So we do our annual Christmas-Eve-Eve dinner and the last two years' dinners were based on movies (Elf and the Grinch).  I was totally going to go all Dickens this year and do a dinner based on A Chrimstmas Carol, but that's a pretty typical holiday meal first of all, and Christmas pudding has tons of alcohol in it so that was out.  So I was trying to figure out what to do and Jeff suggested fondue.  OK!  We did the meat, cheese and dessert.  And we made 2 dipping sauces for the chicken...this is supposedly the actual recipe for Benihana's ginger sauce.  It was gooooood.   We all highly recommend it.  Not just for fondue....any time you want to dip chicken into a bowl of gingery-goodness.  :)

Benihana's Ginger Sauce

1 yellow onion
2 Tbsp. peeled and grated fresh ginger
1/4 C. fresh lemon juice
1/2 C. white vinegar
1 C. soy sauce

Chop onion.  Grate ginger on a fine cheese grater or preferably a micro plane.  Place all ingredients into a food processor and blend until well blended.  Serve with chicken and/or veggies and enjoy!

Broccoli Quinoa Casserole

We had this for dinner tonight and everyone (even Ava) loved it.  Okay, Ava didn't LOVE it, but she ate several bites.  Woohoo!  It was delish.

Adapted from: http://damndelicious.net/2014/03/05/broccoli-quinoa-casserole/

Broccoli Quinoa Casserole

Ingredients

• 1 cup quinoa
• 2 cups frozen broccoli and cauliflower
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1/3 cup Panko bread crumbs
• ½ cup cooked, shredded chicken
• 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
• 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 2 cups 2% milk
• ¼ tsp salt, heaping
• ¼ tsp pepper
• 1 1/2 cups shredded cheddar cheese, divided
• 1/3 cup plain Greek yogurt or sour cream

• In a large saucepan of 2 cups water, cook quinoa according to package instructions.
• Heat olive oil in a small skillet over medium high heat. Add Panko and cook, stirring, until browned and toasted, about 3 minutes; set aside.
• In a large skillet, melt butter in the skillet over medium heat. Whisk in flour until lightly browned, about 1 minute. Gradually whisk in milk, and cook, whisking constantly, until slightly thickened, about 3-4 minutes. Stir in quinoa, broccoli/cauliflower, chicken, 1 cup cheese, Greek yogurt, salt and pepper.  Heat through.
• Sprinkle remaining cheese on top and let it melt a bit.
• Serve immediately, sprinkled with Panko (don’t skip this part!).

The Great Pumpkin Pie Recipe

Last year I made Paula Deen's pumpkin pie which has cream cheese in it.  It was yummy,  but I felt like it was a little lacking in flavor, plus I actually think the cream cheese made the texture a bit too soft for pumpkin pie.  I tried this pie this year and it was perfect.  There is a "secret ingredient" - pepper - don't skip it.  It's got great texture and great flavor!
From http://sallysbakingaddiction.com/2014/10/26/the-great-pumpkin-pie-recipe/print/

The Great Pumpkin Pie Recipe

Yield: 1 pie, plus extra for mini pies

• Robin’s Homemade Pie Crust
• 2 cups (15oz can; 450g) pumpkin puree (or ½ canned pumpkin and ½ fresh pumpkin)
• 3 large eggs
• 1 and 1/4 cups (250g) packed dark brown sugar
• 1 Tablespoon (15g) cornstarch
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 and 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
• 1/4 teaspoon ground or freshly grated nutmeg
• 1/8 teaspoon ground cloves
• 1/8 teaspoon fresh ground pepper
• 1 cup (240ml) heavy cream
• 1/4 cup (60ml) milk (or use half and half instead of milk and cream)

Directions:

Whisk the pumpkin, 3 eggs, and brown sugar together until combined. Add the cornstarch, salt, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, cloves, pepper, cream, and milk. Vigorously whisk until everything is combined. Filling will be a little thick (or thin if using fresh pumpkin puree).

Preheat oven to 350F degrees.

Pour pumpkin pie filling into the partially baked crust (use Robin’s pie crust recipe). If you did not use a deep dish pie pan, you will have too much filling. Only fill the crust about 3/4 of the way up. Use extra to make mini pies with leftover pie dough scraps if you'd like. Bake the pie until the center is almost set, about 55-60 minutes give or take. A small part of the center will be wobbly - that's ok. After 25 minutes of baking, be sure to cover the edges of the crust with aluminum foil or use a piecrust shield to prevent the edges from getting too brown. Check for doneness at minute 50, and then 55, and then 60, etc.

Once done, transfer the pie to a wire rack and allow to cool completely Serve pie with whipped cream. Cover leftovers tightly and store in the refrigerator for up to 3 days. Pumpkin pie freezes well, up to 3 months. Thaw overnight in the refrigerator.

