Cooking the Turkey

I am so  not an expert here, what with Sundays turkey being the first I’ve ever cooked, so here’s a couple links to help with figuring out timing etc.

• USDA’s guide to safely thawing, roasting, and storing the turkey.
• Here’s a Good Eats recipe that I thought looked really good but then totally ignored when it came to actually cooking the turkey.
• Butterball’s list of How To’s.
• And because all the other links pretty much give out the same advice and everyone here can google (I assume,) instead of posting more of the  same timetables, here’s a list of the 18 Naughty Things You Can Only Say On Thanksgiving.  That should get you in the cooking spirit… maybe.

=] Ariel

Easy Gravy and Giblet Gravy

Gravy is actually really easy to make.  For some reason I imagined more work being necessary, but when I made it Sunday it turned out to be the simplest thing.  Once the turkey is done, just add some chicken stock to the drippings in the pan s to deglaze it, scrape any bits that need to be scraped, and add flour to thicken.  If you want a giblet gravy, just cook the giblets first (bring water to a boil in a saucepan, then lower heat to simmer giblets excluding the liver- should be refrigerated- for about 45 minutes, then add the liver and cook another 15-30 minutes ) drain, chop, and mix it with the drippings, chicken stock, and flour in a saucepan and then serve.  Done!

-Ariel

Easy Bread Stuffing

Here’s an easy recipe for stuffing on Thanksgivings day:

Stuffing:

Ingredients:

• One loaf of cheap white bread
• Chicken stock/ water and bouillon cubes
• 1 stalk of celery
• 2 onions
• 1 egg
• Salt, pepper, and any other seasonings wanted
• a couple tsp butter

Cook:

1. Grease a large pan and preheat oven to 170’C/350’F.
2. Chop the celery and onions, and crumble the bread.
3. Mix everything together with just enough chicken stock to moisten but not soak the bread.
4. Add to pan.  Top with a couple tsp of butter and bake uncovered for 45-60 minutes.

Simple and delicious.  My grandmother makes a similar recipe only subbing the bread for a box of saltines and uses 4 sautéed onions.  That’s also good.  =]

-Ariel

Apple Pie

Ahh!  I can not, for the life of me, find my camera battery charger.  So no pics, unfortunately.  Anyway since Thanksgiving is not a Danish holiday (obviously) but I am an American, I am cooking Thanksgiving dinner here tonight for my host dad’s birthday.  I’m excited, this is the first Thanksgiving dinner I’ve ever planned and executed myself.  Yesterday to prepare I made an apple pie (recipe below,) a pumpkin cheesecake (recipe tomorrow or later tonight if I don’t pass out after all that turkey dinner,) and my grandma’s cranberry glop. As soon as my host mom is done baking birthday buns (a Danish birthday tradition) I’ll be plopping the turkey in the oven and starting on some mashed potatoes, stuffing, green bean casserole, and gravy.  I’ll post all those recipes over the next week prior to Thanksgiving actually showing up.  Anyway here’s my apple pie recipe:

Apple Pie Filling

Ingredients:

• 6 large green apples, peeled and sliced
• a squeeze of lemon juice
• 1.5 dl/0.75 cup white sugar
• 1 dl/ 0.5 cup brown sugar
• 1 tsp flour (if the mixture is a bit liquid)
• a couple shakes of cinnamon, nutmeg, and/or clove to taste
• 2-3 tsp butter

Mix:

1. In a large bowl, coat the apples everything but the butter, adding the flour last if there is liquid at the bottom of the bowl.
2. Pour into pie crust (recipe below) and top with a couple tsp butter placed randomly to melt as it bakes.

Apple Pie Crust:

Ingredients:

• 450g/3.5 cups all purpose flour
• a pinch of salt
• 2 dl/1 cup vegetable shortening
• 1 dl/0.5 cup cool water

Cook:

1. Preheat oven to 180’C/375’F.
2. In a large bowl, whisk the flour and salt to remove any lumps.
3. Put the shortening in the middle of the bowl, coat  your hands with flour in order to minimize contact with the shortening (we don’t want it to melt) and work the flour into it.  This might take a while (and it might help to chop the shortening up a bit first,) but just keep pressing the flour into the shortening until they are one.
4. Add the water and work the dough into a ball.  Don’t knead it- the least amount of contact is still best.  Add more water by the tbsp if more is needed to keep a ball shape.
5. Cut the ball in half and roll it out to line your pie pan.  If you can’t roll out a full flat bit, cut that in half and piece it together (thats how I do it.)  Add the pie filling.
6. For the top, I prefer to roll out the remaining dough, cut it into strips, and weave the top.  This is because I cannot roll out a flat pie top.  If you can roll out a flat pie top, feel free to do so, just make sure to fork it a bit so the air can escape once it’s pinched on.
7. Brush the top with cream or milk and dust with sugar and/or cinnamon.
8. Bake for 50-60 minutes.

Yum!

-Ariel

Grandma’s Cranberry Glop (recipes from my moms cookbook)

Since I haven’t been cooking much this week thanks to this stupid virus, my mom has emailed me another guest post for the blog.  =]

-Ariel

Grandma’s Cranberry Glop

Let me start by saying I have no idea why my mom’s cranberry dish is called glop, other than the ingredients are all glopped together.  However, it’s been a part of our Thanksgiving tradition all of Ariel’s and my life and we all love it.  I am offering two versions one nonvegetarian and one vegetarian.  You might wonder how any cranberry dish would fit into the non veg category, it’s due to gelatin.  Many don’t realize this but gelatin is made from animal tissue.  If you interested in more  gelatin info click here. I would also love to see what recipes you and your loved ones share on the holidays.  Please feel free to share them with us!

Grandma’s Cranberry Glop

• 1 box red gelatin (cranberry or other flavor is fine)
• ½ cup hot water ½ cup cold water
• 2 cans whole cranberries drained well
• 1 20 ounce can crushed pineapple drained well
• Crushed walnuts, the recipe doesn’t say an amount I’m guessing about ½ cup but use more or less to suit your personal preference
• 1 teaspoon lemon juice

1. Pour hot water onto gelatin stir until dissolved, then mix in cold water
2. Refrigerate until it starts to thicken, watch this carefully!
3. Once about ½ way thickened mix well with cranberries, pineapple, nuts and lemon juice
4. Refrigerate a few hours longer the gelatin will continue to thicken

This is best made early in the morning or the night before.

The vegetarian version is very much the same.

• 2 cans of whole cranberries, drain excess liquid but not all the liquid!
• 1 20 oz can of crushed pineapple drained well
• Chopped walnuts, again use an amount to suit your tastes
• 1 teaspoon lemon juice

Just toss all the ingredients together and refrigerate for a couple of hours.

-Lin