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.

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.

Wine is a perfect way to make any meal a little gourmet and add some sass and perk up a regularly boring meal. The best part about it is you can enjoy…I mean “sample” the wine while you are doing the cooking. If your worried about feeding your children alcohol, don’t! The process of heating the wine when you are cooking with it burns off most of the alcohol, leaving a subtle taste of wine without a high alcohol content. In fact, if you boil it in a liquid, it loses 85% of its original alcohol content. Here are the top five rules to remember when you are cooking with wine.

1. Never, ever cook with a wine that you would not drink! If it’s not fit for human consumption, its not fit for cooking with either.

2.  It is important to use the right wine with each different kind of food, so here is a basic guide to help you out. Red meat dishes, soups with root veggies and beef stock should all be paired with a full bodied red wine. Seafood, poultry, pork and veal, veggie and chicken soups and white sauces should be paired with a dry white wine. Desserts should be mixed with a sweet white wine.

3. When adding it to cooking, here are the suggested amounts to add.

Soups - 2 tablespoons per cup

Sauces - 1 tablespoon per cup

Gravies - 2 tablespoons per cup

Stews and Meats - 1/4 cup per pound

Poaching liquid for fish - 1/2 cup per quart

4. Cooking is a great way to use leftover wine! If you want to store leftover wine properly, pour it into smaller bottles, cork it tightly and store it in the fridge.

5. Use whatever wine you like to drink rather than getting cooking sherry. It usually has salt or chemicals added to it and is generally more expensive than regular sherry.

Beef and Cabbage Soup

Prep time: 20 minutes

Cooking time:3 hours, 30 minutes (I know it seems like a long time but its well worth it and you only have to stir it occasionally.)

Ingredients

1-1/4 pounds beef top round roast

2 slices bacon, finely chopped

1 medium onion diced

1 medium carrot diced

2 medium ribs celery diced

1 medium green bell pepper, cored, seeded and diced

1/2 cup red wine (try a Cabernet sauvignon)

1/4 cup A-1 sauce

2 Tablespoons Worcestershire sauce

1-1/2 teaspoons salt

1/2 teaspoon black pepper

1 teaspoon chopped garlic

1/4 teaspoon dried oregano, crushed

1/4 teaspoon dried thyme, crushed

1/2 teaspoon whole caraway seeds

8 to 9 cups water

2 beef bouillon cubes, crumbled

1/2 large head green cabbage cut into 1-inch large dice

1 (3-ounce) jar roasted red peppers, drained and diced

Preparation

Trim beef, saving fat. Cut beef into 1/2-inch cubes and fat into 1/4-inch cubes.

In a large pot (6 quarts), add bacon and beef fat. Cook over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until all fat has been rendered and remaining pieces of fat and bacon are brown but not burned. Remove browned fat and bacon pieces and set aside. Leave liquefied fat in pot.

Saute onions, carrots, celery, and green peppers about 4 minutes. Add beef, raise heat to medium high and saute meat about 3 minutes. Return browned pieces of fat and bacon to the pot.

Stir in wine, A-1 sauce, Worcestershire sauce, salt, pepper,garlic, oregano, thyme and caraway seeds. Stir about 1 minute. Pour in 8 cups water and add crumbled beef bouillon cubes (or base). Stir until cubes or base have dissolved completely.

Add cabage and roasted red peppers; bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer several minutes, or until scum stops accumulating on top. Partially cover and continue to simmer 3 hours, stirring occasionally. Skim again, if needed. Taste for seasonings and if too thick, add more water. (May need up to 1 cup.)

Image by thebittenword.com

Making stuff from scratch isn`t always what it`s cracked up to be, but that doesn`t mean you have to forfeit good taste and great food. Today, you`ll learn how to take an ordinary packet of premade spaghetti sauce and turn it into something that everyone will swear is homemade.

What You`ll Need:

1 package (about 1 cup) of pasta sauce, any kind

1 onion, diced

1 tablespoon fresh basil

2 tomatoes, chopped

2 cloves garlic, minced

2 tsp. beef consomme

Fry the onions up in a little oil in a large frying pan until they are transluscent. Add the remaining ingredients. Heat through and add salt and pepper to taste. Serve atop pasta!

Pretty simple, right? Well, it gets even better. If you`re feeling adventurous, add some ground beef (1/2 lb. is perfect) to the onion cooking stage and once it`s brown, you can add the remaining ingredients.

Your kids hate veggies, but will eat pasta with sauce? Get sneaky and use the finest holes on your grater to add a carrot into the sauce. Once it`s cooked in, they`ll never notice. You can also wilt a cup of spinach, chard or other green in a little water and then blend it into a puree which can be stirred into the pasta sauce. Extra nutrition that doesn`t show up!

Other variations:

• Chunky Veggie Sauce: Add cubes of carrot, chopped cauliflower and broccoli, etc. to the onion cooking stage. You may need to add a little water to keep the veggies from sticking. Once they are semi-tender, add the remaining ingredients.

• Tofu Delight: Start the recipe by mixing the packaged sauce with the consomme (you could also use vegetable consomme for a vegetarian dish) and crumble half a package of firm tofu into the mixture. Let it marinate while you cook the onions, then dump everything into the frying pan.

• Dollar Stretcher Pasta Sauce: Make the pasta sauce go further by adding a can of tomato paste, plus two cans of water. Instead of fresh basil, use dried basil, thyme or parsley flakes, one teaspoon is fine. You can also use garlic powder instead of fresh garlic, if you don`t have it.

• Creamy Tomato Pasta Sauce: Cook as directed above, but just before you take the sauce off the heat, stir in half a cup of cream. You may dilute this with milk, if you find the sauce is too thick.

Using a premade food item as the base of a meal is something that makes life a lot easier. While you could make pasta sauce from scratch, it isn`t always possible and to be honest, it might even intimidate some women. But don`t worry, with this method, you can have several different “homemade” sauces that will delight friends and family and it`s super simple!