Frozen Beef Pot Pie

If using a disposable dish, be sure to bake on
a cookie sheet to support the bottom.

        In an earlier post I went over making a beef pot pie. When I made that one, I went ahead and made a second one into a disposable aluminum dish. This was my first attempt at freezing a pot pie to have later. The process was the same as mentioned in my earlier post. In this particular one I also added potatoes. I had some leftover potatoes from a pot roast the night before. I've done raw potatoes in a pie before but they always seem to come out crunchy. I recommend using cooked or half way cooked potatoes if you want to add them to your pie. Then, after I sealed the edges and vented the crust, I covered the whole thing with aluminum foil and put it into the freezer.

        Then to cook it, I put it into the oven and set it to 425 degrees F and set the timer for thirty minutes. After the timer went off, I removed the foil and baked for another thirty minutes. I'm not sure why I thought doubling the bake time would be enough. It wasn't. It wasn't even close. After that first hour, the pie was still frozen in the center! Well, we let it bake for about another hour and forty-five minutes with the foil on, and another fifteen with it off. The pie was finally done. We gave it about ten minutes to cool before eating. 

So for a frozen pie I suggest placing it in the oven and set for 425 degrees Fahrenheit. 

Bake for 2 hours 40 minutes covered with foil and another 20 to 30 minutes without the foil.

        Other than having to wait three times as long as I had originally hoped, the pie was just as great as the fresh one. The filling had a good flavor and smooth consistency. The crust was golden and flaky. Overall, a very good pot pie. I had hoped that this could be one of those meals I could keep in the freezer and just have for dinner when not wanting to make something. However, a freezer pie like this will need some prior thought and planning as it will take about three hours to bake. That said, it will still be a convenient way to make a pot pie. I could spend an hour or so on a day off and make a few to freeze. Then later, it would only be a matter of minutes to get it started. Kind of a set it and don't worry about it for a while. It would allow my family to enjoy one on those days that I don't have the time to devote to the whole process. I can see this as a positive thing for my family, as we do really enjoy them, because we could have them more often. Still we will have to decide on what to have for dinner at least three hours before we will want to eat.

Chicken Pot Pie

        A while back I did a post on a Beef Pot Pie that I had made. Well, pot pies are somewhat of a
regular occurrence for dinner at my house so here is a follow up post about a Chicken Pot Pie.
Much like the beef pie, a chicken pie consists mainly of meat gravy and pastry. I am also partial
to having vegetables mixed in as well and this is no exception. This one featured peas and carrots, which I find go really nicely in this recipe. I hope your family enjoys it as much as my family does.




prep time for pastry and pie: 30 - 40 minutes

cook time: 35 minutes with an additional 10 - 15 to set

• 1 & 1/2 batches of your favorite pastry recipe
• 3 chicken breasts
• 1 medium onion
• 1 tablespoon minced garlic
• 4 tablespoons butter - I've used olive oil with great results too
• 1/2 cup flour
• 2 cans of chicken broth (about 3 & 1/2 cups)
• 1/2 cup powdered parmesan cheese
• salt and pepper to taste
• 1 (12 to 16 ounce) bag of frozen vegetables

bake for about 35 minutes at 425 F and let sit for about 10 minutes before serving.

        The first thing that I start on is the pastry. Make 1 and 1/2 batches of your favorite two crust pastry recipe. I do 150% of my recipe because this will make a pretty deep pie and I like to have a thicker crust. You may find that your recipe is enough as it is. I divide the pastry dough into two parts (one slightly larger than the other), wrap in plastic wrap and put into the refrigerator until I've got the filling made.

         For the filling, I start after I get the pastry in the fridge to cool a little. Start by cutting the chicken and onion. I find it easiest to cut chicken while it is still a little frozen. Then after the onion and chicken is cut, I brown them. If needed, and this will depend on how lean your meat is, I add some extra virgin olive oil. About half way before the chicken is done cooking, add the garlic and salt and pepper to taste. As soon as the chicken and onions are done, I transfer everything into a suitable bowl to wait until the gravy is started.

