“DePaul Family” Thanksgiving Recipes

We asked the DePaul community to share their favorite Thanksgiving recipes so you can add some school spirit to your table this year! If you’d like to add your favorite recipe to the “DePaul Family” cookbook, just post it in the comments below or send an email with the recipe and a picture (if you have one!) to alumnisocialmedia@depaul.edu.

Sides

Sausage Stuffing

Submitted by: Erika R. (CMN ’12)

Ingredients

• 1 pound breakfast sausage
• 3/4 cup chopped onion
• 1 1/2 cups finely diced celery
• 3/4 cup margarine, melted
• 8 cups white bread cubes
• 3 teaspoons poultry seasoning
• 1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper

Directions

1. Cook sausage. Drain.
2. Melt margarine and add enough to sausage drippings to make 1 cup.
3. Saute onions and celery in margarine/dripping mixture until onion is tender. DO NOT BROWN. Stir in about 1/3 bread cubes. Put in large bowl and add remaining bread cubes, poultry seasoning, and pepper. Mix well!
4. Stuff turkey.

*When cooking extra in the oven, place the stuffing in a buttered casserole dish, and place in a pan of hot water. Cover and baste with turkey drippings occasionally.

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Corn Casserole

Submitted by: Sarah A. (CMN ’09)

Ingredients

• ½ cup butter, melted (1 stick)
• 2 eggs beaten
• 1 package of Jiffy Corn Bread Mix (8.5 oz.)
• 1 can whole kernel corn, drained (15 oz.)
• 1 can creamed corn (14.75 oz.)
• 1 cup sour cream

Directions

1. Pre-heat oven to 350°F.
2. Grease 9×9 baking dish.
3. Beat eggs, then combine butter, eggs, corn bread mix, whole and creamed corn and sour cream. Mix together well.
4. Pour into pan and bake for 45 minutes or until top is golden brown.
5. Remove from oven and let cool.

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Mom’s Mashed Potatoes

Submitted by: Michael B. (LAS ’10)

Ingredients

• 5 lbs. cooked white potatoes
• 8 oz. cream cheese
• 1/2 cup butter (1 stick)
• 1 cup half and half
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon onion salt
• 1 teaspoon Lowery Seasoned salt
• 1/4 teaspoon pepper

Directions

1. Boil the potatoes, drain and mash. Combine all other ingredients and blend together in a separate bowl with a hand mixer.
2. Gradually add the blended mixture to the potatoes as you whip them.
3. Spray a 9×13 pan or a 3 qt. casserole with cooking spray.
4. Spread the potato mixture into desired baking dish.
5. You can make this the night before and keep it in the refrigerator. You can also freeze it, if desired (I’ve never tried the freezing).
6. Bake at 350°F for 25 minutes.

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Roasted Brussels Sprouts

Submitted by: Sarah M., Director, Annual Giving

Ingredients

• 1 to 1.5 pounds of Brussel sprouts, cleaned and trimmed
• 1 shallot, minced
• 1-2 garlic cloves, minced
• 3 – 4 slices of deli ham (ham off the bone preferred)
• Olive Oil
• Salt
• Pepper

Directions

1. Halve Brussel sprouts (for larger ones, cut into quarters); add to large mixing bowl.
2. Mince shallot and garlic (to taste); dice ham; add to same mixing bowl. Add olive oil, enough to coat, add salt and pepper to taste.
3. Place mixture on a lined baking sheet and roast in oven at 400°F for 30–35 minutes, stirring halfway. Serve immediately.

