Lets Eat Turkey

The turkey is the most anticipated and most stressed over part of Thanksgiving dinner. Nothing can make you more proud than a perfect turkey and nothing can be more embarrassing than a dud! For those who have never cooked a turkey it can be very intimidating. The first time I cooked a turkey on my own (not counting the one Catharine and I cooked in college) I was a nervous wreck. We invited 16 adults (including my in-laws) to come for the feast. Catharine told me about the Good Eats Roast Turkey recipe and I was intrigued. You brine the turkey before roasting it. The coolest part of the episode was the method for roasting the turkey. You put foil over the turkey breast so the legs and breast can be done at the same time. The dark meat takes longer to cook than the breast so if you wait until the legs are done, the breast will be dry. The foil solves this problem. Here is a link to the roast turkey recipe. You can also watch the video of the episode from there.

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/alton-brown/good-eats-roast-turkey-recipe/index.html

We also cooked a turkey on the rotisserie. We pierced 2 oranges with cloves and put them in the cavity of the turkey. As it rotated on the rotisserie, the juices from the clove studded oranges moistened the meat. It was amazing! Here is a link for this wonderful recipe:
http://www.weber.com/bbq/pub/recipe/view.aspx?c=poultry&r=176

Good luck on your turkey this Thanksgiving. They don't call it Turkey Day for nothing!

Speaking of Pancakes

We usually have breakfast for dinner at least once a week. It's always a hit. I'm a big fan of waffles, but we've been on a pancake kick for, well, months. I just might have to try Laurel's pumpkin pancakes tonight. I figured I'd add our top two pancake recipes to the list and wrap up the pancake topic. We used to go through bags and bags of the krusteaz mix but we were out of it one day and I figured I'd make pancakes from scratch. I'm not kidding, it took maybe three minutes longer than making them with the add water mix, so don't be afraid to make pancakes from scratch! Our favorites are Blueberry-Buttermilk pancakes and Applesauce Pancakes. Both have a little extra going on in the grain department (cornmeal or wheat germ). Also, both recipes call for buttermilk. In theory, you could substitutde sour milk, but in batters like these, buttermilk would be preferable. It's not expensive and nonfat versions are great with all the tangy flavor. If you have extra, make some muffins or marinate some fried chicken (that's another post).

Blueberry-Buttermilk Pancakes
From the Better Homes and Gardens red and white cookbook (which I think everyone should own)

1 cup all-purpouse flour
2 tablespoons cornmeal
1 tablespoon sugar
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 beaten egg
1 cup buttermilk (you can substitute sour milk, but I always use buttermilk for this)
1 cup fresh or frozen blueberries
Maple syrup, powdered sugar, or other desired toppings

1. In a medium mixing bowl combine flour, cornmeal, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon. Make a well in center of dry mixture; set aside.
2. In another medium mixing bowl stir together the egg, buttermilk, and oil. Add egg mixture all at once to dry mixture. Stir just till moistened (batter should be lumpy). Gently fold in blueberries.
3. For each pancake, pour about 1/4 cup of the batter onto a hot, lightly greasted griddle or heavy skillet. I use a large disher (ice cream scoop) to get matching-sized pancakes. Cook over medium heat about 2 minutes on each side or till pancakes are golden brown, turning to second sides when pancakes have bubbly surfaces and edges are slightly dry. Serve warm. Pass syrup or powdered sugar. Makes 8-10 pancakes.

Applesauce Pancakes
From: some random magazine I got in the mail and tore the recipe out of

1 cup flour
1 tsp baking soda
1/8 tsp salt
2 tablespoons toasted wheat germ (from the ceral aisle, near the oatmeal and cream of wheat)
1 cup nonfat buttermilk
1/4 cup applesauce
2 tsp vegetable oil
1 egg, lightly beaten
Maple syrup, or cinnamon syrup is especially tasty

Preheat skillet over medium heat. Combine flour, baking soda, salt, and wheat germ in medium bowl and make a well in center of mixture. In a separate bowl, combine buttermilk, applesauce, vegetable oil, and egg. Add buttermilk mixture to dry ingredients, stirring just until dry ingredients are moistened. Drop batter onto skillet using a 1/3 cup measurer (or ice cream scoop again) and brown on both sides.

Happy Halloween!

I had some pumpkin puree and wanted to make something new and different with it. I decided that pumpkin pancakes would probably be good so I looked online and found a recipe. The recipe calls for milk and vinegar, but you could definitely substitute buttermilk for those. I also used my immersion blender to mix the pumpkin with the milk before adding it to the other wet ingredients. I think that helped mix in the pumpkin. To serve, I cut a jack-o-lantern face out of a piece of paper, placed it over each pancake and dusted it with powdered sugar. Ashley really liked that her pancake had a face for Halloween. She liked it so much that she kept licking the face off and asking for another one! I will definitely make these again.

Pumpkin Pancakes

2 cups all-purpose flour (or whole wheat)

3 T brown sugar

2 tsp baking powder

1 tsp baking soda

1 tsp ground allspice
1 tsp ground cinnamon

1/2 tsp ground ginger

1/2 tsp salt

1 1/2 cups milk

2 T vinegar

1 cup pumpkin puree

1 egg

2 T oil

1. In a separate bowl, mix together the milk, pumpkin, egg, oil and vinegar (this was when I blended the milk with the pumpkin first). Combine the flour, brown sugar, baking powder, baking soda, allspice, cinnamon, ginger and salt. Stir into the pumpkin mixture just enough to combine.

2. Heat a lightly oiled griddle or frying pan over medium high heat. Pour or scoop the batter onto the griddle, using approximately 1/3 cup for each pancake. Spread out with the back of a spoon. Brown on both sides and serve hot.