Thanksgiving Recipe Roundup--All the Thanksgiving recipes you need in one post!

 

 

Thanksgiving is just a week away. I've been preparing my household and making lists for the big day.  What would this blog be without a post with my most useful recipes to get you ready for the big day.  The below is a list of must haves for almost any Thanksgiving meal.

Chicken stock

No Thanksgiving meal is complete without a good chicken stock on hand.  Nothing beats a homemade stock, especially if you plan on making homemade gravy to go along with your Thanksgiving meal.  Using home made stock to make your gravy could mean the difference between good gravy, and fantastic not a drop left in the gravy bowl, gravy!  One of my favorite chicken stocks to make is the one from Modernist Cuisine.  It requires the use of one pound of ground chicken and one pound of chicken wings, so it's a bit more expensive to make, because the soul purpose of the meat used int he recipe is to extract flavor, so you can't eat it, but it's totally worth it!  You will not find a better chicken stock.  If you prefer not to splurge on the modernist version of chicken stock, try this one--I've made both and they both out perform the store bought stuff.

 Poultry Seasoning

What's better than a do-it-yourself seasoning for your bird?  Not much short of finding every single ingredient already in your cupboard--then nothing is better! This poultry seasoning tastes identical to the store bought stuff, only it has no fillers.

Potatoes

What's a Thanksgiving meal without potatoes?  In my family potatoes are as synonomous to Thanksgiving dinner, as turkey is to Thanksgiving.  They are a must have!  In the mean time, this recipe for smashed potatoes is one of my favorite ways to eat potatoes and is the perfect addition to any Thanksgiving meal.  My cauliflower mash is also fantastic!  I've had it with and without potatoes and either way the mash is devine!

Smashed Potaoes

Roasted Garlic Cauliflower Mash

Roasted Garlic

Let's face it, roasted garlic makes everything better--especially a Thanksgiving meal--so here's how to roast garlic

How to Roast Garlic

Creamed Corn

What is it about corn that screams Thanksgiving?  I don't know but my no cream creamed corn recipe is definitely a brillant addition to any Thanksgiving meal

 

Dessert

Finally while I don't profess to be a dessert wizard, I do have a great recipe for diy condensed milk.  My grandmother would always have a couple of cans of condensed milk out for her baking, and I'm quite sure that she would approve of my do it yourself version. It can be made with dairy and nondairy milks.

 

One of my favorite desserts is Chocolate Pots de Creme  my recipe for them is AMAZING!! If you manage to save any of these for more than 3 members of your family to enjoy, then you're doing much better than me!

 

So tell me are you ready for the big day? What are you making?

Coconut Flour--How to Make Coconut Flour

Coconut Flour- How to Make Coconut Flour

I love the taste and smell of coconut flour, but anyone who has ever cooked or baked with coconut flour knows that it can be a real pita to work with. Mainly because coconut flour is super absorbent. It soaks up every ounce of moisture that you put into it.  It's so absorbent that when I cook with it,  I add it to mixtures one  tablespoon at a time, and I wait in between tablespoons to see if I need to add more moisture back in.  I don't know of any other alternative flour that requires that much attention.  But I'm not really a baker.  The issue is not necessarily the coconut flour, it's the processing of coconut flour, which makes it so absorbent.  During processing, the coconut looses much of its fat and oil.  Making coconut flour in this way retains most of the oil, which makes it easier to bake and cook with.  If you make coconut flour this way, you will not have to add extra moisture, the moisture will already be there in the form of coconut oil. which makes it less drying.

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Ingredients:

The meat from 2 large coconuts (about 1cup)

Directions:  Pre-heat the oven to 150F. Spread the coconut meat evenly out on bake sheet or a dehydrator sheet.

Place the sheet in the oven and allow to dehydrate for 6 hours or until the coconut is dry and crisp.  Transfer dehydrated coconut flakes to a spice grinder or blender and blend until it reaches the consistency that you like.

Transfer the flour to an airtight container until ready to use.

Rice Puffs--How to Make Rice Puff Snacks

Rice Puffs

Today I'm giving you a recipe for ultra crispy, and delicious homemade rice puffs. I'm not a huge fan of rice, but my daughter and my husband are.  They are especially fond of Basmati rice. I love the way that Basmati rice smells.  It has it's own unique aroma, no other rice smells as good cooking as Basmati does.  I buy Basmati in  area close by called Little India.  I go there every so often to stock up on Indian spices as well.  The only problem with that is that I always leave with a 20 pound bag of GMO free Basmati rice!  It's enough rice to feed my family for a year---we don't eat rice that often.  I almost always end of giving most of it away, it's just too much, but they don't sell it in smaller quantities.  I have had this recipe for rice puffs in my que for a long while now, just haven't had the rice to make it. I got the idea from a recipe in Modernist Cuisine,  but found a simpler more home cook friendly version of it on Chef Steps.  I've added my own spin on it with the addition of the lime salt, but if you haven't gotten around to making my Lime powder, then  plain sea salt will do, and these will still be amazing! You don't have to use Basmati to make these, you can use any rice. Still don't have a dehydrator?  Buy one it will be the best $40 bucks you've spent in a long while.  The alternative is to put the rice puree in the oven set to the lowest setting 150F leave the oven door just a bit ajar, and check it before it reaches the 2 hour mark.  Check at 1.5 hour mark, you don't want this to crisp up and burn.

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Prep time: 20 minutes

Cook time: 10 minutes

Drying time: 2 hrs

Ingredients:

3/4 cup of rice

3 and 1/4 cups of water

1/2 cup 0f safflower oil

3 teaspoons of lime powder

1 teaspoon of sea salt (powdered--just add sea salt to a spice mill and blend until powdered)

Directions: Add the lime powder sea salt to a bowl mix well and set aside.  Add rice and water to a pot, cook until rice is tender and falling apart--there will still be water in the pot.

Transfer the cooked rice along with any left over water to a blender and blend until smooth.

Pour the rice puree out onto silpat's smooth out into thin layers.

Place in the dehydrator on 122F and allow to dehydrate for 2 hours.  The dehydrated rice puree should be pliable but also have a snap to it.

Note: If you dehydrate for too long, the rice puffs will not puff, if you dehydrate for too short a period, they will not puff either.  When you place your rice puffs in the hot oil they should sink  to the bottom of the pot and then immediately rise and puff.

Once your puree has been dehydrated, heat the oil to 374F, while the oil is heating break the rice sheet into bite size pieces.  When the oil reaches temperature, drop the rice sheet pieces into the oil, they should drop to the bottom and rise and puff up immediately, fry for 2-3 seconds then remove from oil and season with lime salt immediately,

let the rice puff's cool, then enjoy!