Thanksgiving, Family and Food. And a Recipe!

I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving. I know we did, but we almost didn?t. A few weeks ago I came down with the swine flu which then turned into pleurisy. For more than the last two weeks I have been in bed. I didn?t really leave the bed or couch unless i needed to go to the bathroom. Unfortunately that meant no cooking which really sucked. Fortunately, I did get better in time for us to host Thanksgiving for my family this year. I am so glad that I did get well in time because it was awesome. Megan and I made a lot of great food with the help of my sister, Annalise, who cam into town a couple days early from New York. We spent a lot of time in the kitchen laughing, cooking and mess making to put together the best thanksgiving meal any of us has ever had.

Megan did an amazing job of putting together a beautiful table scape with colourful felt leaves and a large vase of fall gourds.

I got up at 6:30am to start some coals and remove the turkey from the Apple cider brine that it had been soaking in for 10 hours. I dried it and applied a dry rub and threw it in the smoker for a glorious 8 hour smoke. Look at that beautiful bird!

While the turkey was smoking, Megan, Annalise and I made brunch. There was mini chevré, sun-dried tomato and rosemary quiches, turkey sausage balls and a fruit & cheese platter. My parents came over just before noon for brunch and to hang out while the three of us continued to prepare the main feast.

The menu for the day was fantastic. In addition to the smoked turkey (which was by far the best turkey I have ever had), the three of us made some mouth-wateringly delicious side dishes.

Annalise made a delicious cornbread and sage stuffing which contained 2 sticks of butter! Paula Deen would be so proud!

Megan made a very tasty sweet potato casserole with cranberries, her mom?s homemade apple sauce and a crunchy pecan brown sugar topping.

We made this really awesome potato and mushroom pie from Martha Stewart. Man, that jailbird can cook!

I made a mostly from scratch green bean casserole with a white wine, mushroom & sharp cheddar cream sauce (see below for the recipe). Screw you campbell?s, mine?s WAY better!

Throughout the meal there was much laughter and family antics including Megan stealing my turkey leg!

My parents enjoyed all the great food and my mom discovered that the felt name cards make great name tags.

Megan used the name cards and the string that held the napkins together to make a thanksgiving eye patch.

For dessert megan made a really great Rum Pumpkin Pie with fresh whipped cream.

I wanted to share the recipe i came up with for my green bean casserole. I didn?t want to go the cream of mushroom soup rout this time. so I came up with a creamy mushroom & cheese sauce to hold everything together and there?s bacon! I?ve never had a better great bean casserole. The only thing that I didn?t make was the fried onions which I suppose i could have made if i was really industrious. But for now, this recipe will have to do. I hope you guys enjoy it, and if you make it, please let me know.

Ben?s Homemade Green Bean Casserole

3 strips of bacon

2 shallots, diced

1/2 lb cremini mushrooms, Cut into 1/4? pieces

2 cloves garlic, minced

2 tbsp. butter

2 tbsp. flour

1/2 cup half & half

1/4 cup chicken broth

1/2 cup dry white wine

1 tsp. Worcestershire sauce

1/4 tsp. nutmeg

1/4 tsp. red pepper flakes

salt and pepper to taste

1 1/2 cups shredded sharp cheddar cheese

1 1/2 cup french fried onions

1 qt. Green Beans

Preheat oven to 350º F.

In a sauté pan over medium heat, fry bacon until crispy. Remove bacon to paper towel to drain leaving grease in the pan. Chop the bacon once it has cooled. Return pan with bacon grease to heat, add shallots and cook for 3 minutes. Add mushrooms and garlic and continue to cook until all the moisture that the mushrooms release had evaporated. Stir in half of the white wine and continue to cook until all of the wine has evaporated. Remove shallots, mushrooms and garlic from the pan and set aside for later.

Return pan to heat and add butter, heating until the butter is melted. Sprinkle in flour and whisk continuously until all the flour is dissolved; continue cooking and whisking for 2 minutes. Whisk in half & half, broth, remaining wine, Worcestershire, nutmeg, red pepper and salt and pepper to taste and cook for 2 minutes. Add 1/2 cup of cheese and whisk until it all melts and then add the shallots, mushrooms, garlic and bacon and stir to combine.

Fold green beans and half of the fried onions into cream sauce and pour mixture into a greased 8? x 8? baking dish. Cover with remaining cheese and bake for 25 minutes. Remove dish from the oven, sprinkle with remaining fried onions and return to oven, cooking for an additional 5 minutes or until fried onions are golden brown.

Hopefully now that I am well I can return to a regular blogging schedule. Have a great weekend everybody!