Lightly season the steak with sea salt and freshly cracked pepper. Rub the minced garlic all over the steak, place the flank steak in a large zip lock bag then drizzle a few tablespoons of sauce over the top. Rub and coat the meat evenly with the sauce. Seal and place in the refrigerator for 4 hours.

Let the meat sit at room temperature for 15-20 minutes before grilling it. Heat a large grill pan over medium high heat. Coat the pan with cooking spray. Place the flank steak in the hot pan and cook for 4-5 minutes on each side for medium rare. Let the meat "rest" for 5 minutes before slicing into thin slices against the grain. Serve with more Country Bob's sauce for dipping. Enjoy.

Spread the butter all over each half of the squash. Sprinkle with brown sugar then drizzle with maple syrup. In a deep baking dish, add enough water to cover the bottom of the dish. Place the squash facing up in the dish.

I served a sweet potato pecan pie to finish off my Thanksgiving dinner this year. The fact that the pie was already composed of two already great pies was not enough and I tried to make dessert even better by topping it off with some ice cream. At first I was thinking just some simple vanilla ice cream would do and then I thought; Why stop there? I could make it a maple ice cream and it would be including some of the flavors from the pie that it would be topping. Thinking of working similar flavors into the ice cream my next thought was to add some pecans because nuts always go well in ice cream. I had finally arrived at a maple pecan ice cream which sounded really good.

There was just one last thing to add to the ice cream, a splash of bourbon. I like to add a touch of alcohol to my homemade ice creams as it helps to keep the ice cream from freezing into a solid brick. The consistency of the ice cream straight from the freezer is always nice with the alcohol and there is no need to wait for the ice cream to start to thaw out before eating it. Since I was also including a splash of bourbon in the pie it was the natural choice for the ice cream in this case.

For the base of the ice cream I used a pretty standard combo of milk, cream and eggs and the maple syrup provided all of the sweetness without the need for extra sugar. I toasted the pecans in some butter and brown sugar to 'candy' them before adding them to the ice cream. Other than candying the pecans this ice cream was a pretty standard ice cream and thus really easy to make. You pretty much just make the custard, chill it and then throw it into your ice cream maker. The maple pecan ice cream turned out so well! If you like maple then this ice cream will be the perfect treat! The maple flavor came through nice an strong and the candied pecans provided a great texture and flavor. One of the things that I liked most about the ice cream was that I could make it the day before and not add to the load on the day of the big meal. I will definitely be making this ice cream again and again.

Maple Pecan Ice Cream

(makes 4 servings)



Directions:
1. Melt the butter in a pan.
2. Add the pecans, toss to coat, sprinkle on the sugar and heat until the pecans are nice and toasted, about 3-4 minutes.
3. Remove the pecans from the heat and let cool completely.
4. Heat the maple syrup, cream and milk in a sauce pan until it almost boils, about 5 minutes.
5. Reduce the heat to low.
6. Temper the eggs and stir them into the cream.
7. Cook at low heat until it thickens and can coat the back of a spoon.
8. Remove from heat and stir in the bourbon.
9. You may want to strain the mixture at this point to remove any bits that may have formed while warming.
10. Chill the mixture in the fridge.
11. Freeze the maple custard and toasted pecans according to the instructions for your ice cream machine.

I have to say that my favorite part of the roast turkey dinner has to be the leftovers. There are just so many different things that you can do with the leftovers and it is always fun coming up with creative new ways to use them. Before I start using the leftovers for creative things however I have to have at least one turkey and cranberry sauce sandwich. I had been thinking of mayo based 'salads' since I made the egg salad BLT and it seemed pretty obvious to try a turkey salad sandwich and I was a bit surprised that I had not thought of it earlier. Along with the turkey and mayo I went with some other classic chicken salad sandwich ingredients including celery and green onions. From there I went with some seasonal ingredients including some pecans, dried cranberries and sage and I finished everything off with some crisp and juicy apple. This sandwich was literally as easy as mixing all of the salads ingredients and assembling the sandwich. I really enjoyed the turkey salad sandwich and I will definitely be making it again! How can you really go wrong with a salad that is held together with mayo? The crunchy pecans and the crisp celery and apple added a really nice contrasting texture and the turkey, pecan and cranberry combo really reminded me of holiday flavours.

Turkey Salad Sandwich

(makes 1 sandwich)



Directions:
1. Mix everything but the lettuce and bread in a bowl.
2. Assemble sandwich.

Although I tend to spend a long time thinking about and planning the side dishes for holiday dinners you just can't forget about the dessert! When I recently discovered the sweet potato casserole I was amazed at how well sweet potatoes work in sweet dessert like dishes and I have been wanting to try using them to make a sweet potato pie since. I was set to make a sweet potato pie for my Thanksgiving meal this year but just before I came across the concept of a sweet potato pecan pie which sounded so good that I had to quickly change my plans. A sweet potato pecan pie is essentially a pie with a layer of sweet potato pie topped with a layer of pecan pie. How can you go wrong rolling up two great pies into one? I just had to try it!

