Homemade Cranberry Sauce

A few days ago I ran across a recipe for homemade cranberry sauce.  I had never even thought to try to make it and when I saw how easy it is I was like what!!!!!!  Cranberry sauce is one of my favorite additions to any holiday feast and I had to try it.  Even though I had already purchased some of the canned stuff I ran out and got fresh cranberries.



This is the same basic recipe that I saw on a million and one websites.  I made some earlier and it's so wonderful!  I'm pretty sure I'll never buy that canned stuff again.

Ingredients:
12 Ounces Fresh Cranberries
1/2 Cup White Sugar
1/2 Cup Brown Sugar
1 Cup Orange Juice

(Some people added cinnamon, I did not)

Directions:
Bring orange juice and sugar to a boil, stir frequently.
Add cranberries, reduce heat to medium, stir frequently.
Cook for 10 minutes.
Remove from heat.
Let cool then put in a bowl to gel in the refrigerator, for several hours or over night. It will thicken as it cools.

Yes it's that easy!!!

You'll hear these wonderful little popping sounds as the cranberries start to burst open.
I saw many people say they used a splash guard, so I put mine on at first but found I didn't need it since I used a pan deep enough that the concoction didn't pop out.
I also went ahead and added about 3 dashes of salt while it was cooking.

I also saw commentary on recipes where people had noted that they ran theirs through a food processor or used a hand mixer on it after it cooked to give it a smoother consistency. However I love the whole berries myself.

This made a little less than 2 cups of cranberry sauce, and it'll surely be a hit amongst your cranberry sauce lovers, so you may want to double or triple the recipe for a large group.

DO IT!!  It's so easy and yummy!!  Not to mention a beautiful addition to your holiday spread.  Your friends and family will be impressed that you were domestic enough to make it from scratch.  It can be our little secret how easy it really is. ;)

ENJOY!!

Much Love!  & Happy Thanksgiving!

Brine That Turkey

Several years ago I was watching one of my domestic goddess heroes, Martha Stewart, while she was putting on a Thanksgiving special.  Luckily it was several days before Thanksgiving because she did something I had never seen before... brined the turkey!

I was immediately fascinated and had to try it that year.  It was the best most magically wonderful turkey I'd ever made.  Juicy, flavorful, practically falling off the bone and melting right into your mouth.  Every year since I have made sure my turkey is in the brine before it's roasted.  This has become a tradition now and my brine has evolved over the years because I've done lots of reading of different recipes and techniques.  I'm not actually going to share all of my brine ingredients with you because then my turkey isn't as special if you use them too. ;)  However below I'll post some brine recipes for you to check out and try or build your own recipe off of.

You may be thinking... "what does brine the turkey even mean??  This is madness, a turkey that melts in my mouth and has flavor, I do not understand."

Trust me... It's easy!!!  And more importantly, worth it!  Basically you are soaking your uncooked turkey for 12 hours in a solution of salt, sugar, spices, herbs and other aromatics.  Be warned too much salt or letting your turkey sit in the brine too long can cause a tough not so great turkey. So when you are looking at recipes do not think, well the more salt I add the better or the longer its in the better it will be.  This is the kind of thinking that will result in people wanting to slap you as they try chewing on their Thanksgiving turkey jerky you've fed them.

Tonight kicks off the beginning of my brine process.  First I've brought to a boil fresh cold tap water with my special blend of spices... oh yeah... that's my brew.  I will be letting this cool completely and then putting it in the refrigerator so that it can become very cold over night.





 This 4 gallon bucket is my brine bucket.  It's never used for household cleaning chores.  I like the square shape of it because the awkward shape of the turkey slides right into it for full submersion.  Your turkey being fully submersed is a must for even brining.  If you cannot find a bucket big enough use an ice chest but make sure to bleach and wash it well before and after the brine process, and you will be adding a bag of ice to your brine.  However as long as you are not buying giant turkeys a bucket should suffice. 

Tomorrow what is going to happen is the 13 pound turkey pictured above will be coming out of that wrapper, giblets removed, and turkey thoroughly washed.  Then it will be placed in the brine solution that I boiled and let cool tonight and my herbs and other aromatics will be added.  Finally I will be putting a heavy plate on top to keep the turkey weighed down and fully submersed and refrigerating it.


When you take the turkey out of the brine make sure to properly discard of the liquid as well as all spices, herbs, etc that were used.  Do not use any of it to cook with!  Use fresh herbs, spices, etc when cooking.

I will be putting the turkey in the brine about 13 hours before I plan to have it in the oven to start cooking.  It will only be in the brine for about 12 hours, and the other hour is to let it come to about room temperature for extra juicy goodness, and that is a great time rub some oil of your choice into the skin.  As well to chop any onions, herbs, apples, citrus, etc that you plan to season the turkey with while cooking.