        To start the gravy heat the butter in the saucepan. I like butter for the chicken pot pie because I think it compliments the other flavors really well. I have used extra virgin olive oil as well and that does a great job as well. After the butter has melted and is hot, add the flour and mix with a whisk to get all the lumps out. Heat the mixture for at least a minute, stirring often. Then add the broth or stock and parmesan cheese. Then mix with the whisk to get all the lumps out. Heat to a boil, then add the chicken and onion mixture that you saved. Again, heat to boiling. Add water until you get the consistency just a little bit thinner than you want the filling to be. Heat to boiling then turn the burner down as far as it will go. About half way through this process I preheat my oven to 425 degrees Fahrenheit.

        At this point I roll out the pastry and line an appropriate pie plate. A 9 inch deep dish pie plate will work great. I happen to use my 9" x 9" square stoneware pan. It's a little more difficult to line the pastry into the pan but it works. As soon as you have the pie plate lined, mix the veggies into the filling and then transfer into the pastry. Now roll out and cover the pie, making sure to seal the edges well. Cut some slits into the top to vent and into the oven it goes. Place it on the middle rack and bake for about 35 minutes. Let sit for about 10 to 15 Minutes. You might not need to let it sit for a long as me because my stoneware pan keeps the heat really well.

        Using myfitnesspal.com as a reference, again, I estimate each 1/6th pie serving has:

• 835 calories
• 67 carbs
• 44 fat
• 41 protein

        I usually use a  big spoon to serve it with. I'm not really as concerned with cutting nice slices as I am getting a good mix of crust and filling, and my family has never seemed to be bothered by it. My kids love it and eat it right up. If I am fortunate enough to have leftovers they are great reheated up the next day for lunch. Enjoy ....

Ginger Beer Marinade

        The other day I had my extended family over for a barbecue and decided to grill some ribs  I like the country style ribs as they have a lot of meat on them and I had some that I had previously bought on sale. I love to marinate and for all the obvious reasons. It adds moisture, flavor and helps tenderize the meat. They are also easy to make and use. I have also used ginger beer in a brine. Be sure to check out that post as well. A marinade is pretty much some type of liquid acid with seasonings that you soak the meat in prior to cooking. The acid is often vinegar, wine or lemon juice. So I whipped up a couple of batches of marinade for the ribs  The first one was my go to marinade for barbecue.

• 1/2 cup vinegar
• 1/4 cup lemon juice
• 1/2 to 1 cup barbecue sauce
• 1 teaspoonful liquid smoke - I consider this a must if not using wood or charcoal to cook with
• 1 teaspoon black pepper

        I usually put all this into a gallon zip-top bag and mix by squeezing from the outside and then put about two to three pounds of meat, or just whatever fits. Squeeze out all the air you can and zip the top shut. You can use pretty much any container that seals water tight. This then goes into the refrigerator for about two hours. I've done longer and that has worked great as well, but two hours seems to be sufficient most of the time. A marinade works from the outside in so flip the bag over about every fifteen to twenty minutes to make sure that all sides get to have as much contact with the marinade as possible. When you are ready grill the meat as you usually would. You can also reserve some of the marinade to baste with wile the meat is cooking. If you do that, make sure that you give it plenty of time for the marinade to fully cook. After all, raw meat was in that juice and you don't want to contaminate your food. I then grilled the ribs and brushed on more barbecue sauce about five minutes before I took them off the grill.

        So that's my usual method for grilling barbecue. In addition to the batch of marinated ribs I just mentioned I did a second batch and tried a new marinade. This one with Ginger Beer as part of the liquid. I was first introduced to ginger beer a while ago. It is a popular soda flavor in many parts of the world, just not in the United States. I find ginger beer to be much stronger than ginger ale, at least when it comes to the ginger. As soda is acidic it can potentially make a good marinade. I used a bottle of Reed's Ginger Beer. The Extra Ginger Brew kind. I picked it up a while back at a Fry's (Kroger) grocery store. I've also seen ginger beer at world markets and the soft drink section at Bev Mo. I enjoy ginger beer but this Extra Ginger Brew was too strong even for my taste, so I never got around to drinking this bottle. On to the marinade.

