Mandarin glazed roasted Thanksgiving turkey

This turkey recipe has been "The turkey recipe" for me and my friend Lise since The Thanksgiving of 2000. We have not always had it for Thanksgiving but almost once a year our families have spent either Thanksgiving or New Years with this over the top, shut the front door, heavenly turkey. The recipe we learnt at a cooking demonstration at the Boca Raton Resort November 7, 2000 and it has since been refined to the following;

Ingredients;

1 whole turkey, rinsed and patted dry
Salt and pepper
Apples and prunes
1 onion

For the glaze;

2 cups maple syrup
1/3 cup brown sugar
1 cup apple juice
1 cup cranberry juice
Zest from 1 mandarin (or orange)
Juice from 1 mandarin (or orange)
1/4 cup vegetable oil

Equipment;

Tin foil
Roasting pan
Brush
Small sauce pan
Spoon

Procedure;

Glaze;

Add all the ingredients to a small pan, heat and reduce ingredients until syrup. This may take a while and you have to keep an eye on the process as the syrup easily boils over...

Turkey;

Preheat oven to 325F.
Prepare the turkey by removing whatever's inside. Depending on the turkey you buy they have a bag in the cavity of the turkey with the giblets and the liver. We start off by adding this to a pot of water and simmer while the turkey is cooking. Later we use both the broth and the giblets in the sauce if needed.

Add peeled apple slices and prunes to the now empty cavity of the bird. Gently loosen the turkeys skin and add butter in the pockets between the skin and the meat to get extra juicy meat. Also add apple slices, prunes and 1 cut onion to the roasting pan before placing the bird on the rack. Cover breast with a few layers of foil and place in oven.

Oops....

 An hour before finished remove foil and glaze the whole bird. With an 18 pound bird we had a total oven time of 4 1/4 hours. We removed it from the oven after 3 hours, let it rest for 1/2 hour and glazed it twice the last hour.
At that time we also emptied the pan of its juices to make gravy adding some water to the pan to make sure the bird didn't dry up the last hour. This way you also avoids a gravy that is to sweet because of the glaze you now add to the bird.
When done remove turkey from oven and let rest at least 20 minutes before you start carving.

Gravy;

Start with the juice from the pan, if its good enough fine, if not add the broth from the giblets to enhance the taste. You can also add small pieces of giblet for added taste and texture, use a hand blender to smooth it. Heat and boil, if you want a thick gravy add water and arrowroot (whisk the arrowroot into the water) as a thickening agent. Add salt and pepper to taste. Boil until desired consistency. 

Happy thanksgiving!

Fig- and Glogg marmelade

A little something for the holiday season. Perfect as a hostess gift perhaps with a good cheese to go with it.

Ingredients;

1 pound dried figs
2 cups glogg ( a scandinavian holiday drink that you can buy at Ikea or speciality stores, you are supposed to use wine glogg that is the one you heat with one part glogg and one part wine)

Heat the figs and glogg in a pot until boiling and keep boiling under a lid for 5 minutes.
Blend until smooth with a hand blender.

Fill the marmelade in decorative jars if used for gifts. Store in a refrigerator.

Enjoy!

Quinoa and Broccoli Gratin

This is a hearty side dish that pair well with both fish, white and read meat.

Ingredients;

1 10 oz can cream of mushroom soup
1/3 cup light mayonnaise
1/4 cup milk
1 1/4 cups shredded cheese (low or reduced fat if so preferred)
Salt and pepper
Nutmeg ( I normally don't advise on how much spice to use as it's so different what people like)
2 cups cooked broccoli
1 1/2 cup cooked quinoa (follow instructions on packet)
Grated Parmesan


Preheat oven to 350F and coat a shallow casserole dish or pie pan with coooking spray.

Combine Soup, mayo, milk, shredded cheese and spices in a bowl until well mixed. Add quinoa and broccoli and combine.

Add mixture to the prepared dish. Sprinkle with Parmesan and bake for 30-40 minutes. The dish should be bubbly on the edges and golden brown.

Crisp Bread

This recipe has been a big hit back in Norway over the last years. Lots of fiber, no white flour.

Ingredients;

1 cup coarse rye meal
1 cup sunflower seed
1 cup flaxseed
1 cup sesame seed
2 cups oatmeal
2 1/2 tsp salt
3 cups of water

Preheat oven to 350F.

