Relaxing into the Holidays

Our freezer seems to be full of things that turn into hearty home cooked meals. Tonight we had a one-pot-meal roast chicken and it was filling and festive.

While the chicken was cooking, I looked through the grocery store flyers to see what their last minute Christmas sales were. There was nothing that would tempt me to brave the crowds (or the weather) this weekend, and I'm happy to say we have everything we need until after the holiday. If we realize we missed something over the next few days, we will just have to manage without it.

A snow storm is supposed to hit this weekend, and if you're looking for me, I'm going to be happily inside with the cat and a good book.

Sometimes Turkey Happens... And It's The Best!

Canadians celebrate Thanksgiving in October, so it's been almost two long months since I had a home made turkey dinner. I hadn't made one of my own in over a year and I was itching to roast one and take advantage of having a fridge full of leftovers. It didn't help that the U.S. celebrated their Thanksgiving a few weeks ago, and the news feeds on my Blogger, Twitter, and Happier were filled with countless photos of delicious turkey dinners with all the fixings. It was only a matter of time before I cooked one, and I knew there was no way I could wait for Christmas.

Luckily I had two turkeys in my freezer, so I made one earlier this week and had my sisters-in-law over. It was a good meal with great company and I even made pumpkin pie for dessert. Last night we enjoyed leftovers for supper and this morning I boiled up the turkey bones for some stock.

We used part of the stock tonight to make some home style turkey soup. Making a big pot of soup is one of my favourite ways to eat turkey leftovers. Plus the house smells amazing while the stock is boiling.

I also packed away 10 cups of turkey stock for the freezer. Sometime down the road we'll make some fresh soup and/or add it to other dishes for flavour.

Every time I make a turkey I remark at how far the meal goes. There really is so much joy that comes from one awesome bird.

Fancy Dinner and a Movie

Any celebration with my family or friends always involves food. The food ranges from big home cooked dinners, to vast quantities of take out, to giant piles of hors d'oeuvres to nibble on throughout the event. For us, there really is nothing better than sharing food with the people we love.

John and I have been having movie date nights recently, most of which have been spent watching the Lord of the Rings films. I have been reading the books, so it's been a lot of fun to watch the movies together and discuss all the ins and outs of putting such an epic tale to screen. For our most recent date night, we continued our Tolkien obsession and had a fancy dinner to start the date off right.

We picked up a smoked turkey leg, a Brie, and Ciabatta baguette for a fancy nibbly dinner.

I baked a brown sugar coated Brie for about 10 minutes in a 350°F oven. John made an oil and spice mixture for the bread, and toasted slices of it while the Brie cooked. We both cut pieces off the turkey leg and sampled as we did so. Then we grouped the food festively on a serving tray and were really excited to get eating.

 

We even made a salad to go with it, so we weren't just eating meat, cheese, and bread.

We paired our fancy dinner with The Hobbit: Extended Edition. It was hard to focus on the movie at first, as my mind was completely taken over by the Brie. Once we finished most of the food, we were able to pay more attention to the movie.

The movie was fantastic. We've seen the theatrical release about a thousand times already, and this version was even better. Most of the extended scenes added welcome back story, or more depth to the characters. The entire Rivendell sequence was greatly enhanced by the extra scenes, some of which were really important to the plot. The LOTR extended editions are miles above the original theatrical releases, and I'm glad to see The Hobbit is too.

Celebrating a Love of Turkey on Thanksgiving

My favourite meal to cook is a big turkey dinner. There is so much I love about it beyond the wonderful food I get to eat when it's done. I love having the house smell amazing all day. I love preparing all the sides. I love impressing people with my turkey making skills. I also love 2-3 days of leftovers and the option of making turkey soup. There is so much to enjoy.

For some people, a turkey is just served on holidays. In my family, we throw a turkey in the oven whenever there is an excuse to do so. When I was away at school, any weekend I came home was a reason to have a turkey. Now most birthdays or family get togethers are accented with a turkey. I often make one on my own birthday, as I like making them so much (but this year mom has volunteered).

I have a method for making a turkey that works for me (and works for mom, as I mostly copy her method). We cook the turkey for a long time, but somehow we don't overcook it. We stuff the bird. We make tonnes of sides. And we have a relaxing and enjoyable time preparing it. If you've never made a turkey before, there are some safe food handling concerns regarding preparation and ensuring the meat and stuffing are cooked to the proper internal temperature. For a good overview of how to make a turkey safely, please check out Butterball's Turkey Safety Tips and Turkey Ontario's How to Prepare a Turkey.
 
