Monday, November 26, 2007

Thanksgiving Leftovers.....

My favorite Thanksgiving leftover meal is a good ole' cold turkey sandwich on wheat with a little honey mustard.

You can also make a casserole by layering leftovers: stuffing, green bean casserole, turkey, and top it off with leftover mashed potatoes. Voila!

My mother-in-law made turkey with gravy and biscuits. It was delicious!

What is your favorite Thanksgiving leftover meal?

Happy Holidays!

Wednesday, November 21, 2007

To Die For Fettucine Alfredo!

I got this recipe from allrecipes.com and I altered it to match the ingredients I could find and the ones I had in the house. It turned out to be fantastic!

INGREDIENTS
1 pound dry fettuccini pasta
¾ cup butter
1 cup heavy cream
salt and pepper to taste
2/3 dash garlic powder
1 cup Parmesan cheese blend (I used Giant Eagle’s)
2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts (good sized ones)
Broccoli florets from 1 head of broccoli

DIRECTIONS
1. Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Add fettuccini and cook for 8 to 10 minutes or until al dente; drain.
2. In a large saucepan, melt butter into cream over low heat. Add salt, pepper and garlic salt. Stir in cheese over medium heat until melted; this will thicken the sauce.
3. In a frying pan, cook the chicken in EVOO. After all sides are no longer pink, add broccoli florets to pan. Cook long enough to cook them a little, but I still kept it pretty crisp.
4. Add pasta to sauce. Add chicken and broccoli to pasta. Use enough of the pasta so that all of the sauce is used and the pasta is thoroughly coated. Serve immediately.

Wednesday, November 14, 2007

Deep Fried Turkey - HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

Deep Fried Turkey

by Derrick Riches
How to Deep Fry a Turkey:

Step One: Get a turkey, a very large cooking pot and some cooking oil. You can use vegetable oil, but it's better if you use peanut oil. However peanut oil is very expensive and you are going to need several gallons of it.

Step Two: Prepare the turkey. It needs to be defrosted and washed and make sure there are no pop up tender timer devices or anything left inside. You will also need to truss the turkey, meaning you need to secure the legs, neck flap, wings and Pope's nose to the body of the turkey.

Step Three: To determine the perfect amount of oil you are going to be using, place the turkey in the pot and add water until the turkey is completely covered plus an inch or two. With the turkey and the water there should still be several inches of room between the oil and the top of the pot. If it's a close call, then you need either a bigger pot or a smaller turkey. Remove the turkey and measure the water. This is the amount of oil you will need.

Step Four: Dry and season the turkey. Various recipes will call for seasoning rubs or injection mixtures. You'll find out more on this in the recipes listed on the right.

Step Five Make sure that your frying pot is completely dry. Water left behind can cause some serious problems once you add the oil and start heating it up.

Step Six: Add the oil to the pot and bring it to a temperature of about 400 degrees. You should really get a good thermometer so you can get the temperatures right.

Step Seven: This is where it gets tricky. The turkey needs to be room temperature and dry. Turn off the burner when you put the turkey in. You are going to lower the turkey into the pot of very hot oil. The oil is going to splatter. You need some very good cooking gloves and a way to put the turkey in the oil while you are a safe distance. This is the reason why it's really not that good of an idea to do it on your stovetop. Slowly lower the turkey into the oil.

A good method here is dunking. When you lower the turkey into the oil it will boil up. This is why you want the burner off when you do it. People have been burned by hot oil hitting the burner. You might not need to do more than a single dunk but you should be prepared to raise the bird out of the oil it it starts boiling up. You can greatly reduce the mess and risk of personal injury by lifting the bird up as the oil boils around it. A couple of dunks and the turkey should be nicely settled in.

Step Eight: Once the bird is safely resting in the oil, turn the burner back on to get to a temperature of 350 degrees. At this point you can go take a breather. But don't wander too far because that turkey will be done soon. A deep fried turkey cooks at a rate of about 3 to 3 1/2 minutes per pound. A ten pound turkey should take 30-35 minutes. An instant read thermometer can help you test for doneness, but of course you will need to lift the turkey out to test it.

Step Nine: Remove the turkey from the oil when it's done. Do this slowly and after you have turned off the burner. Let the turkey drain a little bit and you're set to go.

Step Ten: Carve and enjoy. If you have never had a turkey cooked this way then you have not finished your life requirements. Do this and you may never put a turkey in the oven again. Despite what you might think this turkey is not oily or greasy. It's crisp, juicy and delicious.



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Sunday, November 11, 2007

Pinapple Sour Cream Cake

Submitted by Estelle Melton

8 oz. crushed pineapple in juice
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 box yellow cake mix
1 pkg instant pudding, vanilla, pineapple, OR pistachio
4 eggs
1/2 pint sour cream
1/4 c oil

Combine pineapple with juice and baking soda, mix well. Combine cake mix and remaining ingredients in a large bowl. Add pineapple mixture, blend, then beat at medium speed for 4 minutes. Pour into a greased and floured fluted tube pan. Bake at 350 degrees for 50-55 minutes. Cake will pull away from the sides. Do not underbake. Cool in pan for 15 minutes.

Saturday, November 10, 2007

Winners of the Cooking Basket Raffle

To solicit recipes for the Taste of Tradition Cookbook, now available for purchase at the Twinsburg Public Library, a raffle of three cooking inspired baskets was held November 10, 2007. The winners are as follows:

The Baker's Delight Basket Winner -
Elsie Peel


The Coffee and Chocolate Basket Winner -
Marcia Davis

GRAND PRIZE
The Taste of Italy Basket Winner -
Estelle Melton

Friday, November 02, 2007

Pumpkin Dump Cake

Submitted by Kelly Hufragle

1 box yellow cake mix
15 oz can pumpkin
1 can evaporated milk
1 tbsp cinnamon
2 tsp vanilla
2 eggs
1 cup butter
1/2 cup chopped walnuts or pecans

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease a 9"x13" pan. Mix pumpkin, milk, eggs, cinnamon, and vanilla together with a whisk until well blended; pour into the bottom of the greased pan. Sprinkle dry cake mix on top of pumpkin mixture. Melt butter and drizzle over cake mix. Sprinkle nuts on top. Bake for 45-55 minutes. The center will be wiggly like pumpkin pie. Serve cooled with a dollop of Cool Whip.

"This is a family Fall favorite!"