This is a wonderful fresh herb roasted turkey from a couple of years back.  Even with a horrible oven that was on it's last leg and did not heat properly I was still able to produce a nicely browned turkey with a crispy flavorful skin and juicy wonderfully flavored meat.



Warning!!  If you cook a fantastic brined turkey for your friends and family you may forever be dubbed the official Thanksgiving turkey baker and be requested upon to bring it year after year.

Seriously watch this video it's pretty great and gives you some really good tips on not only turkey brine, but turkey in general!

Some Turkey Brine Recipes

Martha Stewart's How To Brine A Turkey
Martha actually has several brine recipes on her site.
Alton Brown's Good Eats Turkey Brine
Food Network's Collection Of Brine Recipes (26)
Sheri's AllRecipes.com Turkey Brine
There are countless recipes out there!  Just do a basic internet search keyword "Turkey brine recipe"
Have fun with it and use ingredients you love and you will have an awesomely seasoned turkey!

Now that you know what's what, get your brine going!

Much love!

Fettuccini With Turkey Meatballs And Vegetables

Last night I cooked a fabulous pasta dinner that was beyond fantastic.  I had been searching for a pasta dish that was different, not the same typical pesto, tomato or Alfredo sauce.  I kept seeing recipes that looked good but not quite what I wanted.  Finally I decided to just use ingredients and techniques of various recipes I had found.  Time for a blonde girl spin.

Ingredients:

1 - 14 ounce Package of Armour Turkey Meatballs - Thawed
1 - Pint Grape or Cherry Tomatoes -Whole
1 - Bell Pepper (I used yellow for color contrast) - Sliced
1 - 8 ounce Package of Baby Bella Mushrooms - Sliced
1 - 9 ounce Package of Buitoni All Natural Fettuccine
1 - 9 ounce Package of Spinach - Whole Leaf (Or Baby Spinach)
1 - Package of Fresh Basil (1/2-3/4 cup) - Largely Chopped
1/2  cup Parmesan Cheese, Shaved
1 Bottle of Extra Virgin Olive Oil to keep handy.
Salt & Pepper to taste

I used Baby Bella Mushrooms, you can substitute with white mushrooms, however Bella's give you such a flavor punch that white do not.  I use the Buitoni Fetuccine because their fresh pastas, that you can find in the dairy section of the grocery store, just have such a better flavor and texture than your typical dried pasta, not to mention it cooks in less than half the time.  The fresh basil gives an incredible flavor, you do not want to skip it, you'll find it in the packaged fresh herb section of your produce section.  Unfortunately I didn't think to measure the Extra Virgin Olive Oil and eyeballed that part so I'll have to just give you guesstimates on how much I used and you'll have to figure out what works for you.  Have fun and use your favored vegetables or a different kind of meatballs in your dish, this is just what I used and it was great!  You'll be surprised at how flavorful the Turkey Meatballs are if you've never used them before, and they are not greasy at all.

Directions:

• Preheat oven to 425 degrees F.
• Start pot of the water on the burner to come to a boil for the pasta, use amount of water called for on the package. While waiting on the water to boil start the next step.
• Coat the tomatoes, bell pepper, and mushrooms in about 2-3 tablespoons of the olive oil and a light sprinkle of pepper.  Spread out on a baking sheet and put in oven for 10-15 minutes until the mushrooms and bell peppers are the cooked consistency you like, I personally like a little crunch, the tomatoes will start to burst or shrivel, stir after about 6 minutes.
• Put pasta in the boiling water, if you are using the Buitoni it should take 3 minutes exactly, set a timer, you do not want to overcook your pasta. Drain and reserve 1/2 cup of the water.
• In a Paella pan or large skillet on medium high brown the meatballs in about 1 tablespoon of olive oil.
• Once meatballs are nicely browned turn the heat to medium and add the entire package of spinach and 1 more tablespoon of olive oil.  It will look like a lot but it cooks way down.  Constantly stir and flip until your spinach has shrunk down.
• By now your roasted vegetables are done, dump them into the pan with the meatballs and spinach, stir. 
• Add pasta and 1-2 tablespoons of olive oil and toss together.  I found using a large wooden fork and a wooden spatula worked great.  Start with the smaller amount of olive oil and add more if it seems your pasta is sticking together.  Part of any stickiness will be resolved in the next step though.
• Dump the Basil and Parmesan cheese and the pasta water on top.  Toss well until the basil and cheese are well incorporated, cheese is starting to melt, and the water has pretty much been absorbed, add more olive oil if needed.  Salt and pepper to taste.
• Remove from heat and serve immediately.  Top with Parmesan cheese and salt and pepper if you desire.

