New Events & Activities

It's Thanksgiving week and I'm sure everyone is going crazy getting ready.  Take a deep breath and just take it one item at a time.  You'll get done and be able to enjoy all the commotion (family & friends).

I've been busy and now have my cookbook in a few more locations.  It is available at 3 Hy-Vee stores now (Maryville, MO; St. Joseph, MO; and Kansas City, MO-just off Barry Rd.), the Bearcat Bookstore on the campus of Northwest Missouri State University and at the Nodaway News Leader office in Maryville, MO.

There will be some more locations coming and book signings too.  I'm in Sioux City, IA on Friday (Dec. 2) and Saturday (Dec. 3) for signings at 2 Hy-Vee stores.  Then I'm in Kansas City (just off Barry Rd.) at another Hy-Vee on Saturday, December 10th.  The last one that is set as of now is January 7th in St. Joseph, MO at Hazel's Gourmet Coffee & Tea Co.  More about these as they get closer.

I did my second TV cooking segment yesterday for KQ2 in St. Joseph, MO.  I made the Spicy Creamed Corn from this blog.  It was a big hit and the link to watch it is below.  They do the segment in two pieces with commercials in between.  The link only has the first part but it gives you an idea of how easy a recipe it is to make. Here is the link KQ2

I will be doing 3 recipes this week for Wednesday, Thursday and Friday.  They will all have to do with leftover turkey; My Favorite Turkey Sandwich, Turkey Carcass Soup and Turkey Tetrazzini.  Enjoy and "Happy Thanksgiving" from "Cabana Boy Cooks."

Pumpkin Pie

Pumpkin Pie

(8 servings)

Ingredients:

1 – 15 oz. can Pumpkin

1 – 14 oz. can Sweetened Condensed Milk

2 – large Fresh Eggs

1 – tsp. Ground Cinnamon

½ – tsp. Ground Nutmeg

½ - tsp. Salt

1 – 9 inch unbaked Pie Crust (see note)

Directions:

Whisk all the ingredients (except pie shell) together in a mixing bowl.  Pour the mixture into the pie shell placed on a cookie pan.  Put this in a pre-heated 425 degree oven to bake for 15 minutes.  Reduce the oven temperature to 350 degrees and continue baking for an additional 35 to 40 minutes or until a knife inserted 1 inch from crust comes out clean.  The pie can be baked the day before and refrigerated.  Have either whipped cream or cool whip (thawed) on hand when pie is served.

Note:               You can find frozen pie crust in a disposable pan in the freezer
section.  You can also use the refrigerated dough, but then

                        you will need a pie pan.  In either case, be sure to let the pie

                       dough come to room temperature before filling and baking.

Ideas for Future Efforts

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Mandarin Orange Pudding

Mandarin Orange Pudding

(8-12 servings)

Ingredients:

2 - reg. size pkg. Vanilla Tapioca Pudding

1 - 3 oz. pkg. Orange Jell-O

3 - cups Water (use juice from oranges first, then add water to make 3 cups)

2 - 11 oz. cans Mandarin Oranges, drained

1 - 8 oz. tub Cool Whip, thawed

Directions:

Combine water/juice mixture with the tapioca pudding and jell-o in a medium sized sauce pan over medium heat.  Bring the mixture to a boil and continue for one minute stirring often.  Remove pan from the heat and let sit to cool.  Cool mixture for about 45 minutes at room temperature.  Next, add the oranges to the pan and stir in.  Now fold in the cool whip until all the white is gone.  Pour the completed mixture into an appropriate serving dish, cover and refrigerate overnight.

Note:               This recipe can be made two days ahead of the dinner.  It
goes well with this type of meal.

Ideas for Future Efforts

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Green Bean Casserole

Green Bean Casserole

(8-12 servings)

Ingredients:

4 cans Cut Green Beans, drained

2 cans Cream of Mushroom Soup

1 cup Milk

¼ tsp. Black Pepper

2 2/3 cups French Fried Onions

Directions:

In a large bowl, combine all the ingredients (only half of the fried onions).  Pour the mixture into a 9x13 baking dish and place uncovered in a pre-heated 350 degree oven for 30 minutes or until the casserole is hot and bubbly.  Then top the dish with remaining fried onions and bake an additional 5 minutes.