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Desserts

Mom’s Apple Pie

Submitted by: Sarah A. (CMN ’09)

Ingredients

• 6-8 large apples (combination of red and green)
• 1 Pillsbury frozen pie crust in pan
• 1 stick of margarine (room temperature)
• Brown sugar
• Sugar
• Cinnamon
• Flour

Directions

1. Pre-heat oven to 400°F.
2. Wash and peel apples.
3. Line jelly roll pan with foil.
4. Take pie crust from freezer, place on jelly roll pan, poke holes with a fork in the bottom of the frozen crust.
5. Sprinkle a little brown sugar, cinnamon and sugar on bottom of pie crust.
6. Slice 1 to 1 ½ apples with mandolin, place them in layers, stacking a layer or two.
7. Repeat the sprinkling of brown sugar, cinnamon and sugar over layer of apple slices.
8. Continue the slicing of apples and sprinkling of spices/sugars until you have a full pie with a dome shape. (You will want the apples to stack a bit higher than the pie crust as it will deflate when cooking and sink in when cooling.)
9. For the crumble topping, take the room temperature stick of margarine, ¾-1 cup of sugar and ¾-1 cup of flour and combine in a bowl. Mix with a fork to create a crumbly topping. (Start with ¾ cup of the flour and sugar, but add more if needed to make it crumblier.)
10. Using your hands, drop crumble topping on to pie until completely covered.
11. Bake for 30-40 minutes until topping and crust is golden brown.
12. Remove and let cool. Can be served warm or at room temperature. Enjoy!

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Lemon Pie

Submitted by: Jessi M. (LAS MNM ’15)

(adapted from smittenkitchen.com)

Ingredients

• 3 lemons, washed and dried
• 2 cups sugar
• ½ teaspoon salt
• 4 eggs
• 5 tablespoons butter, melted
• 4 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 1 egg white
• Sugar, for sprinkling
• Pie dough for top and bottom crust (store-bought or your favorite recipe)

Directions

1. Grate lemon zest into a bowl. Using a mandolin or sharp knife, slice lemons as paper-thin as you can get them; remove and discard seeds. Add slices to zest and toss with sugar and salt. Cover and set aside at room temperature for 24 hours.
2. Preheat the oven to 425°F. Roll out half the dough 1/8 inch thick on a lightly-floured surface, fit it into a 9-inch (1-quart) pie plate, and trim the edge, leaving a 1/2-inch overhang.
3. Mix the macerated lemon-sugar mixture with eggs, melted butter and flour until combined well. Pour in to prepared pie shell.
4. Roll out the remaining dough into a 12-inch round on a lightly floured surface, drape it over the filling, and trim it, leaving a 1-inch overhang. Fold the overhang under the bottom crust, pressing the edge to seal it, and crimp the edge decoratively. Beat one egg white until frothy and brush over pie crust, then sprinkle with sugar. Cut slits in the crust with a sharp knife, forming steam vents, and bake the pie in the middle of the oven for 25 minutes. Reduce the temperature to 350°F and bake the pie for 20 to 25 minutes more, or until the crust is golden. Let the pie cool on a rack and serve it warm at room temperature.

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The Best Pecan Pie

Submitted by: Effie M., Director, Alumni Relations

(adapted from pinterest.com and gimmesomeoven.com)

Ingredients

• 1 9-inch pie crust, partially pre-baked
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 1 cup light corn syrup
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 4 eggs, whisked
• 1/2 cup (1 stick) salted butter
• 2 cups pecan halves

Directions

1. Partially pre-bake a pie crust in a 9-inch pie pan according to its instructions, then heat oven to 350°F.
2. In a medium bowl, whisk together sugar, corn syrup, vanilla, salt and cinnamon; add eggs and whisk until smooth.
3. Melt butter in a small saucepan over medium heat for about 4-5 minutes, stirring often, until the butter turns brown and fragrant. Slowly pour butter into the sugar mixture, and whisk to combine. Chop the pecans, then stir them into the butter and sugar mixture until combined.  Then pour the entire filling into the prepared pie crust. If desired, line the top of the filling with extra pecans.
4. Bake for about 50-60 minutes, or until the filling is set.  And by “set,” I mean that the filling will probably be slightly jiggly, but not too sloshy.  If it’s too sloshy, don’t hesitate to add it back in for another 10-20 minutes (for some reason, baking times can be very different with pecan pies). If the edges of the crust begin to turn too brown, briefly remove the pie from the oven and cover the crust with a pie crust shield or loosely wrap with aluminum foil, then return to the oven. Once the filling is set, remove the pie and let cool completely on cooling rack, 3 to 4 hours, before slicing.