Happy Thanksgiving

Have a safe and healthy holiday.
  I hope your week is surrounded with friends, family and food!
  We are taking December off here at Dinner In A Pinch. Thank you all for your support. I love doing the classes for you, and love meeting all of you. Watch for some great New Year specials. I have lots of fun classes planned , but I would love to hear from you on ideas for classes. Drop me a comment and let me know what it is you want to cover in the new year.
Watch for the January class schedule coming at the middle of December
 Again Thank You and Happy Holidays from DIAP

The Last Cranberry Sauce Recipe You Will Ever Search

I promise this will be the last pre Thanksgiving entry. We first had this Cranberry sauce at The Smith House in Dahlonega GA. For me it was life changing! I was only used to the jiggle jello kind you open a can of and slide it out onto a plate,(I still have my mothers cut glass dish that somehow fits perfectly 1 can of the jiggly stuff) and I still put that out as an offering to the Thanksgiving gods.But this sauce, or maybe I should call it a relish, because it's not cooked, will change the way you think about cranberries forever! I make it throughout the year and serve it with roast pork or chicken. It's also not bad on vanilla ice cream or blender into a smoothie. Very good for you and very high in dark fruit antioxidants.

Cranberry Relish

1 15 oz bag fresh cranberries

2 cups frozen no sugar added raspberries

1 large granny smith apple

1 large navel orange

1 cup sugar                                                            

                                                  zest the orange and squeeze the juice from it,



                                         cut the apple into 1 inch chunks, I leave the peel on.
                               In batches, chop all coarsely in your food processor. (I did mine in two)

                                      Place all in a bowl and mix well to blend all the batches.

Cover and place in fridge until dinner I like at least 3 hrs to mellow the flavors, but next day is best so this is another make ahead.

Enjoy!

And have a happy and safe holiday to you all

with love from

Dinner In A Pinch

side bar on the "Brine Or Not To Brine" post

Just remember that if you are going to brine your turkey this year before you cook him soak in a large pan of water for 15 minuets. This helps to leach out some of the excess salt flavor that you don't want to end up in you drippings and eventually into your gravy. The salt does not effect the taste of the bird in fact it helps.
If you have not brined a bird before try it. Even if your not feeling adventurous this Thanksgiving try it with a chicken. You will be a seasoned convert by next Thanksgiving.



Acorn Squash

Here is another quick and healthy and easy and DO AHEAD recipe! I love this one because it's so easy and you can make these two or three days ahead and just warm them in the microwave before serving. Just double triple or what ever to feed as many people you are having . This recipe serves 2-4 if you cut them in half that's two if you quarter them it's four. The measurements are not exact just be sure each squash half gets a little of everything.

Baked Acorn Squash

butter

brown sugar

salt and pepper



                                                   cut in half and scoop out insides, discard



into the cavity of each half, or quarter (if you want to make 4 smaller servings)

put a1 Tb. of butter, 1 Tb. of brown sugar and sprinkle with salt and pepper. The squash pictured on the left I used sugar free maple syrup for my husband who is diabetic.

Bake at 400 degrees covered for 40 min. and then uncovered for 10 min. till a little brown on the edges.
At this time you can cool them cover with plastic wrap and then just microwave for 6-8 min till hot through.
Yummy! they are like candy I make them all year, there great with the Glazed Ham we made in October.

Bruswick Stew

This one is for my friend Tasha who's husband is out doing his "man thing"...hunting. Not to say it's just for men. I know allot of women that hunt, I'm just saying the men really get into it. For me it's all about getting the cutest camo jacket and gloves to match my boots! So Tasha here is a great recipe to help use up some of that 300 lbs. of Venison that is soon to grace your freezer. Enjoy

Brunswick Stew

1 lg sweet onion
2 cloves garlic
4 ribs of celery
3 lg carrots, peeled
3 lg potatoes, peeled
1/4 cup butter
1- 15oz can corn
2- 15oz cans petite diced tomatoes
1 can baby lima beans 
3-4 cups of the chicken cooking water (to follow)
1- 2-3 lb whole chicken (1 Tb. salt, 1 tsp thyme, 1/2 tsp black pepper, 2 bay leaves and the tops and peels from the celery and onions)
 1 1/2 lb venison, ground
1 Tb. dried Thyme
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. black pepper
2 Tb.Worcestershire sauce
1/2 tsp. cyanne pepper

In a large stock pot place the chicken, celery and onion peels, thyme,bay leaves, salt and pepper and enough water to just cover, bring to a boil and then turn down to simmer for 40 min covered. Drain and save 4 cups of cooking water. remove the chicken from the bones and chop coarsely in a food processor, set aside.