• 1 bottle of ginger beer - I think any brand will do
• a splash of lemon juice
• 1/4 cup barbecue sauce
• 1 teaspoonful liquid smoke - I consider this a must if not using wood or charcoal to cook with
• 1 teaspoon black pepper

        I just followed the steps mentioned above and it turned out great. I wasn't able to ever get all the air out of my zip-top bag as the carbonation in the ginger beer was constantly releasing gaseous carbon dioxide. I did my best though, and it did turn out great.

        I tried one without adding barbecue sauce on at the end, kind of like a control. It was juicy and had a nice flavor. So I think that this marinade is a good one even without the barbecue sauce. The ribs from this batch turned out great. They were more tender and the ginger flavor was a good addition to the barbecue flavor from the sauce. Both batches were great ribs, with the smokey flavor from the liquid smoke and the barbecue flavor from the sauce both working together to turn out an amazing flavor. The ginger beer marinade was a great enhancement to an already great flavor combination. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did.

Chewy Chocolate, Chocolate Chip Cookies

        How's that for some alliteration? Well in addition to employing a classic literary device, the title is also descriptive for my next recipe. This recipe started as a way to do something nice for a friend having a rough day. You know the kind. Those days you just need some chocolate. Having some chocoholics in the family probably had something to do with it too. So, here I was trying to think of a recipe to do with what I had on hand, and this is what I came up with. It is a great chocolate cookie with a chewy texture.  I hope you like it.

• 1 stick of softened butter (8 tablespoonfuls)
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 3/4 cup brown sugar
• 2 teaspoonfuls vanilla
• 1 dark chocolate bar (6.8 ounce)
• 2 eggs
• 2 & 1/4 cup flour
• 1/2 teaspoonful salt
• 1 teaspoonful baking soda
• 2 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit 

        Cream butter and white sugar. While you have that going, melt the chocolate bar. I broke it up and  microwaved it in a microwave safe bowl. I microwaved it in one minute increments on 30% power and stirred it three times. We don't need the chocolate to get rally hot, we only need the chocolate to melt. After the white sugar and butter gets creamed add the brown sugar and vanilla. Next beat in the eggs. After that slowly add the melted chocolate and mix well. In a separate bowl mix the flour, baking soda, and salt. Mix the flour mixture to the chocolate mixture in parts. Finally, mix in the chips. Spoon onto un-greased cookie sheet and bake at 350 for 8 to 10 minutes.

yield: about 4 dozen cookies

        per cookie (approximately)

calories: 109

carbs: 17

fat: 5

protein: 1

        I think that this recipe could also be great with a few variations. Add some chopped nuts. Try white chocolate or peanut butter chips. Have some fun with it.

Potato Soup, Slow Cooker Recipe

        Slow cooker recipes are always a welcome addition to my recipe collection. They are usually pretty easy and don't take a lot of skill to make. They also don't require you to heat up your oven and use less energy to do the cooking than your oven. Those are all good reasons to like using a slow cooker. However, a soup like this, with a lot of dairy, takes a little extra care to do in a slow cooker without burning the milk. Still, it is pretty easy to do and turns out great.
        My potato soup recipe is fairly basic and can be modified really easily. The cheese and milk give it a nice creamy flavor that can work well as a base for other ingredients than just potatoes. The leftovers were really great as well. I used milk powder for several of reasons. The first, is that I didn't want the milk to scorch while the potatoes were cooking. The second is that using the milk powder allows for me to have the liquid made almost entirely of milk without risking burning the milk. Also, it is a lot easier for me to commit three quarts worth of powdered milk to a recipe like this because it is stored at room temperature, rather than committing three quarters of a gallon of fresh milk from my refrigerator. While drinking powdered milk does not taste much like drinking fresh milk, I can't tell the difference when using it to cook with. So here it goes.