Most of the recipes that I found for sweet potato pies and pecan pies called for golden syrup but I decided to go with a maple twist and I used maple syrup instead. The pie was surprisingly easy to make; you simply mix the two different filling, pour them into the pie shell and bake. The sweet potato pecan pie turned out so amazingly well! The sweet potato pie filling spiked with pumpkin pie spices and bourbon with the hint of maple was so good! The maple pecan pie was of course just as good as the last time that I made it and it went really well with the sweet potato pie. This of one of those cases where the sum of the parts is better than the individual components. Even thought the sweet potato pie was really good by itself and the pecan pie was really good by itself, together they were even better! I could not stop there and I topped the sweet potato pecan pie off with some maple pecan ice cream with a hit of bourbon.

Sweet Potato Pecan Pie

(makes 6+ servings)



Directions:
1. Place the pie crust into a pie plate.
2. Mix the sweet potatoes, eggs, sugar, maple syrup, vanilla, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg and bourbon in a large bowl and pour it into the pie crust.
3. Place the pecans on top of the sweet potato filling.
4. Mix the sugar, maple syrup, eggs, butter, vanilla and bourbon and pour it on top of the pecans.
5. Bake in a preheated 375F oven until the pastry id golden brown and the pecan layer is set, about 40-60 minutes.

Cucumbers are another of summers fresh bounty that I have been enjoying a lot lately. I normally bring home two or more of them from the farmers market every week and I tend to use them in salads or just snack on them as they are. I really like cucumbers on warm summer days as they are nice and juicy and perfect still cool from the fridge. I have however noticed that cucumbers rarely get the attention that they deserve! Every once in a while it is nice to let the humble cucumber shine and to be the star of the show and this cool and creamy cucumber salad is a great way to do so. This is one of those salads where it is nice to make it ahead of time so that you can let the flavors mingle a bit while it chills out in the fridge. The crisp and juicy cucumbers go so well with a creamy coating made slightly tangy by the lemon and the red peppers provide a bit of sweet pungency and of course the dill finishes the salad off perfectly. This salad is best served straight from the fridge while it is still cool which makes it a great way to beat the heat.

Creamy Dilled Cucumber Salad

(makes 4 servings)



Directions:
1. Mix everything and chill in the fridge for 20+ minutes.

This weekend is Thanksgiving weekend here in Canada and I would like to take the opportunity to wish everyone that is celebrating a Happy Thanksgiving!!

It had been a long time since I last had roast turkey so there was no doubt at all that that would be on the menu this Thanksgiving. The only question was; What kind of roast turkey? I was all set to do a simple herbed roast turkey when I came across this recipe for a parmesan and sage roasted turkey on myrecipes that sounded really good. Of course sage would go great with the turkey but I was interested to see how the parmigiano reggiano would work on a roasted turkey. One of the things that I liked about this recipe is the attention that is paid to the gravy from the start including adding vegetables to the roasting pan simply to flavour the turkey drippings for the gravy.

Since I am not cooking for a large family I prefer to go with a single large turkey breast rather than doing a full turkey. (I have to admit that my favorite part of the roast turkey dinner is the leftover turkey sandwiches and the breast is what is required for those sandwiches.) Given the number of steps in this recipe, it took a bit longer to make than a more simple roast turkey but it was definitely worth it. The parmesan and sage roast turkey was nice and moist and tender and full of flavour. For the most part the parmigiano reggiano melted and disappeared into the sauce to add flavour to it but before it left it imparted the turkey with its flavour which worked well with the sage. The gravy was every bit as tasty as it prommised to be and I had a hard time trying to decided what to smother the turkey in; the gravy or the cranberry sauce or just to have it plain. I guess that's what seconds and thirds are for.

Directions:
1. Place the onion, celery, carrots and garlic in the bottom of the roasting pan.
2. Mix the parmigiano reggiano, sage, butter, garlic, salt and pepper in a bowl.
3. Rub the parmigiano reggiano mixture under the skin of the turkey and place the turkey in the roast pan breast side up.
4. Sprinkle the turkey with a bit of lemon juice and pour the chicken stock into the pan.
5. Roast the turkey in a preheated 425F oven until the skin is nice and golden brown, about 30 minutes.
6. Reduce the heat to 325F, cover the turkey with foil and roast until a thermometer pushed into the thickest part of the turkey reads 180F.
7. Remove from oven, cover and let sit for 20 minutes.
8. Melt the butter in a pan.
9. Add the shallots and saute for 1 minute.
10. Add the sherry and sage and simmer to reduce by half, about 5-10 minutes.
11. Pour the drippings into a plastic bag straining the solids and discards them.
12. Cut a small hole in the bottom of the bag and pour the drippings until the layer of fat is about to come out and discard the fat.
13. Add chicken stock to the drippings to get 1 1/2 cups.
14. Add the drippings to the shallots and sherry.
15. Mix the flour into the water and add it to the gravy along with some salt and pepper and simmer to until it thickens, about 2 minutes.