Davey Dad’s Thanksgiving Dressing

About 10-12 cups dried bread cubes or stuffing mix (I use homemade bread, cubed and dried in the oven or 2 bags of 365 Organic traditional stuffing mix)

6 ribs of celery, chopped

1-2 cups chopped yellow onion

1 pound hot Italian sausage or sage sausage, cooked and drained

1 large or two small apples (tart is best), peeled and chopped

Fresh sage leaves (large handful), chopped or dried sage if you  don’t have fresh

Big bunch of fresh parsley (chopped)

2 large cloves garlic, minced

Large pinch red pepper flakes (more if you like spicy)

Salt and pepper (adjust once it’s finished)

Fresh thyme leaves (small handful), can substitute 1tsp dried

1 1/2 sticks butter - more if you need it for frying the veggies 

4-6 cups unsalted or low sodium or homemade chicken broth (more if needed)

Melt butter in a large stock pot. Add celery, onion, and apple. Cook over medium heat until soft. Add garlic and cook another minute or two. Add herbs, cooked sausage, spices and stir well. Add chicken broth and bring to a boil. Now add bread cubes or stuffing mix. Mix until combined. Add more broth to completely soak the bread (you may need more broth than recipe calls for). Stuffing should be moist and a bit mushy. Cover and let sit for 5-10 minutes off the heat. Uncover and adjust salt and pepper. If dry, add more broth. 

Heavily butter or spray a 9x13 inch baking dish. Pour stuffing evenly into the pan. Cover with foil and bake in 350 oven (or lower) for at least 30-45 minutes. Uncover and move to top rack of the oven. Cook in a hotter oven if you can until stuffing is crispy and brown. 

This makes enough for a large family gathering (10-15 servings). Makes great leftovers. Serve with gravy on top. 

Note: ingredient measurements are flexible. Use as much herbs and spice as you like. You can leave some out or add different herbs like rosemary and marjoram. You can add chopped pecans, walnuts, or roasted chestnuts to make it nuttier. You can use hamburger instead of sausage or leave out meat for a meatless dressing. Cut it in half for a smaller crowd. This is a staple for Thanksgiving and Dave always adds tons of celery so don’t hold back on that ingredient! 

Old fashioned Chicken and Fluffy Dumplings

My mom made dumplings on top of stews and were always so fluffy! It wasn't until I moved farther south that I ever had dumplings made like pasta. These dumplings are like drop biscuits and I use a recipe I found in my mom's Betty Crocker cookbook (not original to me). I also use a rotisserie chicken for this recipe so it is a quick meal. If you want to cook your own chicken or use leftover turkey or chicken from another meal, that works too. I usually love to use homemade bone broth, but, again, this meal is meant to be quick. I hope it brings back some childhood memories. I know, it did for me!

1 rotisserie chicken, meat removed and cut or shredded into bite-sized pieces*

6 Tbsp butter

1 medium to large onion, chopped (about 1 1/2 cups)

3 stalks celery, chopped (about 1 1/2 cups)

3 medium carrots, peeled and chopped into 1/4 inch pieces (about 1 1/2 cups)

1/4 cup flour

6 cups (48 oz) chicken broth

salt and pepper to taste

1 cup frozen peas

1/2 cup chopped parsley**

 

Dumplings

1 1/2 cups flour

2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

3 Tbsp soft butter

3/4 cup milk

3 Tbsp minced parsley**

 

Before starting, remove the meat from the chicken and shred or cut into bite-sized pieces. You should have about 4 cups of cooked chicken.

 

Make the dumplings by stirring the flour, baking powder and salt together in a medium bowl. Cut the butter into the flour mixture to resemble cornmeal (I use a pastry blender, but a fork also works). Add the parsley and stir. Pour the milk into the bowl and stir until all the dry ingredients are wet. Do not overstir or the dumplings won't be fluffy. Set the mixture aside until ready to use.

 

In a large Dutch Oven, melt the butter. Add onion, celery and carrots and cook until onion and celery are softened. Add the flour and make a roux, adding more butter or some olive oil if it's too dry.  Cook for about a minute, then slowly add the broth, scraping up bits of the flour from the pan until incorporated. Salt and pepper to taste. Add the frozen peas, parsley, and chicken. Bring to a boil, then turn heat so that the brother is simmering. 

