PORTLAND, Ore. — This week on KGW News at Sunrise, viewers are taking part in our early morning newscast by sharing some of their favorite Thanksgiving dishes.
They're not just sending us the ingredients and instructions — these wonderful viewers are actually letting us into their homes and their kitchens so they can show us how they put these recipes together. Videos and recipes will be added to this article as segments air throughout the week.
Here are the recipes getting the spotlight this week on Sunrise:
Monday: Loaded Mashed Potato Balls
We paid a visit to Southeast Portland to meet a loyal KGW Sunrise viewer named Angie, who showed us how to make one of her Turkey Day favorites. She calls them her Loaded Mashed Potato Balls.
Here's the complete recipe:
INGREDIENTS
- 4 cups cold mashed potatoes
- 8 pieces thick-cut bacon, diced, cooked until crisp
- 1 1/2 cups shredded cheddar cheese
- 5 green onions, thinly sliced
- 1 cup of flour
- 2 eggs, slightly beaten
- 1 cup of plain breadcrumbs
- Oil for deep frying
INSTRUCTIONS
- In a large bowl, mix mashed potatoes, bacon, cheddar cheese and green onions.
- Place in refrigerator and allow to rest for at least one hour.
- Add flour, a slightly beaten egg, and breadcrumbs to three SEPARATE shallow bowls.
- Use a small ice-cream scooper to create balls with mashed potato mixture. Roll the balls in flour and gently shake off excess flour.
- Place balls in eggs, roll and coat, before placing balls in breadcrumbs. Completely cover them with crumbs.
- Continue repeating the steps above until all the potato mixture has been turned into balls.
- Heat oil in a saucepan, or deep fryer, to 350 degrees or until the end of chopstick produces bubbles when inserted into the oil.
- Drop balls into hot oil without crowding the pan. You will need some room to move them around without breaking them.
- Fry 3-5 minutes until golden brown.
- Remove from oil and drain. Serve with sour cream or ranch dressing.
Tuesday: Corn Bake
Day 2 took us out to Molly’s house in Southeast Portland. The name of her recipe is as simple as the recipe itself.
Here's the complete recipe:
INGREDIENTS
- 1/2 cup of butter
- 1 white or yellow onion, diced
- 1 Jiffy Corn Muffin Mix
- 1 can creamed corn
- 1 can corn
- 3 eggs, beaten
- 1 cup of sour cream
- 1 cup of grated cheddar cheese
INSTRUCTIONS
- Preheat your oven to 400 degrees and find a baking dish that is round 9x13. It doesn't have to be exact!
- Sauté your onion in the butter until it's soft, but not caramelized. Allow to cool a bit.
- In a separate bowl, stir together the muffin mix, can of corn (not drained!), can of creamed corn, and the eggs. Don't overdo it on the mixing. Add to the baking dish.
- For the topping: in a separate bowl, stir the cheese and sour cream together.
- Finally, top the casserole with dollops of the cheese/sour cream mixture, cover with aluminum and put in the oven.
- Bake for at least 60 minutes, depending on the depth of your baking dish. Wiggle the dish around to see if it is cooked through, or use a toothpick to check.
Wednesday: Macadamia Nut Pie
For Day 3, we're serving up dessert! A loyal Sunrise viewer named Tracie invited us into her home in Vancouver to show us how she makes her Macadamia Nut Pie.
Here's the complete recipe:
INGREDIENTS
- 3/4 cup brown sugar
- 1/2 cup corn syrup
- 3 large eggs
- 2 tablespoons melted butter
- 2 teaspoons vanilla
- 2 cups macadamia nuts
- 1 9-inch uncooked pie shell (recipe + instructions below)
INSTRUCTIONS
- Preheat oven to 325 degrees.
- Whisk brown sugar, corn syrup, eggs, butter and vanilla in a large bowl.
- Rough chop macadamia nuts (leaving some whole pieces) and fill pie crust with nuts.
- Pour sugar mixture over nuts in pie crust.
- Bake until center puffs slightly (about 50 minutes)
Homemade Single Pie Crust
INGREDIENTS
- 1 1/4 cup flour
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 cup butter, chilled and diced
- 1/4 cup cold water
INSTRUCTIONS
- Combine flour and salt.
- Cut butter into flour mixture until it resembles coarse crumbs (or mix in mixer on low for 30-45 seconds).
- Stir in water, one tablespoon at a time, until dough holds together.
- Roll into ball, flatten slightly.
- Wrap in plastic, refrigerate 1-2 hours.
To use: roll between wax paper, press firmly into 8-9 inch pie shell.
Thursday: Sweet Potato Casserole
Day 4 comes with a sensational side dish! We headed up to Camas for this one, to the home of a long-time Sunrise viewer named Roberta, who showed us how she makes her Sweet Potato Casserole.
Here's the complete recipe:
INGREDIENTS
For the crust:
- 1/2 cup brown sugar, packed
- 3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
- 1/2 cup chopped nuts (pecans preferred)
- Fresh rosemary, to taste, chopped
- 2 tablespoons butter, melted
For the sweet potato mixture:
- 3 cups mashed sweet potatoes/yams (about 6 medium sized), baked until fork-tender, then peeled and mashed
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
- 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
- Freshly ground black pepper
- 2 eggs, well beaten
- 1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, cut into small pieces
INSTRUCTIONS
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
- Combine ingredients for crust mixture in a small mixing bowl and set aside.
- Combine mashed sweet potatoes with remaining ingredients in a large mixing bowl. Mix thoroughly and pour into a buttered baking dish, roughly 3 quarts in size.
- Sprinkle the crust mixture evenly over the sweet potato mixture.
- Bake for 30 minutes and allow to set for 5-10 minutes before serving.