I will let the pros provide a step by step guide for cooking turkey, but the following are some of the things I do to have an awesome turkey dinner - every time.

An important aspect of cooking a turkey is getting a turkey deal. For me, a turkey deal is when the price is $0.99/lb or less. I love getting a turkey for $10, and a 10 pound turkey is my favourite size to prepare. There's enough for dinner with guests with the perfect amount of leftovers (too many turkey leftovers can be too much of a good thing). With Thanksgiving sales this past week, I got two 11 pounders at the $0.99 price point. Gotta love the turkey deal!

On the day of cooking, with a completely thawed turkey, I make my stuffing. I like a simple stuffing: bread, onion, garlic, mushrooms, poultry seasoning, salt and pepper, and butter. 

I use a turkey rack (when I remember) which makes removing the cooked turkey from the pan so much easier. Because I like to cook my turkey for a long time, it has a tendency to fall to pieces when taking it out of the pan, but the turkey rack helps keep it intact.

I stuff the bird right before it goes into the oven, stuffing the cavity and the neck. I sprinkle the turkey with salt, pepper, and some melted butter, and into the oven it goes at 325°F.

The turkey cooks throughout the day and I relax. I baste it periodically, but mostly I just let the oven do all the work. I do spend some time preparing sides, but I find that relaxing. Early in the day I peel potatoes, prepare and mash a sweet potato, and chop broccoli and carrots. 

I usually aim to have my turkey done at 5:30pm and then it is Go Time. The turkey comes out of the oven and settles for half an hour while I hop around the kitchen. The potatoes get on and boiling then mashed, the veggies get steamed, the gravy gets prepared, and the sweet potato gets reheated. Finally the stuffing comes out and the bird is carved.

And the beautiful dance that is turkey dinner is complete and is ready for consumption!

After dinner is done and (most likely) pie is consumed, I head back to the kitchen and de-bone the turkey. All the meat gets stored in a convenient tupperware for the next few days of leftovers, and the bones are frozen and saved for some fantastic turkey soup.

Best. Meal. Ever.

Long Weekend Relax

It's Thanksgiving weekend here in Canada, and we are spending a nice quiet one at home. A nice bonus of being home while everyone else is running around, is we get to dog sit our favourite dog friend Alex.

Alex lived in British Columbia with my sisters-in-law until last week, when they all returned to Ontario and settled about an eight minute drive from us. We happily volunteered to dog-sit any time they need it and we hope this is the first of many hang outs we get to spend together. He is a real sweetie.

So we are having a low key Thanksgiving with our buddy Alex and some steak leftovers we have from yesterday. We cut some of our huge haul of meat into 6 oz steaks and enjoyed the first round of them last night. Second go is tonight. We have some mini potatoes that we mix with a spoonful of butter, chives, and cilantro for what is now my new favourite side dish.

Happy Thanksgiving! Hope you are having a lovely weekend. :)

Beef Deals and a Beef Meal

We got a super fantastic beef deal on Friday. Giant roasts were on for $1.87/lb, and we got four of them, each weighing in at around 6 lbs. This is our favourite way to buy beef, because we cut them into smaller hunks so we have many options for cooking. The four roasts turned into fourteen 1.5 - 2lb portions that we froze and will use over the next few months as roasts, steaks, beef strips, or stewing meat. I have to say I am pretty excited about it and with winter coming I am loving that we have 24 lbs of meat in the freezer.

A 1 pound hunk of beef cut from a large roast

I'm really looking forward to turning these 14 hunks of beef in my freezer into many fabulous meals. If we cut the beef into strips we can make one of our favourites: fajitas.

A hunk of beef cut up into strips

Browning the beef strips and seasoning them with taco spice

Making my fajita: add beef and cheese

Add avocado and salsa

Add lettuce and roll up into an awesome hand held meal

Roast Beef Dinner

I grew up on a beef cattle farm so a meat and potatoes dinner is not only full of wonderful flavours but great memories too. There are many ways to prepare and season a beef roast, and I am very fond of the easy one pot meal.

Ingredients:
-Beef Roast (ours was 1.5 lbs)
-Spices to taste (we use salt, pepper, garlic salt, and Montreal steak spice)
-Onion and garlic, chopped
-Assorted vegetables for side dishes (today we had potatoes, sweet potatoes, and carrots)

Method: 
1. Place roast in 9x13 pan. Season with spices. Surround roast with chopped onion and garlic for flavour.
2. Chop other veggies (potatoes and carrots) and place in pan beside the roast.
3. Add about 1/2 inch of water to pan. Sprinkle with extra spices if desired.
4. Cook in 350°F oven for 1.5 - 2 hours (time will vary on size of roast).
5. Remove veggies and roast from pan and set aside.
6. Strain juices from pan into small pot for gravy.
7. Serve with dinner rolls and enjoy!