Note:               If turkey is still in the oven at a lower temp, it is alright to start

                          the casserole then.  Just turn up the temperature to 350

                          degrees when the turkey is removed.  The casserole will

                          finish while the turkey is resting before you carve it.

Ideas for Future Efforts

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Mashed Potatoes

Mashed Potatoes

(8-12 servings)

Ingredients:

3 lb. Red or Yukon Gold Potatoes

8 Tbsp. Butter

1 Cup Milk

2 Tsp. Salt

1 Tsp. Black Pepper

Directions:

Wash and remove any bad spots from the potatoes.  It is your choice to peel or not peel the potatoes.  Cut each potato into 4 to 8 pieces depending on the size of each.  Place in a large pot and cover with cold water to at least an inch above the potatoes and heat over medium-high heat to a boil.  Cook at a boil for about 20 to 30 minutes or until the potatoes are tender when you stick them with a fork.  Drain off the water and leave in the pot.  Heat the butter and milk together in the microwave until butter has melted and milk is warm.  This keeps the potatoes from cooling down as you mash them.  Use the microwave in 15 to 20 second blocks on the butter and milk.  Once this is done, add to the potatoes and mashed to your desired consistency with a hand mixer, blending stick or manual potato masher.  Remember to add the salt and pepper as you mashed the potatoes.  When done taste the potatoes and adjust the seasoning if needed and serve.

Ideas for Future Efforts

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Turkey Stuffing

Turkey Stuffing

(8-12 servings)

Ingredients:

1 cup Butter

1 ½ cup Celery, diced

1 cup Yellow Onion, diced

½ cup Dry Parsley

1 tsp. Ground Sage

1 tsp. Poultry Seasoning

1 tsp. Salt

½ tsp. Black Pepper

14 cups Cubed Bread (see note)

2 cups Stock, Broth or Water

Directions:

In a sauté pan over medium-high heat, add butter, celery, onion, parsley, sage, salt and pepper.  Cook mixture until onions are soft.  In a large bowl, combine bread with butter mixture and then liquid.  Mix until well combined.  You may have to add more liquid to get consistency you desire.  Taste and adjust seasoning if needed.  Let mixture cool to room temperature before putting into the turkey's 2 cavities.  Don’t pack too tight.  Mixture can be made day before and refrigerated.  If you do this, remove an hour before filling the turkey.

Note:               Use the bread of your choice but cube it up the day before
                        you will be making the stuffing.  Spread it out in a cookie
                        pan or two and let it set out to dry.  It helps make the
                        stuffing better.

Note:               If putting in turkey, make sure stuffing reaches an internal
temperature of 170 degrees before serving.  If you don’t

                        put in the turkey, place the stuffing in a buttered casserole

                        dish and bake in a pre-heated 350 degree oven for 45 to

                        60 minutes.

Note:               You can jazz up the stuffing by cooking the giblets in 4 cups

                        of water until done.  Dice up giblets and add to stuffing

                        and use the water they were cooked in for the liquid to

                        add to the stuffing.

Note:               You can also add other ingredients like cooked sausage of

                        your choice, fresh cranberries, mushrooms or nuts to name

                        a few.  Take the basic stuffing and make it your signature

                        dish for the holiday season.

Ideas for Future Efforts

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How to cook a turkey for Thanksgiving with or without stuffing.

We are going to look at cooking a turkey, both stuffed and unstuffed, for an inexperienced cook.  If this is your first "Thanksgiving" meal or even second or third, I'm going to try to help make it a little less daunting of a task.  In the blogs for today, Thursday and Friday I will give you a menu, recipes and help walk you through it.

I'm going to make some assumptions.  You are having 8 or fewer guests over for the special dinner and you are doing it all by yourself.  Remember that you could have guests contribute to the dinner by bringing a specific dish that you want for the menu.  If not, let's start with the turkey.  I'm not putting the turkey in a recipe format like I normally do.  The other recipes will be in the usual format that I use.

You will want to buy a 12 lb. frozen turkey.  This will give you plenty of turkey for the meal plus leftovers for future meals.  I would buy the turkey on Saturday or Sunday before Thanksgiving because it will need to thaw.  It will take 3 to 5 days for the turkey to thaw in your refrigerator.  You don't want to thaw it in cold water so get it thawing early.  It's all about planning.

To thaw the turkey, leave it in it's wrapper and place in a pan (9x13 pan should work) to catch any juices as it thaws.  Place the pan on the bottom shelf in your refrigerator and leave it until Thanksgiving Day.

