White Chili (With Leftover Thanksgiving Turkey)

The holidays are over, the decorations are put away, and I have started to clean out my fridge, freezer, and pantry from all that junk food that I really should not eat.  While cleaning out my freezer though, I found 2, gallon size bags full of leftover Thanksgiving turkey.  What on earth do you do with all that turkey?  I found a recipe for turkey chili, made a few tweaks of my own, and have found a new family favorite.  You could use ground turkey in this.  Oh, and you may think you're seeing a typo on the "cinnamon" ingredient, but there's not.  You have to add it!  It just gives the chili such a nice flavor. 

White Chili With Turkey

Ingredients:
1/2 onion, chopped
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 1/2 pounds shredded turkey
8 oz. can diced green chile peppers
1 Tbs. ground cumin
1 Tbs. oregano
1 tsp. ground cinnamon
Ground cayenne pepper to taste
Ground pepper to taste
3 (15 oz.) cans cannellini beans, drained and rinsed
2 cups chicken broth
2 cups shredded Monterey Jack cheese

Directions:
1. Combine all ingredients in a crock pot, except for cheese.  Cook on High for 4 hours.
2. Add 1 cup of cheese to chili and cook on low for 30 minutes. 
3. Serve with remaining cheese.

25 Days of Christmas Recipes - Pumpkin Spread

Does anyone else buy out the canned pumpkin that always goes on clearance after Thanksgiving? We are huge fans of pumpkin, any time of the year! So I am always looking for good recipes to use with all that pureed pumpkin sitting in my pantry. Here's a good one, really yummy with a good thick piece of warm bread.

Pumpkin Spread

Ingredients:
1 pkg. (8 oz.) cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup canned pumpkin
1/4 cup sugar
3/4 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
1/2 teaspoon vanilla

Directions:
1. Beat all ingredients in a medium mixing bowl with an electric mixer on medium speed until smooth. Cover and refrigerate for at least 1 hour or up to 24 hours.

Makes 1-1/2 cups

Vegetable Stock

We love to make our turkey with a brine.  The only thing is, making a brine can get EXPENSIVE!  The base we use is vegetable stock, and if you've ever bought it at the store (and I mean TRUE vegetable stock, not broth), you know what I mean about expensive.  So this year, we decided to make our own vegetable stock.  It's easy to make, cheap, and it's kind of nice knowing everything that's going into it.  This recipe makes 1 gallon of vegetable stock, enough for our brine.

Vegetable Stock

Ingredients:
1 gallon water (16 cups)
8 large onions, peeled
8 large carrots, scrubbed but not peeled
12 celery stalks, leaves removed
1 whole bulb garlic
4 Tbs. peppercorns
8 bay leaves

Directions:
1. Chop vegetables into large pieces, except garlic.  Peel garlic and leave individual cloves whole.  Place vegetables in a large stockpot and cover with water.  Add peppercorns and bay leaves.
2. Bring stock to a boil over high temperature.  Immediately turn down to low and allow to simmer for 1 hour. 
3. Immediately strain stock through a colander fine enough to catch the vegetables pieces.  Allow to cool.  Store in freezer bags for use later.

Baked Butternut Squash

We have been visiting a local orchard every weekend this summer, and when they had butternut squash ripe, I had to get one. I've never tried it, but heard good things about it. I imagined it being sweet like a yam, so I tried to find a recipe that included brown sugar and cinnamon. But once again, I didn't quite find the recipe with the ingredients I wanted. So I tweaked it and this is what I came up with. My family LOVED it! Not too sweet, but sweet enough.

Baked Butternut Squash

Ingredients:
Butter (for greasing pan)
1 medium butternut squash, about 2 1/2 pounds
2/3 cup light brown sugar, packed
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 scant teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon flour
3 tablespoons cold butter

Directions:
1. Butter an 9x13-inch baking dish or shallow 2-quart casserole dish. Heat oven to 350°.
2. Quarter the squash lengthwise and cut off ends. Peel and scoop seeds out. Cut each slice in half.
3. In a large bowl, combine the brown sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, salt, and flour. Combine with a fork. Place each squash piece into the mixture and turn to coat. Place into the prepared baking dish.
4. Into the remaining brown sugar mixture, cut in the butter until well combined. Sprinkle the crumb mixture over the squash. Cover tightly with foil and bake for 45 to 55 minutes, or until the squash is fork tender. Remove the foil and bake for 10 minutes longer.