Add all ingredients to a bowl and stir until blended. Spread dough in a thin layer on 2 baking sheets covered with parchment paper.
Bake for 10 minutes and remove from oven. Using a pizza slicer cut the crisp bread into pieces of preferred size. Put the crisp breads back in the oven and continue to bake for approx. 1 hour.
Pay attention so they don't burn...

Eat alone or with your favorite topping!

Gingerbread Biscotti

With the taste and smell of Christmas these are sure to become a big hit at least at our house. Perfect for gift giving wrapped in cellophane bags.

Ingredients;

1 stick butter (113 gr)
1 cup sugar
3 eggs
3 1/2 cup flour
2 tsp ground ginger
2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground cloves
1/2 teaspoon cardamom
3 tsp baking powder
1tsp vanilla extract
1/2 tsp salt

Preheat oven to 350F

Beat butter and sugar until fluffy and white. Add the eggs one at a time beating to blend the eggs with the butter/sugar mix between each egg. In another bowl mix the dry ingredients. Add the dry ingredients (I prefer to sift it but I don't think its necessary) and the vanilla extract and mix until the dough is well blended.

Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper.

Divide the dough evenly in 2 equal mounds and place on the baking sheet. With moist hands space the dough evenly apart and form into 2 logs (9 by 3 inch, or longer if you prefer the biscotti not as thick).
Bake for 15 minutes and remove from oven. Cut the logs crosswise into 3/4 inch thick diagonal slices. Arrange the slices cut side down at the same baking sheet and place in the oven once more. Bake until dry and crispy. Let cool completely!

Caramelitas

As you might have noticed I don't post to many recepies for Sweet Stuff on my blog. I guess I'm more of a food person than a sweets person. This recipe though, for some reason, caught my attention and I just had to try it. Even though I'm not a big chocolate fan this is really good. The predominant taste is Caramel and that I do like...

Ingredients;

32 caramel squares ( I used some fudge like I found at Publix)

1/2 cup heavy cream

3/4 cup melted butter

3/4 cup packed brown sugar

1 cup flour

1 cup rolled oats

1 tsp baking soda

6 ounces semisweet chocolate chips

Combine caramels and cream in a small saucepan over low heat. Stir until caramel squares are melted and  it's completely smooth then set aside to cool. 

In a separate bowl combine melted butter, sugar, flour, oats and baking soda. Pat half of the mixture into a  8"x8" pan covered with parchment paper. Bake at 350F for 10 minutes. 

Sprinkle chocolate chips over the crust then pour the caramel mixture over the chocolate chips. Crumble remaining oatmeal mixture over caramel. Return to oven and bake for an additional 15-20 minutes. The edges should be slightly brown. Remove from oven and cool completely before cutting into small squares. If the caramel still feels  to sticky put it in the refrigerator for a couple of hours then try. 

Sweet dreams!! I mean sweet eats!!!

Crispy Duck

Since I'm in a duck mode these days I might as well give you this duck recipe as well. Takes a lot more time than the last one, you really need to plan ahead with this one but it's worth the time, I promise. You need to start the day before you plan on serving the crispy duck because a whole duck needs at least a day and a night in the refrigerator to defrost. Normally I buy it one day. Put it on a tray (still in the plastic cover) for the liquid when the duck defrosts so not to mess up your refrigerator. Some time in the middle of the next day I take it out and finish the defrosting on the counter to make sure it defrosts completely.

Ingredients;

1 whole duck

1/2 cucumber cut in strips lengthways
6 spring onions cut in strips lengthways
Hoisin sauce
Chinese pancakes

Trim the duck by removing the excess fat from the opening. Take out the giblets (liver, heart and gizzard) and pat dry the duck with kitchen towel (to prepare the crispy duck properly the duck is supposed to dry overnight etc. etc. but we do an easy version, it might not get as crispy but still pretty decent).

Place the duck on a rack over a deep roasting tin (I always line it with foil to ease the clean up). Roast the duck for 4 hours on 340 F. After 4 hours increase the temperature to 425 F for another half hour. Remove the duck from the oven. Transfer to a carving board and shred the duck. I use two forks and just pull at the duck so that the meat falls apart.

Serve with Chinese pancakes, hoisin sauce, spring onion and cucumber shreds. Just fill the pancakes with sauce, duck, onion and cucumber and enjoy. 

"The best way to heat the chinese pancakes is in a steamer. Keep in a damp towel after heating."