Best Bread Stuffing

This is our secret recipe we have enjoyed for years. The time has come to share it with the world and spare others from ever using a mix again. We serve this every Thanksgiving and Christmas. It's so moist and yummy some of us have just a bite of turkey with our plateful of stuffing. This recipe makes two large casserole pans - one to cook on Thanksgiving and another to cook the next day with leftovers.

PREPARE A DAY BEFORE SERVING

INGREDIENTS:
1 1/4 cups unsalted butter
2 cups diced celery
2 cups chopped onions
16 cups bread cubes - mix darks and lights
3/4 cup rough chopped flat leaf parsley
2 TBSP kosher salt
1 TBSP ground pepper
3 eggs lightly beaten
3/4 cup heavy cream

STEPS:
1. In extra large stock pot, melt butter over medium low heat. Stir in onions and celery. Cook until onions are translucent and celery is bright green - about 10 minutes. Mixture should be tender.
2. Remove from heat. Using large paddle or spatula, stir in bread cubes, then butter. Add parsley, salt and pepper, then cream. Mixture should be moist, not soggy. (Adjust consistency if necessary)
3. Chill in pot covered with foil - or in baking dishes covered with foil - overnight.

TO SERVE:
Bring to room temp about 90 minutes before serving. Bake in casserole or baking dish at 325 for 45 minutes. Cover and keep warm until serving. If cooking with your turkey, place on lower rack (at lower temp) and extend baking time as needed.

For some reason, Spot didn't care we were cooking onions tonight. Perhaps it was the large pot that disguised them? She was underfoot so much this is a 5-Paw-er!

My First Pepper Steak

Yes, I do get a lot of my food ideas from some of my fav foodie shows and this recipe is no exception. As typical of my ADD, I tweaked and made what my eating men love-love-loved! We served it with packaged parmesan pasta on the side. Yum!!

INGREDIENTS:
4 sirloin steaks, marinated in kosher salt and ground pepper with a splash of bourbon at least 4 hours
2 TBSP unsalted butter
Kosher salt
Ground black pepper
White pepper
Bourbon
1/2 sweet onion, diced
6 cloves garlic, diced
2 shallots, diced
3/4 cup Half & Half
2 generous dollaps of dijon mustard
1/2 cup flat leaf parsley, chopped

STEPS:
1. In a large cast iron skillet, melt butter over medium heat. While skillet is heating, genrously salt and even more generously pepper with both peppers, each side of sirloins.
2. Pan sear meat about 5 minutes each side without moving it around. (When I flipped to second side, I sliced each steak in half to be sure it wasn't raw) Move cooked meat to platter and cover with foil.
3. Using same skillet on slightly lower temp, cook garlic and onions. Scrape skillet. Add 1/4 cup bourbon and sizzle everything. Drop in dijon and stir. Whisk in Half&Half and bring to boil. Stir and remove from heat.
4. Pour over steak on platter, top with parsley and serve.

Spot gives this 4 paws and loved tripping me often while I cooked. This is great man food! It goes on our two week rotation and is fast 'n easy to make.

My First Chicken Pad Thai

Inspired by The Chew last week, I have played around with this recipe, changed some ingredients and thickened the sauce. The result is a quick meal that can feed 8... or 4 if you each have two servings. Tastes great as a leftover, midnight snack or between two pieces of bread for lunch the next day. Apparently this dish has been around forever, so I'm a late but happy bloomer. We loved it so much I made it again two days later!

INGREDIENTS:
8 boneless, skinless chicken fillets marinated overnight in soy sauce and spread with creamy peanut butter
1 cup peanuts
5 eggs
2 1/2 pkg Japanese Curly Noodles
10 cloves minced garlic
2 cups shredded carrots
2-3 cups bean sprouts
10 scallions thinly sliced
Extra virgin olive oil
Kosher salt
Garnish with a thinly sliced Granny Smith apple

SAUCE INGREDIENTS:
1 cup water
1/2 cup brown sugar
Juice from 2 freshly squeezed lemons
1/2 cup creamy peanut butter
3 TBSP Worchesteshire sauce
9 TBP soy sauce
Pinch kosher salt

EASY STEPS:
1. In large skillet with 1 TBSP extra virgin olive oil on medium heat briefly cook peanuts for 2 minutes, remove from heat. Add more olive oil and the eggs. Lightly scramble til almost done, remove and set aside.
2. Slice chicken in thin strips, add 2 TBSP olive oil and garlic along with the chicken and cook til done, about 5 minutes.
3. In medium saucepan, bring 1/2 pot of water to boil. Place noodles in large bowl and pour enough boiling water to cover noodles and set aside.
4. While chicken is cooking, in medium saucepan (I used the same one) combine all sauce ingredients and heat.
5.  When chicken is done, whisk in the scrambled eggs, carrotts, bean sprouts, sauce and noodles. Combine well. Stir in scallions and peanuts. Serve with chow mein noodles if you want extra crunch.

Spot gives this 4 big paws. She loves chicken anything and without any onions cooking, she stayed in the kitchen the entire time. I will serve this over Thanksgiving weekend when we aren't eating turkey.

Molasses Crinkle Cookies

I have made a version of this ever since high school. I keep forgetting how good and easy it is. This recipe doesn't make more than a dozen, but really yummy!

INGREDIENTS:
3/4 cup unsalted butter at room temp
1 cup brown sugar
1 egg
2 1/4 cups flour
2 tsp
1/4 tsp salt
1 1/4 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp ginger
2 TBSP white sugar

STEPS:
1.  Cream butter, brown sugar and egg in mixer. Add all dry ingredients except the white sugar and mix well. Chill for 45 - 60 minutes,
2.  Line baking sheet with parchment paper. Form dough into golf-ball size and roll in the white sugar. Space 1" from each other on baking sheet. Drizzle each cookie with drops of water.
3. Bake at 375 until cookies flatten slightly, approximately 15 minutes depending upon your oven.

Spot was thrilled when we dropped some crumbs on the floor! 4 paws it is.