Apple Pie a la Yates

For the year that Jon and I were dating, and then the whole first year we were married, Jon would brag about the apple pies that his Grandma Johnson would make. I hated apple pie growing up because they were always too sweet and mushy for me. I hate canned apples (used for making pies).

Well, the first Thanksgiving that we were married (right after Jocey was born), I endeavored on a quest to make Grandma Johnson's apple pie. Apparently I nailed it because everytime I make this pie, Jon is drooling for the 4 hours it takes to make it and let it cool. The key is to use at least 2 different types of apples, better if it is 3. I hate red delicious because they are too mushy and too sweet. I like to use 3 granny smith, 3 gala, and 2 fujis. Then the pie is a little tart, crisp, just perfect. I'm not going to include my pie crust recipe at this point in time, it's just a standard pie crust.

Apple Pie a la Yates

(with a little help from Grandma Johnson)

Ingredients:
8 medium apples
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 cup flour
1 tsp. cinnamon
1 tsp. nutmeg
Dash of salt
2 Tbs. butter, cut into cubes
Pie crust recipe for 2 pie crusts

Directions:
1. Peel, quarter, core, and thinly slice apples. Place in a bowl and cover with cold water and 1 Tbs. lemon juice to prevent apples from becoming dry, brown, and mushy.
2. Preheat oven to 450 degrees.
3. Make your pie crust, placing one crust in the bottom of a 9 inch pie pan.
4. In a large colander, drain apples. Combine sugar, flour, cinnamon, nutmeg, and salt in a bowl and add apples. Stir to coat apples. Pour apples into crust lined pie pan.
5. Place butter cubes over the apple mixture. Place second pie crust on top of apples, seal crust, and flute. Cut 4 slits in the crust to allow pie to vent.
6. Cover outer edges of pie with aluminum foil, folded over edges to prevent burning. Remove aluminum foil during remaining 15 minutes of cooking. Cook for 40-50 minutes or until mixture is bubbling up through vents. Allow to cool for 2 hours before serving.

Turkey Stuffing Casserole

I was cleaning my fridge/freezer out a few weeks ago, and I had forgotten about a full gallon size ziploc bag of stuffing and turkey left over from Thanksgiving. Now, I don't know about you, but I am not about reheating months old leftovers and eating them. BUT, I do know the miracle of casseroles. So, I gave this recipe a shot, and it was DELISH! I do not recommend making it though for a family of 3, as we had tons of leftovers, and I ended up throwing about a quarter of the pan away after eating leftovers for 3 days. But it's great for a family dish. So, next time you're ready to toss your Thanksgiving leftovers, give this dish a try.

Turkey Stuffing Casserole

Ingredients:
1 (14 oz.) package seasoned dry stuffing
1 tsp. ground sage
1 cup chopped celery
1/2 cup chicken broth
(Substitution: I used my gallon size ziploc bag of leftover stuffing in place of all these ingredients.)
1 can cream of mushroom soup
1 can cream of chicken soup
2 boneless, skinless turkey breasts - cooked and shredded
(Substitution: I used my gallon size ziploc bag of leftover turkey for this. It came to about 3 cups of shredded turkey)
1/4 cup melted butter

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees F.
2. Pour cream of chicken and cream of mushroom soup into a medium size bowl and add 2 cans of water. Stir to combine.
3. Sprinkle 1/3 of the stuffing crumb mixture into the bottom of a lightly greased 9x13 inch pan. Layer with 1/2 of the shredded turkey meat and pour 1/2 of the soup mixture of turkey. Sprinkle another 1/3 of the stuffing mixture over layer, followed by remaining turkey and soup mixture. Sprinkle remaining stuffing over top. Drizzle melted butter over the top of the entire mixture. Press the mixture down into the pan until firmly packed.
4. Cover with aluminum foil and bake for 20 minutes. Remove foil and bake for another 30 minutes until top becomes crispy.

25 Days of Christmas Recipes - Mashed Sweet Potatoes

Again, here's something we are fixing on Christmas Eve. It's a nice alternative to your traditional baked sweet potato. This recipe is scaled for 15, 1 cup servings.