Now drop the dumplings into the top of the pan, covering the entire top with small scoops (I use a one tablespoon scoop that I use to make cookies). If you keep the dumplings small, then the timing below will work. If they are larger, you need to adjust. 

One you have all the dumplings in the chicken stew, set a timer for 8 minutes and cook without a cover. DO NOT STIR the stew! Then cover the pan for another 8-10 minutes or until the dumplings are cooked through (use a toothpick to poke the center and if it comes out clean is is likely done. You might need to cut a dumpling in half and taste it to make sure it is completely cooked and no longer doughy. If you make larger dumplings, you will need to cook them for 25 minutes or more.

Uncover and serve (do not stir, but leave the dumplings on top). Serve in large bowls, taking a few dumplings and some broth. If you want it more brothy, use an additional 2 cups of broth at the beginning. If you like it more like stew, this should be the right consistency.

*You can substitute leftover turkey if you have it!

 

**You can substitute the parsley in the dumplings and the stew with fresh thyme instead (use about 1/4 cup though in the stew and 1-2 tablespoons in the dumplings. You can also use fresh chives in the dumplings instead of parsley or you might try adding fresh rosemary to the stew. Fresh herbs make this dish! Use what you have, but use them. 

Enjoy!

 

Rosemary Orange Butter Infused Turkey Breast

1 (8 to 9 lb) bone in turkey breast, thawed, rinsed and dried completely
3 stalks celery, roughly chopped
4 cloves of garlic, finely chopped
2 Tbsp. chopped fresh rosemary
3 tsp. Dijon mustard
6 Tbsp. freshly squeezed orange juice, divided
1/4 c. softened butter
2 tsp. salt
1 tsp. pepper
1/2 c. dry white wine (one you would drink!)
1/4 c. freshly squeezed lemon juice
1/4 c. chicken broth

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Put chopped celery on the bottom of a roasting pan and place rinsed and dried turkey breast on top of celery as a shallow baking rack.

In a small bowl, mix garlic, rosemary, mustard, 2 Tbsp. orange juice, salt, pepper and softened butter until well-mixed. Loosen turkey skin and place citrus-herb butter all over the turkey. Rub any leftover on your fingers over the top of the skin.

Pour remainder 1/4 c. orange juice, wine, lemon juice and broth in the bottom of the roasting pan. Roast 2 1/2 - 3 hours or until thermometer reads 165 degrees. Do not overcook. Place foil over turkey if skin begins to brown too much. Take turkey out of the pan and place on a cutting board with foil over the top to keep warm. Allow turkey to rest about 15 minutes before carving.

Strain juice from bottom of the pan and throw away celery.  Make gravy with the juices or just pour juice into a pitcher and pour over turkey when serving. We recommend gravy because it tastes delicious over mashed potatoes!

We served this for Thanksgiving, 2012 and it was moist and full of flavor. It is a great way to keep a turkey breast from getting too dried out. Makes 8 generous servings.

Monte Cristo Sandwiches

So easy, so elegant, so good.....

For each sandwich:
1 Tbsp. butter
2 slices of your favorite bread (I use Health Nut bread)
2-3 oz. sliced deli ham
2-3 oz. sliced turkey
1 slice provolone or Swiss cheese
Honey mustard
1 egg
1-2 Tbsp. milk
pinch salt
Dusting of powdered sugar
1-2 Tbsp. cherry preserves

Spread honey mustard on one or both slices of bread. Place ham on one slice of the bread and the turkey on the other. Place cheese slice between the two meats. Put the sandwich halves together.

Melt butter in a non-stick frying pan on medium heat. Do not burn butter, but be certain it is hot and bubbly before toasting sandwich.

Place egg in a shallow pie pan. Add milk and mix until completely scrambled. Add a pinch of salt. Dip sandwich (both sides) in egg mixture, making sure the egg has saturated the bread.

Toast both sides of the bread until brown and cheese is melted, pressing down to make sure the sandwich is warmed inside. Turn several times and make sure the pan has enough butter, so that the sandwich doesn't burn.

Remove sandwich and slice in half - diagonally. Sprinkle with powdered sugar and serve with preserves on the side for dipping. If you don't have cherry preserves, use strawberry instead.

