Sunday, November 22, 2009
WHATS COOKIN'
Today I am featuring my family traditional Thanksgiving Dinner recipe for our vegetable side dishes featuring fresh greens and string beans and a traditional Green Bean casserole for my daughter it her favorite.
Saturday, November 21, 2009
CANDIED YAMS
Ingredients:
5 pounds yams (or sweet potatoes), peeled and cut to large bite-sized pieces
3 teaspoon ground cinnamon
2 cups granulated sugar
2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 cup butter
1 teaspoon lemon juice
DO NOT ADD WATER
Directions
In a large pot over medium heat, place potatoes. Top with butter, cinnamon, vanilla,lemon juice and sugar, cover and simmer, for 35 to 45 minutes until tender. Gentle stir throughout cooking, until mixture is thick and syrupy. Mixture will thicken slightly as it cools. Remove from heat and serve warm.
Tip:
If sauce looks very liquid, removed the potatoes, as they are fully cooked, and simmered the remaining liquid with the cover removed until it caramelized and then poured it back over the potatoes.
DO NOT ADD WATER
5 pounds yams (or sweet potatoes), peeled and cut to large bite-sized pieces
3 teaspoon ground cinnamon
2 cups granulated sugar
2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 cup butter
1 teaspoon lemon juice
DO NOT ADD WATER
Directions
In a large pot over medium heat, place potatoes. Top with butter, cinnamon, vanilla,lemon juice and sugar, cover and simmer, for 35 to 45 minutes until tender. Gentle stir throughout cooking, until mixture is thick and syrupy. Mixture will thicken slightly as it cools. Remove from heat and serve warm.
Tip:
If sauce looks very liquid, removed the potatoes, as they are fully cooked, and simmered the remaining liquid with the cover removed until it caramelized and then poured it back over the potatoes.
DO NOT ADD WATER
Friday, November 20, 2009
Let's get COOKIN'
The side dish for your Thanksgiving Dinner. I hope you will try and enjoy some of my family favorite recipes.
This year the candied yams recipe is predicted to be the top side dish this holiday season, according to a Black Homeowner News poll. Yams are slowly becoming more common in US markets, the yam is a popular vegetable in Latin American and Caribbean markets, with over 150 varieties available worldwide. Yam are excellent source of vitamin A and a good source of potassium and vitamin C, B6, riboflavin, copper, pantothetic acid and folic acid. My first side for Thanksgiving Dinner will be my grandmothers famous candied yams
Sweet Potatoes or Yams is the question????????????
The true yam is a tropical vine (Dioscorea batatas) and is not even distantly related to the sweet potato.
Yams contain more natural sugar than sweet potatoes and have a higher moisture content and are generally sweeter than the sweet potato. The yam tuber has a brown or black skin which resembles the bark of a tree. The yams are darker-skinned and has a thicker, dark orange to reddish skin with a purple or red flesh, depending on the variety.
Sweet Potatoes are yellow or orange tubers are elongated with ends that taper to a point and are of two dominant types. The paler-skinned sweet potato has a thin, light yellow skin with pale yellow flesh which is not sweet and has a dry, crumbly texture similar to a white baking potato.
When buying yams or sweet potatoes, choose firm ones with no cracks or bruises. The flavor of raw potatoes might be altered if they're kept in a refrigerator. They should last for two weeks or more if stored in a cool, dark, well-ventilated place and handled with care. If the temperature is too warm -- above 60° F. -- they'll sprout sooner or become woody. Once cooked, sweet potatoes can be stored for up to 1 week in the refrigerator. Like potatoes.
This year the candied yams recipe is predicted to be the top side dish this holiday season, according to a Black Homeowner News poll. Yams are slowly becoming more common in US markets, the yam is a popular vegetable in Latin American and Caribbean markets, with over 150 varieties available worldwide. Yam are excellent source of vitamin A and a good source of potassium and vitamin C, B6, riboflavin, copper, pantothetic acid and folic acid. My first side for Thanksgiving Dinner will be my grandmothers famous candied yams
Sweet Potatoes or Yams is the question????????????
