Brining a Turkey

My parents gave me a coupon for a free turkey. Since I never have a chance to make a turkey when it doesn't matter, I decided that I wanted to try a new turkey cooking procedure. I wanted to attempt to brine a turkey. My SIL Amy gave me the basics and they are as follows

1 c. salt
2 gallons of water

That is it...easy huh? She added some dried basil and oregano to hers and she mentioned that if you are brining a chicken you should also add 1/2 c. of sugar.

The trick is finding a pot big enough to cover your turkey in the brine. I have seen it where people used a huge cooler with ice in it (you have to keep the turkey cold. At least at refrigerator temperature). I decided to use my sink and kept ice in it. It was a lot more work than some methods because I had to be around it and adding ice all day...lame.

It is recommended that you brine your turkey at lease 6 hours and max of 12 (although I have heard of longer). I actually brined my turkey for 4 hours since that is all I had.

The purpose of brining a turkey is to allow it to keep is juices while cooking. Nobody likes a dry turkey right? Well, even with only brining it 4 hours there was a huge difference. I have been thinking about getting a small turkey (my original turkey was 13 lbs) and trying different methods out. I would love to try deep fry a turkey (so good!) or brine one for the full amount of time. Good luck! Let me know if you try this and how it turns out!

Ham Broccoli Braid

I love the blog My Kitchen Cafe. The other day they had a BBQ chicken braid featured on there. I have wanted to do one of these forever. I used her roll dough and instructions on how to do the braid and improvised the rest. I wanted to do a ham, cheese and broccoli braid. I loosely followed a recipe I found on allrecipes.com. This recipe uses refrigerated crescent roll dough, but I prefer the homemade stuff.


2 cups of ham chopped
1 cup chopped fresh broccoli
1 small onion, chopped
1 tablespoon dried parsley
2 tablespoons Dijon mustard
1 1/2 cups shredded Swiss cheese
2 (8 ounce) cans refrigerated crescent roll dough

I add a couple of dollops of mayo so it isn't as dry

# Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
# In a large bowl, combine ham, broccoli, onion, parsley, mustard and cheese. Stir well.
# Unroll crescent roll dough, and arrange flat on a medium baking sheet. Pinch together perforations to form a single sheet of dough. Using a knife or scissors, cut 1 inch wide strips in towards the center, starting on the long sides. There should be a solid strip about 3 inches wide down the center, with the cut strips forming a fringe down each side. Spread the filling along the center strip. Fold the side strips over filling, alternating strips from each side. Pinch or twist to seal.
# Bake in preheated oven for 20 to 25 minutes, until deep golden brown

Coconut Sticky Rice

I am in love with Thai food. I especially love this dessert. I finally found a recipe for it somewhere on the internet (I am so bad at remembering where I find thing.) Josh and I went through a kick where we would make it just about every night. The kids aren't that into it (more for us) so we would make it after they went to be and eat it while watching "24" "Lost" etc. Good memories. There are a lot more complicated recipes for this rice out there, but this one is really good and way easier than any else I have seen.

1 cup sticky rice (or just use regular medium or short grain rice-long grain will not get as sticky, but still tastes good)
1 can coconut milk
2/3 cup sugar
1/2 tsp salt
mango or peaches (but mango tastes best)

Cover rice with cold water and rinse, repeat until water runs clear, about three times.

In medium pan, bring 1 3/4 cups of water to a boil. Add rice and stir briefly. reduce heat to low simmer and cover. Cook 20-25 minutes (I think 20 is good, 25 might burn)or until all of the water is absorbed.

In another pan combine coconut milk, sugar, and salt. Boil for 3 minutes stirring frequently. Remove from heat.

Mix the milk mixture and rice together. Stir well.

Cover top of rice directly with aluminum foil. Let rest for 30 minutes at room temperature. Serve with cubed mango.

Pumpkin Spice Pancakes

I love to make fun breakfasts for General Conference mornings. This is one that I found here.

