How you doin’? It just about an hour before dinner. Everyone is out in the living room getting ready to feast on turkey, mashed potatoes, gravy and Green Bean Casserole. You are stressing out. You need to get your green vegetable side dish ready to serve. How about making the original Green Bean Casserole? It takes just minutes to whip up and contains a mere six convenience ingredients.
 
Sixty years ago, Dorcas Reilly invented the classic American dish of Green-Bean Casserole when she worked in the Campbell Soup test kitchen. Ms. Reilly was one of the first full-time employees at the Campbell’s Home Economics kitchen where she helped to create recipes printed on the labels of the company’s famous products. Ms. Reilly worked in the H.E. kitchen cooking with things that were most likely to be in most homes looking for easy recipes that used Campbell’s products that were not too expensive to make. Today, this recipe is still a staple at holiday dinners across the country.
 
Her original recipe (below) calls for mixing a can of cream of mushroom soup, cooked green beans, milk, soy sauce and black pepper. Pop it in the oven, toss some crunchy fried onions on top, and yet another element of the Thanksgiving dinner will be done!
 
Prep time:  10 minutes
Bake time:  30 minutes
Yield:  12 servings
 
Ingredients
2 (10.75 ounce) cans condensed cream of mushroom soup (I prefer Campbells)
1 cup whole milk
2 teaspoons soy sauce
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
8 cups blanched cut green beans
2-2/3 cups, divided fried onions (the one in the funny can—French’s or private label)
 
Directions

1. Preheat an oven to 350⁰ F.
2. In a 3-quart casserole, stir in the soup, milk, soy sauce, pepper, beans and 1-1/3 cups of the onions.
3. Bake for 25 minutes or until hot.
4. Remove from the oven and stir to mix.
5. Top with remaining onions.
6. Bake for another 5 minutes then serve.

ChefSecret:  For a festive touch, stir in 1/2-cup chopped red peppers with the soup. Omit soy sauce and stir in 1/2-cup shredded Cheddar cheese with soup. Sprinkle more cheese on top as desired when topping with onions.

Quip of the Day: “What did the turkey say to the computer?" "Google, Google.”
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Do you have a question or comment?  Send your thoughts to ed@perspectives-la.com. All recipes and cooking tips are posted on our website https://www.perspectives-la.com/covid-19-survival-guide.
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To you and everyone dear to you, be strong, be positive, stay well, stay safe and be kind. Have a wonderful safe and healthy holiday. If you have a little extra in your pockets to share with others at this difficult time, please consider donating to Feeding America. 

#ThanksgivingRecipe #Thanksgiving #Sides #GreenBeanCasserole #CampbellsSoup #CreamOfMushroomSoup #HolidayRecipes #Holidays2021 #Thankful #QuarantineKitchen #Covid19 #FeedingAmerica #PerspectivesTheConsultingGroup 

                                     ©Perspectives/The Consulting Group, Inc., 2021

​How you doin’? You’ve got a lot of tan and brown colors on your holiday table. It’s time to give your meal a splash or two of color—orange, yellow, pink or purple to be exact. Make room for my Slow Cooked Honey-Glazed Carrots--easily the best darn cooked carrots that you’ll ever eat. We often forget that carrots are as good cooked as they are shredded or chopped into our favorite salads.
 
This awesome side dish is made in a slow cooker which requires very little hands-on “active” time. They’re glazed at the end of the cooking cycle with a little orange marmalade giving the carrots a tangy sweet flavor and wonderful texture. My Slow Cooked Honey-Glazed Carrots make a perfect side dish for any special holiday meal. If your local market doesn’t carry them, find other locations at Frieda’s Specialty Produce.
 
Prep time:  10 minutes
Slow cook time:  4 to 6 hours
Yield: 8 servings
 
Ingredients 
2 pounds fresh young carrots, peeled and sliced in a quarter-inch bias cut
3/4 cup water
1/4 orange juice
2 teaspoons honey
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
6 tablespoons orange marmalade
3 teaspoons unsalted butter
1/2 teaspoon dried sage
1/2 teaspoon orange zest
1/4 teaspoon freshly crack black pepper
 
Directions

1. Combine carrots, water, orange juice, honey and kosher salt in a Crock Pot (slow cooker) and cook on low for about 4-6 hours, or until carrots are tender.
2. Drain the carrots. Stir in the marmalade, butter, sage and orange zest.
3. Season to taste with salt and pepper.
4. Turn to the warm setting until you are ready to serve.

