The Gourmet Mama

Now you`ve chosen your turkey, it`s time to get that baby ready to roast! I`m going to give you some basic ideas for roasting a turkey, but then I`ll share my special herb-garlic turkey recipe . . . one that actually had my mother-in-law asking me to do the turkey at the family get-together for Christmas this year . . . which is BIG, people, because my MIL is not very fond of me.

First of all, you`ll need to prepare your turkey. If it comes with a bag of giblets inside, make sure you take those out. You may want to rinse your turkey under running water just to clean it up a bit and then put it into the roasting pan. Now, your pan should be fairly large, you don`t want the turkey getting all deformed in there! The disposible aluminum pans are great, though I just line my roasting pan with tinfoil to make cleanupeasier.

Preheat your oven to 425º and then put that turkey in there. Most people use a meat thermometer stuck into the leg without touching the bone. The temperature inside the turkey needs to hit 160º. I personally don`t have a thermometer, but haven`t had any problems. Here is an approximate guide to cooking an unstuffed turkey.

8 lbs. = 1 hour

12-14 lbs. = 1.5 hours

16-20 lbs. = 2.25 hours

Stuffed turkeys will take even longer, but I prefer to cook the stuffing separately, myself.

On to the Garlic-Herb Turkey . . .

Garlic-Herb Rub

4 sticks margarine

1 head garlic, peeled and minced

2 Tablespoons fresh basil, chopped fine

2 Tablespoons fresh oregano, minced

2 tsp. dried sage

Blend all ingredients together with an electric mixer until the butter is uniform in color and texture.

Now comes the hard part. Not really. Starting at the opening in the turkey, slide your fingers carefully under the skin, breaking the connective tissues. You may need to use a butter knife to help with this part. Avoid tearing holes in the skin, though if there is a little one, it`s not a big deal.

Loosen all the skin, right around the turkey, including the legs. Now, take a big gob of the garlic-herb butter and push it under the skin with your fingers. Rub it right into the flesh. Do this with all the butter, trying to get it fairly evenly distributed under the skin on both sides of the turkey. Again, precision isn`t vital.

The final step is to give your turkey a massage. Just gently rub it on the outside of the skin, smoothing out the lumps of butter until the turkey is fairly evenly covered.

Now, put your bird in the roasting pan, breast side up. You may want to tie the legs together with string at this point, to keep them from flopping down. Put the turkey in the oven and let it roast. Check toward the end of the time to see if the skin is burning. If it is, you can lay some tinfoil over top to prevent this.

I recommend making the turkey ahead of time and letting it sit for up to an hour before dinner. This lets the butter soak in a bit and gives you time to use the oven for side dishes, which we`ll be covering over the next week and a half. You`ll have a tender, tasty turkey with crispy, buttered skin and a lovely garlic flavor.

A lot of moms don`t get around to doing much in the way of homemade desserts because they just seem complicated. You might be surprised at how very simple it is to whip out a beautiful dessert, but today we`re looking at the more rustic and very tasty strawberry shortcake. You can use any berry with it, really, so feel free to substitute.

Super Simple Strawberry Shortcake

Topping:

Whipped cream or chantilly

2 cups sliced strawberries

2 tablespoons sugar

Place strawberries in a bowl and sprinkle with sugar. Toss until all the berries are coated, set aside.

Cake:

2 cups flour

1/2 cup sugar

2 tsp. baking powder

pinch of salt

1/2 cup (1 stick) margarine

1 1/3 cups water

Preheat oven to 350º. Mix dry ingredients well. Use your fingers to crumble the margarine into the flour until you have little pea sized bits. Add the water all at once and stir quickly until the mixture is just moistened. Spread in an 8×8″ pan and bake for 25-30 min. or until cooked through.

To serve, cut into squares, top with strawberries and a dollop of whipped cream. Super simple and absolutely heavenly!

We all know that kids aren’t the only ones who need to have snacks throughout the day. Here are a list of easy to pack snacks that you can take with you for when you are waiting for ballet class or soccer practise to be over, so that you can make it through the day. I don’t know about you but I’m awfully grumpy by dinner if I don’t have a snack halfway through the afternoon.

