11/19/2015
I am posting some great holiday recipes for everyone to enjoy this coming season.
ROAST TURKEY W/ PINE NUT CURRANT STUFFING (serves 10-15)
1 range-free turkey (10-20 pounds)
Giblets (chopped)
6 slices whole wheat bread
1 cup organic brown rice or quinoa
4 Tb melted organic unsalted butter
½ cup chopped onion
1 cup chopped celery
½ cup chopped parsley
2 Tb pine nuts
2 cups water
1 tsp Celtic sea salt
½ cup currants
½ tsp rosemary
½ tsp sage
½ tsp thyme
Pepper to taste
METHOD: Prepare turkey, thaw if frozen, remove giblets and set aside, rinse well, pat dry. Rinse giblets well, and combine with enough water to cover in stainless steel saucepan, 2 sprigs parsley, and ½ tsp Celtic sea salt. Bring to boil, reduce heat and cook on low heat for at least one hour while preparing the stuffing. Combine the 1 cup of rice or quinoa with 2 cups water, 1 tsp Celtic sea salt, and ½ tsp turmeric, bring to boil, reduce heat to low, and cook covered for appropriate cooking time (40 minutes for rice, and 20 minutes for quinoa). Set aside. Crumb bread, chop onions and celery. Combine bread crumbs with onion, celery, currants, pine nuts, rosemary, sage, thyme, and parsley, toss well with melted butter. Combine the cooked rice or quinoa with bread crumb mix. Stuff turkey and truss with pins and food-grade string to close both openings. Combine another ½ tsp each of rosemary, sage, thyme, and salt with 4 Tb soft butter, and spread herbed butter over turkey. Place turkey on rack in stainless steel roasting pan, cover loosely with foil tent (leave air space between turkey and foil). Uncover the last 45 minutes of roasting time and baste continually to ensure moist turkey. Roast at 325 degrees until meat thermometer inserted into thigh meat [not touching bone] registers well done (~180 degrees) or about 4-5 hours for 10-12 pounds, 5-6 hours for 12-16, and 6-7 hours for 16-20 pound turkey. Place cooked turkey on cutting board, allow to rest for 15-20 minutes. Meanwhile, prepare gravy from pan drippings. Mix ½ cup stoneground whole wheat flour with about 1-2 cups water, whisk well to remove lumps. Add to pan drippings, whisk and add water until desired consistency. Remove stuffing from turkey, carve and serve hot with dressing on the side, gravy, and oven-baked vegetables.
ROAST CHICKEN or TURKEY WITH [gluten-free] PINE NUT CURRANT STUFFING (serves 4-6)
1 cup organic brown jasmine rice
4 Tb unsalted organic butter
½ cup chopped onions
Giblets (chopped)
2 Tb pine nuts
2 cups water
1 tsp Celtic sea salt
½ cup currants
Pepper to taste (optional)
1 organic roasting chicken (3-4 lb)
3 Tb plain nonfat yogurt
METHOD: Prepare chicken, remove giblets, rinse, and chop finely. Rinse chicken well and pat dry. Melt butter, sauté onions in half the butter until soft, add giblets and pine nuts, stirring until lightly browned. Stir in rice and mix well. Add water, currants, only ½ tsp of salt, stir again, bring to boil, reduce heat and cook covered for 40 minutes. Turn off element, leave covered on element for 10 minutes. Remove from element and stir in remaining melted unsalted organic butter. Set aside. Stuff chicken with about 1½ cups of the stuffing mix, set remainder aside. Truss the chicken and close openings using truss pins and food-grade string. Add the other ½ tsp salt and pepper to yogurt, mix well. Spread half the yogurt mixture onto the chicken, place chicken on rack in stainless steel roasting pan, roast 15 minutes at 400 degrees, then reduce to 350 degrees, baste with remaining yogurt mixture and finish cooking until meat thermometer registers well done (180 degrees F), or about two hours. If chicken begins to brown toward the end of cooking time, loosely cover with foil. Serve hot with remaining stuffing mixture. Steamed broccoli, parsnips, carrots and/or oven-baked red potatoes, yams are a great side dish for this recipe.
