Friendsgiving Part One

Our friend gatherings don't always involve a lot of fanfare, and by that we mean a well received hostess gift is a bag of Cheetos. But this year, we decided to deviate from the norm and throw a fancy + festive evening (Cheetos still welcome). And since Thanksgiving is all about expressing gratitude, we invited some of the people we are most grateful to have in our lives.

Of course, we made WAY too much food and had WAY too much fun. All we asked was for everyone to bring one dish, and Just The Dip would take care of the rest. Every recipe was a hit, and our personal fave was of course the Caramelized Onion Dip. No lie, it's crack. (Editor's note: Second place goes to Nads for picking up a massive order of chicken fingers from The Chickery. You the real MVP)

Check out below a full list of all the dishes we served with a list of ingredients and directions. And as always, if you have any questions leave a comment below! And to see our decorations and the pictures from the evening, be sure to click here for Friendsgiving Part Two. 

APPLE CRANBERRY WALNUT SALAD

Ingredients:

Salad mix
6 apples
2 pomegranates
¼ cup dried cranberries
½ cup walnuts, chopped
2 tbsp. pumpkin seeds
¼ cup goat cheese, crumbled
¼ cup apple cider vinegar
1 tbsp. honey
1 tbsp. Dijon mustard

Directions:

1. Rinse and dry salad mix. Add to a large serving bowl.
2. De-seed pomegranates and add the seeds to the bowl. Here's an easy tutorial on de-seeing!
3. Slice apples, and reserve the cores (discarding any seeds). 
4. Dice half of sliced apples into small chunks, and add the remaining half + cores to a blender. 
5. Add the diced apple chunks, crushed walnuts, dried cranberries, pumpkin seeds and crumbled goat cheese to salad bowl.
6. Combine the apple cider vinegar, honey, Dijon mustard, and water in the blender with apple cores + slices. Purée until liquified. 
7. Toss the salad to combine the ingredients and drizzle with the dressing to serve! 

Optional: If you have a few (ahem, several) extra minutes and advanced knife wielding skills, serve the salad inside of an apple. Instead of slicing your apples in step 3, cut the tops off. Carefully scoop out the apple guts with a spoon and add these to your blender for the dressing. Once you have created your apple bowls, you can stuff them with the salad ingredients and drizzle with dressing. There's no need for diced apples in the salad, since your guests can literally eat the bowl!

PUMPKIN SEEDS, THREE WAYS

Ingredients:

Pumpkin seeds (reserved from whatever pumpkin eating/decorating activities you've got going on!)
2 tsp. cinnamon
1 tbsp. sugar
1 tsp. cumin
¼ tsp. chili powder
¼ tsp. paprika
¼ tsp. celery salt
1 tbsp. garlic salt
¼ cup butter, melted

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350°F. 
2. Divide pumpkin seeds evenly between three bowls. Drizzle each with some butter and toss to coat. 
3. In bowl #1 combine the cinnamon and sugar and toss to coat. 
4. In bowl #2 combine the cumin, chili powder, paprika, and celery salt. Toss to coat. 
5. In bowl #3 add garlic salt, tossing to coat. 
6. On separate baking sheets, or using a make-shift aluminum foil divider, spread out pumpkin seeds and roast for 30 minutes or until golden-brown. If you can resist, let them cool until they are not mouth-burning hot, and then enjoy!

CRANBERRY AND QUINOA STUFFED ACORN SQUASH

Ingredients:

3 acorn squash

2 tbsp. butter, melted

1 ½ cups quinoa

3 cups water

1 veggie bouillon cube

½ bunch fresh thyme

1 large yellow onion, diced

8 oz. (1 package) mushrooms, diced

½ bunch kale, de-stemmed & torn

2 tsp. dried sage

¼ cup dried cranberries

¼ cup pecans, chopped

¼ cup panko

¼ cup goat cheese, crumbled

2 tbsp. maple syrup

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 400°F and line a baking sheet with aluminum foil.
2. Cut acorn squash in half lengthwise and scoop out the seeds from the middle (reserving them for roasting, if desired).
3. Place the acorn squash halves on baking sheet and brush the flesh with the melted butter.
4. Poke the flesh all over with a fork to allow steam to escape in the oven. Roast for 30-40 minutes, until just fork-tender.
5. In the meantime, prepare the filling. Rinse the quinoa in a fine sieve and add it to a large pot with 3 cups of water and the veggie bouillon cube. Bring to boil and then reduce heat to simmer.
6. Add thyme sprigs, onion, mushrooms and kale. Let simmer until the water is absorbed and veggies are tender, about 15 minutes.
7. When the quinoa has cooled slightly, remove the thyme sprigs and add the dried sage. Mix in the cranberries and pecans.
8. Remove the acorn squash from the oven and stuff the middle of each squash half with some of the quinoa mixture. Sprinkle with panko and top with goat cheese. Return to the oven to let the topping crisp and the cheese melt slightly, about 5 minutes. You can set the oven to broil if you want, just make sure you watch it carefully! 
9. Remove from oven and drizzle with maple syrup to serve.

CHEESE BOARD

Featured on board (clockwise from top left):
All food items are from Fresh City Farms! 

Golden Blyth (Blyth Farm Cheese, Ontario)

Coronation Grapes (Ontario)

Wildflower Honey (Rosewood Estates)

Buffalo Bliss Brie-Style Cheese (H.O.P.E Eco-Farms, Ontario)

Caramelized Onion Spread (Stasis Preserves, Ontario)

Olives

Le Vlimeaux Maple-Smoked Cheese (Fromagerie Le Mouton Blanc, Ontario)

Baluchon (Fromagerie l'Ille-Aux-Gues, Quebec)

Le Bleu D'Elizabeth Cheese (Fromagerie du Presbytere, Quebec)

Sweet Ontario Pepper Jelly (Stasis Preserves, Ontario)

Two-Year Aged Raw Cheddar (Fromagerie l'Ille-Aux-Grues, Quebec)

STONE FRUIT GALETTE

Ingredients:
For Filling: 

2-3 plums

2-3 nectarines
1/4 cup brown sugar 
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
3 tablespoons almond flour 
For Dough: 

1/2 cup of cold butter

1 tablespoon turbinado (cane) sugar

3/4 cup all-purpose flour

1 egg yolk

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350°F and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
2. In a large bowl, combine the all-purpose flour and cane sugar. Cut your cold butter into small cubes.
3. Add the egg yolks to the bowl and give it a quick stir to combine. Add the butter and use a fork to cut it into the dough mixture. You can use your hands if that's easier but be sure you don't over mix.
4. Form the dough into a ball and refrigerate for at least one hour or longer if possible.
5. In the meantime, prepare your filling ingredients. Rinse and slice the plums and nectarines (you can also use other stone fruit such as peaches if they're in season). Combine the almond flour, brown sugar, and cinnamon in a small bowl and stir to combine.
6. Once the dough has chilled, roll it out onto a lightly floured surface. You can use your hands or a wine bottle if you don't have a rolling pin. Cut it into several rectangles (or you can make one big and place it right onto your parchment paper.
7. Top each piece of dough with layered fruit, leaving a border of dough around the edges, and sprinkle with some cinnamon mixture.
8. Form the crust by pulling the edges over the fruit and pinching to form a 'rustic' look.
9. Bake for 45 minutes or until the crust is golden-brown and crispy! 

ROSEMARY ROASTED POTATOES

Ingredients:

2 lbs. yellow new potatoes
2 tbsp. olive oil or melted butter
Salt & pepper

1 bunch fresh rosemary

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 450°F. 
2. Rinse and scrub the yellow new potatoes and cut them into quarters. 
3. Add them to a baking dish and drizzle with olive oil or melted butter. 
4. Season with salt and pepper to taste, and toss to coat thoroughly.
5. Place the rosemary sprigs on top of the potatoes and give it a quick stir. 
6. Roast in the oven for 45-60 minutes, stirring halfway through.

CARAMELIZED ONION DIP

Ingredients:

4 large yellow onions

3 tbsp. butter

1 cup Greek yogurt

1 cup sour cream

1 head garlic

4-5 green onions

1/2 bunch fresh chives

1 bag original chips

Directions:

1. Melt butter over medium-low heat in a large pan.
2. Coarsely slice onions and add to the pan of melted butter and caramelize on low heat for as long as you can (the longer the better! one hour + is great, but less is fine too). You'll know that they're ready when they are soft and brown. 
3. Mix one cup of greek yogurt with one cup of sour cream.
4. Add the caramelized onions, garlic, green onions, and chives to the sour cream/yogurt mixture.
5. Open your bag of original chips and enjoy! 

Enjoy! 

xx Just The Dip