsp curry powder

3 cloves garlic, chopped

2 tsp hot pepper sauce

6 skinless, boneless chicken breast halves, cubed

wooden skewers soaked in water for at least 2 hrs.

In large bowl, combine 1st seven ingredients. Add chicken to mixture and marinade overnight. Weave the chicken on skewers and grill until done. Can also be baked in oven at 400 degrees for 15-20 minutes.

What's in the oven?

There was a creative wind blowing through Biggs Manor today...and the need to use up some freshly roasted and pureed pumpkin. What was supposed to be an hour effort ended up taking all darn afternoon, but the recipe had a nice little surprise--a marshmallow top between the cream cheese frosting and pumpkin goodness. I'd make them again, but I'd be sure I had the proper time to devote to them first. Brought them to the church function tonight, and every one of them dissappeared! See the full recipe here for Jack-O-Lantern Cookies.