We are celebrating Thanksgiving at home this year, so I have been eagerly making my cooking gameplan. I love making traditional dishes in a slightly new way. Not only does it make it fun for me in the kitchen, but my guests always appreciate the new twist on old favorites. One of my go-to appetizers has been caramelized baked brie. However, I wanted to try something different this year, so I took advantage of all of the gorgeous apples in the market right now and made a baked apple and cranberry baked brie. I will often test-run new recipes before ‘the big day’, and I have to be honest and say this may be my NEW favorite.
PERSIMMON RECIPE – SCROLL DOWN!
In keeping with adding a little more sweetness to my meal plan, I also tried a new variation of vegan stuffing. As the vegetarian cheerleader and cook, I’m often asked to bring a stuffing to Thanksgiving for those not eating meat. I love making creative stuffings that could be a standalone dish! This year I tried a sweet and savory Persimmon Sage Stuffing, and the flavors were delicious!
I was able to get all of the spices needed for these recipes at my local Walmart. McCormick® spices offer a wide variety, and the red and white packaging has always been easy for me to spot while shopping (and often in a hurry!) I had no problem finding all of the McCormick® spices I needed for the upcoming ‘food fest’ season.
Apple & Cranberry Baked Brie
You Will Need:
- 1 tsp McCormick® Ground Cinnamon
- 1/2 tsp McCormick® Ground Cloves
- 1 tsp McCormick® Pure Vanilla Extract
- 1 sheet of puff pastry dough (thawed)
- 1 6″-8″ round of brie cheese
- 2 Honeycrisp or semi-tart apples, peeled, cored and diced
- 1/4 cup brown sugar
- 1/2 cup of dried cranberries
- 4 tablespoons water
- 2 tablespoons butter or coconut oil
How to Make:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Add the water, butter, apples, and cranberries to a small saucepan and heat. Add the vanilla and spices.
Cook until apples start to become translucent. Mixture should thicken a bit as the liquid cooks off. Spread out puff pastry dough on a cookie sheet and place brie round in the center.
Carefully spoon HALF of the hot apple mixture over the brie. Wrap each corner up over the brie, folding in the extra until it covers the entire round.
Spoon remaining apple mixture of the pastry dough round and cook for 30 minutes until pastry is golden on top.
Serve immediately with a wide knife, crackers and cut apple slices.
Warn your guests that the brie is like molten lava! Optional: Sprinkle chopped pecans on top of the baked brie.
Vegan Persimmon Stuffing
Persimmons are the bright orange fall and winter fruits that people can often mistake for tomatoes. However, the firm sweet fruity flesh almost has a hint of cinnamon and is a delicious addition where apples or celery may typically be used.
This sweet and savory stuffing complements any holiday meal, and it’s a perfect vegetarian dish to bring to dinner for your non-meat eating friends and family.
You Will Need:
- 1 tsp McCormick® Pure Vanilla Extract
- 1 tsp McCormick® Pure Vanilla Extract
- 1 box of cornbread stuffing
- 1 tbsp vegetable oil or coconut oil
- 2 cups of vegetable broth
- 1 cup olive oil
- 2-3 persimmons peeled, cored and diced
- 1 yellow onion diced
- 2 vegetarian sausage links – sliced
- 1 cup diced kale
How to Make:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a pan, saute kale and vegetarian sausage in 1 tablespoon vegetable oil or coconut oil until the sausage is golden. Set aside.
In a soup pot, simmer vegetable broth and olive oil with the onion and persimmon. Add the McCormick® black pepper and sage and simmer until onions are translucent.
Slowly mix in the dry cornbread stuffing until everything is moistened. Stir in the kale and sausage mixture. Add in a couple of tablespoons of water if the dry mixture is not completely moistened.
Put stuffing mixture into a greased baking dish and cover with foil. Bake for 25 minutes with foil on and 10 minutes with foil off to crisp up the top.
