Cooking with Mary: Thanksgiving recipes and more!

Published November 20, 2020 by SMBC

Need new ideas for the holidays? Mary Corban and South Main panelists Mark Gribble, Claire Hein-Blanton, J Hill, and Henry Williams virtually shared cooking tips, recipes, and laughter in preparation for Thanksgiving.

Watch the video here.

Here are the recipes discussed:

Maple-Roasted Carrot Salad

Recipe link here.

Links to ingredients and kitchen tools:

Salt

Sherry Vinegar

Olive Oil

Grade A Maple Syrup

Scraper

Ground Meat Chopper

Sausage and Wild Rice Casserole

Serves 6

2 cups wild rice2 stalks celery, finely chopped 1 small-medium onion, finely chopped1 package pork sausage, like Jimmy Dean (can be regular or sage flavor, but not maple)Poultry seasoning, salt & pepper, sage1 cup sliced or slivered almonds, toasted

Cook the wild rice according to package directions. Usually that will require simmering the wild rice with about 4 cups of water, plus 1 tsp. salt for 40 minutes. Check after 30 minutes to see if the wild rice is beginning to get tender. Drain any excess water.

In a pot large enough to hold a colander, put about 2 inches of water. Insert the colander and spread the cooked wild rice evenly in it.

Saute the onions and celery until tender - about 5 minutes. Add the sausage to the same pan, breaking it up into small pieces. Season with 2 tsp. poultry seasoning, 1 tsp. salt, Ω tsp. pepper, Ω tsp sage. (Sage is a strong flavor and poultry seasoning already has it as an ingredient, so you may choose to omit it if you are not a fan but DO use the poultry seasoning.) Start with Cook until completely done. DO NOT DRAIN THE FAT.

Pour the onion, celery, and sausage mixture over the wild rice in the colander, including the fat left in the skillet. DO NOT STIR TOGETHER at this point. You want the fat to drain from the sausage mixture through the rice into the water below as it steams. Bring the water to boil in the pot, cover, then reduce heat to a simmer. Let this steam for at least one hour. Check to make sure the pot does not boil dry. If you have time to let it go for another hour, it will be even better.

At this point, remove the lid, stir the rice together with the onion, celery, and sausage mixture. Taste for seasoning. I usually add another Ω tsp to 1 tsp. of the seasonings at this point, but season to taste for your family.

Top with the toasted almonds just before serving.

This can be made 1-2 days in advance and will reheat well in the microwave with a little water or chicken broth. Do not add the almonds until after reheating so that they retain their crunch.

This is very good with cranberry sauce or a fresh cranberry relish.