This dish will feed about 4 people, or 2 people who somehow have room for seconds.  I did not find that I needed anything else because this meal was very flavorful and filling.  Though I'm sure sides of salad and a nice baked bread brushed in olive oil and covered in an Italian cheese blend then baked until melted would be perfect compliments at a dinner party.  Though it may sound difficult and look like something that is a result of heavy labor, it was actually really easy to make, and will surely be a welcome change if your bored with the same old pasta dish.

Be creative with cooking and experiment, you never know what kind of awesomeness you'll come up with! 

Much love and Enjoy!!

Be kind to your non stick pans - Only use a plastic or wooden cooking utensils and they will thank you with a long life.  Amazon Cooking Utensils

Freaky Fast Unwich

Update August 2013:  After finding out that Jimmy John hunts and kills endangered animals I have decided that I will no longer be eating there. 

 
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About once a month on a payday I like to treat myself to a lunch that I didn’t make… in other words I eat out.  It usually falls on a payday Friday.  About 9 times out of 10 I end up getting Jimmy John's because they are fantastic!  I love the quality of their ingredients and the fact that they deliver means I can hang out in my cubicle at work and perhaps work on a blog while I wait on my delicious lunch to get here.

As many times as I’ve ordered a JJ’s sandwich looking at their online menu I’ve never noticed the Nutritional Information tab.  I’ve been making an effort to be aware of how many calories and whatnot that I am consuming in an attempt to achieve a healthier lifestyle.  Therefore today I actually sought out the nutritional information before ordering instead of just jumping in and indulging without a care and trying to work it off later.

I am impressed with the nutritional tool that JJ's has on the website!  It’s truly fantastic.  If you go to their Menu, then click on the Nutritional Information link you will be taken to the interactive tool they have provided.  Click on the sandwich that you would like to see and you will find out exactly how many calories you are consuming if you purchase your yummy sandwich as is. 

However the really cool part is if you click Add To Meal and then in the Your Selected Meal Items box click on Edit.

You can then start adding and taking away ingredients and see the nutritional information of your sandwich if you customize. 

I love the Beach Club and I’ve always ordered it on their fantastic wheat bread with Dijon mustard added.  We will just talk calories and the rest you can play with yourself. 

When I added the Beach Club as is with the sandwich on the default French bread you will see that it started out at 729.35 calories. 

I was like whoa… no wonder it tastes so good. 

Take away the French bread and put it on my usual wheat and it is now 730.35 calories.

Add Dijon mustard and I find that I typically consume 738.55 calories just with the sandwich alone.

The yummy factor of this sandwich makes it worth the extra work out later. 

But of course I had to see what would happen if I removed the mayo, I’m not big on mayo anyways but usually do not bother removing it… get ready for it…. No mayo brings us down to 545.55 calories!  The mayo is definitely something me and my hips can live without.

Now what else can I do… all of the other ingredients really do make the sandwich but I decided to see what would happen if I made it an Unwich aka Lettuce Wrap… remove bread and lettuce since it will be wrapped in lettuce and we are now at a phenomenal 201.85 calories!

So my dilemma… do I go Unwich and sacrifice my beloved bread?  I spent about 10 minutes showing my coworkers my new Nutritional Information toy that JJ’s has provided me while deciding (they seemed as amused as I was) and in the pursuit of practicing indulgence restraint (and I just had that awesome dinner last night Omelet Night) I decided this time I will go out on a limb and try the Unwich.

I was fearful that without the bread I’d feel like I’d wasted my money because I thought I’d just basically purchased a salad wrapped in paper.  Was it going to be enough to be filling?  I was also afraid that maybe the lettuce would be be kind of gross, perhaps not at its freshest or some weird something.

My fears were for not!  Oh my gosh!  It was good!  First thing I was impressed that it was the same size as if you had ordered it on bread.  The lettuce was flavorful and crunchy.  And mostly I did not miss the bread at all!  All those ingredients that go in the bread that make the sandwich were able to shine and be the grand star in the Unwich.  Turkey, tomato, avocado, cucumber, provolone cheese, sprouts, and Dijon mustard wrapped in lettuce was awesome flavors exploding in your mouth goodness.

I realized I needed to stop and take a picture when there were only a few bites left.

The Unwich filled me up and I did not feel overly full like I usually do when I order it on bread.  I consumed 536.7 less calories than I normally do when I order my beloved sandwich.

I actually started this blog before my food was delivered by the super friendly delivery girl because I was so enthused by the interactive nutritional guide, however the Unwich was so good it needed attention as well.  I am now a JJ’s Unwich convert.

Take a risk!  Make healthier choices, you may be surprised at how good it is.  And never forget to tip your delivery driver.

Much love!

Please note that Jimmy John’s did not ask me to write this blog… I just really love their food!  All screen shots of the Jimmy John's website were taken by me as I played with the nutritional information tool and I claim no ownership of them, nor do I have intention of any copywrite infringement.

