Candied Jalapenos and My Thanksgiving Menu

In my last post I said I would post the recipe for the candied jalapenos that I used in the Vietnamese Slaw and on the Pork Banh Mi Sandwich. We love these at our house. We use them for everything, from salsa to topping sandwiches. I took a jar to my son's house and they were a hit there as well. I've known folks who just chop up a few, mix them with cream cheese and serve it on crackers.

The recipe is the lazy person's method and has only three ingredients: a jar of pickled jalapenos, sugar and a touch of alum (which is optional). No picking jalapenos from the garden. No slicing. That's all done for you.

I buy the pickled jalapenos in the 64-oz. jar, so that's the amount I will use for the recipe. If you decided to use a smaller jar, just reduce the amount of sugar and alum by the same ratio.

You should keep the Candied Jalapenos in the refrigerator. Fair warning: they won't last long!

Candied Jalapenos

• 1 - 64-oz. jar pickled jalapenos
• 2-1/2 cups granulated sugar
• 1/8 teaspoon alum

Drain the liquid from the jar of peppers into a non-reactive pan. Add the sugar to the pan with the liquid and bring the mixture to a full boil. The sugar she be completely melted. Remove from heat and stir in alum. Allow the liquid to cool for 30 minutes.

Pour the cooled liquid back into the jar with the peppers. Do not allow to overflow. If there is any liquid remaining in the pan, discard it. Screw the lid back on the jar and refrigerate for a few days. Keep refrigerated.

That's it. I told you it was the lazy person's method.

Now, I'm already planning for Thanksgiving dinner. I think Tom's sister and brother-in-law will be coming, depending on their travel schedule, but whether we have company or not, we will have the traditional roast turkey, stuffing and gravy.

It's the rest of the meal I'd like to change up some.

Let's start with appetizers. First of all, I will make mini-sized Asian Turkey Meatballs. And a few days I saw a recipe for Baked Brie Bites @ Plain Chicken and I think I'd like to give those a whirl sometime before Thanksgiving, but they sound yummy without all of fuss of an En Croute.

The main course will, of course, be roast turkey, but I will put it in an apple cider brine the day before. The bird will be stuffed with a traditional bread stuffing, but Tom likes to add some fruit as well, like chopped apples and dates, along with the onions and celery. When we put the bird in the oven, I put the giblets and neck in a pot of water with some onion, carrot and celery and, when we are ready to serve, I make a gravy with the rich turkey broth.

I feel like switching up the side dishes this year. We usually make the traditional mashed potatoes, but I made Parisian Potatoes last month and I think I'll make them instead of mashed potatoes this year.


Not wanting to stray too far away from the traditional, green beans will still be on the menu, but not in the form of a casserole. A few years ago at a family reunion, my niece's husband made the tastiest green beans I've ever eaten. The dish consisted of simply fresh green beans, crisped bacon and butter, all of which were cooked together until the green beans were tender. Amazing.

A couple of years ago, I visited Marie @ Proud Italian Cook and copied her recipe for Parmesan Roasted Onions. They are rich, savory, creamy and delicious. And even if I'm the only one who eats them, they will be served Thanksgiving Day.

It's hard to decide what to do with a sweet potato. I'm not fond of the overly sweet candied sweet potato, nor do I care for the grated sweet potato casserole I've made the last 3 or 4 years. I'm thinking of roasting sweet potato rounds or wedges this year.

Of course, I will have my version of Cranberry Fool, a cranberry sauce made with fresh cranberries, a little sugar, dried cherries, raisins with a touch of vanilla.

For dessert, I am making a Pumpkin Spice Latte Cheesecake posted at The Pastry Affair

I don't think anyone will leave hungry.

What are you serving for Thanksgiving dinner?



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Breakfast from Leftovers

First off, some housekeeping. Lately, my posts have been inundated with spam. Not just any ole 'try this site, increase your readership, buy this, blah, blah, blah. P*rn spam. So...I'm back to moderating comments for awhile until the spam subsides.

Okay, with that out of the way...I hate throwing good food away. It's almost an obsession.

As a general rule, we always have leftovers. I try very hard to cook for just the two of us, but even though our kids have been gone and out on their own for 20-plus years, I still have difficulty paring down my old recipes into two or three servings. Who can make soup or a casserole for two?

If there is enough left for another meal, I let the food cool or sometimes pre-freeze, then vacuum seal it for another time (I love my Foodsaver!).

Of course, there are those times when there's just a little bit left, maybe one manicotti or a single piece of chicken, so that becomes lunch the next day.

At other times, there's a little bit more leftover than I can eat for lunch and I have to eat just a small portion of it and (cringe) throw the rest away. That's what happened last weekend.

Friday night I made Shrimp & Grits. We didn't have any leftover shrimp, but we had a nice portion of grits, about a cup of gravy and a handful of sauteed ham cubes leftover. Sounded like a yummy lunch to me.

But we weren't home for lunch on Saturday, so I decided to use the leftovers for breakfast Sunday morning....

When we were clearing the table and putting the leftovers in storage containers, I used a rectangular container to store the grits. When I took them out Sunday morning, they had solidified nicely, so I turned the molded grits onto my cutting board and cut the slab in half from corner to opposite corner, making two triangles.

In a small pan, I mixed the leftover gravy and ham together and warmed them over low heat.

I heated about a tablespoon of vegetable oil in a small frying pan over medium-high heat, fried the grits triangles until they were golden brown on both sides and removed them to two serving plates.

I poured about 3/4 cup of Eggbeaters into the frying pan, turned the heat to medium low and cooked them until they were just barely done through (obviously you could use eggs, scrambled or over easy). I divided the cooked Eggbeaters in half, placed them on top of the grits and topped that with a spoonful or two of gravy.

I sliced up a half of an avocado that I had in the refrigerator and topped the grits, eggs and gravy with it.

My, my, my. That was a tasty breakfast.

What do you have lurking in your refrigerator that could become a delicious meal?