For Your Thanksgiving Table

Chef Joycelyn Bryant, a frequent OCLS presenter, shares her recipes for two Thanksgiving favorites. You can join Chef Jocelyn for a live online cooking demonstration on Saturday, November 14, 4 p.m. where she will demonstrate how to make soups that will warm you, fill you up and nourish your body.

SWEET POTATO CASSEROLE

INGREDIENTS:

• 3–4 large sweet potatoes
• 1/2 cup milk
• 2 sticks of butter
• 2 cups sugar
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 1/2 cup flour
• 1 cup chopped pecans
• Cinnamon and nutmeg to taste
• 1 cup cashews, soaked (optional)
• 1/4 cup maple syrup (optional)

DIRECTIONS:

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
2. Cut sweet potatoes in half then bake face down for about 30 minutes or until soft.
3. Remove skins and transfer to a large mixing bowl. Mash with a fork.
4. While still warm, add 1 stick of butter, 1 cup of sugar, 1/2 cup brown sugar, milk, cinnamon and nutmeg. Blend with a hand mixer. The texture should be creamy but still thick. Check for sweetness and add more brown sugar if necessary. Spread filling into large glass casserole dish.
5. Bake for about 25 minutes.
6. In a separate bowl, mix pecans, 1 stick of melted butter and 1 cup sugar. Add in flour and mix with a fork until the mixture becomes crumbly. Spread topping evenly over filling.
7. Bake for an additional 10 min until the crumble becomes golden brown.

DIRECTIONS FOR OPTIONAL INGREDIENTS:

• While baking, blend cashews with ½–1 cup of water and maple syrup (or other sweetener of choice) in a food processor or high-powered blender until creamy and just pourable. Drizzle over the top of casserole.

 

DRESSING (A good one, a really good one!)

INGREDIENTS:

• 1 cup shredded turkey wings
• 1 pan homemade hot water cornbread (use your favorite recipe)
• 1–2 cups chicken broth
• 1 pack fresh sage (about a handful),  finely chopped
• 1 stick butter, melted
• 1 cup red, green and yellow bell peppers, diced
• 1 small yellow onion, diced
• 1 egg

DIRECTIONS:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Crumble cornbread by hand and toss in turkey, sage, onion and bell peppers.
3. Pour in butter and mix.
4. Slowly add chicken broth until saturated.
5. Beat egg then fold into mixture.
6. Spread into a large foil pan, then bake about 45–60 minutes until firm to your liking but still moist.

About Chef Jocelyn

Chef Joycelyn founded Joycelyn‘s Southern Kitchen in 2013 while still enrolled at the University of Central Florida pursing a degree in Biomedical Sciences. What started as a soul food delivery service shortly blossomed into a fully operational catering and chef services company. In addition to mastering traditional classics, American fine dining and fusion cuisine, she has become a plant-based advocate and expert via her personal journey with food. She uses her understanding of food, human physiology and social factors to provide a uniquely fresh perspective on food education. Her governing tenets as it pertains to food education are non-judgement, flexibility, balance and guilt-free indulgence. She recently founded SpinJoy!, a plant-based food products company that assists people who are transitioning to more plant-based eating habits.