Thompson enjoys cooking for family
Dr. Hailey Thompson’s favorite part of cooking is the fellowship of having others in the kitchen and coming up with creative dishes for her family.
“I like going by recipes, but I also enjoy trying my own thing and enjoying meals with people in the kitchen,” Dr. Thompson said. “I like to cook things that can feed multiple people.”
Dr. Thompson was born and raised in Philadelphia and enjoys spending time with her husband Matt.
Dr. Thompson works as the medical director at the Neshoba General Nursing Home and is an attending physician at the hospital.
She learned to cook from her mother in elementary school.
“Everyone in my family learned to cook,” Dr. Thompson said. “Once you were old enough, everyone was expected to contribute to things like family gatherings.”
She said the first thing she learned to make was cornbread, something she still makes today.
“I made cornbread along with things like homemade field vegetables,” Dr. Thompson said. “These days I make food for larger groups of people, such as my staple dish, brisket, which I made for Easter.”
She said other dishes she enjoys making for family gatherings include tacos, chicken spaghetti, potato salad, loaded potatoes, tomato soup to go along with her cornbread, and any kind of vegetables which are freshly grown from her garden.
“We don’t like canned veggies,” Thompson said. “I like making cheesecake, which is probably my favorite dessert to make, but I also enjoy making pound cakes.”
LOADED MASHED POTATOES
Gold or Red Potatoes
Cooked Bacon (5-7 slices)
Shredded Sharp Cheddar Cheese
Sour Cream
Mayonnaise
Green Onions
Fresh Parsley
Salt and Pepper
Cut potatoes into uniform bite-size chunks. Boil in salted water until tender. Drain and cool.
Combine potatoes, bacon, cheese, sour cream, mayo, green onions, parsley, salt and pepper. Stir until fully mixed.
Can serve hot or refrigerate until ready to serve.
BRISKET
Dry rub of choice
Brisket (size of choice, 6 lb. size is recommended)
One yellow onion
Handful of pepperoncini peppers
Take the brisket out of the package and lay it on a cutting board. Pat dry with a paper towel.
Spread a generous amount of dry rub on top, flip the brisket over and spread a generous amount of dry rub over that side. Make sure seasoning coats all the sides of the brisket.
Wrap rubbed brisket in a couple of layers of foil, covering it tight. Place wrapped brisket in a pan or a dish and refrigerate the brisket overnight or up to 12 hours. Take the brisket out of the refrigerator an hour before cooking it, unwrap and let it get to room temperature.
Preheat the oven to 200 degrees and place the brisket, fatty side up, in the middle of the roasting pan. Slice onion and add to pan along with pepperoncini peppers. Loosely cover with foil.
Place in the oven and bake overnight or at least 12 hours (the longer it cooks the more tender it will be). Remove foil and place it back in the oven. Bake brisket for another 45 minutes to an hour.
CHEESECAKE
2 cups graham crackers crumbs
1 stick butter
1/2 cup sugar
4 8-oz packs cream cheese
1.25 cups sugar
4 large eggs
2 tsps. vanilla extract
Sprinkle of kosher salt
For crust:
Melt a stick of butter and combine with graham cracker crumbs and ½ cup of sugar. Press into a 9-inch springform pan and bake for 12 minutes at 350 degrees. Allow to cool and cover the outside of the pan with aluminum foil.
For filling:
Combine cream cheese, 1.25 cups of sugar, eggs, vanilla extract and kosher salt until well incorporated and creamy. Pour into a springform pan and place the springform pan into a baking dish or cookie sheet with a few ounces of water in the dish or cookie sheet (enough to cover the bottom of the dish or cookie sheet) and bake at 325 degrees for one hour. Then turn off the oven and let it cool in. This will avoid cracks in cheesecake. Chill until ready to serve. May garnish with fruit topping of your choice.