The true yam is a tropical vine (Dioscorea batatas) and is not even distantly related to the sweet potato.
Yams contain more natural sugar than sweet potatoes and have a higher moisture content and are generally sweeter than the sweet potato. The yam tuber has a brown or black skin which resembles the bark of a tree. The yams are darker-skinned and has a thicker, dark orange to reddish skin with a purple or red flesh, depending on the variety.
Sweet Potatoes are yellow or orange tubers are elongated with ends that taper to a point and are of two dominant types. The paler-skinned sweet potato has a thin, light yellow skin with pale yellow flesh which is not sweet and has a dry, crumbly texture similar to a white baking potato.
When buying yams or sweet potatoes, choose firm ones with no cracks or bruises. The flavor of raw potatoes might be altered if they're kept in a refrigerator. They should last for two weeks or more if stored in a cool, dark, well-ventilated place and handled with care. If the temperature is too warm -- above 60° F. -- they'll sprout sooner or become woody. Once cooked, sweet potatoes can be stored for up to 1 week in the refrigerator. Like potatoes.
Monday, November 16, 2009
ROAST TURKEY
Ingredients
1 (12 to 14 pound) turkey
Kosher salt
Freshly ground black pepper
1 medium onions
2 celery stalks
Several sprigs of fresh herbs, such as thyme, parsley, rosemary, or sage
1 bay leaves
Special equipment: large roasting pan, pastry brush or bulb baster, instant-read thermometer
Directions
Adjust an oven rack to the lowest position and remove the other racks. Preheat oven to 325 degrees F.
1.Remove the bird from brine and rinse inside and out with cold water. Discard the brine.
2. Pat turkey dry from all moisture. Place the bird on a v-shaped roasting rack salt and pepper
the cavity.
3. Slice the onions, and chop celery, Stuff all inside the turkey along with some of the herbs and 1 bay leaf. Pin the wings behind the turkey.
4.Turn the turkey breast side down, and season with salt and pepper. Tie the legs with butcher twine, and place in *roasting pan.
Take 1/2 of the softened butter and liberally massage turkey, being sure to cover the entire birds, breast and thighs.
5.Tent turkey with aluminum foil place turkey in preheated oven, after 2 hours, remove the foil from the turkey and use a pastry brush or bulb baster to baste turkey with the reserved butter and some of the pan drippings, cover loosely with the foil tent. Bake until the skin is a light golden color, **roast for 3 ½ to 4 hours. During the last 45 minutes of baking, remove the foil tent to brown the skin. Basting is not necessary, but will promote even browning.
6.Allow turkey to rest for at l5 minutes before carving (or removing stuffing if stuffed)
*Use a shallow roasting pan
** Bake 20 minutes for each pound
.
1 (12 to 14 pound) turkey
Kosher salt
Freshly ground black pepper
1 medium onions
2 celery stalks
Several sprigs of fresh herbs, such as thyme, parsley, rosemary, or sage
1 bay leaves
Special equipment: large roasting pan, pastry brush or bulb baster, instant-read thermometer
Directions
Adjust an oven rack to the lowest position and remove the other racks. Preheat oven to 325 degrees F.
1.Remove the bird from brine and rinse inside and out with cold water. Discard the brine.
2. Pat turkey dry from all moisture. Place the bird on a v-shaped roasting rack salt and pepper
the cavity.
3. Slice the onions, and chop celery, Stuff all inside the turkey along with some of the herbs and 1 bay leaf. Pin the wings behind the turkey.
4.Turn the turkey breast side down, and season with salt and pepper. Tie the legs with butcher twine, and place in *roasting pan.
Take 1/2 of the softened butter and liberally massage turkey, being sure to cover the entire birds, breast and thighs.