1. Yoghurt cups

2. Veggies - one of my favorite way to pack veggies is to chop up a bunch the night before and put them in a little tupperware container with a drizzle of salad dressing. Then you shake it all up so that they are all coated and by the morning its mixed with the juices for a scrumptious and delicious treat.

3. an apple

4. granola bars

5. grapes - these stuck in a little ziplock bag are perfect for taking with you places.

6. leftover pizza…ok, I know its not the healthiest, but thats what I had for a snack today so I’m putting it in here.

7. banana

8. muffin

9. mixed nuts

10. A V8 juice…very tasty and very healthy!

Happy snacking!!!

I was playing around with new muffin recipes the other day and found one that was completly addicting! I had a hard time not eating all of the batter, let alone the actual cooked muffins. So I thought that I would share it with you.

1 cup butter

2 cups sugar

4 eggs

2 t. vanilla

4 cups flour (the recipe calls for white but I used 2 cups white and 2 cups whole wheat)

1 cup milk

4 t. baking powder

4 cups berries (I got one of those frozen bags of berry mix…strawberry, blueberry, raspberry and blackberry)

Cream together the butter and sugar. Mix in the eggs, vanilla and milk. add flour and baking powder and mix everything together into a smooth batter. Add the berries and gently fold in. If the berries are still frozen, you don’t have to worry about being too gentle but if they are thawed or fresh, you want to be really careful. Put a spoonful of batter into each cup of a greased muffin tin and bake at 350 degrees for 35 minutes or until the tops brown. These muffins are to die for!!! Enjoy!

My sons love crackers, but I don`t love the ingredients in the storebought ones, so I came up with this healthy, fiber-filled version that they just adore. A little bit sweet, but not very and chock full of nutrients, these cute bear crackers are the perfect snack for kids or adults.

Bitty Bear Crackers

1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour

1/4 cup ground flax

1/4 cup 13 Cereals (use regular flour if you can`t find this)

1/3 cup oatmeal

1 cup water

1/3 cup oil

2 tablespoons sugar (or substitute honey and lessen amount of water)

2 teaspoons cinnamon

Mix dry ingredients in a medium bowl. In a small bowl, whisk water and oil. Add to the dry ingredients and mix quickly.

Dump the dough out onto a floured surface and roll out to about 1/8 inch thickness. Cut with cookie cutters. To make the tiny bears you see here, I used bento vegetable cutters, but you can use any small cookie cutter.

Bake on an ungreased baking sheet at 250º for about 20 min. or until the crackers are crisp, but not burned. Store in an airtight container or zippered bag. Makes about 100 bitty bears.

Tamarind is one of those bizarre fruits that you see in Asian markets and wonder how it could possibly be used.

This dry looking, bean-like fruit grows in India, Africa and Central America and when you open it up, you`ll find large beans surrounded by a thick paste that is rather sour.

The paste from tamarind is widely available, so many people are already familiar with the flavor. However, if you want to try the actual fruit, there are several ways to prepare it.

First, you`ll need to prepare the pulp. Open up the seed pod and scrape everything out. Use 1/3 cup of warm water for every 2 tablespoons of seeds and pulp. Just dissolve it into the water, removing the cleaned seeds as you go. This mixture can then be used to cook with in any recipe that calls for tamarind paste. If you don`t have fresh tamarind, go ahead and use the purchased paste in the following recipes.

Mexican Agua de Tamarindo

3 tablespoons tamarind paste

1/2 cup sugar

5 cups water

Dissolve paste into the water. Add sugar and stir until dissolved. Serve chilled.

Tamarind Fruit Sauce

1 tablespoon tamarind paste

1 tablespoon sugar

2 tablespoons water

2 tablespoon lemon juice

Heat all ingredients, except tamarind in a saucepan until the sugar is dissolved. Add tamarind. Cook, stirring, over medium heat until a syrup is formed. This can be used on ice cream or over fresh fruit.

Simple Chutney

1 tablespoon tamarind paste

1 cup raisins

1/3 cup water

1/2  teaspoon grated fresh ginger

1/4 teaspoon cayenne

dash of salt

Puree all ingredients in a blender until smooth. If you want a chunkier consistency, add some chopped raisins after the fact.

