Sweet Potato Black Bean Tostadas

At Canadian Thanksgiving I intended to make an appetizer with sweet potato and black beans. I didn't end up making it and then I had a lot of extra sweet potatoes and black beans. I sort of made up a version of the same flavors but in a tostada form.

I would honestly just make these as a burrito filling. Super delicious, hearty, healthy and vegetarian. It would be easy to make these vegan by omitting the cheese and butter. I think that adding some avocados or guacamole would be a great addition as well.

Slow Cooker Mashed Potatoes

Everyone sitting down for dinner

Canadian Thanksgiving is my big party of the year. It isn't necessarily the highest attended party or the most expensive party, but it's definitely the most work and the most rewarding.

Hosting Canadian Thanksgiving in our apartment was incredibly difficult. There wasn't quite enough room for everyone to sit, spread out, eat, enjoy, or clean up. Now that we're in our new home, Canadian Thanksgiving has become quite a bit easier.

Having more space is half the battle, but the other reason why each year seems to run smoother than the last is that I am now a prepared, cooking machine.

Lesson 1: Take at least one day off of work before Canadian Thanksgiving. Shopping, cleaning, and cooking will all go more smoothly if you have more time.

Lesson 2: Buy the turkey a week in advance. It is hard to find a large turkey in Mid October in the United States. I guess everyone is stock piling them for American Thanksgiving and Christmas. Frozen turkeys take about 4-5 days to defrost in the fridge, so I now give myself a lot of time to find the turkey and let it defrost.

Spinach Dip Bread Bowl and Bruschetta (both recipes are on the blog!

Lesson 3: Make things the night before. I make cranberry sauce, stuffing, and some of my appetizers the day before. It keeps the kitchen a little cleaner the day of and there's less to do once guests have arrived. Which leads to

Smores Cheesecake (and remains of the bread bowl in the background)

Lesson 4: Utilize your slow cookers. There's nothing worse than trying to juggle a dozen guests, the heating of their pot lucked side dishes, making gravy, carving the turkey AND trying to somehow cook and mash a giant pot of potatoes. You go to drain the potatoes only to find that your sink is already full and you end up burning yourself with scalding water. It's not fun. Save yourself and make them in the morning in the slow cooker. They will still be hot and creamy and you wont' have to worry about the chaos of mashing.

Yes that is a turkey hat

One of my guests this year remarked that when they arrived I was sitting with everyone enjoying a gin and tonic--apparently I wasn't my normal semi-frazzled self.

One of my guests is allergic to whey (a main component in most dairy). She can't consume milk, but she can consume butter. I also had a vegetarian guest, so I wanted to make sure that I had mashed potatoes that both people could eat. Most recipes I found for slow cooker mashed potatoes called for cream cheese, sour cream, or chicken stock. This is what I came up with!

I didn't take a picture of the potatoes, so enjoy some others
from my Canadian Thanksgiving

Slow Cooker Mashed Potatoes

Ingredients

5 lb bag of Yukon gold potatoes peeled and chopped into about 2 inch pieces.
2-3 Cups vegetable stock
1 1/2 stick (3/4 Cup) unsalted butter
Salt

Directions

In a large pot, just cover the potatoes with water. Salt the water liberally. Cook on the stove until potatoes are fork tender. When potatoes are cooked, remove 1 cup of potato water. Drain the remainder of the potatoes and return to the pot.

Mash in butter, 2 cups of stock, and potato water. Add salt if needed. Your potatoes should be a bit more liquidy than you would normally serve them. Add additional vegetable stock if needed.

Pour the mashed potato mixture into the ceramic of a large crock pot. Place a clean dish cloth over the ceramic and then place the lid on top. The cloth keeps the condensation from trickling back in and creating pools of water in the potatoes.

Place in the slow cooker on the "warm" or "low" setting. Stir periodically, and again just before serving.

BLT Dip

Even though we've moved from summer to autumn, the tomato plants in our back garden are still producing at an incredible rate. Fresh, ripe tomatoes are a treat, and one of the best ways to highlight their flavor is with a delicious BLT. I wanted to make something with the same combination of flavors, but in more of an appetizer form.

Ginger Turkey Meatballs with Soy Dipping Sauce

Meatballs! Turkey meatballs can sometimes be dry and gross, They don't have the moisture innate in a beef or pork meatball. If you make them right, however, they can be extra delicious. The key, to me, is to make them a little bit more like a tiny round meatloaf in consistency.

Asian Chicken Wings with Oyster Sauce

Football season is here! That means chicken wings which are one of my favorite snacks. I love me a buffalo chicken wing, but when it comes to making them I always come back to these Asian inspired wings flavored with oyster sauce. They are salty and a little bit sweet and totally delicious.

I make these in a large wok, but you could also use a deep skillet. This will make enough wings to feed a crowd, so they're prefect for your game day party. Also, unlike a fried wig, these will reheat well without getting weird and soggy.

Chicken Wings with Oyster Sauce

Ingredients

4 Tbsp peanut oil
8 thin slices of ginger
2 cloves of garlic sliced
1 whole green onion
1 package chicken wings, about 12 whole wings
2 Tbsp Mirin or dry Sherry
1/2 cup water
6 Tbsp oyster sauce
2 Tbsp soy sauce
1 Tbsp brown sugar

Directions

In a small bowl, mix together water, oyster sauce, soy sauce, and brown sugar.

Separate chicken wings into three pieces. Discard the tips or save and freeze to use to make chicken stock. Pat the chicken dry with a paper towel.

Heat the peanut oil over high heat in a large wok or large, deep skillet. Add in the ginger, garlic, and green onion to flavor the oil. Add in the chicken wings and cook until the wings are golden brown on all sides.

Sprinkle the wings with the Mirin. Add in the oyster sauce mixture  to cover about half the wings (add additional water if necessary). Bring to a boil and reduce the heat. Cover and let cook for 10-15 minute stirring occasionally.

Remove the cover and increase the heat back to high. Toss continually until no sauce remains in the pan. Remove the green onion, ginger, and garlic. Sprinkle with additional green onion as garnish.

I've found that this recipe really does work best with peanut oil. The peanut oil can cook at a higher heat, so it browns the chicken better without burning/smoking. Make sure to serve these along with a roll of paper towel!

Apple Crisp

It's officially fall and that means apples. And apples mean apple crisp. Now you could go through tons of different crisp recipes until you find the perfect blend of sweet, crunchy, buttery topping or you could just make this one.

As with most of my best recipes, this one comes from my mom. One slight difference is that this recipe is for double crisp topping (so halve if you like a little less crisp to fruit ratio).

Steamed Pork Buns (Bao)

When I was in high school, I was fortunate to go on a three week long trip to China with my family. While my memory isn't perfect of the trip, one thing that stays fresh in my mind is the dim sum meal that we ate. Since then, my family has found a wonderful, authentic Chinese restaurant near my parents home (shout out to China Yuan in Tampa). They have a super delicious dim sum lunch that includes steamed roast pork buns. I'm not going to lie, I have not perfected the pork filling in mine, and so they are not the most delicious... yet.