The Menu:
Roast Split Chicken Breasts
Mashed Potatoes
Stovetop Stuffing
Parmesan Roasted Butternut Squash (which I've blogged about before)
Green Bean Casserole
Mini Sweet Potato Pies with Whipped Cream
The Decisions:
I decided to treat the Chicken similarly to Turkey on Thanksgiving, so I followed Ina Garten's Herb Roast Turkey Breast recipe with my Split Chicken Breasts instead. I had fresh rosemary and sage in my garden, but my thyme was really struggling so I used the dried herb instead.
I won't elaborate too much about my Mashed Potatoes, since they're a fairly common side and my recipe isn't atypical. I peel my potatoes, boil them in salt water, mash them, and then add butter, milk, and pepper before serving. I don't usually add more salt since the potatoes absorb salt from the water, and the butter I use is salted.
Stovetop Stuffing is ubiquitous and I make it according to package directions. My husband loves it, and I've not ventured into the home-made croutons or bread crumbs area yet. Notice I said yet. We will leave his beloved Stovetop Stuffing behind at some point in our lives. I promise.
The Parmesan Roasted Butternut Squash is a recipe I go to again and again. I've discussed it on my blog in the past (see link above) and I've used it in my weekly meal plans several times. It's absolutely wonderful, and a very nice divergence from sweet sugary butternut squash dishes.
I've never made Green Bean Casserole before. Can you believe that? I grew up in North Carolina and still I haven't made it before. Green beans are in season and inexpensive right now, so why not give the casserole a try? I followed fairly closely to Taste of Home's recipe, but skipped the sour cream, and I used ~3oz cream cheese, 2T ricotta, green beans leftover from Sunday and added bacon, season salt and pepper.
The Preparation:
On Wednesday I prepared some thing to make dinner come together faster once we get home from visiting with my family. I accomplished a great deal, and made dinner at the same time. Here's what I recommend:
- Chop the butternut squash & place it in foil covered ramkins in the fridge.
- Peel and chop the potatoes, put them into a pot, cover them with water, and put them into the fridge.
- Prepare the green bean casserole (minus the onion topping) and put it into the fridge.
- Prepare the sweet potato pie (from making pie crust & baking the sweet potato all the way through cooling the pies) and put them into the fridge.
I wanted dinner to come together about 7:00PM, so I started well in advance. I made sure to pull my prepared items out of the fridge with enough time for the baking dishes to warm up a little. I didn't want to put my ceramic and glass dishes into the oven directly from the fridge. Here's what I did:
- 5:30PM Season chicken
- 5:40PM Place chicken in oven
- 6:10PM Place butternut squash in oven
- 6:15PM Put potatoes on to boil
- 6:30PM Check chicken, cover with foil if browning too much
- 6:30PM Top green bean casserole with onions & bake
- 6:30PM Add cheese to butternut squash, continue to bake
- 6:40PM Drain potatoes, add milk & butter, mash & season to taste
- 6:45PM Start stovetop
- 6:45PM Remove chicken from oven, tent with foil, & rest 15 minutes
- 7:00PM Remove green bean casserole and butternut squash from oven
- 7:00PM Serve dinner
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