Brown Butter Creamy Apple Pie

One of the pies I make every Thanksgiving.

 

Ingredients

Filling

• 1/4cup Butter
• 1/2cup granulated sugar
• 1Egg
• 2tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 1teaspoon vanilla
• 5cups sliced peeled apples (5 medium) : I like a mix of granny smith and honeycrisp

Crust

This is a pillsbury recipe, so they recommend:

• 1crust from 1 package (12 oz) frozen Pillsbury™ Deep Dish Pie Crusts (2 Count)
• But I've made my own crust or used a roll-out pillsbury crust and they've both been fine

Streusel -- I double this and use as much as I want to cover the pie. 

• 1/2cup  all-purpose flour
• 1/4cup granulated sugar
• 1/4cup packed brown sugar
• 3/4teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/4cup cold butter
• 
  

• 1
  Heat oven to 400°F. Place cookie sheet in oven to heat. In 1-quart saucepan, cook 1/4 cup butter over medium heat, stirring constantly, until melted and lightly browned. Cool completely, about 15 minutes.
• 2
  In large bowl, beat 1/2 cup granulated sugar and the egg with wire whisk until light and fluffy. Beat in 2 tablespoons flour and 1 teaspoon vanilla. Beat in cooled butter. Gently stir in apples. Pour into crust-lined pie plate.
• 3
  In medium bowl, stir together all streusel ingredients except butter. With pastry blender or fork, cut in 1/4 cup butter until mixture looks like coarse crumbs. Sprinkle over apples. Place pie on cookie sheet in oven.
• 4
  Bake 20 minutes. Reduce oven temperature to 350°F, and cover edge of crust with strips of foil to prevent excessive browning. Bake 40 to 50 minutes longer or until apples are tender and crust is golden brown. Cool 2 hours.
  

Chocolate Cream Pie

 One of the two pies I make each Thanksgiving. 

Chocolate Cream Pie

1 pre-baked oreo crust
1 1/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup cocoa
1/3 cup cornstarch
3/4 tsp salt
2 1/2 cup whole milk
1/2 cup whipping cream
3 tbsp butter
1 1/2 tsp vanilla
sweetened whipped cream

Stir together sugar, cocoa, cornstarch and salt in medium saucepan. Gradually add milk and cream, stirring until smooth. Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, until mixture comes to a boil. Boil 1 minute.

Remove from heat; stir in butter and vanilla. Pour into prepared crust. Press plastic wrap directly onto surface, being careful to remove all air bubbles. Refrigerate 4-6 hours. Top with whipped cream and oreo pieces.

Mom's Turkey Enchiladas

Mix cut up turkey with 1 can of cream of chicken soup, a can (or two) of diced green chilies , 8 oz sour cream , grated cheese, and 2-3 beaten eggs (depending on how much turkey and cheese you use). Put about 1/2 cup filling on flour tortilla and roll up. Place side by side in baking dish. Top with more cheese and/or more cream of chicken soup. You can add cream cheese to filling to make it even richer. Bake 325 until eggs in filling are cooked and cheese has melted.

Whole cranberry sauce

4 cups water
3 cups sugar
1/2 cup maple syrup
4 tbsp vanilla extract
4 tsp salt
2 tsp coriander
1 tbsp cinnamon
2 tsp almond extract
1 bag cranberries (12 cups)

Bring water and sugar to a boil. Some people like up to 4 cups sugar, but I like it more tart. Add other spices to create a "swich licour." You can leave out whatever spices you want, it's just to make the flavor more interesting. Add the berries to the boiling water. Pull out any that look freakish. Bring it to a boil again and cook it for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. The cranberries have their own thickening agent (pectin, I think) to turn it into jelly as it cools. Makes something like 8 cups of sauce, enough for a really big party. It also makes the house smell really nice when you're cooking it.

Nana's Turkey and Stuffing

Lay out 1 1/4 loaves of white bread on cookie sheets and let the slices dry overnight. Turn them over if you think about it.

Also the night before (to make things go faster in the morning) chop up two big onions and at least 6 stalks of celery. Saute both in about ½ cup of butter in a big pan. Add 2 cups of water and 1 heaping TBSP of chicken soup base (you can substitute chicken broth) and simmer 2-3 min. Let cool and then add 3 eggs and mix well. Pour this into a big pitcher and put in the fridge until morning.

Stack the bread 4 slices deep and slice into long ½ inch thick slices. Dump those in a bowl to be hand torn into pieces (to keep the kids busy and involved: you can also just cut them into cubes with a knife). Divide the bread between two big bowls (to give you room to stir and lift the bread). Sprinkle the bread very generously with sage, generously with thyme and dried parsley, less generously with black pepper. If the bread is so dry the spices won’t stick, you can spritz it with a bit of water.

Slowly pour about ¼ of the celery/onion/egg/broth mixture over the seasoned bread in each bowl and mix well; if the bread is still really dry, repeat. If the bread is fairly moist, pour off some of the liquid and add the rest of the onions and celery to the bread. You want the bread to be moist enough to hold together, but not soggy.

Meanwhile, wash out the thawed turkey (be sure to remove the neck and giblets!) and tip it so the inside drips dry. Start at the head end (the smaller cavity) and fill with stuffing. Slide thin slices of sacrificial apple or potato between the skin and the stuffing (so the stuffing won’t burn). Use thread (about 4 strands in a big needle) and sew the skin closed or use big poultry pins to secure the skin.

Turn the bird over and fill the bigger cavity. Place slices of apple/potato over the exposed stuffing.

Hook the legs back together (usually there is a plastic leg holder on the turkey already. If not, use thread to lash the legs together). Set the bird on a rack in the roasting pan. I then like to pull the wings up and stitch thru the tips, leaving about 4 inches of thread between the wings resting on the breast of the turkey. This keeps the wings from touching the sides of the pan and burning.

Baste the turkey if you want to and bake it. I preheat the oven to 375 then turn it down to 325 and cook it longer than recommended since it is at a lower temp. You may want to cover the breast, wings and legs with foil the last hour to keep them from overcooking.

These amounts are for a 12-14 lb turkey. Leftover stuffing gets put in a foil lined pan and is wrapped in the foil like a tin foil dinner. Bake it for only one hour, not the whole time the turkey is baked.

I find I like fresh turkey, rather than frozen. If you brine a thawed out frozen turkey, that is good and moist as well.