Good Day Everyone! It has been a long time since I posted anything. What better time to start again than when I'll be doing a lot of cooking for the Holiday! We are having a lot of people through the house through out the day. I'm estimating 25 and probably more than that. We aren't the super formal, eating on the fine china, drinking out of the nice crystal type of group. Not on a scale that big anyway. If it were just Hubs and I then sure we'd break out the nice stuff. But I want a great stress free holiday so I've prepared my TODO lists, already started baking, and we'll be eating off of paper plates. I did buy the nice thick Dixie plates though, Can't have soggy plates with all the gravy and fixins!! I have had my menu planned for months. Anyone that knows me personally knows that I like to have everything lined out, shopping lists made, even a timeline of when I need to get things done for any event that I am hosting, even when we have something as simple as fight nights planned. So the line up this year is (drum roll please!)
Traditional Oven Roasted Turkey
Cajun Deep Fried Turkey (Hubby's recipe)
Chile Rubbed Ham (Hubby's Recipe)
Stuffing
Mashed Potatoes
Red Chile
Gravy
Green Bean Casserole (Yeah the old tried and true cream soup version)
Corn on the Cob
Cheesy Vegetable Normandy Casserole
Cranberry Sauce
Homemade Bread
So I've already started some preparations that freeze and refrigerate well. I've made 6 loaves of my white bread and 2 loaves of sour dough. I also have a roasted Turkey and Veg stock simmering away on the stove right now. And the Cranberry sauce is cooling down to go into the fridge. I failed at getting pictures because I didn't intend on blogging this until I just sat down at the computer. This afternoon I'm going to make another 6 loaves of white bread. Yes! I know this is A LOT of bread LOL. But most of you haven't met my Father In Law or Hubby! I send my FIL loaves of bread every few weeks to a month with my MIL because she does a lot of traveling back and forth between AZ and NM. And she has shared stories of my FIL setting down with a bowl of red chile and a loaf of the bread I send him and that's all he will eat for dinner sometimes. Not to mention the hubs always pouts when I send loaves to his dad instead of him getting to keep them. I know it sounds like I'm bragging and maybe I am, but it makes me feel good to know that they enjoy my bread that much!
So Here goes the recipes that I didn't make any photos of!
White Bread
2/3 cup warm water
5 tsp sugar
1 tsp active dry yeast
2 1/4 Cup AP or Bread Flour
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 Cup Warm Milk
2 Tbsp Cultured Butter, softened
First bloom your yeast in the warm water with sugar, this makes sure that your yeast is still alive and going to do it's job. Nothing worse than doing hours of work for a loaf and having it not rise. Sift your flour and salt together. In a stand mixer with a dough hook attachment add all ingredients and combine. Knead using the dough hook for 5-10 minutes until the dough is smooth and comes away from the sides and bottom of the bowl. Grease a bowl and allow to rise in a warm area for 1 hour. Place dough into a loaf pan. Allow a second rise of 30 minutes to 1 hour until the loaf is about the size that you wish. Bake at 350F about 1 hour until the loaf sounds hollow when you tap the bottom of the loaf. This recipe makes one loaf and will also work in a 1lb bread machine. Check your owners manual in order to put ingredients in in the right order.
Roasted Turkey Stock
3 Turkey Legs
Smoked Sea Salt
1 small bunch Parsley
1/2 tsp dry thyme
1/2 tsp ground sage
1 red onion, quartered
1 head of garlic, sliced in half horizontally
2-3 carrots
1 red bell pepper
Preheat oven to 400F. Season Turkey Legs with Smoked Sea Salt, In a Large Oven Proof stockpot brown the skin of the Turkey over Medium heat. remove from pot. Add 1/4 inch oil to bottom of pan and throw in veggies, layer parsley and dried herbs then add turkey legs back to pot. Roast in the oven for 30-45 minutes. Move StockPot back to burner once Turkey and veggies are roasted. Remove Garlic and any lose garlic skins. Add back as much roasted garlic pulp as you want, I usually put a few cloves back in and save the rest for other applications. Add 8 cups of water and Season with Regular Sea Salt. Add a few more sprinkles of thyme and sage for a different level of herb flavor. Bring to a boil and then drop heat allowing to simmer covered for 1 hour. Cool down and store in fridge until needed.
