Thanksgiving Sausage Bread

My favorite family holiday recipe is Christmas sausage bread. I’ll post that recipe in a few weeks for any readers outside of the Dowd clan. This is a Thanksgiving twist on the sausage bread. It’s the same principles and technique with distinctly autumn flavors like walnuts, apples, and cheddar cheese.

Instructions

Preheat oven to 350.

Ingredients

• Pizza dough (store-bought or homemade) rolled out in to 3 elongated ovals, each about 5-6 inches wide and 14-16 inches long.

• 2 pounds of bulk breakfast sausage, cooked and drained

• 3 Granny Smith apples peeled and cubed

• 2 cups of chopped walnuts, lightly toasted

• 1 bag of dried cranberries (Craisins)

• Grated cheddar cheese

Combine the apples, walnuts and cranberries and spread evenly on the bread dough. Add a layer of the cooked crumbled sausage on each dough section and then finish with a layer of cheddar cheese. Fold one side of the dough up over the toppings and then bring up the other side and pinch together to join. Fold the ends up to close off the loaves.

Turn each loaf over onto a greased cookie sheet (or even better, a pizza stone covered with cornmeal)

Brush some egg wash on the top of each loaf and crosscut some slits with a sharp knife.

Put the bread in the preheated oven for 15-18 minutes or until golden brown.

Slice and serve as soon as these breads have slightly cooled or wrap in aluminum foil and reheat later.

Chicken Tacos with Blistered Jalapenos and Queso Fresco

If you ever want an upgrade from the run of the mill American taco consisting of ground beef and taco seasoning (not that I don't enjoy those), these worked out really well.

I dry rubbed chicken breasts first with cumin and then with a generous amount of paprika. Paprika makes for a really good crust. Pan sear those in a little oil over medium high heat and then slice thinly.

I opened up some jalapenos and took out all the seeds and veins. Then I cut them in to thin strips and sauteed until almost charred. This left them crunchy and tasty with just enough heat left to still be interesting.

Add sliced avocado, tomatoes and crumbled queso fresco. We used warm corn tortillas which seemed to taste authentic with this combination of ingredients