Though the roots of Thanksgiving are decidedly northern (U.S. History pop quiz: where was the first Thanksgiving held? AND NO GOOGLE/WIKIPEDIA), the South quickly transformed some of the staple foods into more delicious and therefore more unhealthy versions.  After all, southern cooking has its roots in simple farm foods, not unlike those pilgrims and native Americans.

So with that, I present a recipe I stumbled upon today that was reprinted by The Amateur Gourmet – in the comments section, no less:

Sweet Potato Casserole
from The Gift of Southern Cooking

Ingredients:
5 pounds small sweet potatoes (about 10 potatoes)
8 Tbs (1 stick) unsalted butter
1 3/4 tsps salt
3/4 tsp freshly grated nutmeg
1/3 cup honey
1/3 cup light-brown sugar
1/2 cup granulated sugar
3 eggs, lightly beaten
2 tsps vanilla extract
3 cups milk, heated
1 Tbs unsalted butter, softened

Topping:
1 cup light-brown sugar
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp ground Ceylon cinnamon
1/2 tsp freshly grated nutmeg
1/4 tsp salt
8 Tbs (1 stick) unsalted butter, chilled
1 cup chopped pecans

Preheat the oven to 350 F.

Wash the sweet potatoes and put them on a foil- or parchment-lined baking sheet. Bake in the preheated oven for 1-1/2 hours, until they are very tender. Remove from the oven and allow to cool briefly, then peel. Put the peeled sweet potatoes into the large bowl of an electric mixer fitted with beaters or a whip attachment. Mix the hot sweet potatoes on low speed to begin mashing them. Add the butter, and mix until it is absorbed. Add the salt, nutmeg, honey, and both sugars, and mix until they are thoroughly blended. Add the lightly beaten eggs and vanilla, and beat on medium speed for two minutes. Reduce mixer speed to low, and slowly add the heated milk. When the milk is incorporated, taste carefully for seasoning, and add more salt or nutmeg as needed. Thoroughly butter a 9-by-13-by-2-inch baking dish with the softened butter, and pour the sweet-potato mixture into it.

Raise the oven temperature to 375.

Make the topping: put the brown sugar, flour, cinnamon, nutmeg, and salt into a mixing bowl and mix well. Use your fingers to work the chilled butter into the mixture until it resembles oatmeal with some pea-size pieces of butter in it. Stir in the pecan pieces, and mix well. Sprinkle the mixture evenly over the top of the sweet potatoes, and bake in the 375 oven for 30 – 45 minutes, until the topping is golden brown and crisp and the sweet potatoes are set but still slightly loose in the. Serve hot. Like yo mama.

Anyways, I saw this via Twitter from Adam (@amateurgourmet) who authors The Amateur Gourmet, one of the many food blogs I’m constantly perusing through.  As he is an ex-Atlantan, I subconsciously instill more faith in his food-brain and tastebuds.  Besides, if you peruse deep enough, you’ll see that he manages to bang out some serious stuff out of a not-so-big New York apartment kitchen.  That alone is quite impressive.

So here’s the recipe (after the jump), shamelessly stolen off his site.  The whole vegetarian thing sets off some serious red flags, but I’m sure a little pork shoulder or roast chicken should fix it right up.  I really like how it’s been borrowed and tweaked via a variety of sources.  Crowd-sourced recipes are great!  (By the way, consider this to be my official claim of ownership and inventorship of the phrase “crowd-sourced recipes” and all its punctuational and capitalization varietals.)

From http://www.amateurgourmet.com/2010/04/white_lasagna.html:

“The Best” (Vegetarian) Lasagna
by Morgan Tingley
via several friends, with breadcrumbs borrowed from Suzanne Goin
Serves 8-12

2 large onions, thinly sliced
4 sprigs of thyme
6 medium zucchini, sliced evenly into 1/3” rounds
3 plum tomatoes, sliced very thinly (less then 5 mm)
Lasagna noodles for 3 layers (no-bake or parboiled, up to you)
1/4 cup basil pesto (fresh or purchased)
1 pound ricotta cheese
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
zest of 1 lemon
1/8 c + 1 T chopped parsley
8 oz shredded mozzarella
1 cup fresh breadcrumbs
1 T Dijon mustard
8 T olive oil
3 T butter
Optional: Greens from 1/4 pound ramps

