Not just your average turkey

While you prep for you Thanksgiving this week remember just cause you are having turkey doesn't mean that it has to be your average turkey.  Have fun with it.  Change it up.  

That's what I did, just a little early since I wouldn't be making Thanksgiving dinner this year.  I made a peach mesquite turkey. You can make your turkey any way you want, any toppings, rubs or oils.  Just keep these keys, to make sure that however you make your turkey that it is a moist and delicious turkey:

1.  Do not stuff your turkey with any bread products, especially not stuffing.  I know it makes the stuffing all the better, but it makes your turkey dry.  Almost same taste to the stuffing pull some of the turkey dripping from the bottom of the pan.  Get the taste without the dry turkey.

2. Stuffing the turkey can be great.  I stuffed mine with peaches but other fruits and vegetables can add great flavor to the meat.

3.  Rubs can be great to keep moister in, otherwise thoroughly apply oil to the outside of your turkey.

4. Keep your turkey covered pretty tightly (Aluminum foil tight is fine enough).  Only uncover for the last 20 minutes or so.

5.  And almost most importantly:  For your best skin and moistest of turkeys insert butter tabs under the skin (I'll give instructions on what I mean exactly below).  It makes the skin crisp up a bit and look beautiful and infuses the mean with a little extra love and not too many extra calories.

Step 1: Clean your turkey.  Pull off the cover and pull out the giblets and neck.  Rinse with cold water thoroughly.  

Step 2:  Depending on the size of your turkey (mine was 13lbs) make a handful of 1.5-2" slices (I did four one for each quarter of the turkey).

Step 3:  Insert tabs of butter into the slices you made, make sure to put them under the skin fully.  (amount of butter can range but I used right around a TBSP for each slice.)

Step four: If you are going to stuff your turkey, here is where you stuff it (I got peaches for really cheap in the summer and froze a bunch and used those to stuff my turkey)

Step 5: Topping/Rub/Oil.  I used a bit of Olive oil and rubbed the skin of the turkey moist so that the rub would stick.  Then I used the spices in my cabinet to make a rub (in this particular case I was given a mesquite steak seasoning that I thought sounded pretty good.)

This is simply to give perspective on how "Stuffed" or not "Stuffed" my turkey was.  You don't need it jammed packed full to do the job.

Then bake it as per suggested on the package for weight.  I have a roasting option on my stove so I used that in my process but regular old baking works wonders too!  If your package doesn't say I would suggest 325 degrees and look online for a estimate to be sure but for my 13lbs turkey I roasted it somewhere around 4 hours.  When in doubt a meat thermometer is a life saver (you can get one pretty cheap, under 15 bucks, that will do the trick... just make sure the part that goes in the turkey doesn't get bent... doesn't work too well after that, go wonder).  

Go out and do wonders with your turkey.  You change up with shock and surprise your family in a good way!

By Rachel Abi

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Places foods

Do you have foods that make you think of locations?  Well if you don't you should, because clearly Mahi Mahi is supposed to make you think of Maui.  I mean really it is one letter off!  It is asking for it.  

By Rachel Abi

I was at the Teet yestureday and picked up some Mahi cause it was on sale $6.99 lbs wild caught and it is delicious.  I wasn't sure what I wanted to do with it.  I haven't really cooked Mahi before.  So I pulled out my handy dandy internet (yes, it is my internet... Al Gore gave it to me) and pulled up some recipies for Mahi.  I looked at about 4 and then decided, as always, to wing it.

I took the suggestion to put some type of lubricant down in the buttom: less burning.  I chose olive oil.  Then I went with a asian feel.  I topped the fish with Terrioki sauce, balsamic vinegar (only a little though because the crazy person that my husband is doesn't like it... silly, just silly), ground ginger, salt, pepper and a little butter tab on top.

All the while I had a bit of sweet potatoe on the stove top.  Our dear friend Joey brings up stuff from his family "garden" (means farm to any of you who are like me and didn't grow up with acres of plants growing out back) and shares them with us.  I used simply salt, pepper and bit of butter and that's it.  Since the fish was busy with flavors I wanted something more simple for a side.

I started it  at 450 degrees, not because it was best for it but I was finishing up some bread in the oven but didn't want to wait to put the fish in.  So it was in at 450 for about 6 minutes and then another 20 or so at 350 degrees.  You may want to cook it a bit longer cause we like to stay away from the well done side.  Chris likes it raw if it is sashimi grade ( don't get me wrong I like sushi but when I think fish I think cooked),  I'm pretty sure he is part whale.

With dinner we of course broke out the amazing and fantastic oil and herbs dipping stuff... SOoooo deilcious. 

Chicken Parm on a whim

So my husband and I were out after a long day and we wanted to eat quick... so we made Chicken parm?

Yes, that is actually true.  How we made it was pretty quick.  I got some fresh chicken (it was buy1 get 1, actually the reason we chose to eat Chicken Parm), pounded it out flat (I put it inside wax paper so that it doesn't splash)...

Ready for the El Cheapo version right here: crushed Ritz crackers

 Dip the chicken in milk and then into the ritz crackers 

 Then on to the frying, I used a bit of butter and olive oil

Then topped it with premade tomato sauce... wonderful and hit the spot in less then 15 min.  My favorite part of this meal: I could just leave it be frying and come back every 7 min or so to flip it!

By Rachel Abi

Carcus smarcus

Do you remember the roasted chicken that we made... do you remember the soup I said I was going to make with the carcus?  Well if you don't you can still appreciate the most amazing soup ever.  

Oh, I am really humble by the way... and not sarcastic ;P

Ok so step one: put carcus in big pot of water, or crockpot (I prefer crockpot because I want to be able to leave the house and I am more comfortable leaving a crockpot running instead of the stove), let it soak and cook on a low temp for a few hours (I did 3 hours).

Step two:  get all the skin, bones, cartalige and all that out of the broth.  I put it in a bowl and scavenge for left over meat to use in the soup.

Step three: add whatever you want into the soup.  I used whatever I had which included: canned peas and green beans, butter beans, rotini noodles, chicken, a potato, corn, a handful of chopped bell pepper, a habenero pepper, a red chilli, fresh sage, parsley and basil, salt, pepper and peprika.  I prefer my chicken soup to be a little spicy... to each their own.  But basically just throw anything in it really.

Step four: leave it alone for an hour or more

Step five: eat it

It is so low maintenence it isn't even funny.  I mean really all you have to do is leave it be.  You can clean the house or, if you were me, mow the yard and you are fine if not better!  It is for this reason: multitasking that I love this soup!   I served it with some fresh whole wheat freshly ground wheat, which you can see how I make it here.