Now as part of our planning, when will we serve dinner?  We need to know this so we can figure out the time we need to start prepping our food.  I will use 1:00 PM as our dinner time and use that throughout all the recipes.

On Thanksgiving morning, we will start working with the turkey at 8:00 AM (5 hours before we want to eat).  We want to remove the turkey from the refrigerator and move it to the sink area.  First clean your sink with soap, water and rinse well, then place the turkey in the sink and remove the plastic cover on the turkey.  Be careful because usually, on the wrapper, there are instructions for cleaning, cooking temp and cooking times.  They may come in handy for reference.

Once the wrapper is off, remove the neck and anything else in the main body cavity of the turkey.  To do this simply place the turkey in front of you with the legs towards you.  Grab one leg and push down on it to release it from the clamp.  Repeat with the other leg.  Do not remove the clamp because when you are ready to put the turkey in the oven, both legs need to be back in clamp.  Next, remove the giblets (usually in paper bag) that are found in the neck cavity of the turkey under all that loose skin.  It you don't have both items (neck & giblets) keep looking.  I know several people that have left the giblets in the turkey while cooking only to find them as they carve the turkey.  It won't kill you but it will embarrass you in front of others.  If giblets are left in, discard them if they have not reached an internal temp of 175 degrees.  If they have then enjoy the giblets if you like them.

Once everything has been removed, rinse the turkey under cold water inside and out.  Drain the turkey as best you can and then pat it dry with paper towels.  Set the turkey on its back, and one wing at a time, tuck them in.  To do this consider the wing has 3 sections with the out section called 1.  Take the wing and stretch  it out, bring section 1 over to section 3 and hook it under section 3.  This should tighten up the wing to the body of the turkey.  Repeat with the other wing.  Now place the turkey on a rack in a roasting pan with the breast side up.

Remote Oven Thermometer

If you are going to bake the turkey unstuffed, pour a little olive oil in your hands and rub it all over the outside of the turkey.  After washing your hands, sprinkle salt and pepper all over the inside and outside of the turkey and place back on the rack.  Bake in a pre-heated 325 degree oven uncovered until the outside is nicely browned.  Then place foil loosely over the turkey to keep it from getting too dark.  A 12 lb. turkey should take about 3 to 3 1/2 hours.  You should use an oven thermometer into the thickest part of the breast (not touching bone) for a reading of 165 degrees.  I use my remote oven thermometer with a probe and set the alarm for 165 degrees.  Remember you can get one at my favorite shopping places Kohl's, Food Network and QVC.  Remove the turkey from the oven and let it rest for 20 to 30 minutes with the foil still tented on it.  The internal temperature will rise as it rests to 170 to 175 degrees.

Now if you want to stuff your turkey, follow everything already mentioned and add the following.

You want to make your stuffing (recipe tomorrow) early so that it has time to cool down before it goes in the turkey.  We don't want anyone getting sick.  You could make it the day before and pull it from the refrigerator up to an hour before stuffing the bird.

The rule of thumb on the amount of stuffing is around 3/4 cup of stuffing to each lb. of the turkey.  So our 12 lb. turkey should get about 9 cups of stuffing.  Remember that there are 2 locations to stuff.  Fill the body cavity first and re-do the legs.  Then fill the neck cavity with all that loose skin.  I would use tooth-pics or small skewer to keep the skin in place.  You don't want to pack it in there too tight because it will take longer to reach the internal temperature it needs to be safe.  The internal temperature of the stuffing should be 170 to 175 degrees.  The turkey will take longer to cook because of being stuffed.  A stuffed 12 lb. turkey will add 30 to 60 minutes to the total.  So you will be looking at 3 1/2 to 4 hours total.  I would also temp the stuffing in the body cavity to 170 degrees before removing it from the oven.  Put the probe into the middle of the stuffing.  It is just a little added safety.

If you are using a smaller or larger turkey, adjust accordingly.  Most turkeys that you can buy have detailed cooking information right on the wrapper.  Just follow them if in doubt.  Another option to the whole turkey is to use a bone-in turkey breast.  It is a little easier to handle, gives you the same great flavor and the bones can be used for carcass soup the same as a whole turkey.

The recipes to follow on Thursday and Friday include: Stuffing or dressing, mashed potatoes, green bean casserole, orange pudding and pumpkin pie.  So have a great Thanksgiving!