This post was originally featured on my friend Kim's blog Meanwhile In the Country in a section called Favorite Recipes Around the World. Please check out Kim's blog for this and many other wonderful recipes.

Mom's Mac and Cheese

We've added good old mac and cheese to our meal plan rotation. I wasn't in the habit of making it regularly because I thought cheese and milk were expensive. I have recently figured out that milk is cheaper than I think, and if there is a good cheese deal ($4 or less for 500g), a big pan of mac and cheese is only around $4.50. Pretty cheap considering the meal lasts two days and feeds two adults. It's also enough for late night snacks too. Mac and Cheese is also a great make ahead meal, either to freeze, or to make the day before if we know we won't have time to cook. I follow my Mom's recipe, which I've been eating for over 30 years now and still love.

Mom's Mac and Cheese (for 9x13 pan)

Ingredients:
4 cups dry macaroni
1/2 cup + 2tbs flour
salt and pepper to taste
1/2 cup + 2tbs margarine
3 cups milk
3 cups grated old cheddar cheese (about half a 500g brick)

Method:
Boil macaroni until desired tenderness. Drain and set aside.

In saucepan, melt margarine with flour (mixed w/ salt and pepper) over medium heat. 

Stir in milk. Stir constantly with whisk until thickened. Now, here is the deal with making the sauce: it takes about 7 minutes of constant whisking. I have no problem with the stirring, but my brain likes to chime in and convince me around the 6 minute mark that the sauce isn't going to thicken. Even though it does every time. My mom says she does this too. But don't worry if it happens to you. Your sauce will work out!

Once thickened, remove from heat and add grated cheese and stir until melted. 

Mix macaroni with cheese sauce until completely covered.

Pour into a 9x13 pan and spread out evenly.

Sprinkle with bread crumbs, butter, and spices to taste. I use Bulk Barn bread crumbs, but when mom makes this, she uses bread crumbs from actual bread. That she made herself. I was lucky growing up, eh? My store bought bread crumbs do the job, but mom's mac in cheese is just fantastic.

Bake in oven for 30 minutes at 350°F. And enjoy! Sometimes when I get it on my plate I smother it with Franks Red Hot. Pretty tasty.

Homemade Hamburgers

We used to buy boxed hamburgers, but we realized we get more bang for our buck (and our taste buds) if we make them ourselves. We either use ground turkey or ground beef, as they both make an equally amazing burger. 1lb of either meat usually makes 6 burgers, with each patty being about 3 oz. I make homemade buns to go with them, and I love the smell of hamburgers frying and buns baking at the same time. Smells like joy.

John is the patty maker in our house, so all credit for these yummy bugers goes to him.

First, break up the meat into a large bowl. Add some chopped onions.

Next add spices: garlic powder, chives, pepper, and Montreal steak spice.

Add some bread crumbs.

Mix with your hands to get to proper burger patty consistency.

Press into six patties.

Fry in pan, flipping once, until juices run clear.

Cook some burger toppings if so inclined. We fried up some onions and mushrooms.

Dress burger to taste and enjoy! I added feta to mine and it was burger bliss.

Homemade Stuffed Crust Pizza

Paula over at Call Me PMc recently posted her recipe for stuffed crust pizza. I love pizza in all of its forms, and this looked too amazing not to try. We have pizza about once a week around here and sometimes like add some variety to it (see panzerottos).

Click over to Call Me PMc to see her original recipe for stuffed crust pizza.

Here is how I made mine:

I started with my regular pizza dough (via our breadmaker).

Next, I cut up pieces of mozzarella and lined the inside edge of the pizza dough with it, and folded over the edge to cover the cheese.

Yay! A stuffed pizza dough!

Then topped and baked the pizza as I normally do.

Then I basked in the glory of having made a homemade stuffed crust pizza!

It was a really tasty variety of pizza, although John says next time we should double the cheese. I think we should put some pepperoni in there too. Lots of fun to be explored with this type of pizza. Thanks to Call Me PMc for the amazing idea!

More Pizza Posts:

Rectangle Pizza
Pizza Friday
Panzerottos
Taco Meat Pizza