ChefSecret:  Carrots originated in modern-day Iran and Afghanistan where cultivated carrots were rooted in the purple carrot in that region. They contain around 32,000 genes (more than humans--this may be signs of vegan intelligent life), of which two recessive ones contribute to a build-up of carotenoids, such as alpha- and beta-carotene. That’s where orange carrots get their bright orange color. Beta-carotene metabolizes in the human gut from bile salts into Vitamin A.

Quip of the Day: “If the past many months have taught us anything it’s that stupidity spreads faster than Covid."
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Do you have a question or comment? Send your thoughts to ed@perspectives-la.com. All recipes and cooking tips are posted on our website https://www.perspectives-la.com/covid-19-survival-guide.
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To you and everyone dear to you, be strong, be positive, stay well, stay safe and be kind. Have a wonderful safe and healthy holiday.

#ThanksgivingRecipe #Thanksgiving #Sides #Carrots #SlowCooker #Friedas #HoneyGlazedCarrots #HolidayRecipes #Holidays2021 #Thankful #QuarantineKitchen #Covid19 #FeedingAmerica #PerspectivesTheConsultingGroup 

​                                         ©Perspectives/The Consulting Group, Inc., 2021

How you doin’? There are so many important parts to a classic Thanksgiving Day turkey dinner—and you don’t want to miss any of them. Just think, what would turkey, stuffing and mashed potatoes be without a classic gravy made with the turkey giblets. Giblet gravy, a gravy made with the choicest pieces of the bird, is considered the queen of gravies.
 
Turkeys were plentiful in jolly ole England before 1550. They arrived there having made their way to Europe on Spanish ships transporting them from the new world. The Pilgrims and other British colonists already had recipes for turkey before they landed in North America.
 
Back then, it was like shooting turkeys in a barrel--they would find flocks of up to 5,000 wild turkeys gathered by rivers and streams… a veritable feast for the starving colonists. In addition to boiling, frying, and baking them, roasting was one of the most common means of preparing turkey in colonial times.
 
Amelia Simmons’ recipe in American Cookery calls for stuffing the bird with bread stuffing, roasting, and basting it. In what may have set the precedent for the modern Thanksgiving Day dinner, Amelia instructs her reader to cook and serve the turkey with cranberry-sauce, and mashed potatoes and gravy, of course.
 
This is my recipe for Giblet Gravy. It is very rich and delicious. I love it. I think it’s the best darn turkey gravy, but then that’s what I grew up eating at every Thanksgiving Day feast.
 
Prep time:  20 minutes
Cook time:  1 hour
Yield: 12 4-ounce servings
 
Ingredients 
4 ounces turkey giblets, uncooked
1 bay leaf
1/2 cup diced yellow onion
1-quart turkey stock from the blanched turkey
1/3 cup turkey fat (or chicken fat or butter)
3/4 cup all-purpose flour
1-1/2 cups hot stock (from cooking giblets, plus turkey stock or drippings)
3/4 teaspoon kosher salt
 
Directions

1. In a medium pot, simmer the giblets, bay leaf, onion and turkey stock until the giblets are tender, about 1 hour.  When done, discard the onion and bay leaf.
2. Strain and reserve the broth.
3. Dice the giblets into 1/8-inch pieces or chop with a French knife.
4. In a large saucepan, melt the turkey fat. Add the flour and cook for 5 to 10 minutes to form a medium light-colored roux.
5. Add 1-1/2 cups stock to the roux, stirring with a wire whip. Cook until smooth and glossy.
6. Add the salt and diced giblets.
7. Serve hot over turkey, stuffing and mashed potatoes (or over open-face sandwiches).

           
ChefSecret:  If planning to make stuffing and gravy using turkey giblets, you may need to ask your meat shop manager to toss in some extra giblets just to make sure you have enough for all you want to cook.

