Showing posts with label cooking techniques. Show all posts
Showing posts with label cooking techniques. Show all posts

Friday, November 18, 2011

Five Reasons You Should Make Crock Pot Stuffing This Year

One year ago next week, I had a guest post on Wonderland Kitchen, which is now Brighton Park - aka Katie's Place.


I shared one of my favorite holiday recipes - Crock Pot Stuffing.

It's now time to revive that GLORIOUS recipe just in time for what is possibly my favorite holiday!

Five Reasons that Crock Pot Stuffing is the BEST way to cook stuffing for Thanksgiving.!
5. No need to deal with the nasty germs that baking your stuffing in a bird engenders.
4. It's easy to please vegetarian guests (swap the chicken stock for vegetable stock).
3. Small kitchen? Single oven? Small oven? Not a problem. Plug and play in a different room.
2. Spend time focusing on your turkey, your guests, or your table settings rather than slaving over a stove.
1. It's easy to make ahead and bring with you to a meal at someone else's home!

Additionally, there's one more reason that goes almost unspoken when discussing Thanksgiving... LEFTOVERS!

Recipe below:

Crock Pot Stuffing
12 cups lightly toasted bread, cubed (I used stale bread)
1 onion, chopped
3 large stalks celery, thinly sliced
1 apple, peeled and diced
1/4 cup butter
1 tablespoons ground thyme
2 teaspoons ground oregano
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon pepper
1/2 teaspoon allspice
1/4 cup fresh parsley, chopped
1 1/2 cups chicken stock (if making a vegetarian-friendly dish, substitute vegetable stock)



Place bread crumbs in a 6 quart crock pot. In a medium saucepan, melt the butter, and saute the onion, celery and apple until soft. Stir in the spices and then toss over the bread cubes. Stir together well. Pour chicken stock over the mixture and coat evenly. Cook on high for one hour then reduce to low and cook another two to three hours, stirring each hour.

Monday, November 7, 2011

French Onion Soup

French Onion Soup is one of my MOST FAVORITEST soups of all time.
Most favoritest. I love making up words.

I just want to share some photos of my dad's French Onion Soup recipe. His is one of the best I've ever had.

Yum Yum Yum.




After making the soup, dish it up.



With the croutons, just out of the oven.



 YUM!
Eat up!

Thursday, November 3, 2011

The Secret(s) to A Perfect Turkey

My bloggy friend The Lucky Wife over at the Saturday Evening Pot is doing a 100 Day Countdown to Christmas, and I'm pleased to be sharing the secrets of a perfect turkey over at her place today in a guest post. So head on  over to her place to learn how to make the best turkey... EVER!

I wish you all a happy, safe, and successful Thanksgiving... in advance! I'm going to be sharing lots of recipes and posts with her this season, so I hope you'll check out each and every one!






Tuesday, November 1, 2011

Turkey Brine Recipe for the Perfect Turkey

Welcome to November!

Thanksgiving is just around the corner... are you ready?

Last year, I brined my first turkey. Actually, last year, I cooked my first turkey; bringing was part of the process. And it was ahhhh-mazing. This recipe came to us from a chef friend originally, which we then modified (heavily) based on ingredients we had. YUM!!!


I want to share with you our recipe for turkey brine, in the hopes that I might inspire someone to make the perfect turkey this year, as you prepare your grocery lists.

Erin's Turkey Brine Recipe

1 gallon ice water
32 oz vegetable broth, cooled to room temperature
16 oz (2 cups) soy sauce
2 tablespoons worchestershire sauce
2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
4 tablespoons italian herbs
1/2 cup sea salt
1 tablespoon peppercorns
1 tablespoon minced garlic
ice

Mix all ingredients together but the ice. Taste, and adjust seasonings as you feel necessary. Add ice and turkey, then let turkey refrigerate in brine overnight (12-24 hours). We use a sanitized five gallon bucket.

Remove the turkey and rinse both the cavity and exterior well to remove any extra salt.

Cook in oven according to the FDA's recommendations for your bird's size.

Monday, October 17, 2011

How to Cook Pumpkins and Other Squash

Before last year, I didn't know an acorn squash from a butternut squash from a hubbard squash from a spaghetti squash.

I also had no idea that they were related to pumpkins or that they could often be interchanged with pumpkins.  Nor did I have any idea how to cook them!