Cranberry Sauce
1 small bag whole cranberries
1 1/2 cup Orange juice with pulp
1/2 cup sugar
1 medium Granny smith Apple, peeled and grated
This couldn't be easier. Dump the ingredients into a medium saucepan, bring to a boil. Cook until the cranberries start to burst and the mixture starts to thicken. The apple adds natural pectin so the sauce will get thicker as it cools. If you thicken it to much add a splash of OJ to get back to the desired consistency.
I hope everyone is having a great time getting ready for the Holiday!
Traditional Oven Roasted Turkey
Cajun Deep Fried Turkey (Hubby's recipe)
Chile Rubbed Ham (Hubby's Recipe)
Stuffing
Mashed Potatoes
Red Chile
Gravy
Green Bean Casserole (Yeah the old tried and true cream soup version)
Corn on the Cob
Cheesy Vegetable Normandy Casserole
Cranberry Sauce
Homemade Bread
So I've already started some preparations that freeze and refrigerate well. I've made 6 loaves of my white bread and 2 loaves of sour dough. I also have a roasted Turkey and Veg stock simmering away on the stove right now. And the Cranberry sauce is cooling down to go into the fridge. I failed at getting pictures because I didn't intend on blogging this until I just sat down at the computer. This afternoon I'm going to make another 6 loaves of white bread. Yes! I know this is A LOT of bread LOL. But most of you haven't met my Father In Law or Hubby! I send my FIL loaves of bread every few weeks to a month with my MIL because she does a lot of traveling back and forth between AZ and NM. And she has shared stories of my FIL setting down with a bowl of red chile and a loaf of the bread I send him and that's all he will eat for dinner sometimes. Not to mention the hubs always pouts when I send loaves to his dad instead of him getting to keep them. I know it sounds like I'm bragging and maybe I am, but it makes me feel good to know that they enjoy my bread that much!
So Here goes the recipes that I didn't make any photos of!
White Bread
2/3 cup warm water
5 tsp sugar
1 tsp active dry yeast
2 1/4 Cup AP or Bread Flour
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 Cup Warm Milk
2 Tbsp Cultured Butter, softened
First bloom your yeast in the warm water with sugar, this makes sure that your yeast is still alive and going to do it's job. Nothing worse than doing hours of work for a loaf and having it not rise. Sift your flour and salt together. In a stand mixer with a dough hook attachment add all ingredients and combine. Knead using the dough hook for 5-10 minutes until the dough is smooth and comes away from the sides and bottom of the bowl. Grease a bowl and allow to rise in a warm area for 1 hour. Place dough into a loaf pan. Allow a second rise of 30 minutes to 1 hour until the loaf is about the size that you wish. Bake at 350F about 1 hour until the loaf sounds hollow when you tap the bottom of the loaf. This recipe makes one loaf and will also work in a 1lb bread machine. Check your owners manual in order to put ingredients in in the right order.
Roasted Turkey Stock
3 Turkey Legs
Smoked Sea Salt
1 small bunch Parsley
1/2 tsp dry thyme
1/2 tsp ground sage
1 red onion, quartered
1 head of garlic, sliced in half horizontally
2-3 carrots
1 red bell pepper
Preheat oven to 400F. Season Turkey Legs with Smoked Sea Salt, In a Large Oven Proof stockpot brown the skin of the Turkey over Medium heat. remove from pot. Add 1/4 inch oil to bottom of pan and throw in veggies, layer parsley and dried herbs then add turkey legs back to pot. Roast in the oven for 30-45 minutes. Move StockPot back to burner once Turkey and veggies are roasted. Remove Garlic and any lose garlic skins. Add back as much roasted garlic pulp as you want, I usually put a few cloves back in and save the rest for other applications. Add 8 cups of water and Season with Regular Sea Salt. Add a few more sprinkles of thyme and sage for a different level of herb flavor. Bring to a boil and then drop heat allowing to simmer covered for 1 hour. Cool down and store in fridge until needed.
Cranberry Sauce
1 small bag whole cranberries
1 1/2 cup Orange juice with pulp
1/2 cup sugar
1 medium Granny smith Apple, peeled and grated
This couldn't be easier. Dump the ingredients into a medium saucepan, bring to a boil. Cook until the cranberries start to burst and the mixture starts to thicken. The apple adds natural pectin so the sauce will get thicker as it cools. If you thicken it to much add a splash of OJ to get back to the desired consistency.
I hope everyone is having a great time getting ready for the Holiday!