Thanksgiving Turkey

This year for Thanksgiving Nate and I were in charge of cooking the turkey, stuffing, and pies. So I've cooked a turkey twice before and they've both been good, but this turkey was definitely my best. It was so moist and tender and had a golden brown skin too. Nate's dad even told me it was the most moist turkey breast he's ever had. This is the way I'm cooking my turkeys from now on. I loosely followed some ideas from Saveur and I want to write them down so I can refer to them again. Enjoy!

Ingredients:
1 (21 lb.) turkey, thawed and neck and giblets removed
3 Tbsp. kosher salt
1 Tbsp. poultry seasoning (I used McCormick's GrillMates chicken rub)
1 1/2 tsp. black pepper (I used Lawry's seasoned pepper)
2 tsp. A1 garlic and herb seasoning
Reynold's turkey roasting bags

Preparation:
Rinse and thoroughly dry turkey. Place turkey inside a roasting bag. Stir all seasonings together in a small bowl. Now rub the turkey with the seasoning mixture, on top of the skin. Be sure to use it all and get all parts of the turkey, including some inside the cavity. Seal up the oven bag and refrigerate the seasoned turkey for 24-36 hours (we did 36 hours). Essentially rub the turkey with seasoning Tuesday night and then cook it Thursday (Thanksgiving) morning. When you're ready to cook your turkey, remove it from the fridge and let it sit on the counter for an hour before baking. Rinse off all the seasoning from the turkey and dry thoroughly. Get another roasting bag, add 1 Tbsp. of flour and shake throughout the new bag. Now remove the turkey from the old bag an place it in the new floured bag. Seal up. Bake in a roasting pan at 350 degrees F for 3-3 1/12 hours. Mine was done right at the 3 hour mark. To check for doneness use a meat thermometer and check the deepest part of the thigh without touching bone for a temp of 180 degrees F, and the deepest part of the breast without touching bone for a temp of 170 degrees F. Cut the bag off the turkey and tent with tinfoil. Let the turkey rest for 30 minutes before carving. Serve hot with your favorite side dishes!

Make-Ahead Cheesy Bacon Mini Meatloaves

Katie emailed me this recipe yesterday. She said it was a big hit with everyone at her house! That's always a sure sign of a winner recipe. It's also a recipe you can make ahead and freeze, bonus! Katie adapted this recipe from one over at Kraft Foods. She told me she thought Nate would really enjoy it. Bacon, Stove Top stuffing, barbecue sauce, three of his most favorite foods. I'm sure once he sees this he'll be asking for it to be put on the menu. This also seems like a recipe that would be great to take over to someone who's just had a baby or surgery, I'm sure they would enjoy it.

Ingredients:
1 lb. lean ground beef
1 lb. ground turkey
1 (6 oz.) package chicken flavored Stove Top stuffing
3/4 cup shredded cheese
1/3 cup barbecue sauce
3 green onions, sliced
2 eggs
3/4 cup milk
8 slices of bacon

Preparation:
Whisk the eggs and milk in large bowl until blended. Add all remaining ingredients (except bacon); mix lightly. Shape into 8 one inch thick patties and then wrap the bacon slice around the edge of each patty.

I doubled the recipe and cooked half at 375 degrees for 20 minutes and then added a scoop of mashed potatoes on the top while they finished cooking (another 15 minutes). So yummy!

With the remaining patties I flashed froze them and then individually wrapped and then put in freezer bag for another night when I am tempted to buy dinner because of a crazy day. Then it says to cook the unwrapped frozen patties for 45 minutes.
I suggest spraying the pan with cooking spray before placing on the rimmed baking sheet! Enjoy!

Here is a batch all wrapped and ready for the freezer.

Baked Turkey Tenderloin

So good! We LOVE turkey at our house. It is my personal favorite, and this recipe is an awesome way to prepare turkey. I've never made a turkey tenderloin, but it was so fast and so easy. We'll definitely be doing this again and again. For you local folks, I got my turkey tenderloins at Harmon's. This was a really easy Sunday dinner that we made with some yellow rice and green beans. Can't beat that! The rub comes from Weber's Real Grilling book, I totally recommend this book, everything we've made out of it has been amazing. Their rubs are fantastic!

Ingredients:
2 (0.5 lb.) turkey tenderloins
olive oil
4 tsp. onion powder
4 tsp. garlic powder
1 Tbsp. kosher salt
2 tsp. chili powder
2 tsp. freshly ground black pepper

Preparation:
Mix together all the seasonings. I keep mine in a small tupperware container, then you can use the leftovers in other poultry dishes too. Drizzle a bit of olive oil on both sides of the turkey tenderloins, and then sprinkle some of the rub on both sides of the turkey. Place tenderloins in a prepared baking dish. Bake at 400 degrees for about 30 minutes or until internal temperature reaches 165 degrees. Let rest for 5 minutes before slicing. Enjoy!




I shared this recipe over at Mandy's Recipe Box and Chef in Training.

We're hoping to adopt, check our profile out at http://adoption.com/profiles/nksmithfamily-1800 and feel free to pass it along!

Turkey French Dip Sandwiches

These sandwiches are heavenly! They were so good, I enjoyed every bite, and I can't wait to make them again! In addition to tasting great, these sandwiches are so easy to prepare. We had Nate's brother Zak and his wife Domonique over for dinner, and we all really enjoyed these sandwiches. The turkey turned out so moist and tender, and the au jus was great. I saw this idea on Kelsey Nixon's cooking show, and I just adapted it to our preferences. Make this soon!

