Thanksgiving College Style

EVERYONE looks forward to Thanksgiving–– there’s no denying it. Some enjoy the gathering of friends and family; some enjoy the beautiful, crisp fall weather that accompanies it; and a few (i.e. everyone) enjoy the copious amounts of absolutely amazing, food coma inducing dishes. Although nothing can top your grandma’s homemade gravy nor your mother’s famous pecan pie, here a few recipes guaranteed to ensure all college students can celebrate this fabulous holiday even when stuck at school.

Thanksgiving Chicken Breasts (because cooking a turkey in your dorm room can be a little hard)

Total Time: 25 minutes

Prep: 3 minutes

Cook: 22 minutes

Servings: 8

Ingredients:

• 3/4 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon powdered sage
• 1 teaspoon poultry seasoning
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 6 large boneless skinless chicken breasts
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 3/4 cup white wine
• 6 cloves garlic, finely minced
• 3 tablespoons unsalted butter
• 2 cups chicken broth

Directions:

1. In a medium-sized bowl, add flour, sage, poultry seasoning, salt, and pepper and combine. Coat chicken breasts in flour, shaking off excess flour. Set flour mixture aside for use later.
2. In a large pan over medium-high heat, add olive oil. Add chicken breasts to pan in one even layer, making sure not to overcrowd the pan. Cook first side for about 5 minutes, until chicken is golden. Flip chicken over and cook other side until lightly golden. Remove chicken from pan and transfer to a plate.
3. Add wine to pan and use wooden spoon scrape brown bits off pan. Add garlic and allow wine and garlic to cook for 1 minute. Add butter and 3 tablespoons of flour mixture and mix to make paste. After about 1 minute, add chicken broth and whisk vigorously to dissolve paste. Transfer chicken back in, reduce heat to a low simmer, and cover with lid.
4. Allow chicken to cook fully, about another 5 to 8 minutes, and allow sauce to thicken. Use a small knife to cut into chicken and check for doneness. Adjust for seasoning, if necessary, by adding additional salt, pepper, and poultry seasoning. Serve immediately.

*Recipe courtesy of fullthymestudent.com  

Homemade Gravy

Total time: 10 minutes

Prep: 0 minutes

Cook: 10 minutes

Servings: 12

Ingredients:

• 6 tablespoons unsalted butter
• 6 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 4 cups chicken broth
• 1 teaspoon poultry seasoning
• 1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

Directions:

1. In a saucepan over medium heat, melt butter and then add flour. Combine until paste forms and cook for 1 minute. Add in chicken broth and whisk until lumps of flour are all dissolved.
2. Increase heat to high and allow gravy to simmer and become a thicker consistency, about 5 to 7 minutes. Whisk in poultry seasoning and pepper. Adjust for seasoning, if necessary. Serve immediately.

No Knead, Make Ahead Rolls with Honey Butter

Total time: 3+ hours for rising

Prep: 10 minutes

Cook: 18 minutes

Servings: 12 to 24 (depending on size of the rolls)

Ingredients:

Rolls:

• 7/8 cup water warmed to about 125F for Platinum yeast, about 105 to 115F for most other yeast
• 2 1/4 teaspoons instant or active dry yeast
• 2 large eggs
• 1/4 cup canola or vegetable oil or 1/4 cup butter (oil creates a softer loaf while butter creates a crustier crust and the dough is firmer and slightly easier to work with)
• 1/4 cup honey
• pinch salt, to taste
• 3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

Honey Butter:

• 1/4 cup (half of one stick) unsalted butter, very soft
• 2 to 3 tablespoons honey

Directions:

1. Pour water into a microwave-safe measuring cup or bowl and warm it to manufacturer’s directions on yeast packet, about 45 seconds on high power. Take the temperature with a thermometer. If you don’t have one, water should be warm to the touch, but not hot.
2. Pour water into a large mixing bowl and sprinkle the yeast over the top; wait 5 to 10 minutes, or until yeast is foamy.
3. Add the eggs, oil, 1/4 cup honey, optional salt, and whisk to combine, about 30 seconds.
4. Add the flour and stir with a wooden spoon to incorporate the flour. Stir for about 1 minute more. Dough will be thick, lumpy, bumpy, and not smooth. This is okay. Make a ball with the dough in the center of the bowl. Cover bowl with plastic wrap and place in a warm, draft-free place to rise until doubled in bulk, about 2 hours. Tip – Create a warm environment by preheating your oven for 1 to 2 minutes to 400F, then shutting it off. This creates a 90F-ish warm spot. Slide the bowl in and wait while the yeast works. Just make sure your oven is off.
5. Punch dough down, remove it from bowl, and turn it out onto a well-floured surface. Knead it only so much as necessary to shape it into balls for rolls. If you’re making bigger rolls, divide the dough in half and make 8 rolls from each half for a total of 16 rolls.
6. Place balls of dough in a cooking sprayed round baking dish or pie plate. They can be close to each other, but if they’re overly squished, they’ll bake into each other.
7. Cover baking dish with plastic wrap and allow rolls to rise in a warm, draft-free environment for about 1 hour until almost doubled in size. Tip- Use the preheated oven trick again.
8. In the final minutes of rising, preheat oven to 350F.
9. Stir to combine the butter and honey. Generously brush or spread the mixture over the top of the dough before baking. Reserve remainder to serve with rolls after baking.
10. Bake rolls for about 15 to 18 minutes or until lightly golden and puffed. Baking time will vary greatly based on how many rolls you’re baking.
11. Serve as soon as bread is cool enough to handle. Rolls are best fresh, but will keep airtight for up to 4 days at room temperature or may be frozen for up to 4 months.

*Recipe courtesy of Averiecooks.com

Roasted Brussel Sprouts, Potatoes, Carrots, and Parsnips

Total Time: 1 hour

Prep: 20 minutes

Cook: 40 minutes

Servings: 6

Ingredients:

• 1/3 cup extra-virgin olive oil
• 3 medium carrots (about 3/4 pound), cut into 1 1/2-inch thick circles
• 1 1/2 cups Brussels sprouts (about 1/2 pound), halved
• 4 cups red bliss potatoes (about 1 pound), cut into 1 1/2-inch thick slices
• 3 medium parsnips (about1 pound), cut into 1 1/2-inch thick slices
• 1 cup sweet potatoes (about 1 pound), cut into 1 1/2-inch thick slices
• 1 tablespoon dried oregano
• 1 tablespoon dried rosemary
• 1 teaspoon dried thyme
• 1 teaspoon dried basil
• 1/4 teaspoon sea salt
• 2 tablespoons freshly ground black pepper

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.
2. Grease an 11 by 17-inch baking sheet pan with extra-virgin olive oil.
3. Place vegetables in baking sheet and add the dried herbs, salt and pepper. Toss well, evenly coating all the vegetables with the seasonings and oil. Add more oil if the vegetables seem dry
4. Spread the vegetables evenly on a large baking sheet. Place on middle rack in oven and bake for 35 to 40 minutes.

*Recipe courtesy of Food Network.com

Pecan-Pumpkin Pie

Total time: 3 hours 15 minutes

Prep: 25 minutes

Cook: 2 hours 50 minutes

Servings: 8

Ingredients:

Crust:

• 1 Pillsbury™ refrigerated pie crust, softened as directed on box
• 1 teaspoon all-purpose flour

Pumpkin:

• 1 cup canned pumpkin (not pumpkin pie mix)
• 1 egg, beaten
• 1/2 cup half-and-half
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 1 ½ teaspoons pumpkin pie spice

Pecan:

• ¼ cup light or dark corn syrup
• 2 eggs, beaten
• 2 tablespoons butter or margarine, melted
• ¼ cup packed brown sugar
• ½ teaspoon vanilla
• 1 ½ cups pecan halves

Directions:

1. Heat oven to 450°F.
2. Sprinkle both sides of piecrust with 1/2 teaspoon flour; smooth flour over crust. Place crust in 9-inch glass pie plate. Carefully line pastry with double thickness of foil, gently pressing foil to bottom and side of pastry. Let foil extend over edge to prevent excessive browning.
3. Bake 10 minutes. Carefully remove foil; bake 3 to 4 minutes longer or until pastry begins to brown and has become set. Reduce oven temperature to 350°F.
4. In medium bowl, beat all pumpkin filling ingredients with whisk until blended. Pour filling into partially baked crust. In another medium bowl, beat all pecan filling ingredients except pecans with whisk until blended. Stir in pecans. Carefully spoon mixture over pumpkin layer.
5. 
Bake 30 to 35 minutes or until knife inserted 1 inch from edge comes out clean. Cool completely on cooling rack, about 2 hours. Store covered in refrigerator until serving. Serve with a scoop of vanilla ice cream.

*Recipe courtesy of Pillsbury.com 

• cooking
• fall
• food
• recipes
• standrewsfeature
• thanksgiving