This
country's biggest cooking & eating day is coming. It might NOT be
the year to go “home” to biological family for this
holiday. Perhaps the thought of going to a friends “Experimental”
dinner of Turkey Sushi or Sriracha Sweet Potatoes has your stomach
feeling weary. What we have here is an easy to fix meal with
traditional tastes. However you will find it a bit lighter on both
your emotions and your gut! Plan on 2½ hours to fix.
We
can still have turkey, dressing, cranberries & sweet potatoes,
even the better taste out of Aunt Hoochie's Heavy Green Bean
casserole without the gray gloop!
Organize,
pull it together, and let an old slave show you how You can do this
yourself.
MENU
Roasted
Turkey
Gravy
Dressing
Sweet
Potatoes
Roasted
Green Beans & Mushrooms
Ingredients:
A
boneless 3 lbs turkey
(These
are in the frozen section with other turkeys. They contain both
white & dark meat but no bones, so the approx $9.00 cost is
really not so bad. They also include a nice gravy packet for easy to
fix fool proof gravy. Just be sure to thaw) NOTE the sodium is HIGH!
Do not salt.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Dressing
– check the previous recipe for slider stuffing.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Sweet
Potatoes
2-3
sweet potatoes
1
small can tropical fruit salad
4
tbs light brown sugar
1
tsp cinnamon
¼
cup Triple sec orange liqueur
1
can WHOLE BERRY cranberry sauce. (look for the upside down can)
Green
Beans
12
oz fresh green beans
8
oz fresh mushrooms (or a small can)
1
large yellow onion
2
tbs olive oil
1
tube of bread that you bake yourself,. Either croissants, dinner
rolls, Italian bread, whatever you like, they all cook about the same
time & temps.350 for ½ hour.
Directions:
Before
pre heating oven to 350 check to make sure your pans will fit the way
you want them.
Read
the covering of the turkey! It gives directions on thawing and how to
open the package.
Fixing
the dressing the night before and keeping tightly covered (plastic
wrap) in refrigerator will same time and frustrations. You do have
plenty of time to fix it if you wait until the turkey is just put in
oven.
You
can also set up the sweet potatoes, refrigerated, wrapped in plastic
the night before – just don't cook either of these in the wrap!
TURKEY:
The
meat is held together with a cotton netting. Careful with that. It
stays on while cooking but remember to cut it off before serving!
This is not a self flossing bird. The gravy packet is kept
until needed. Since this is a flat 3 lbs there is no guessing
or trying to estimate times in the oven. However you must still use a
thermometer to check before serving.(165) Nobody is thankful
for raw turkey food poisoning. It will probably say roast for 2
hours at 350 degrees, but check at the 1.5 hour mark.
Read the package! Place in foil lined baking pan on a rack if
possible, if no rack will fit that small of a pan, cut large rings of
onions and place turkey on that. On the spur of the moment, slave
decided to cut a strip of bacon in half and drape over the bird:
skin side up by the way.
That
first hour and a half gives you time to set up the vegetables which
go in for the last half hour. Fix them up and cover with plastic wrap
until time to cook. It is SO much easier.
Line
a baking tray with foil & spray. Rinse mushrooms and green beans.
While they dry, chop up the onion.
Mix
the beans, onions and mushrooms on the tray and drizzle with olive
oil, set aside.
Wash
and peel the sweet potatoes, Sit them in a bowl covered with a damp
paper towel as you work because they can develop spots.
Spray a
small microwave safe casserole. Carefully slice the potatoes with a
mandolin type slicer for less than a ¼ inch slices. USE THE HANDLE
while slicing. Stack the slices into the casserole on their sides.
pour in the triple sec all over. Drain the fruit salad and fit the
pieces around the slices. Spoon about ¼ cup of the whole cranberry
sauce around.
Yes
the cans of cranberry sauce can be confused with the jellied kind. So
they make it easier on you by labeling the whole cranberry
stuff with the cans upside down! Look for the bottom on top and you
get the right one.
Sprinkle
with brown sugar. Cover and sit in refrigerator. Spoon the rest of
the sauce into a small serving bowl to have along side the meal.
While it is just fine right out of the can, you may wish to doctor it
up with a bit of cinnamon.
Line
another tray with foil. Open the tube of bread and arrange for oven.
However do NOT make my mistake of using a foil tray on the bottom
shelf – bread will burn. To be safe: put metal pans on bottom
rack and foil trays on top rack.
Now
with everything ready it is just a matter of when to slide it in
the oven.
With
half an hour to go: Since the turkey is small there should be room on
lower rack to slide the dressing pan in along side. These will not
burn like the foil trays will. On the upper shelf goes the green
beans and bread.. Watch the times.
The
turkey must rest for 10 minutes before serving and slicing. That
will give time to make the ez gravy. Dump in pan and stir until it
boils! The last to get cooked are the sweet potatoes which only take
about 6 - 8 minutes on high. Don't over fill dish and watch
for spillovers.
Remember
the temperatures!
Not just of the turkey (165).
While
the food gets hot – you take time to chill out!
Don't
forget to sing while cooking! As you cook, think about things you are
grateful for. FOCUS on happiness and the food will taste better.
For
music: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DNKOI9Axots
So
happy to be serving as a slave to my Master Indy
socialslave
To
satisfy and restore.
To
nourish, support and maintain.
To
gratify, spoil, comfort and please,
to
nurture, assist, and sustain
…..I
cook!
Please
buy slave's cookbook:
The
Little Black Book of Indiscreet Recipes
by
Dan White
http://www.amazon.com
/dp/B00F315Y4I
/ref=cm_sw_r_tw_dp_vAT4sb0934RTM
via
@amazon
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