Quip of the Day: “What do you get when you cross a turkey with a ghost?" "A poultry-geist.”
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Do you have a question or comment?  Send your thoughts to ed@perspectives-la.com. All recipes and cooking tips are posted on our website https://www.perspectives-la.com/covid-19-survival-guide.
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To you and everyone dear to you, be strong, be positive, stay well, stay safe and be kind. Have a wonderful safe and healthy holiday. If you have a little extra in your pockets to share with others at this difficult time, please consider donating to Feeding America. 

#ThanksgivingRecipe #Thanksgiving #Gravy #GibletGravy #TurkeyGravy #Sauces #HolidayRecipes #Holidays2021 #Thankful #QuarantineKitchen #Covid19 #FeedingAmerica #PerspectivesTheConsultingGroup 

                                          ©Perspectives/The Consulting Group, Inc., 2021

How you doin’? The earliest written recipe for mashed potatoes is found in an English cookbook—Hannah Glasse's The Art of Cookery, in 1747. Before that mashed potato recipes were handed down mouth-to-mouth as an oral tradition. (Insert laugh here.) Hannah’s recipe mashed them in a saucepan with milk, salt, and butter. In the United States, Mary Randolph published a recipe for mashed potatoes in her book, The Virginia Housewife; Mary’s recipe called for a half ounce of butter and a tablespoon of milk for a pound of potatoes—a little too lean for my taste. I’ve goosed our recipe up a bit. Read on for more history—it’s interesting.
 
But let’s look back a little further… potatoes aren’t native to Ireland—or anywhere in Europe. They were most likely farmed in the Andes mountains of Peru, where they were being used for food at least as far back as 8000 BC—that’s a long time ago. These early potatoes were very different from the potatoes we know today. They came in a variety of odd shapes and sizes, had a bitter, earthy taste and were considered poisonous—and some varieties actually were! Many thought that potatoes caused leprosy—they didn’t… unless you ate them in a leper colony!
 
By the time Spanish explorers brought the first potatoes to Europe from South America in the 16th century, they had been selectively bred into a more desirable plant. It took them a while to catch on overseas, though. By some accounts, European farmers were suspicious of plants that weren’t mentioned in the Bible. Others said it was the fact that potatoes grow from tubers, rather than seeds. Modern potato historians debate these points, though. Cabbage’s omission from the Bible didn’t seem to hurt its popularity;  and tulip cultivation, using bulbs instead of seeds, was happening at the same time.
 
The South American climates’ potatoes thrived and were unlike those found in Europe, especially in terms of hours of daylight in a day. In Europe, potatoes grew leaves and flowers, which botanists readily studied, but the tubers they produced remained small even after months of growing. This particular problem began to be remedied when the Spanish started growing potatoes on the Canary Islands, which functioned as a sort of middle ground between equatorial South America and more northerly European climes. I hope you’re taking notes; there will be a test the day after Thanksgiving.
 
Okay, let’s go back to Ed’s recipe for Creamy Mashed Potatoes which will garner great praise for the cook this holiday… or any day.
 
Prep time:  10 minutes
Cook time:  20 minutes
Mix time:  5 minutes
Bake time:  20 to 30 minutes
Yield:  8 to 10 servings
 
Ingredients
5 pounds russet potatoes
5 slices bacon, cooked crisp
6-ounces mascarpone cheese, room temperature
1/2 cup unsalted butter, melted
1/2 cup sour cream
2 tablespoons minced chives
2 tablespoons minced roasted garlic
2-1/2 cups grated Cheddar cheese, divided
2 teaspoons kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly-ground coarse black pepper
 
Directions

1. Preheat an oven to 350⁰ F.
2. Peel the potatoes and cut into 1 inch cubes.
3. Rinse off the starch, place in a large saucepan and add enough cold water to cover by about 2 inches.
4. Bring the water and potatoes to a boil over medium-high heat, then reduce the cook temperature to a simmer. Cook until tender, 15 to 20 minutes.
5. Drain the potatoes, return to the pot, cover, and set aside.
6. Meanwhile, heat a large skillet over medium heat, add the bacon and heat to re-crisp and brown.
7. Using a fork or potato masher, smash the potatoes in the pot until light and fluffy.
8. Add the mascarpone, butter and sour cream and stir until combined and smooth.
9. Add the crisped bacon, chives, roast garlic, 2 cups cheddar cheese, salt and pepper. Stir until well combined.
10. Transfer to a buttered large baking dish. Top with remaining 1/2 cup of cheddar cheese.
11. Bake until top is slightly golden and potatoes are hot through and through, about 30 minutes.
12. Serve immediately.

