November Recipe Swap - Thanksgiving Sides

I love making Thanksgiving sides every year. My sister-in-law Julie is an amazing host but I love to be able to bring delicious food for everyone to enjoy. I am repeating some of my more popular sides from last year. The first is a corn custard that we learned from our family friend Trena. The second is an awesome recipe I found online a few years ago when I wanted to make a homemade Valentine's day dinner. It is Buffalo Chicken Jalapeno Popper Mac and Cheese, but for Thanksgiving I usually nix the chicken because we already have turkey and don't need another dish full of poultry. Finally, at my hubby's request, I am also going to make a grilled asparagus dish. It is shocking that he asked for this since he is not a vegetable eater, so I have to oblige.

I unfortunately have not made my sides yet, but wanted to share them in time in case anyone else wanted to make these dishes for their own Thanksgiving meal, so I had to borrow photos from other sources.

Corn Custard

Corn Custard. Photo Courtesy Of: Food & Wine

Makes one 8x8 pan or 1 8in diameter pan.

Ingredients:
2 cans corn nibblets
2 eggs
1 cup cream
Salt and Pepper to Taste

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees.
2. Mix drained corn nibblets, 2 beaten eggs and 1 cup cream. Add salt and pepper to taste.
3. Pour into buttered baking dish
4. Bake for 25 minutes or until firm and golden brown on top.

Buffalo Chicken Jalapeno Popper Mac and Cheese (sans Chicken)

Decedent Mac. Photo Courtesy Of: Lauren's Latest

Serves 6-8 full size portions. Can stretch as a side.
Ingredients:
8 slices of bacon
2 tablespoons bacon grease {reserved from said bacon}
1/2 large onion, diced
3 jalapenos, sliced {ribs and seeds removed}
1 cup precooked and shredded chicken {optional}
1 pound rotini pasta (use what you prefer)
2 ounces cream cheese
1 1/2 cups sharp cheddar cheese
1 cup mild cheddar cheese
1 1/4 cup  mozzarella cheese
1 cup blue cheese crumbles
1 cup panko bread crumbs
1 tablespoon hot sauce, your favorite flavor
4 tablespoons butter
5 tablespoons all purpose flour
2 cups milk
1/4 cup heavy cream
1 pinch nutmeg
salt & pepper, to taste
parsley, for garnish

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Lay parchment paper out on baking sheet. Place 8 bacon slices on parchment paper.
2. Cook bacon until crispy. About 20 minutes. Save about 2 tablespoons of bacon grease and set bacon aside.
3. Heat bacon grease in a skillet. Add onions and jalapenos and saute until soft. Approximately 6-8 minutes on medium heat. Set aside.
4. Meanwhile bring a large pot to boil. Salt water and add macaroni pasta. You can use any pasta you like. I like to use Rotini but you can use any similar style pasta.
5. Cook pasta to just under timing stated on box. About 2 minutes less. You want the pasta al dente since you are going to bake it afterwards. Drain pasta and set aside.
6. In pasta pot, melt butter over medium heat. Whisk in flour and cook 1-2 minutes. It should start to thicken up. Mix cream, milk, salt, pepper and nutmeg. Then whisk into butter flour mixture. Increase heat to medium high until the sauce is thick.
7. Move pot off  heat and add cream cheese and hot sauce until smooth and blended.
8. Add pasta and onion/jalapeno mixture into sauce. Stir to coat.
9. Meanwhile grate all your cheeses in advance. If you have a food processor use it! Fresh grated cheese is so nice and cheaper. I buy blocks of cheese and grate it myself.
10. Add the two cheddar cheeses, mozzarella cheese, and 1/4 to 1/3 cup of blue cheese. Stir until evenly distributed.
11. Pour into buttered dish about 9x13 in size. Then top with blue cheese, bacon and the panko bread crumbs.
12. Bake 20-30 minutes until browned. Then remove from oven and add parsley if you want.
You can make this ahead and then reheat in time for Thanksgiving. If you are doing a make ahead situation, cook under a little and then finish another 10 minutes.

Grilled Asparagus

Yum. Photo Courtesy Of: Simply Recipes

Serves 8-10: I try to have minimum 3 asparagus spears per person. Also the thinner the asparagus spears the better. They are way more tender than the thick ones.
Ingredients:
2-3 bunches asparagus
2 tablespoons minced garlic
2-4 tablespoons of olive oil
1/2 tsp garlic salt (add more if you like garlic)

1. Clean and snip the bottoms of asparagus. I like the snap method rather than using a knife to slice the bottoms, but it doesn't matter much.
2. Marinate the asparagus in olive oil, minced garlic and garlic salt. 5-10 minutes is sufficient
3. Place all the asparagus including the marinade in a grill pan. You want to get your grill pan on the stove when you start the marinade so that it is nice and hot when you put the asparagus down.
4. Rotate the asparagus so you get good grill marks on both sides. Cooking should be pretty quick, based on the size of the asparagus and if you like it crispy or softer. I like it crispier so I only cook them for 3-5 minutes.
5. Serve in a platter.