Omelet Night!

Yesterday one of my wonderful coworkers brought in some freshly laid eggs from his chickens.  Fresh eggs are undoubtedly the most awesome of all eggs.

Later in the day I remembered that a few weeks ago another fantastic coworker had brought me a jar of homemade Concord Grape jelly that was made from the grapes her father grows on his farm in Kentucky. 

I was never a grape jelly fan, however I had never been exposed to homemade grape jelly - I'm now a fan!  It's not overly sweet and it tastes like grapes, unlike the mock grape flavor infused sugar as you buy in the grocery store.

 

I decided I must have an omelet with these fantastically colored eggs.  And it had to be just a simple cheese omelet so that the flavor of the fresh eggs would be the star, not the filling/toppings. And the perfect complement would be biscuits with that wonderful grape jelly.

A basic light and fluffy wonderful Bisquick drop biscuit.   When you are a working woman who doesn't have time to roll out the homemade, but want fresh hot biscuits with the satisfaction of at least mixing them yourself this is the way to go. 2 minutes prep, 8 minutes cook and you feel like you've accomplished awesomeness.


If you are unsure of how to make an omelet  below I will paste a basic recipe I found from the web that uses the same technique I've figured out after years of trial and error. Follow the directions and it will be perfect.  It cannot get any easier than that.
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Cheese Omelet on the Food Network

Ingredients

• 3 large Grade A eggs
• 2 slices American cheese
• 2 tablespoons vegetable oil

Directions

Equipment: 9-inch non-stick skillet and an immersion blender

Add oil to the skillet over high heat, and heat it until small hairline ripples appear on the surface of the oil.

Break the eggs into tall glass or frappe cup and whisk to blend for 1 minute. (The Waffle House uses a 15,000 rpm malt shop mixer.)

While moving the skillet in a circular motion, pour in the eggs. Continue to move the skillet in a circular motion, allowing the outside of the eggs to cook and fluff up. When the outside edges have firmly cooked, flip the omelet and cook on the other side for approximately 30 seconds. Keep moving the pan in a circular motion, but not as often as before it was flipped. (Too much movement at this time will cause the omelet to fall.) Flip the omelet once more to finish cooking--no more than 30 additional seconds.

Overlap 2 slices of American cheese in the center of the omelet in a diamond shape.

Fold the omelet in half, being certain to cover the cheese slices, and slide it onto your plate.
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My Personal Notes:

• Do not add milk to your eggs for whatever reason it is people add milk.  Don't believe me, read this Why not to put milk in eggs.  Notice the awesome yellow color of my omelet.
• I do not have the recommended blender device... I went old school with your good old bowl and a fork and beat the dickens out of my eggs for 60 seconds.
• I did not use cheese slices as they suggested. I had shredded cheese which worked beautifully and even sprinkled a little on top for the fun of it.  
• Notice you are not melting your cheese into the omelet while in the pan. If you try to do this it will dry out your eggs.  They are saying put in your cheese fold and take out of pan, it's a quick process. 
• I personally, to not risk egg dry out, have my cheese prepared in advance then when they are done flip my eggs onto the plate so the hotter skillet side is up and toss in the cheese and fold. The heat and steam of the hot eggs will melt it perfectly within a minute or so as it cools.  
• This also goes for if you were using other fillings such as vegetables, meats, etc... precook your fillings because they will take longer than your eggs, keep them on warm covered so they are nice and hot and throw in the middle of your hot egg as soon as it hits the plate and top with your cheese then fold.
• Let's say you missed getting everything into the omelet before it lost it's hot steamy cheese melty abilities... do not fret and do not stick it back in the skillet to dry it out. Just put it in an oven safe dish and cover tightly with foil and pop it in the oven at a low temperature for a few minutes and it will retain it's fluffy moisture.
• What does circular motion mean? You are not sliding your pan around on top of the burner in circles (or I don't). Slightly lifting up the handle holding the pan at an angle and gently making your eggs slurry around in circles in your pan by constantly moving your angle.
• Pop and air bubbles with the corner of your spatula and keep circling.
• Make sure you have a rather large spatula for your flipping and your eggs will be less likely to fold when you flip.
• And finally be kind to your non stick pans - Only use a plastic or wooden spatula and your skillet will thank you!

When it comes down to it everyone has their own style. I know some people are reading this and thinking NO NO NO that's all wrong!  But hey....

My omelet was fluffy, moist, and the farm fresh egg taste was rich and wonderful!  And biscuit with that jelly... oh man that jelly!!!  Now that you've been shown the basics mix it up and try your hand at an omelet this weekend!

Much love and HAPPY FRIDAY!

Do you have omelet cooking tips I should try? Let me know!