ChefSecret:  For the creamiest smashed potatoes ever, add a little milk, half and half or cream to your smashed potatoes. Mellow out the garlic by taking a whole head of garlic, wrapping in aluminum foil and slowly baking (300⁰ f) for an hour or so until the garlic is all squishy and light brown.

Quip of the Day:  “If you don’t swear while driving, you’re just not paying attention.”
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Do you have a question or comment? Send your thoughts to ed@perspectives-la.com. All recipes and cooking tips are posted on our website https://www.perspectives-la.com/covid-19-survival-guide.
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To you and everyone dear to you, be strong, be positive, stay well, stay safe and be kind. Have a wonderful safe and healthy holiday. If you have a little extra in your pockets to share with others at this difficult time, please consider donating to Feeding America.

#ThanksgivingRecipes #Thanksgiving #SideDishes #MashedPotatoes #CheddarMashedPotatoes #CheddarCheese #RussetPotatoes #HolidayRecipes #Holidays2021 #Thankful #QuarantineKitchen #Covid19 #FeedingAmerica #PerspectivesTheConsultingGroup 

                                       ©Perspectives/The Consulting Group, Inc., 2021

​How you doin’? No matter where your family is from everyone living in the United States has a reason to celebrate Thanksgiving in their own way with their own family legacy recipes. That’s what makes this holiday so special.
 
Perspectives published a holiday cookbook several years ago and asked all of our coworkers to contribute some of their family favorites to the recipe collection. Kim was our first Los Angeles employee and was/is quite a good cook. This was her family recipe for one of the iconic dishes of Thanksgiving. Beats the canned stuff any day! This cranberry dish will definitely add a different zing to your holiday table.
 
Cranberries are native to the swamps and bogs of northeastern North America.  There are about 125 genera and about 3500 species of the plant. The cranberry is a Native American wetland fruit which grows on trailing vines like a strawberry. The vines thrive on the special combination of soils and water properties found in wetlands. Cranberries were a staple for Native Americans, who harvested wild cranberries and used them in a variety of remedies, foods and drinks.
 
In the Engoron household, canned cranberry sauce was always the dish that was left forgotten in the back of the refrigerator. Put a note on your fridge reminding you to serve it up.
 
Prep time:  10 minutes
Cook time:  5 to 9 minutes
Yield:  1-1/2 cups
 
Ingredients
1 tablespoon crushed garlic clove
1/4 cup chopped yellow onion
3 tablespoons unsalted butter
1/2 teaspoon finely chopped fresh thyme
1/2 teaspoon finely chopped fresh basil
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
16 ounces whole berry cranberries (I prefer Oceanspray)
1/4 cup dry red wine
1/4 cup fresh parsley, chopped
 
Directions

1. In a medium skillet, sauté the garlic and onion in the butter until tender.
2. Add thyme, basil, salt, pepper and whole berry cranberries; mix well.
3. Stir in red wine.
4. Cook over medium heat, stirring often, for 5 to 9 minutes until the berries start to burst.
5. Stir in parsley.
6. Serve warm or chilled.

ChefSecret:  Spice it up a notch by substituting the 1/2 teaspoon of black pepper with 1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper. This recipe can be made up to two days' ahead of time if covered and refrigerated.

Quip of the Day: “What happened to the turkey that got in a fight?" "He got the stuffing knocked out of him!”
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Do you have a question or comment? Send your thoughts to ed@perspectives-la.com. All recipes and cooking tips are posted on our website https://www.perspectives-la.com/covid-19-survival-guide.
-------------------------------------------
To you and everyone dear to you, be strong, be positive, stay well, stay safe and be kind. Have a wonderful safe and healthy holiday. If you have a little extra in your pockets to share with others at this difficult time, please consider donating to Feeding America. 

​#ThanksgivingRecipes #Thanksgiving #SideDishes #Cranberries #HolidayRecipes #Holidays2021 #Thankful #QuarantineKitchen #Covid19 #FeedingAmerica #PerspectivesTheConsultingGroup 

                                             ©Perspectives/The Consulting Group, Inc., 2021