Looking For Thanksgiving Day Recipes

I can’t say I’ve been very active with my search for new Thanksgiving recipes. :-p It’s been CRAZY busy here, and I guess I’m not terribly motivated (yet). I know, once Wednesday rolls around, I’ll suddenly get inspired, ha! If any of you have some stupendous, amazing recipe to share, please let me know!!

I did see a new turkey stuffing recipe on The Road Goes Ever On blog that looked sooo good that it made my mouth water. (I’m going to really have to get some appetite suppressants for Thursday, or I will look like a blimp by Saturday, I tell ya). It’s from the Food Network and looks soooo good. I copied it. I just may do it this year, if I can find Rosemary sprigs!

Turkey with Herbes de Provence and Citrus
Recipe courtesy Giada De Laurentis
Food Network

1 14-15 pound turkey, neck and giblets reserved
1 orange cut into wedges
1 lemon cut into wedges
1 onion cut into wedges
6 fresh rosemary sprigs
6 fresh sage sprigs
6 fresh oregano sprigs
7 Tablespoons unsalted butter
2 Tablespoons herbs de provence
1 Tablespoon olive oil
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1 1/2 teaspoons black pepper
6 cups canned chicken broth
1/3 cup all purpose flour

To make the turkey: Position the rack in the lowest third of the oven and preheat to 400* F

Rinse the turkey and pat it dry with paper towels. Place the turkey on a rack set inside a large roasting pan. Place the orange and lemon wedges, onion, and 2 sprigs of each fresh herb in the main turkey cavity. Tie the legs together to hold the shape of the turkey. Stir 2 tablespoons of butter, the herbes de Provence, oil, and 1 1/2 teaspoons of each the salt and pepper in a small saucepan over medium heat just until the butter melts. Rub the butter mixture all over the turkey and between the turkey breast meat and skin. Place the turkey neck and giblets in roasting pan. (Recipe can be prepared up to this point 1 day ahead. Cover and refrigerate. Let stand at room temperature 30 minutes before roasting.)

Cover the turkey breast with foil. Roast for 20 minutes. Pour 3 cups of broth into the pan and stir to scrape up any brown bits on the bottom of the pan. Add the remaining sprigs of fresh herbs to the pan. Roast the turkey for 40 minutes. Reduce the oven temperature to 350 degrees F. Remove the foil from the turkey; pour 1 more cup of broth into the pan. Continue roasting the turkey until a meat thermometer inserted into the thickest part of the thigh registers 165 degrees F to 175 degrees F or until the juices run clear when the thickest part of the thigh is pierced with a skewer, basting occasionally with pan juices, about 1 hour and 30 minutes longer. Transfer the turkey to a platter and tent with foil. Let stand 30 minutes while preparing the gravy.

To make the gravy: Strain the turkey pan juices from the roasting pan through a sieve and into a 4-cup glass measuring cup; discard the solids. Spoon off the fat from atop the pan juices. Add enough chicken broth, about 1 to 2 cups, to the pan juices to measure 4 cups total. Melt the remaining butter in a heavy large saucepan over medium-high heat. Add the flour and whisk for 1 minute. Gradually whisk in the broth. Simmer until the gravy thickens slightly, whisking often, about 10 minutes. Season with salt and pepper. Serve the turkey with the gravy.

I’m looking for simple and easy vegetable dishes, which are always difficult to find. I don’t want to plunk a dish of canned corn or beets down this year… it would be lovely to have something a little fancy for the veggies, but I am at a loss right now. Please let me know if you have any ideas.

A Great Chicken Strips Recipe

I’m horribly inept with chicken. I can bake it (which no one likes but me), I can roast it (all like that), or make Chicken Florentine. Other than that, I have NO IDEA what to do with the meat! It’s kind of how I feel about plasma tvs — what on earth do you DO with it?? (I have no TV reception). Thing is, I dislike casseroles and soups, it’s such a dry meat so it’s hard to do just right… so I’m always starving for chicken recipes.

Here’s one I spotted at a fellow blog— ooooo this looks so good, so easy, and so unique! I love the Rice Krispies idea!!

Oven Baked Chicken Strips
You will need:

2 boneless chicken breasts
½ cup oats
½ cup rice krispies
½ cup bread crumbs
½ inch piece of fresh ginger
1 cup flour
3 eggs (beaten)
1 tsp dried oregano
1 tsp paprika
olive oil

You can go to her blog for the cooking directions (I didn’t want to steal the *entire* recipe). If you like it, be sure to leave a comment at her blog. It looks so good, I hope to try it this week.

Basic Baked Chicken for a Wintry Day

We saw snow fly for the second day in a row. Flurries were pretty intense for about 5 minutes. It was as lovely, but the first couple of snows are always lovely. After that, it’s either “ho hum,” or “OH NO!”

Anyway, a chilly, damp day like this is a perfect day for baking chicken. Chicken permeates the damp air and gives us something to look forward to. Plus, the day just FEELS warmer with the smell of baking poultry in the air. When I don’t feel like cooking, but I want some winter’s day comfort food, here’s what I do: Line a heavy duty pan with aluminum foil (to help cut some of the greasy cleanup– remember, it’s a lazy day today). Place chicken pieces in the pan, skin side up. Yes, this is a fatty recipe! I did say it was comfort food. You won’t be needing any hgh supplement to grow here, not with this eating.

So place your chicken skin side up. I usually buy VERY cheap chicken on sale, and freeze it for days like these. I don’t thaw it out very much before cooking, either– I simply allo the chicken to cook all day long.

Slice one large onion and place the slices on top of the chicken. Grab some basil, oregano, parsley, and paprika, and sprinkle generously over everything.

Now, wrap up the pan with more aluminum foil. Place in an oven set at 400 degree F for about 2 hours. After that, remove the foil, turn down the heat to 350, and bake for another 2 hours. At the cooking halfway time when I remove the foil, I usually throw in a dozen potatoes for baking.

The house smells so good. Yummmmm. I usually serve this dish with some green veggies. And that’s it! It’s a marvelous meal, and the kids seem to love it.

Super Easy Chicken Florentine

This is one of my easiest recipes. The family likes it so much that I make it every week. It can be served with egg noodles, rice, or linguine. It is SO EASY to make!

Super Easy Chicken Florentine
serves 6-8

Chicken breasts, boned, skinned, and cubed
2 cans Alfredo sauce
1 28oz. can spinach -or- three handfuls of raw baby leaf spinach
Parmesan cheese
Paprika

optional: shredded mozzarella cheese
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