30 Seconds to Pomegranate Goodness

If you eat pomegranates you must watch this video!  Holy mackerel... SO much easier!

http://lifehacker.com/5895852/deseed-a-pomegranate-in-10-seconds-using-a-wooden-spoon

Blackberry & Pear Salad with Red Wine Poppyseed Vinaigrette

This salad is so yummy!  The dressing called for 1 cup of sugar, but I think it could be reduced to 3/4 cup and still be delicious so I think I'll give that a try next time.  I also forgot to add bacon, but I'm sure that would be tasty as well.  This is slightly adapted (and halved) from ourbestbites.com).  I'm trying to do a salad once a week as our main dish so I served this with bread and it was great.



Blackberry & Pear Salad with Red Wine Poppyseed Vinaigrette
Recipe from Bekah Byron
Ingredients:
1 head romaine lettuce, washed and chopped or torn into bite-sized pieces
1 package mixed greens
½ cup chopped walnuts (or pecans), roasted
¼ cup cooked and crumbled bacon
½ cup crumbled feta cheese
1 red or green pears, sliced (or apples)
1 small package blackberries, washed and sliced in half
Dressing:
¾ cup sugar
1 teaspoons kosher salt
1 teaspoons dry mustard
1/3 small onion
½ cup red wine vinegar
¾ cup oil
1 teaspoons poppy seeds
Instructions:
In the jar of a blender, combine all the dressing ingredients except the oil and the poppy seeds. Blend until smooth. With the blender running, add the oil in a steady stream. Transfer the dressing to a storage or serving container and whisk in the poppy seeds. Refrigerate until ready to use.

Sweet Potato Dinner Rolls

These are really yummy rolls and you get the added bonus of healthy sweet potato inside.  They are really soft and just the right amount of moist.  I got this recipe from http://janessweets.blogspot.com/2012/10/sweet-potato-pull-apart-dinner-rolls.html and then I took out about 90% of the steps since they were entirely unnecessary and time consuming...

Sweet Potato Dinner Rolls

Yield: 15 rolls (One 9"x13" pan)

Ingredients:

1/2 cup warm water

2 tablespoons milk, no colder than room temperature

1/4 canola oil

1 cup of baked sweet potato (no skin), pureed, and cooled to room temperature

2 large eggs, room temperature, lightly beaten

all purpose or bread flour, approximately four cups (have more on hand, just in case)

1 1/2 teaspoons salt

1/3 cup light brown sugar, loosely packed

2 1/4 teaspoons instant yeast (or use 1 tablespoon active dry yeast)

In the large bowl of your mixer, using the paddle attachment on the lowest speed, stir together 2 cups of the flour, the salt, brown sugar, and yeast.

Add to mixing bowl water, milk, oil, and sweet potato.  Beat at medium speed for about 2 minutes. Add in the eggs, and continue beating for about 3 minutes. On lowest speed, slowly add in 1 and 1/2 cups more of the flour.  Add more flour as needed until the dough pulls away from the bowl and is not sticky to the touch.  Allow mixer to knead dough for several minutes.

Spray a 9" by 13" pan with cooking spray.

On cutting board, roll dough into rectangle and use a pizza cutter to slice it into fifteen-sixteen pieces.  Roll each piece into a ball and place in pan.  Cover with clean towel and let rise until doubled in size.

Preheat your oven to 375 degrees. Bake for about 20 minutes.  If the rolls appear to be browning too quickly, cover the pan loosely with foil.

Rub a stick of butter over the tops of the rolls right after they come out of the oven (not the whole stick, but, ya know…).

Greek Salad Dressing & Marinade

We really liked this salad dressing.  I served it on a "Greek" salad with Greek Grilled Chicken (it wasn't that flavorful so I won't post the recipe), olives, tomatoes and Feta.  Delish.



Greek Salad Dressing & Marinade
Recipe by Our Best Bites
1/4 c. freshly squeezed lemon juice
1/4 c. white vinegar
2 tsp. sugar
1/2 tsp. kosher salt
1/2 tsp. seasoning salt
1/2 tsp. red pepper flakes (this will not make the dressing spicy, just flavorful)
1/4 tsp. freshly ground black pepper
4 cloves garlic, peeled
1 c. canola oil (or other salad oil)
1/4 c. crumbled feta cheese
3/4 tsp. Italian seasoning
1/4 tsp. dry oregano
In the jar of a blender, combine all the ingredients through the garlic. Blend until smooth. While the blender is running, add the oil in a steady stream. Turn off the blender and add the feta and pulse the blender a few times. Whisk in the herbs. If possible, refrigerate for at least an hour before serving. Use as a marinade for chicken, lamb, or flank steak or drizzle over a Greek salad.