Fast forward to Squash-a-palooza 2012.

I'm going to assume that some people are starting where I did, and don't know how to cook a squash. Here is your how to guide... for spaghetti squash, for meatier squashes, and for pumpkins and squash to be made into pies and other sweet treats.

I showed you these photos of my squash bounty from the Farmer's Market a few weeks ago.
From left to right: Sugar Pumpkin, Mini Blue Hubbard, Pink Banana Squash, purple potatoes, Stripetti Squash.
Squash-a-palooza, like it's concert festival forebears, has gone on for more than just one day.

Day 1 featured spaghetti squash and pink banana squash.
Though spaghetti squash can be baked, my favorite way to cook it is by boiling; this makes the "noodles" less crunchy and softer... and therefore is a great way to make the squash serve as a gluten free replacement for traditional pasta.

To boil spaghetti squash, make fork holes in the squash, plop the squash in a large pot of water and boil on high heat for at least an hour. Make sure that your squash rotates in the water, otherwise you'll end up with half soft noodles and half a little crunchier. After allowing to cool, slice in half and scoop out the seeds and fibrous innards (be sure not to take too much out, as the "noodles" will be easily scooped out with the innards). Then drag a fork through the meat to create noodles. Either set aside for dinner, or place in freezer bags and freeze for use later.

Pink Banana Squash - weighing in at 23 pounds!




I know I showed you this banana squash, but it's truly a beast and deserves to see the light again. Twenty-three pounds of squash!!! Though the farmer offered to sell me this baby in chunks, I wanted to buy the whole thing so I could stock up my freezer. K won't let me buy more squash now. :( Understandable, but still makes me sad. I could eat and buy and prep squash for ages!!

This baby got chopped into half, and then half again, and then half yet again! Yes ... eighths. It was that monstrous. How do you cut a giant squash in half? VERY CAREFULLY!

As the chunks of squash became manageable, I then scooped out the goop and seeds from the center. I saved the seeds for roasting, and then forgot about them in the oven. Whoops!

To cook this monster, and most other squash, season the "meat" with salt and pepper, or whatever other seasonings you want, (or you can skip the seasoning step altogether if not sure what you'll be using the squash for), and then place meat-side down in a lightly greased baking dish.  Bake at 350 degrees for about an hour or until squash meat is very tender and can be easily pierced with a fork.

Pull out and cube, setting aside for your dish of choice, OR place in freezer bags to freeze and then cook later. If freezing, it's worth noting that your squash upon thawing may be best suited for use in soups or purees.

Fast forward a few weeks, when I was ready to tackle squash again. It really did take a while! The 23 pound banana squash and two giant spaghetti squash took a lot out of me! It's now time to bake some sweet treats using the sugar pumpkin.



What's a sugar pumpkin? Honestly? I have no idea. It's a small pumpkin that came to us very green. After several weeks on the counter, it turned a brilliant orange and just screamed to be turned into something delicious. I've been watching Pinterest and Friday Potluck for the best pumpkin sweet treats on the net and opted for Pumpkin Cheesecake Cupcakes from Little Rays of Sunshine and Spiced Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookie Bars from From Apples 2 Zucchini. Watch for my versions of the recipes to come soon.




How to cook a pie pumpkin or sugar pumpkin.
Slice the top off and then slice in half. Enjoy the beauty of a gorgeous pumpkin. Scoop out the pulp and seeds. If you wish to save the seeds, you can do so (rinse the seeds and dry with paper towels, then spread out in a single layer of a cookie sheet, seasoning with salt and pepper and put in oven on low heat for a few hours... be sure to check regularly!)


Place the pumpkin halves meat side down on a cookie sheet and cook at 350 degrees for about an hour until the meat is tender and can be easily pierced with a fork. Scoop the meat from the shells and push through a sieve to reduce the amount of water in the pumpkin. Then place in a food processor and process until smooth. Set aside and start cooking!!

Enjoy!

Thursday, September 29, 2011

Friday Potluck #53

Happy... OCTOBER?

How is this possible? Tis the season to be sure. Temperatures are cooler here, with the first snow showers forecast this weekend. I've been wearing flip flops BECAUSE of the weather, and suffered chilly little piglets as a result. I just know that opportunities are limited... between now and the arrival of warmer temperatures. So I'm being brave.

