Tuesday, February 22, 2011

My New Favorite Turkey Recipe

I know it's February, but I love big turkey dinners with all the trimmings. We always buy 2-3 extras when they go on sale for Thanksgiving so I can have my fix. This time I tried a Cuban inspired seasoning mix and WOW is all I can say. This has orange and lemon and lots of garlic. I strayed from the original recipe as per usual so I will only give mine.

1 cup of orange juice
1 cup of lemon juice
4 tablespoons  chopped garlic
1 tablespoon dried oregano
1 tablespoon ground cumin
1 tablespoon black pepper

 whisk all the ingredients together and there is your marinade. place turkey in it overnight breast side down in the fridge. I know many of you don't like the turkey bags, but I have to use them for the simple fact that the turkeys they put on sale around Thanksgiving are rather dry otherwise and I don't have the energy to baste it as often as I should, so you decide bag or baste. I use the bag as directed for time and also used the flour in the bag as directed but I didn't cook it breast side up as stated just to keep that breast soaking in the yummy marinade. My last step before sealing the bag was to put the lemon and orange slices in the turkey cavity.

I didn't have my camera ready, but everyone knows what a turkey looks like cooked =)

Wednesday, February 2, 2011

Butter for Imbolc

Today's is Imbolc, the midway point between winter solstice and spring equinox. It goes by many names, but the sentiment is almost always the same: purity, growth and renewal. The end of the darkness of winter and the approaching renewal of life to the Earth. A great day to get started on the spring cleaning, make a donation box, spark some new love or invigorate an old one.

I decided to make butter this year
1. because it is a bit of a messy project and I will have to give my counters a good cleaning anyway.
2. Dairy is a big part of the Sabbat.
3. Who doesn't love butter!

You will need:
Heavy Cream or Manufacturers Cream
Stand Mixer with Whisk and Paddle attachments and the splatter guard
Ice Water

Make sure to clean off your counter of anything you don't want splattered in buttermilk.
Pour 2 cups heavy cream into mixer with whisk attachment and cover in place and turn mixer to high.  you will see it start to make whipped cream then it will start to look chunky. Stop mixer and scrape sides.

turn back on and mix on high again until the buttermilk starts to splatter the guard and the butter sticks to the whisk
Pour off the buttermilk and save it for biscuits, pancakes, or Texas sheet cake (That's my plan for it)
Switch to the paddle and add some of the ice water. make sure not to add ice though. Mix the butter and ice water to wash the residual buttermilk out. Dump the water and add more.
After washing the butter 3-4  times you will see the water is much less cloudy and all you have left is yummy butter.

pack this in an airtight container in the fridge if you have any left from all the taste testing you will be doing.
I made two batches today. I hope it's enough!