Ingredients:

• 2 tablespoons butter
• 1 small onion, chopped
• 2 cloves of garlic, minced
• 1 stalk celery, chopped
• 1 medium carrot, chopped
• 1 medium potato, peeled and cubed
• 1 medium sweet potato, peeled and cubed
• 1 medium butternut squash – peeled, seeded, and cubed
• 1 (32 fluid ounce) container chicken stock
• ½ tsp. Curry powder
• ¼ tsp. Cayenne pepper (optional)
• salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
• ½ cup half and half cream
• Dollop of sour cream per serving

1. Melt the butter in a large pot, and cook the onion, garlic, celery, carrot, potato and sweet potato, and squash until lightly browned and coated with butter, about 5 minutes. Pour in enough of the chicken stock to cover vegetables. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low, cover pot, and simmer 40 minutes, or until all vegetables are tender.  
2. Allow soup to cool about 7 minutes and transfer to a blender or food processor. Add the half and half, curry powder, and cayenne pepper and blend until smooth (If you have a hand held immersion blender, you can blend in the pot). Return to pot, and mix in any remaining stock to attain desired consistency. Season with salt and pepper and serve with a dollop of sour cream.

Ingredients:

• 1 pound skinless, boneless chicken breast halves – cubed
• 1 cup sliced carrots
• 1 cup frozen green peas
• 1/2 cup sliced celery
• 1/3 cup butter
• 1/3 cup chopped onion
• 1/3 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
• 1/4 teaspoon celery seed
• 1 3/4 cups chicken broth
• 2/3 cup milk  
• 2 (9 inch) unbaked pie crusts

1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees F (220 degrees C.)
2. In a saucepan, combine chicken, carrots, peas, and celery. Add water to cover and boil for 15 minutes. Remove from heat, drain and set aside.
3. In the saucepan over medium heat, cook onions in butter until soft and translucent. Stir in flour, salt, pepper, and celery seed. Slowly stir in chicken broth and milk. Simmer over medium-low heat until thick. Remove from heat and set aside.
4. Place the chicken mixture in bottom pie crust. Pour hot liquid mixture over. Cover with top crust, seal edges, and cut away excess dough. Make several small slits in the top to allow steam to escape.
5. Bake in the preheated oven for 30 to 35 minutes, or until pastry is golden brown and filling is bubbly. Cool for 10 minutes before serving.

Ingredients:

• 3 pound whole cut up chicken, or any part of the chicken you prefer
• 2 chayote squash, peeled, centers removed and sliced lengthwise in half, then cut into 1/2 inch strips
• 1 small onion, chopped
• 3 cloves garlic, chopped
• 1 thumb-size ginger root, peeled and cut into strips
• 2 tablespoons patis/fish sauce
• 4 cups of water or the 2nd washing of rice water
• 1 bunch of spinach leaves
• Salt and pepper to taste

1. In a casserole heat oil over medium to medium high heat and sauté garlic, onion and ginger until soft.
2. Add the chicken pieces and stir fry for about 5 minutes or until the chicken turns white. Remove from pan.
3. Add the chayote squash and simmer until the vegetable is tender.
4. Season with the fish sauce (patis) and salt and pepper to taste.  The recipe has 2 tablespoons of patis listed, but please feel free to adjust to taste.
5. Pour in the water and bring to a boil for about 2 minutes. Add chicken back into the pot and lower heat. Cover and simmer until the chicken is cooked.
6. Taste the broth and re-season with salt, pepper and fish sauce (patis) to taste if needed.
7. Add the spinach leaves and cook to soften, about another 3 minutes.
8. Remove from heat and serve over steamed rice or eat alone as a soup.

Chicken Tinola

Ingredients:

• 1 3/4 cup whole wheat flour
• 1/3 cup oatmeal or wheat germ
• 1/4 cup canola oil
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 2 tablespoons brown sugar
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 2 cups buttermilk
• 2 eggs, beaten
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract (optional)
• 1/8 teaspoon cinamon (optional)
• butter flavored cooking spray, butter or oil

1. In a large bowl, combine the whole wheat flour, wheat germ or oats, baking powder, baking soda, brown sugar, and salt.
2. Add the canola oil to the flour-mixture and mix thoroughly.
3. Make a well in the center of the flour-butter mixture, and add the buttermilk and eggs. Stir until the liquids are fully incorporated.
4. Heat a frying pan over medium heat and grease the surface with a spritz around the pan with cooking spray, or 1 tablespoon of butter or oil. Ladle the batter onto the surface to form 4 inch pancakes. Once bubbles form on the top of the pancakes, flip them over, and cook them on the other side for about 2 minutes.

Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 cups cubed stale whole wheat bread
• 2 cups cubed stale white bread
• 2 cups cubed stale sourdough
• 1 pound sage pork sausage (i.e. Jimmy Dean’s)
• 1 cup chopped onion
• 3/4 cup chopped celery
• 1 2/3 Tablespoons fresh sage or 2 1/2 teaspoons dried
• 1 Tablespoon fresh rosemary or 1 1/2 teaspoons dried
• 1 teaspoon fresh thyme or 1/2 teaspoon dried
• 1 Fuji or Braeburn apple, cored and chopped
• 3/4 cup dried cranberries (i.e. Craisins)
• 1/3 cup minced fresh parsley
• 1 cooked turkey liver, finely chopped
• 1 1/4 cup turkey or chicken stock (if placing the stuffing inside the turkey, use only 3/4 cup)
• 4 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted

1. To prepare the bread:  Leave out the slices of bread for a day to dry out and stale.  For the sourdough, I find that the baguettes, sliced then left out, work well.  Cube the bread once dried. Option 2: Preheat oven to 350 degree F (175 degree C). Cut the bread into cubes and then spread in a single layer on a large baking sheet. Bake for 5 to 7 minutes in the preheated oven, or until evenly toasted. Set bread cubes inside a large mixing bowl.
2. In a large skillet, cook the sausage and onions over medium heat, until sausage is browned and onions are soft.  Break up the sausage while browning. Drain excess grease.  Add the sage, rosemary, thyme and celery and stir well to incorporate the flavors of the herbs. Cook together for about 3 minutes.
3. Add the sausage mixture to the bread in mixing bowl. Mix in chopped apples, dried cranberries, parsley, and liver. Drizzle with turkey/chicken stock and melted butter, and mix lightly.
4. If you prefer to bake stuffing outside of the turkey: Spoon stuffing into a 13×9 baking dish and bake at 350 F covered for 45 minutes.  Stir the stuffing slightly after 30 minutes to spread the turkey/chicken stock.  If the stuffing seems too dry for your tastes, add a bit more stock.  If the stuffing is too wet, bake uncovered for the rest of the time (15 minutes).

If you want to stuff your holiday turkey with your stuffing: Spoon the stuffing mixture into your turkey to loosely fill.

My cousin Pat gave me this recipe in November of 2004. It is a favorite at my house. I double this recipe with no problem at all.  You can vary the degree of spiciness of this recipe by the type of Rotel tomatoes you use as they come in different styles.  This is great for Super Bowl Sunday, gang get-togethers, and family dinners.  I will usually serve with oyster crackers, grated cheese, sour cream.

Ingredients

• 1 lb ground beef
• 1 medium chopped onion
• 2 cans black beans, drained
• 1 can corn, drained
• 2 cans Rotel tomatoes
• 1 can diced tomatoes
• 1 cup water
• 1 pkg Hidden Valley dressing mix
• 1 pkg taco seasoning

In a medium to large pan or skillet, brown ground beef. Add the chopped onion and cook until soft.  Drain any excess fat.  Add and mix rest of ingredients to the pan and simmer 45 minutes to 1 hour.  This soup is very spicy!

Ingredients:

• 1 (12 pound) whole turkey
• 8 tablespoons butter, divided
• 2 (14 oz.) can of chicken broth (or 3 1/2 cups of your favorite champagne/wine)
• 2 tablespoons dried parsley
• 2 tablespoons dried minced onion
• 1 1/2 tablespoons seasoning salt
• 1/2 tablespoon garlic powder

• 1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Rinse and wash turkey. Remove the giblets from the cavity and If unwanted, discard them. If you want them, add them to the pan or reserve them for your gravy.
  2. Place turkey in a roasting pan or electric roaster. Make little pockets under the skin by separate the skin over the breast of the turkey. Put 3 tablespoons of the butter on each “pocket” between the skin and breast meat and rub it in as best as possible. Take the other 2 tablespoons of butter and rub all over the outside of the turkey.
  3. Combine the chicken broth with the parsley and minced onion and pour over the top of the turkey. Sprinkle seasoning salt and garlic powder over the turkey.
  4. Cover with foil, and bake in the preheated oven 3 1/2 to 4 hours, until the internal temperature of the turkey reaches 180 degrees F (80 degrees C). For the last 45 minutes or so, remove the foil so the turkey will brown nicely.