1. Add 2 T olive oil and 1 T butter to a large skillet and heat on low until butter is melted. Add onions and leaves from 2 sprigs of thyme. Sauté over low heat about 1 hour until onions are caramelized. If not sweet to taste after 1 hour, increase the heat to medium till onions are browned.
2. Preheat oven to 300 °F. In a large bowl, toss zucchini slices with 4 T oil, and salt to taste. Arrange rounds on 2 baking sheets and bake 40 minutes until tender and slightly desiccated. Increase temperature to 400 and bake 10 minutes more until tops are browned.
3. In a medium bowl, mix ricotta with shredded parmesan, lemon zest, 1/8 c. parsley, and salt and black pepper to taste.
4. In a small pan, melt 2 T butter over medium heat until foamed. Add in leaves from remaining 2 sprigs of thyme, 1 T Dijon mustard, and 1 T finely chopped parsley. Remove from heat and whisk vigorously. Add in breadcrumbs, toss to combine, and set aside.
5. With all materials prepared, assemble the lasagna layers in a 9 x 13” baking dish, in the following order, remembering to lightly season between layers:
a. 1/3 of onions
b. 1/3 of zucchini
c. 1/3 of tomato slices
d. 1 whole layer of prepared pasta
e. evenly brush pesto over pasta in a very thin layer (use 1/3rd or less)
f. 1/3rd of ricotta mixture, spread evenly to edges of pan
g. If using, evenly cover ricotta mixture with 1 layer of ramp greens
h. 1/3rd of shredded mozzarella
6. Repeat to create 3 full layers, using up most of your ingredients (you may have some leftover, just eat it all in a sandwich). Over the top, sprinkle the breadcrumb mixture. Cover lasagna in aluminum foil and refrigerate overnight.
7. Preheat oven to 350 °F. Take lasagna out of refrigerator and place directly in the oven. Bake covered for 20 minutes, then remove foil and bake an additional 40 minutes till bubbly.

A Serious Eats adaptation of John Besh’s My New Orleans recipe is after the break to remind myself to do this before the weather gets too warm, otherwise competing cravings involving smoked pork shoulder and other summer-y foods will begin to overtake.

Chicken and Smoked Sausage Gumbo

- serves 10 to 12 -

Adapted from My New Orleans by John Besh.

Ingredients

1 cup rendered chicken fat or canola oil
1 cup flour
2 large onions, diced
1 large chicken, cut into 12 pieces
2 tablespoons Basic Creole Spices (recipe follows)
2 pounds spicy smoked sausage, sliced ½ inch thick
2 stalks celery, diced
2 green bell peppers, seeded and diced
1 tomato, seeded and chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
Leaves from 2 sprigs fresh thyme
3 quarts chicken stock
2 bay leaves
6 ounces andouille sausage, chopped
2 cups sliced fresh okra
1 tablespoon Worcestershire
Salt
Freshly ground black pepper
Filé powder
Tabasco
White rice for serving

Procedure

1. Make a roux by heating the chicken fat or oil in a large cast-iron or heavy-bottomed pot over high heat. Whisk the flour into the hot oil. It will immediately begin to sizzle. Reduce the heat to moderate and continue whisking until the roux takes on a deep brown color, about 15 minutes. Add the onions, stirring them into the roux with a wooden spoon. Reduce the heat to medium-low and continue stirring until the roux is a glossy dark brown, about 10 minutes.

2. Season the chicken with Creole Spices. Add the chicken to the pot, raise heat to moderate, and cook, turning the pieces until browned, about 10 minutes.

3. Add the smoked sausage and stir for a minute before adding the celery, bell peppers, tomatoes, and garlic. Cook, stirring, for about 3 minutes. Add the thyme, Chicken Stock, and bay leaves. Bring the gumbo to a boil, stirring occasionally. Reduce the heat to medium-low and simmer for 45 minutes. Stir occasionally and skim off the fat from the surface of the gumbo every so often.

4. Add the andouille, okra, and Worcestershire and season with salt and pepper, several dashes of filé powder, and Tabasco. Simmer for another 45 minutes, continuing to skim the fat off the surface of the gumbo. Remove the bay leaves and serve in bowls over rice. Pass more filé at the table.

Basic Creole Spices

- makes 1/2 cup -

Ingredients

2 tablespoons celery salt
1 tablespoon sweet paprika
1 tablespoon coarse sea salt
1 tablespoon freshly ground black pepper
1 tablespoon garlic powder
1 tablespoon onion powder
2 teaspoons cayenne pepper
1/2 teaspoon ground allspice

Procedure

Mix together the celery salt, paprika, salt, pepper, garlic powder, onion powder, cayenne, and allspice in a bowl. Transfer the spices to a clean container with a tight-fitting lid, cover, and store.