5.Tent turkey with aluminum foil place turkey in preheated oven, after 2 hours, remove the foil from the turkey and use a pastry brush or bulb baster to baste turkey with the reserved butter and some of the pan drippings, cover loosely with the foil tent. Bake until the skin is a light golden color, **roast for 3 ½ to 4 hours. During the last 45 minutes of baking, remove the foil tent to brown the skin. Basting is not necessary, but will promote even browning.
6.Allow turkey to rest for at l5 minutes before carving (or removing stuffing if stuffed)
*Use a shallow roasting pan
** Bake 20 minutes for each pound
.
ROASTING YOUR TURKEY
Do you know that a "frozen" turkey is fresher than a so called "fresh" turkey?
I always buy a frozen turkey because the so called fresh turkeys can sit in your store for days uncooked. The frozen turkey have been frozen immediately upon preparation.
Let's get Roasting!
Remove the bird from brine and rinse inside and out with cold water. Discard the brine.
Place the bird on a v-shaped roasting rack, breast-side down and pat dry with paper towels,use a shallow roasting pan (If you use a deep roasting pan, you wind up steaming the meat). To prevent the meat from drying out, loosely cover with a thick sheet of aluminum foil, butter on on the inside to prevent sticking. The last hour or so,remove the foil and turn the turkey to brown the breast.
Baste, baste, baste.
Don't rely on the little plastic thermometer in some turkeys to pop out. If you wait for it, the turkey will overcook. Instead stick an instant read thermometer several inches down through the skin between the thigh and the breast so the tip ends up about an inch above the joint. The turkey is ready when the thermometer reads 165 degrees F. If you are not prepared to use a meat thermometer to measure the internal temperature of the turkey and the stuffing in the bird, that is okay but the stuffing should be cooked outside the turkey," I alway cook my stuffing outside of the turkey".
Let the cooked turkey "rest" after it have been removed from the oven. While the turkey cooks, the juices are forced away from the heat to the middle of the turkey. Cover loosely with the aluminum foil and let rest for 20 to 30 minutes after it is removed from the oven. This allows the juices to redistribute throughout the turkey. A moist turkey is easier to carve.
If you need your oven to reheat or cook side dishes, it's better to serve the turkey at room temperature with hot gravy than to reheat it. Reheating dries out the meat. The interior of a large turkey will stay quite hot for at least an hour.
I always buy a frozen turkey because the so called fresh turkeys can sit in your store for days uncooked. The frozen turkey have been frozen immediately upon preparation.
Let's get Roasting!
Remove the bird from brine and rinse inside and out with cold water. Discard the brine.
Place the bird on a v-shaped roasting rack, breast-side down and pat dry with paper towels,use a shallow roasting pan (If you use a deep roasting pan, you wind up steaming the meat). To prevent the meat from drying out, loosely cover with a thick sheet of aluminum foil, butter on on the inside to prevent sticking. The last hour or so,remove the foil and turn the turkey to brown the breast.
Baste, baste, baste.
Don't rely on the little plastic thermometer in some turkeys to pop out. If you wait for it, the turkey will overcook. Instead stick an instant read thermometer several inches down through the skin between the thigh and the breast so the tip ends up about an inch above the joint. The turkey is ready when the thermometer reads 165 degrees F. If you are not prepared to use a meat thermometer to measure the internal temperature of the turkey and the stuffing in the bird, that is okay but the stuffing should be cooked outside the turkey," I alway cook my stuffing outside of the turkey".
Let the cooked turkey "rest" after it have been removed from the oven. While the turkey cooks, the juices are forced away from the heat to the middle of the turkey. Cover loosely with the aluminum foil and let rest for 20 to 30 minutes after it is removed from the oven. This allows the juices to redistribute throughout the turkey. A moist turkey is easier to carve.
If you need your oven to reheat or cook side dishes, it's better to serve the turkey at room temperature with hot gravy than to reheat it. Reheating dries out the meat. The interior of a large turkey will stay quite hot for at least an hour.
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