Veggie and Herb-Infused Turkey Gravy

5 oz. chicken broth (or homemade broth)
Dripping from bottom of roasting pan
Veggies from Roasting Turkey
Flour
A few drops of Kitchen Bouquet
Salt and Pepper to taste
Mashed potatoes

Strain the drippings to separate the vegetables, herbs and the liquid. Separate the fat from the dripping and place the fat into a saucepan. Pick out the herb stems and bay leaves from the vegetables and puree with a immersion blender, add a little broth to loosen it up and set aside.

Heat the fat (we had about 1/2 cup) and add about 1/4 cup of flour slowly incorporating it into the fat. When smooth and bubbly, add the rest of the drippings that were separated from the fat. Then add the vegetable-herb puree. Heat to boiling, add a few drops of Kitchen Bouquet for color. Add salt and pepper to taste.

If gravy is too thin, add a large spoonful of mashed potatoes to the gravy and mix thoroughly. Continue to add mashed potatoes until you reach the right consistency. The mashed potatoes for thickening keeps the gravy from being starchy and it will not thicken up to a big blob of gravy when it cools.

Makes 4-6 cups of gravy. Immensely flavorful and healthier than regular gravy.

The Perfect Turkey

10-12 pound Butterball turkey, thawed completely
1 stick butter, softened
1/3-1/2 cup of fresh herbs (I used rosemary, chives, dill, and sage), chopped
1 large carrot, peeled
4 stalks celery, including top leaves
2 onions
8 garlic cloves, skin removed
5 fresh bay leaves
2 stems fresh rosemary
Fresh or dried sage
Kosher salt
Freshly ground pepper

About 4-5 hours before your meal, remove turkey from refrigerator. Remove giblets, wash and completely dry turkey on the outside. Set aside and allow to sit out to take the chill off the turkey.

Mix  butter and fresh herbs and set aside. Heat oven to 400 degrees.

In the meantime, roughly chop carrot, celery, onions, 4 garlic cloves. Reserve about 1/2 onion to put into the cavity of the turkey. Put the rest of the veggies in the bottom of your roaster. Add bay leaves, sage, and fresh rosemary. Generously salt and pepper all sides of the turkey and place on top of the bed or vegetables (this acts as a 'rack' for the turkey).

Fill the cavity of the turkey with onions and the remainder of the garlic cloves (smashed, but not chopped). You could add fresh herbs to the cavity as well.

Put the herb butter under the skin of the turkey (near breast and thighs). Put as much butter under the skin as you can. Rub any leftover butter on the outside top of the turkey.

Place oven on the bottom rack and place in 400 degree oven for about 30 minutes to form a crisp skin. Skin will begin to brown but should not be burned.

Turn oven down to 325 degrees and cook for about 1 1/2 to 2 1/2 hours. Check thigh with a thermometer after 1 1/2 hours. Remove turkey when temperature reaches about 165 degrees. Take turkey out of oven and cover to keep warm. Allow turkey to rest a minimum of half hour. Save the veggies and drippings for gravy (see gravy recipe).

When carving the turkey, remove thigh and leg, and cut thigh meat from the bone (rough chop) then cut the breast off and slice across the grain in fairly thick slices. Place the leg on the platter and you're ready to eat! Turkey should be tender and moist and very fragrant!

Tex Mex Turkey Soup

If you like Spicy. You'll love this! It's a great way to use up your leftover turkey from Thanksgiving or Christmas.

1 Tbsp. olive oil
1/2 c. onion, diced
4 large garlic cloves, minced
2 jalapeno peppers, diced
1 Tbsp. chili powder
1 tsp. oregano
1 tsp. cumin
28 oz. can diced tomatoes
1 jar salsa (we love using Trader Joe's Chipotle salsa)
2-4 cups low sodium chicken broth (or if you made turkey broth, use that!)
16 oz. can tomato puree (or 1 can condensed tomato soup if you like the taste)
4 cups chopped, cooked turkey (or chicken)
14 oz. can black beans, drained and rinsed
2 cups frozen corn
Hot sauce to taste

Toppings:
1/4 c. chopped cilantro
sour cream
shredded cheddar cheese (or Mexican blend)
chopped green onion
tortilla chips
black olives

1. Heat oil and add onion, jalapeno, and garlic until softened. Add chili powder, cumin and oregano and stir and cook about 1 minute.
2. Add salsa, puree or soup, broth, diced tomatoes, turkey and heat to boiling, then turn down to simmer.
3. Add black beans and corn and simmer 30-60 minutes covered. Remove cover to thicken soup.
4. Serve topped with any or all of the toppings.