For more recipes, check these links:

Epicurean List

Bok Pik Dipemp

Coconut Shrimp with Ginger Tamarind Sauce

There are days when so much is going on, you really need a recipe that requires a minimum of effort and virtually cooks itself. This delicious rice recipe will do just that and it makes for a wonderful side dish when paired with anything from veggies to chicken to beef.

Ignore-Me Dirty Rice

2 cups uncooked rice

2 tsp. beef consomme

1 tsp. dried oregano

1 tsp. dried basil

1 large onion, cut in half and sliced thinly

1/8 cup vegetable oil

In a medium pot, heat the oil and toss in the onion. Stir and cook for 1 minute. Add rice, stirring until it is thoroughly coated in oil. Cook over high heat, stirring, for 1 minute.

Add consomme powder and herbs. Stir well. Pour in just enough water to cover the rice. Reduce heat to low and cover. Let simmer for 15 min.

Check rice for doneness. If not done, add a little more water and cook uncovered. Otherwise, serve as is.

This makes about 4-6 servings, depending on how hungry you are. You can add any veggies, etc. or even pieces of cooked chicken.

If you ever want to find a quick and easy dessert to whip up last minute to impress company or just your kids, Banana Cream Pie is the best way to go. You can get most of the supplies way ahead of time and have them waiting there for you when you need a quick sugar fix and you can get it all put together in less than five minutes! How’s that for a fast dessert? Here’s what you need.

1 pre made crumb pie crust

1 package instant banana pudding (you can substitute chocolate pudding if you are a chocoholic)

1 cup milk

1 large or two small bananas

1 can of whipped cream (if you are ambitious, you can make it from scratch instead)

optional chocolate syrup for decoration

Now all you have to do is put it all together. Mix the milk and pudding mix together as described on package.  Pour into pie crust and even out with a spoon…only use your tongue to even it out if the pie is to be consumed only by you.  Peel and slice banana and sprinkle over pudding. Top with whipped cream and drizzle chocolate syrup over top. Ta Da!!! A perfectly quick and easy Banana Cream Pie.

If you can, then you`re in luck! There are lots of things you can do with a boiled potato. And knowing how to use the simple ingredients is the main characteristic of a true gourmet mama.

Chop It . . . and fry in a bit of oil with some bacon, onions and chopped celery for a hearty breakfast.

Slice It . . . and pour a can of mushroom soup over the slices, arranged in a casserole dish, sprinkle with some grated cheddar cheese and bake at 400º for 20 min.

Mash It . . . with some butter and a dash of chicken stock. For something fun and unique, add enough flour to make a thick dough and roll into one inch balls. Roll these in beaten egg, then crushed cornflakes and bake at 350º for 15-20 minutes for crispy potato nuggets. (great way to use left over mashed potatoes!)

Blend It . . . along with some previously sauteed leeks and onions. Add enough milk to create the desired texture and you have yourself a very simple potato soup.

Cube It . . . and add cubed hard boiled eggs, chopped pickles, red and green peppers and some mayonnaise and you have a lovely potato salad, just chill before serving.

Eat It . . . with a little butter and chopped parsley. This is particularly nice with a handful of tender new potatoes with the skins still on and makes the perfect side dish to any gourmet meal.

Potatoes are so versatile and easy to work with that it would be a crying shame not to include them in your menu.

Photo by Noonch

There is a potluck lunch at work tomorrow and being as busy as I am, I completly forgot about it until late tonight. I have the reputation of always coming with one of those dishes that everyone wants the recipe for so I had to come up with something that they would all love. After a quick stop at the grocery store, I decided on my famous quick and easy bruchetta.

Bruchetta is a salad that consists mainly of tomatoes and feta cheese and makes a great appetizer, side salad or a topping to anything bland such as a lettuce salad or chicken. There are many complicated recipes out there but mine has been tried and tested and developed into a super simple recipe…mainly from lack of money, ingredients and patience, but nevertheless, it is one of the best bruchetta’s around!

Quick and Easy Bruchetta

3-4 medium tomatoes

1 clove garlic chopped

small handful cilantro, chopped

1/2 cup feta cheese, drained and crumbled (I like to use sundried tomato feta but plain works too)

Chop tomatoes into 1/2 inch dice. Add garlic, cilantro and feta cheese. Mix together. Yup…it’s that simple! You can serve on toast, as a salad, spoon onto chicken or pork chops.