Thanksgiving/Fall

[DCJenn]

Here is my mother's Apple Butter- from the original Joy of Cooking (the new edition changed a lot of the recipes)

4 pounds of apples (she said to use Jonathans, Rome or Cortlands- not Granny Smiths because they're grown to retain their shape when cooked and are therefore a pain to make mushy and also not to use any of the sweet eating apples)
2 cups of water or cider or cider vinegar (she's also used apple juice, too)

Cook until soft.

Put mushy apples through a food mill. (Foley's food mill- they still make them and they're awesome)

For each cup of pulp you get, add 1/2 cup of sugar. To that, add 3 tsps of cinnamon, 1 & 1/2 tsp cloves and 1/2 tsp allspice.

Cook until the mixture coats the back of a metal spoon or until you put a bit on a plate and it doesn't separate.

Enjoy! It's habit forming.

Jenn

[bokelley]

Sounds so good. I don't have a food mill, so I might have to get one of those.

[ladymoreta]

Ooh, great idea!

Herb-Butter Roasted Turkey

14 Servings
Prep: 20 minutes (or more)
Roast: 3 hours 50 minutes
Stand: 20 minutes

1 14 pound turkey
½ teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
½ cup butter (no substitutes), softened
2 – 3 tablespoons snipped fresh thyme, tarragon, marjoram, and/or rosemary
2 cloves garlic, minced

Preheat oven to 425°F.

1. Remove giblets and neck from interior cavity of turkey. Reserve for gravy stock if desired. Rinse bird; pat dry. Cut off wing tips; reserve for gravy stock if desired. Season cavity with salt and pepper.
2. For Herb-Butter Seasoning, combine butter, fresh herbs, and garlic. Starting at the neck end of the turkey, loosen the skin by sliding your fingers underneath it, being careful not to tear it. Slide your hand as far as you can toward the other end of the turkey, separating the skin from the meat. Rub about two-thirds of the herb-butter seasoning over the entire breast.
3. Tuck drumsticks under tail skin, or tie to tail.
4. Place turkey, breast side up, on a rack in a shallow roasting pan. Insert a meat thermometer into the center of one of the inside thigh muscles. The bulb should not touch the bone.
5. Rub the remaining herb-butter seasoning over the entire turkey. Cover turkey loosely with foil. Roast in the preheated oven for 20 minutes.
6. Reduce temperature to 350°F. Continue roasting turkey for about 3½ to 4 hours or until thermometer registers 180° to 185°.
7. Baste turkey about every hour.
8. Cut band of skin between legs after 2½ hours so the thighs will cook evenly. During the last 30 minutes of roasting, uncover the turkey.
9. When done, remove turkey from oven; cover. Let turkey stand 20 minutes before carving.

Some tips I've collected about making turkeys:

• If possible, use a turkey that hasn't been frozen. Freezing can alter the protiens.
• Use a cored apple instead of stuffing. Stuffing can take longer to cook than the meat when it's inside the bird, so to get the stuffing done means sometimes you overcook the meat.
• Use a meat thermometer in the breast, not near any bones. If you are leaving your thermometer in the turkey while cooking, make sure it is designed for it, with a metal case around the glass. (The recipe says in the thigh. Probably either is fine, as long as it's not near a bone.)
• Rub the outside of the skin with olive oil.
• If you are using a disposable pan to cook the turkey (highly recommend - no cleanup!), put a cookie sheet underneath to make it easier to take out of the oven. The disposable pans are not very stable sometimes, and you don't want to risk burning yourself or spilling your turkey.

ETA - I didn't come up with this recipe. It's from the Better Homes & Garden's Holiday Cooking 2001 magazine. Almost forgot to cite my source!

[DCJenn]

This is the stew that I made last Thanksgiving and it was DIVINE.

http://www.vegetariantimes.com/recipes/10829 (if you want to see a picture)

Spicy Fall Stew Baked in a Pumpkin

Vegetarian Times Issue: October 1, 2008 p.67

Ingredient List

Serves 6

1 medium onion, diced (1 cup)
2 Tbs. olive oil, divided
1 red bell pepper, cut into 1-inch dice
2 cloves garlic, minced (2 tsp.)
1 tsp. chili powder, preferably New Mexican
1 tsp. ground cumin
½ tsp. dried oregano
½ lb. tomatillos, husked and quartered (1½ cups)
1 15-oz. can hominy, rinsed and drained
¾ tsp. salt
1 3- to 4-lb. pumpkin, either sugar pie, cheese, red kuri, kabocha, or buttercup squash
2 oz. grated sharp Cheddar cheese (½ cup packed)
Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350°F. Heat 1 Tbs. oil in pot over medium heat. Add onion, bell pepper, and garlic. Sauté 7 minutes, or until softened. Stir in chili powder, cumin, and oregano, and cook 3 minutes more, or until spices darken.
2. Add tomatillos, hominy, ı/2 cup water, and salt. Cover, and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to medium-low, and simmer, partially covered, 10 to 12 minutes, or until tomatillos are softened. Uncover, and cook 5 minutes more to thicken stew, if necessary.

3. Meanwhile, cut top of pumpkin around stem to make lid. Scoop out pumpkin seeds and strings. Rub inside of pumpkin with remaining 1 Tbs. oil, and sprinkle generously with salt. Sprinkle cheese in bottom of pumpkin.

