Hello friends!

Happy Thanksgiving.

I had an absolutely fabulous Thanksgiving this year, or 3 Thanksgivings I should say. I first shared in a Thanksgiving feast at my office, potluck style. Then I spent the actual day with friends in Olympia who cooked a wonderful meal and then on Saturday I co-hosted a friends’ Thanksgiving where we made most of the main dishes and people brought things as well. Each one was awesome, but I definitely did the most cooking for Saturday.

Let me tell you a little bit about the meal. There was: Fried turkey, ham, mac and cheese, dressing, procuitto wrapped green beans, collard green cobbler, mashed potatoes with truffle oil, turkey gravy, cranberry sauce, ham sauce, rosemary rolls, and then dessert, which consisted of apple pie, cinnimon pull aparts, and pumpkin cheesecake.

Whew! I feel stuffed just listing all that out!

I made a whopping 10 different recipes that day, which in retrospect was too many. But, everything was amazing. I mean really amazing. No one had favorites because everything was so consistantly awesome. I’d say to myself, this collard cobbler is great. It is my favorite. But then I’d have some stuffing with gravy and change my mind. But then the mac and cheese was so good. You see my problem?

So, I’m going to share a number of the recipes that I made over the next few days. All of these are serious keepers that I look forward to making again. I’m still eating leftovers and am very happy about that.

First up, Collard Cobbler. This was the first recipe I saw that I knew I had to make for Thanksgiving. I was really excited about it and it did not disappoint at all. In fact, it was truly delicious. Collard greens are a new thing for me and I have fallen in love. I only made one change to the recipe, which was to add a chopped jalepeno to the onion cooking step. Because really, why not? I’d really recommend it. Oh, and I might have added more sausage than it called for because well, 4 oz is a sad little amount.

The only advice I have is that the cornbread did not lend itself to kneading and cutting before the fridge. Mine was way too sticky. Maybe I should have added more flour, but I just went with it. I flattened it into a big square with my fingers on a cookie sheet and once it was cold, I then cut it into the squares for the cobbler. Worked just fine.

Recipe: Collard Cobbler with Cornmeal Biscuits
From Food and Wine

Biscuits
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup coarse yellow cornmeal
2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
5 tablespoons cold unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
3/4 cup half-and-half

Collards
1/2 pound slab bacon, cut into 1-by-1/2-inch sticks
1 large sweet onion, thinly sliced
3 garlic cloves, minced
4 ounces spicy andouille sausage, halved lengthwise and sliced 1/4 inch thick
4 cups Turkey Stock or chicken stock
4 pounds collard greens—thick stems and inner ribs removed, leaves cut into 1-inch ribbons
1 cup plus 2 tablespoons half-and-half
2 tablespoons cornstarch dissolved in 1/4 cup water
Salt and freshly ground pepper

1. MAKE THE BISCUITS In a food processor, pulse the flour, cornmeal, baking powder, sugar and salt. Add the butter and pulse until it’s the size of small peas. Add the half-and-half and pulse just until the dough comes together. Transfer the dough to a lightly floured work surface and knead 2 or 3 times. Flatten the dough slightly and roll it out to a 10-inch square. Cut the dough into 2-inch squares and refrigerate on a baking sheet.

2. MAKE THE COLLARDS In a large pot, cook the bacon over moderate heat until golden and the bacon fat is rendered, about 8 minutes. Using a slotted spoon, transfer the bacon to a plate. Discard all but 1 tablespoon of fat from the pot. Add the onion and garlic and cook over moderate heat, stirring, until softened, 6 minutes. Add the bacon, andouille and 3 cups of the Turkey Stock and bring to a boil over high heat. Add the collards in 3 batches, stirring so each batch wilts before adding more. Cover and simmer over low heat until the collards are very tender, 30 minutes.

3. Preheat the oven to 375°. Add 1 cup of the half-and-half and the remaining 1 cup of stock to the collards and bring to a boil. Stir the cornstarch slurry and add it to the pot. Cook, stirring, until thickened, 2 to 3 minutes. Season with salt and pepper.

4. Transfer the collards to a large ceramic or glass baking dish. Top with the biscuit squares, overlapping them slightly, and brush the tops with the remaining 2 tablespoons of half-and-half. Season the biscuits well with pepper and bake for 50 minutes, or until the greens are bubbling and the biscuits are golden. Let rest for 20 minutes before serving.

Make Ahead The recipe can be prepared through Step 3 one day ahead; refrigerate the biscuits and collards separately.

Oh yeah, and pie. 🙂 This is the Grandma Ople pie. Again. And I’m sure I’ll make it again soon.