OVEN-BAKED MIXED VEGETABLES (serves 8-10)
6-8 red steamer potatoes
2 large yams
5-6 parsnips
4-5 carrots
8-10 Brussels sprouts, fresh cut
½ cup chopped parsley
Celtic sea salt and pepper
METHOD: Scrub all vegetables, cut all veggies into ½ inch pieces. Chop parsley. Place veggie pieces in bottom of roasting pan under the rack containing chicken or turkey, spread out, sprinkle with parsley and salt and pepper to taste. While chicken or turkey is cooking, baste veggies with pan drippings. If not enough drippings, add enough boiling water to just keep moist. When poultry is cooked, remove roasted veggies and set aside in covered casserole dish to keep warm. Serve hot with poultry.
PUMPKIN PIE WITH STEVIA (makes 1 [9 in] pie)
FILLING:
2 large eggs
1 tsp NOW Better Stevia Original liquid stevia
1[15 oz] can cooked pumpkin
¼ cup plain non-fat hormone-free yogurt
½ tsp Celtic sea salt
1 tsp cinnamon
½ tsp ginger
¼ tsp cloves
1 cup unsweetened original almond milk
PASTRY:
1¼ cups stoneground organic whole wheat pastry flour or organic unbleached flour*
½ tsp Celtic sea salt
6 Tb unsalted organic butter (soft but cool)
3-4 Tb ice cold water
METHOD: Sift flour and salt together. Blend butter into flour mix well, until tiny pea-like crumbs. Add 1 Tb ice cold water at a time to the flour mixture, toss lightly with fork, push aside, then add another 1 Tb ice cold water, toss lightly with fork, and continue moving around the bowl until dough holds together. Gently turn out onto floured surface, push together gently with palms and press out with fingertips. Use floured rolling pin to create a 10-12 inch circle of pastry dough. Place in 9 inch pie plate, and crimp edges up to hold filling. Set aside. Whip eggs and stevia together until frothy, add pumpkin and yogurt, mix well. Add salt, cinnamon, ginger, and cloves, blend well. Slowly add almond milk while mixing until well-blended. Pour filling into pastry shell, and bake in preheated 425 degree oven for 15 minutes. Reduce heat to 350 degrees, and bake for 40-50 minutes until knife inserted in center comes out clean. Cool for two hours and serve immediately with whipped organic cream without carrageenan, or whipped Greek-style organic plain yogurt with vanilla, stevia, and enough water for desired consistency or refrigerate until ready to serve.
*may substitute GF flour for gluten-free. Here is the GF flour recipe: two parts white rice flour, two thirds part potato starch flour, and one-third part tapioca flour, OR 2 cups white rice flour, 2/3 cup potato starch flour, 1/3 cup tapioca flour. Store this in a BPA-free freezer container and use 1 cup GF flour for each cup of wheat flour in recipes.
CRANBERRY WALNUT MUFFINS* (makes 12-14)
1 cup fresh organic cranberries
1 Tb unbleached organic flour
10 drops liquid stevia (NOW original)
1 ¾ cups unbleached organic flour
2 ¾ tsp aluminum-free baking powder
½ tsp baking soda
½ tsp iodized sea salt
1 tsp nutmeg
2 tsp grated orange rind
1 large cage-free organic egg
1 cup unsweetened almond milk
1 tsp liquid stevia (NOW original)
1/3 cup light EV olive oil
½ cup chopped walnuts
METHOD: Wash berries, pat dry. Drop the liquid stevia onto the berries, sprinkle with 1 Tb flour and toss well, set aside. Combine dry ingredients and orange zest, blend well with pastry cutter. In separate bowl, beat egg until frothy, add milk, oil, stevia, and mix very well. Make well in dry ingredients, add liquid all at once, stir with fork just until moistened. GENTLY fold in floured cranberries and walnuts. Pour into greased muffin pan or use paper liners, and bake at 400 degrees for 18-20 minutes. Cool 10 minutes and serve lightly buttered.
*these are pictured in my cover photo, and taste awesome for Christmas morning breakfast while opening presents under the tree.