Mashed Sweet Potatoes

Ingredients:
10 medium sweet potatoes, peeled and cut into 2-inch chunks
2 1/2 cup half-and-half
1 cup butter
2/3 cup light-brown sugar
Coarse salt and ground pepper

Directions:
1. Set a steamer basket in a large saucepan. Fill with enough water to come just below basket; bring to a boil, then reduce to a gentle simmer. Place sweet potatoes in steamer basket and cover; steam until tender, 15 to 25 minutes. Drain, and return to saucepan.
2. Meanwhile, in a small saucepan, bring half-and-half, butter, and brown sugar to a simmer, stirring to combine; remove from heat. Add to drained sweet potatoes, and mash just until smooth; season with salt and pepper.

25 Days of Christmas Recipes - Corn Bread Stuffing

This is a different take on my grandmother's stuffing recipe. I really like making this with southern dishes. It's a little more sweet, and really good with a smoked turkey. I'm also making this on Christmas Eve for our "Cajun Night Before Christmas" celebration.

Corn Bread Stuffing

Ingredients:
1 cylinder maple flavored pork sausage
1 sweet onion, finely chopped
2 medium carrots, finely chopped
1 sweet potato, chopped
1 bag corn bread crumbs
1 tsp. rosemary
½ Tbs. poultry seasoning

Directions:
1. Cook sausage, onion, carrots, and potato in medium skillet, leaving fat on when done.
2. Combine with bread crumbs until well incorporated. Add seasonings.
3. Use to either stuff your turkey, or reheat by wrapping in aluminum foil and cooking with your turkey for the last 45 minutes.

25 Days of Christmas Recipes - Turkey Brine

Well, we have begun preparations for our annual "Cajun Night Before Christmas." We like to do our big meal on Christmas Eve, and I love to make a big, southern feast. We invite family, missionaries, and anyone else who needs a home on Christmas Eve. This year, we're hosting Jon's mom, Jon's sister and her family, and 3 sets of missionaries. It's going to be quite a group!

We also read "Cajun Night Before Christmas" to everyone, a book that many southerners own, as well as missionaries who served in the southern states. It's a favorite in our house.

Anyway, here's part of our feast - turkey! This year, I'm going to put it in a brine overnight before I cook it. Dawnie made it two years ago for Thanksgiving, and it is SOOOOO yummy!

Turkey/Poultry Brine

Ingredients:
1 cup kosher salt
1/2 cup light brown sugar
1 gallon vegetable stock
1 Tbs. peppercorns
1 1/2 tsp. allspice berries
1 1/2 tsp. chopped candied ginger
1 gallon heavily iced water

1 red apple, sliced
1/2 onion, sliced
1 cinnamon stick
1 cup water
4 sprigs rosemary
6 leaves sage
Canola oil

Directions:
1. 2-3 days before roasting, begin thawing the turkey in the refrigerator or in a cooler kept at 38 degrees F. Combine the vegetable stock, salt, brown sugar, peppercorns, allspice berries, and candied ginger in a large stockpot over medium-high heat. Stir occasionally to dissolve solids and bring to a boil. Then remove the brine from the heat, cool to room temperature, and refrigerate.
2. The night before roasting, combine the brine, water and ice in the 5-gallon bucket. Place the thawed turkey (with innards removed) breast side down in brine. If necessary, weigh down the bird to ensure it is fully immersed, cover, and refrigerate or set in cool area for 8 to 16 hours, turning the bird once half way through brining.
3. Preheat the oven to 500 degrees F. Remove the bird from brine and rinse inside and out with cold water. Discard the brine.
4. Place the bird on roasting rack inside a half sheet pan and pat dry with paper towels. Combine the apple, onion, cinnamon stick, and 1 cup of water in a microwave safe dish and microwave on high for 5 minutes. Add steeped aromatics to the turkey's cavity along with the rosemary and sage. Tuck the wings underneath the bird and coat the skin liberally with canola oil.
5. Roast the turkey on lowest level of the oven at 500 degrees F for 30 minutes. Insert a probe thermometer into thickest part of the breast and reduce the oven temperature to 350 degrees F. Set the thermometer alarm (if available) to 151 degrees F. A 14 to 16 pound bird should require a total of 2 to 2 1/2 hours of roasting. Let the turkey rest, loosely covered with foil or a large mixing bowl for 15 minutes before carving.