Pumpkin Pancakes

1 1/2 cups milk
2 Tbsp. vinegar
1 cup canned pumpkin
1 egg
2 Tbsp. oil
2 cups flour
3 Tbsp. brown sugar
2 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. soda
2 tsp. cinnamon
1/4 tsp. cloves
1/4 tsp. nutmeg
1/2 tsp. salt

--Whisk milk, vinegar, pumpkin, egg, and oil until smooth. Combine dry ingredients and add. Whisk just until blended, batter will have small lumps. Bake on heated skillet.


Buttersauce

1 cube butter
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup evaporated milk
1/2 tsp. vanilla

--Mix the butter, sugar, milk and vanilla in a sauce pan. You do not want it to boil until the milk is in. Once all the ingredients are in the pan, slowly bring it to a boil This keeps the sauce from becoming grainy. Remove from heat, cool slightly and add vanilla.



I usually don't love pancakes, but I couldn't stop eating these! The sauce is to die for!

Taco Soup

I know this is such a basic recipe, but that is what this blog is all about. I had a roommate when I lived in Washington D.C. that would make this all the time. I forgot the recipe she used and then my sister gave it to my sister-in-law for her wedding. My sister-in-law just gave it to me yesterday. Thanks Stacey, I have missed how good and simple this recipe is!

1 lb of ground beef (I don't use as much, if you like more go ahead!)
grated cheese to taste
2 cans of garbanzo beans, undrained
2 cans of kidney beans, undrained
2 cans of pinto beans, undrained
2 cans of corn, undrained
2 cans of stewed tomatoes, undrained
1 packet of taco seasoning
Fritos corn chips
sour cream

In a stock pot brown beef (I usual saute some onion as well to brown with the beef). Then add cans of pinto beans, garbanzo beans, kidney beans, corn and stewed tomatoes. Add packet of taco seasoning. I let this simmer for about 15-30 minutes to combine the flavors. Serve with sour cream, cheese and Fritos.

Apple Raisin Oven Pancake

1 apple, cored, peeled and sliced
1/3 c. raisins
2 T brown sugar, packed
1/2 t. cinnamon
4 eggs
2/3 c. milk
2/3 c. all purpose flour
2 T. margarine, melted
Garnish with powdered sugar

Combine apple slices, raisins, brown sugar and cinnamon together; spread into a lightly buttered 9" pie pan. Bake at 350 degrees for 10 to 15 minutes; remove from oven and set aside. Whisk eggs, milk, flour, and margarine together; pour over apple mixture. Bake at 450 degrees until golden. About 15 minutes; sprinkle with powdered sugar before serving.

Raised Doughnuts

I love doughnuts. I have two recipes that I love to make, but they aren't like this one so I decided to try these kind of doughnuts. So good! The kids loved them.

2 c. boiling water
1/2 c. sugar
1 T. salt
2 T. shortening
2 pkgs. active dry yeast
2 eggs, beaten
7 c. all purpose flour
oil for deep frying (I use shortening)
additional sugar for coating

Stir water, sugar, salt and shortening together in a large mixing bowl; sprinkle yeast on top. Set aside; cool to room temperature. Blend in eggs; gradually add flour. Cover and let rise until double in bulk. roll dough out to 1/2 inch thickness; cut with a doughnut cutter. Set aside; cover and let rise until double in bulk, about 1 1/2 hours. Deep fry in 360 degree oil until golden; drain, spoon sugar into a paper bag; add doughnuts and shake to coat.

The fun thing about this is that the kids can help shake the doughnuts in the sugar.

Note-doughnuts frying is a little tricky. If they cook too fast the inside will be doughy. Just watch the oil and if you feel they are starting to cook faster and faster, turn it down.


My finished product. The neighborhood kids loved them (I am fine with them eating them as I just like making them, not gaining all the weight from eating them)