Ingredients:
3 lb. turkey breast or turkey roast (I used a roast so we had both white and dark meat)
3 Tbsp. butter, softened
3 Tbsp. garlic bread seasoning
1/2 cup low-sodium chicken broth
3 Tbsp. Worcestershire sauce
1 onion, roughly chopped
seasoned pepper
baguette

Preparation:
Add the chopped onions to the bottom of the crock pot, add the chicken broth and the Worcestershire sauce. Top with some seasoned pepper. In a small bowl mix together the butter and garlic bread seasoning. Rub the butter mixture all over the turkey, if you're using a turkey breast with skin, get some butter under the skin too. Place the turkey in the crock pot, on top of the onions. Cover and cook on high for 4-6 hours or until internal temperature reaches 170 degrees. Once it reaches that temperature, remove from crock pot and let rest 10 minutes before slicing. Reserve the juices in the crock pot for your au jus dipping sauce. To make your sandwich, gently toast sliced baguette under to broiler until it is a nice golden brown. Top with turkey and any desired condiments and dip in au jus! You will love this!

Turkey Meatloaf Cupcakes

These were so so good! Have you ever had a night where you just throw a bunch of stuff together and it turns out to be awesome, an instant family favorite? Well, we had a night like that last night. Dinner was perfect. I need to go grocery shopping so this recipe was me just wingin' it. I didn't measure anything last night, so these are my best estimates. This is my new favorite meatloaf recipe, and Nate just text me that the leftovers were awesome too.

Ingredients:
1 1/2 lbs. ground turkey
1 large egg
1/2 cup bread crumbs
1-2 Tbsp. worcestershire sauce
3/4 tsp. garlic powder
1 1/2 tsp. dried onion flakes
1 tsp. steak seasoning
1/2 - 1 tsp. kosher salt
1 1/2 tsp. parsley flakes
1/2 tsp. smoked paprika

Preparation:
In a large mixing bowl combine all the above ingredients by hand. Do not over mix or your meatloaf will be tough. You want to mix it until it's just combined. Line a muffin tin with cupcake liners. Spoon equal amounts of the meat mixture into the cupcake liners. I used a 1/3 cup measuring cup and got 8 meatloaf cupcakes. Bake at 375 degrees for about 30 -35 minutes or until turkey is cooked all the way through (I didn't set a timer, so the time is just an estimate). I double checked done-ness with my meat thermometer. Remove meatloaf cupcakes and peel off the liners. Let rest for 5 minutes before eating. Enjoy!

Zesty Turkey Meatballs

Okay, these are seriously amazing. I am so impressed with myself for coming up with this recipe. Scrumptious is the only way to describe it. Two of my favorite things, turkey and Italian food, this recipe is a top ten favorite of mine. Nate loved them too. I made a large batch so I could freeze half for another meal so you may want to halve the recipe if you have a small family. Oh, I am so excited to share this recipe with you, make it asap!

Ingredients:
2 lbs. ground turkey
30 slices turkey pepperoni, finely chopped (I use the Hormel brand)
1/2 onion, minced
1 green pepper, minced
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 egg
2/3 cup Italian style breadcrumbs
3 Tbsp. grated parmesan cheese
1 Tbsp. Worcestershire sauce
1 Tbsp. garlic bread seasoning
1/2-1 tsp. crushed red pepper (depending on how much spice you like)
salt and pepper to taste

Preparation:
Combine all of the above ingredients in a large mixing bowl. Be careful not to overmix or your meatballs will be a bit tough. Don't add too much salt because the Worcestershire sauce, garlic bread seasoning, and parmesan all have a bit of salt in them. I just did a nice sprinkling of kosher salt and it was perfect. Also, the amount of breadcrumbs is an estimate, I started slowly and then added what I needed to get the meatballs the right consistency, so if your mixture is really loose, you may want to add a bit more. Once mixture is well combined, use a cookie scooper to create evenly sized meatballs. If you like bigger meatballs, use two scoops and roll them together to get a nice big meatball. Place meatballs on a parchment paper lined baking sheet. Bake at 400 degrees for 18-22 minutes or until cooked all the way through. If you are making big meatballs you will need to cook them longer. Serve the meatballs hot with pasta and marinara sauce. I made my meatballs mid afternoon so once they were done I threw them in a crock pot with some pasta sauce and just kept them on low until dinner. Enjoy!

This recipe makes about 50 medium meatballs.




My recipe was featured over at Fantastical Sharing of Recipes. I'm so flattered!


I linked up this recipe over at Six Sisters' Stuff, Mandy's Recipe Box, and Chef In Training.

Pepperoni and Meatball Lasagna

I can't believe I'm saying this, but I adapted this recipe from one of Guy Fieri's. I really like his show Diners Drive-Ins and Dives, but I cannot stand his cooking show. I found this recipe and knew I had to try it. It is just a nice variation on plain old lasagna.


Basically you make your lasagna the same way you always do except, substitute cooked beef meatballs for your ground beef or sausage. I slice the meatballs in half so they lay flat. Since meatballs are so thick I just do one layer of them. On the top of your lasagna, after you sauce it, you are going to put on pepperoni. Before you add the pepperoni cook it up in a pan until it crisps up then add to the top of the lasagna and bake like normal. It is a fun new way to liven up your lasagna.

*in our house we like turkey meatballs and turkey pepperoni