Stuffing

This is one of my favorite dishes that my Grandmother Cook used to make. It is also one of my favorite parts of Thanksgiving. This stuffing is delicious, easy, and SO MUCH BETTER than the boxed kind! If you like to stuff your turkey, use half of this stuffing, then wrap the other half in aluminum foil and heat it in the oven with your turkey for 30 minutes. Then mix the two together before serving.

Grandma Cook's Thanksgiving Stuffing

Ingredients:
1 cylinder pork sausage
1 onion, finely chopped
2 medium carrots, finely chopped
1 medium potato, finely chopped
1 bag seasoned bread crumbs
1 tsp. sage
½ Tbs. poultry seasoning

Directions:
1. Cook pork sausage, onion, carrots, and potato in medium skillet, leaving fat on when done.
2. Combine with bread crumbs until well incorporated. Add seasonings.
3. Reheat as you prefer to.

Pumpkin Cream Cheese Roll

I can never get enough pumpkin!  I don't just eat pumpkin pie during the holidays.  It makes me mad that they only offer spiced pumpkin creamer during the holidays.  And this recipe is one of my favorites.  My Aunt Karla would make it all the time, and I gobbled it up every time she made it.  And just as a side note, you can freeze it! 

Pumpkin Cream Cheese Roll

Ingredients:
3 eggs

1 cup sugar
2/3 cup pumpkin
1 tsp. lemon juice
3/4 cup all-purpose flour
1 tsp. baking powder
2 tsp. cinnamon
1 tsp. ginger
1/2 tsp. nutmeg
1/2 tsp. salt

Filling:
8 oz. cream cheese, softened
4 Tbs. butter
1 cup powdered sugar
1/2 tsp. vanilla

Directions:
1. In large bowl, combine eggs and sugar, beating with an electric mixer until thick and light yellow in color. Add pumpkin and lemon juice, mixing until blended.

2. In separate bowl, combine flour, baking powder, spices and salt. Add to egg mixture, mixing well. Spread batter into greased and waxed-paper lined 10-by-15-inch jelly-roll pan.
3. Bake at 350 ° for 15 minutes. Remove from oven. Cool for 15 minutes. Place cake on clean tea towel sprinkled liberally with powdered sugar. Cool 10 minutes longer. From 10- inch side, roll cake up in towel. Set aside.
4. While cake is cooling in towel, prepare filling. Beat together cream cheese and butter; stir in powdered sugar and vanilla and blend until smooth.
5. Unroll cake. Evenly spread filling over cake. Roll up cake (without the towel). Wrap in plastic wrap. Cover and chill at least 1 hour. Slice before serving. Keep leftover slices refrigerated.

Crescent Dinner Rolls

I first had these rolls at my parent's house after Sara got home from her mission. A woman in Sara's mission made them for my parents when they went out to get her. They are fantastic! They are not crescents like you eat in France, but they are still very good. They're very good with honey butter, but can definitely stand on their own without any toppings.

Crescent Dinner Rolls

Ingredients:
2 tsp. yeast
2 tsp. sugar
1/4 cup warm water
1/2 tsp. salt
1/3 cup canola oil
1/3 cup sugar
2 eggs, beaten
2/3 cup warm milk
3 1/2 - 4 cups flour
1/2 cup butter, melted

Directions:
1. In a small bowl, mix the yeast, 2 tsp. sugar, and warm water. Set aside to allow the yeast to activate. In a separate bowl, mix the salt, oil, and 1/3 cup sugar. Stir in the yeast mixture. Add the eggs and warm milk. Slowly stir in the flour, 1 cup at a time, until dough is firm enough to form a ball (should not be sticky).
2. Cover the dough and allow to rise until double in size (about 2 hours).
3. Divide dough into two pieces. Roll each piece into a circle about 1/4 inch thick. Brush the dough with melted butter. Slice the dough, like a pizza, into 8 wedges, and roll up each wedge from the wide to the narrow end. Repeat with second piece of dough.
4. Place the rolls on baking sheets with the narrow tip of the dough tucked underneath. Cover the rolls and allow to rise for another hour.
5. Brush the tops of the rolls lightly with butter and bake for 8-10 minutes at 375 degrees Fahrenheit.