I always used to know what month it was based on what was selling in the stores, but since Halloween candy made its annual debut the first week of September this year, I'm suspicious that the seasonal aisle may *not* be the best indication. Just hazarding a guess here.

This past weekend was food preservation fest 2011. I actually wrote 2012... I don't actually know when I am.

From left to right: Sugar Pumpkin, Mini Blue Hubbard, Banana Squash,
Purple Finger Potatoes, and some kind of Spaghetti Squash.

I loaded up on squash this weekend. Did you guess? I still have the sugar pumpkin, just waiting to be made into cookies and pumpkin cheesecake cups... and actually, everything except the banana squash.

The banana squash really is as big as it looks. 23 pounds.


My friend Olivia offered her hands for scale. What do you do with 23 pounds of squash? You halve it, then you halve it again... and again! Then you add a tablespoon of butter to each eighth with a little salt and pepper, and bake at 375 degrees for 30 minutes, or until soft. After cooling, you remove the skin, dice into 1-2" cubes and store in freezer bags. Between this monster, the two spaghetti squash (not pictured) that I cooked and the pound of garlic that I minced with olive oil and preserved, I used up about 1/4 of my available freezer space. I might have to get more squash next weekend too... I can't help it!

Anyway, what are your food preservation plans this fall?

On to Friday Potluck.

grab the code!

Just a few quick and easy rules for joining the party:
1. Link directly to your recipe (not your main blog).
2. Only one recipe per blog each week.
3. Be sure, in the linked blog post, to link back here to Friday Potluck @ EKat's Kitchen using the button above or text.
4. Have fun, do some visiting and enjoy!
If you want to get updates on my posts, and any promotions I'm running, please follow via Google Friend Connect (in the bar to the right).


1. Light Tortilla Soup, R. Pepp. Quesadilla
2. Praline Cheesecake
3. Blue Cheese & Apple Salad
4. Sesame Pecan Chicken
5. Cornbread Recipe
6. Dill & Cheese Beer Bread
7. Quick and Easy Chicken Pot Pie
8. How to Make Italian Bread Crumbs
9. White Choco-cherry Cookies
10. Shrimp Almost Alfredo
11. Gluten Free Apple Crisp and Applesauce
12. Crock-Pot Stuffed Peppers
13. Cincinnati Sloppy Joes
14. Zombie Cupcakes Book
15. HEALTHY RICH CHOC/CAROB PUDDING (DFSFopt
16. homemade applesauce
17. Video: Pecan Crusted Apple Crisp
18. Sea Salt Soiree Chocolate Souffle
19. Chicken Thighs & Fennel
20. Tasty Desserts
21. Crab Puffs
22. Pesto Salad
23. Pineapple Upside Down Cornmeal Cake
24. CrockPot Cheesecake w/ Cookie Crust
25. Pumpkin Pancakes
26. Applesauce Cinnamon Quick Bread
27. GF Chocolate Butterscotch Cupcakes
28. Caramel Apple Croissants
29. Run DMT
30. brazil nut pesto cream & heirloom tomato
31. Apple Pie in a Jar
32. End Of Season Soup
33. Dhemz
34. Flavored Agar / Jelly
35. Apple Crisp
36. Spinach and Beans
37. Grilled Chicken Salad
38. Japanese Apple Salad
39. Chipolte Sloppy Joes (Veg)
40. Buttery Bread Machine Rolls
41. pumpkin mousse
42. Pimento Cheese Spread
43. Losing Creek Farm - Fried Baked Potato
44. Smooth Bean Soup
45. Apple Crumble
46. Hamburger Soup
47. Teriyaki Pork Tenderloin
48. Granola Bars - Crazy Awesome
49. White Bean Dip - peachkins
50. Pecan Pie Muffins
51. HOMESICK TEXAN ~ Pork Tacos & Cookbook
52. Apple Cake in the Crock Pot GF
53. The Well-Fed College Student: Stone Soup
54. Creamy Pumpkin Peanut Butter Dip
55. Lemon Orzo Soup
56. Chicken Lo Mein with Peanut Sauce
57. Flatbread Pizza Margherita
58. Boiled Peanuts with Chinese Five Spice
59. Malkys Apple Kugel
60. Roasted Cauliflower and Tomatoes
61. Chocolate Cake Batter Cookies
62. Linguine with Parsley Sauce

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