4. Fill pumpkin with stew, then top with pumpkin lid. Place on parchment-covered baking sheet and bake 1ı/2 to 2 hours, or until pumpkin flesh is fork-tender. Remove from oven; let stand 5 minutes.

5. Scoop stew, including pumpkin, into bowls and serve hot, topped with Poblano-Cucumber Salsa. (I didn't make the salsa, FYI)

Nutritional Information

Per : Calories: 221, Protein: 6g, Total fat: 9g, Saturated fat: 3g, Carbs: 31g, Cholesterol: 10mg, Sodium: 699mg, Fiber: 6g, Sugars: 10g

[lirio]

This is the stew that I made last Thanksgiving and it was DIVINE.

http://www.vegetariantimes.com/recipes/10829 (if you want to see a picture)

Spicy Fall Stew Baked in a Pumpkin

This sounds delicious! Was it hard to make?

[lirio]

My favorite fall muffins: pumpkin and carrot raisin. They are vegan but you can make them with reg. milk.

Pumpkin Muffins
http://www.theppk.com/recipes/dbreci...hp?RecipeID=72
Makes 1 dozen muffins. These are moist and fluffy, with a hint of molasses and warm spicy flavor.

Ingredients
1 3/4 cups flour (I use whole wheat)
1 1/4 cups sugar
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon ginger
1/4 teaspoon allspice
1/8 teaspoon ground cloves
1 cup pureed pumpkin (fresh or from a can)
1/2 cup soymilk
1/2 cup vegetable oil
2 tablespoons molasses

Directions
Preheat oven to 400 F. Grease muffin tins with vegetable shortening or spray on oil.

Sift together dry ingredients (flour through cloves). In a seperate bowl, wisk together wet ingredients (pumpkin through molasses). Pour wet into dry and combine. Fill muffin tins 2/3 of the way. Bake for 18-20 minutes, till a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. You can also add chopped fresh cranberries or chopped walnuts.
Carrot Raisin Muffins

1/2 cup raisins
1 1/2 cups flour (I liked the texture better with whole wheat as opposed to the unbleached all purpose)
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/4 cup sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup soy or rice milk (or regular milk if you would like)
1/4 cup canola oil (olive oil works too)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 cups grated carrot

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Spray muffin pan with nonstick cooking spray or lightly grease with oil.

Soak the raisins in a bowl of hot water. It makes them plump and juicy. Just boil some water, put raisins in a bowl and pour the water over them. Let them sit for 10 minutes while you are mixing up the batter.

In a large mixing bowl, mix the flour, baking power, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg, sugar, salt. Create a well in the center and add milk, oil and vanilla, mix until just combined. Fold in carrots. Removed raisins from water, fold in.

Fill muffin tins 3/4 full. Bake for 18 to 22 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Let cool on a cooling rack.

ETA: I realized the online recipe was a little different from the cookbook, so I fixed it.

[Momo]

Yummo!
I loved this stuff growing up; it was toast & biscuit topping staple,in our home.
I can't wait to try and make it myself, thanks for the reciepe!!!

Here is my mother's Apple Butter- from the original Joy of Cooking (the new edition changed a lot of the recipes)

4 pounds of apples (she said to use Jonathans, Rome or Cortlands- not Granny Smiths because they're grown to retain their shape when cooked and are therefore a pain to make mushy and also not to use any of the sweet eating apples)
2 cups of water or cider or cider vinegar (she's also used apple juice, too)

Cook until soft.

Put mushy apples through a food mill. (Foley's food mill- they still make them and they're awesome)

For each cup of pulp you get, add 1/2 cup of sugar. To that, add 3 tsps of cinnamon, 1 & 1/2 tsp cloves and 1/2 tsp allspice.

Cook until the mixture coats the back of a metal spoon or until you put a bit on a plate and it doesn't separate.

Enjoy! It's habit forming.

Jenn

[DCJenn]

The stew was super easy to make and smelled so good. It was one of those meals where we each took a bite and looked at each other, kind of shocked at how delicious it is.

I made cornbread to go with it.

Jenn

I am ALL OVER that apple butter recipe -- thanks so much! Maybe I'll take the kids apple picking tomorrow afternoon ....

Here is my mother's Apple Butter- from the original Joy of Cooking (the new edition changed a lot of the recipes)

4 pounds of apples (she said to use Jonathans, Rome or Cortlands- not Granny Smiths because they're grown to retain their shape when cooked and are therefore a pain to make mushy and also not to use any of the sweet eating apples)
2 cups of water or cider or cider vinegar (she's also used apple juice, too)

Cook until soft.

Put mushy apples through a food mill. (Foley's food mill- they still make them and they're awesome)

For each cup of pulp you get, add 1/2 cup of sugar. To that, add 3 tsps of cinnamon, 1 & 1/2 tsp cloves and 1/2 tsp allspice.

Cook until the mixture coats the back of a metal spoon or until you put a bit on a plate and it doesn't separate.

Enjoy! It's habit forming.

Jenn

MAKING TODAY! Whole Foods *actually* had a good deal on some organic Jonathons: $1/pound! Amazing.

[bokelley]

Is there anyway to make it without a food mill??

Food processor or a really good blender (I used my VitaMix). I still had some teeny-tiny pieces of peel, but nothing that bothered me. YUM.