In the same food processor, chop in batches the onion, garlic, celery and potato and to the same stock pot you just boiled the chicken in with the butter salt, pepper and thyme, sweat until the veggies are clear about 6-8 min.

Now dump in the corn with the juice the tomatoes,baby lima beans and the cooking liquid you saved.Stir well and add in the cooked chicken and the raw ground Venison.

Stir well and bring to a boil, turn down and simmer covered for 45 min, and uncovered until thickened and the chicken and venison are tender about 30 more min. Season with up to a 1/2 tsp. cyanne pepper or serve with hot pepper sauce. 



Just Sides!

Here are a few quick and healthier DIAP sides. I took some of the old standbys and switched them up a bit.

Oven Roasted Root Vegetables

2 lg sweet potatoes
2 lg russet potatoes
1 lb bag of parsnips
1/4 C olive oil
1 tsp salt 1/2 tsp. black pepper

 peel them all

                                       place in water until all are peeled to prevent browning

cut in chunks all about the same size so they cook evenly,

toss in roasting pan with oil salt and pepper. Spread out evenly so not to crowd.

Roast in a hot 400 degree oven for 45-50 min. until you have some brown yummyness happening,

Serve with a drizzle of honey or real maple syrup.

Stuffing or Dressing?

Okay, first lets clear this up, Stuffing goes inside you bird and is usually a little dryer(to allow it to soak up juices) and very highly seasoned, and gets it yummy flavor from soaking up all those juices from inside the turkey, and helps to flavor the bird. Dressing is made in a baking dish, outside of your bird and is usually made with some kind of pork product and stock to give it moisture and flavor.
 Every year I go back and forth in my head, am I going to stuff my bird or make dressing? Lets face it if you stuff your bird it will take longer to cook so keep that in mind. So if you make dressing you will cut your cooking time down by about an hour, but you take up extra space in your oven. It is Thanksgiving, you don't get to have that yummy stuffing throughout the year so I truly think its worth the extra cooking time and effort, just get started a little earlier or plan dinner a little later. I remember my Mom and Dad getting up at 4 am to get the turkey washed, stuffed and in the oven on time for dinner at noon on Thanksgiving day. It seamed like that turkey cooked forever, and the dryness factor proved that.
 Food safety guideline have changer over the years but there are still some that apply.
 Never pre stuff your bird even for an hour stuffing is a hot bed for bacteria. Cook the thigh meat to 165 degrees at the thickest point being sure you don't touch the bone with your thermometer.But more about that later. Here are some recipes to get you thinking.


Papa's Sausage Dressing


1 bag of that pre seasoned bread stuffing mix not the cubes the crumbly one
1 lb Jimmy Deans sage breakfast sausage
1/2 stick butter
1 cup finely chopped celery
1 cup finely chopped onion
1 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. black pepper
3 Tb. spicy brown mustard
1 Tb. poultry seasoning
1 1/2 tsp. dried thyme
1/3 cup chopped fresh parsley
2 -3 cups chicken stock


Pour stuffing mix into a large bowl set aside
in a large frying pan break the sausage up and cook through, add in the celery and onion, cook until translucent.
Off the heat add in the poultry seasoning, thyme, mustard and parsley start adding in the chicken stock a little at a time until your dressing is wet but not soupy it should look like wet sand. Put into a baking dish, cover and bake at 350 for 45 min. uncover for the last 15 min. You can baste with additional chicken stock wile it is baking, about 1/2 cup half way through.


Mom's Bread Stuffing


25 slices of stale white bread
1 stick butter
2 cups diced celery
2 cups diced onion
2 tsp salt
1 tsp. black pepper
2 Tb. Poultry seasoning
2 cups chicken stock
1/2 cup half and half
1 egg


Break the bread in to 1 inch pieces, place in large bowl set aside
In a large saute pan melt butter, add celery, onion, salt and pepper, cook until translucent.
stir in poultry seasoning and pour over dices bread.
 In a med. bowl mix chicken stock, half and half and egg. Pour over bread and vegetables and mix lightly .Mix should be wet but not dripping kind of like a very stiff oatmeal.
Salt and pepper the inside of your bird and place stuffing into the cavity loosely it will expand a bit. You can also put some of the stuffing in the front neck area under the large flap of skin. Just tuck the skin under the bird when you put it in the roasting pan.
Roast your turkey according to the recommendation on the wrapper or

325 degrees

9-18 lb unstuffed 3-3 1/2 hrs   stuffed 3 3/4 - 4 1/2 hrs.
18-22 lb. unstuffed 3 1/4 4 hrs. stuffed 4 1/2 - 5 hrs.
loosely covered until last hour baste throughout entire cooking time.