        This recipe is for a 7 quart slow cooker.
        Prep time: about 20 plus 10 minutes
        Cook time: about 3 to 4 hours plus 30 minutes
        Yield: 14 - 2 cup servings

Ingredients:

• 5 pounds potatoes, peeled and diced
• 1 medium to large yellow or white onion, chopped
• 1 heaping tablespoonful of minced garlic
• 2 cubes chicken bouillon crushed and/ or dissolved
• salt to taste ( I used about 2 tablespoonfuls )
• pepper to taste ( I used about 2 tablespoonfuls )
• about 2 quarts water
• 2 - 8 ounce packets of neufchatel cheese (cream cheese will work just fine)
• 2 & 1/4 cups non-fat milk powder (enough to make 3 quarts of milk)
• 1/2 cup corn starch
• about 1 & 1/2 quarts water

Instructions:

        Peel and dice the potatoes and place them in a seven quart slow cooker with about two quarts of water. Add the chopped onion and minced garlic. Salt and pepper to taste and add the chicken bouillon. At this point you may need to add more water. You want to just cover the potatoes and onion with liquid. Cook for 3 to 4 hours on high. The potatoes should be done. 

        Add the cheese and cover with the potato mixture so that it starts to soften and melt while you mix the milk and starch. In a 1 to 1 & 1/2 quarts of water mix enough non-fat milk powder to make 3 quarts of milk. I recommend using a gallon container and a hand mixer for this part. After you have gotten all the lumps out of the milk powder you can mix in the corn starch. You may need to adjust the amount of corn starch depending on how thick you want the soup. Add the milk and suspended corn starch to your slow cooker and stir well. Make sure that the cheese gets well mixed into your soup. Add more water to fill your slow cooker and make sure that everything is mixed well. Replace the lid and cook on high for another 30 minutes. Enjoy

        From the myfitnesspal.com web site I estimate that each 2 cup serving is about 

• 320 calories
• 51 g carbohydrates
• 7 g fat
• 12 g protein 

        I think several alterations will be great for this recipe. Add a bag of frozen corn to the soup when you add the milk. Add some chicken or bacon in with the potatoes at the start. Some green onion or leeks would also taste great in this. Any or all of those suggestions as well as many others can really enhance this recipe. Go ahead and experiment.

        

Beef Pot Pie

I didn't seal the edges the best and the
gravy leaked out the sides a bit.

        I love pot pies. My family loves them too. That's why anytime I have some extra time to make a meal, a pot pie is usually at the top of the list. To be perfectly honest I love pies in general. A pie that I can have for dinner that doesn't call in some guilt for having sweets as a meal, what's not to love? Well recently my wonderful wife was trying to decide on something yummy to do with some frozen stew beef that we had. Almost immediately my mouth started watering for a beef pot pie.

        I've long since abandoned the recipes that got me through the first few pies like this that I made. For me it's one of those things that I've practiced enough that I just feel my way through and change things up every time to gauge the results. This time was no different. Not only do I kind of wing it when I make a pot pie, I prefer to use my own broth or stock. I collect and strain the dripping off of any roasting that I do, provided of course that I didn't use it for gravy. I freeze it in zip-top bags in about two cup amounts. This helps to assure that I have some on hand when I need some. Also, I make my own pastry. I think I'll go more into my favorite Pastry recipe in a future post. Now on to what I did.

Prep time for pastry and pie : 30 - 45 minutes

• 1 and 1/2 batches of your favorite two crust pie crust recipe
• at least 1 pound of beef, chopped into chunks- I used stew beef. I've used roast, steak and stew meat, all with great result
• 1 medium onion chopped
• 1 teaspoon minced garlic
• 1 teaspoon liquid smoke
• pepper and seasoned salt
• about 3 tablespoons of oil - I used extra virgin olive oil with a little vegetable oil. I've also used butter or shortening with great results.
• 1/2 cup flour
• about 2 cups beef broth or stock
• 1 to 2 teaspoonfuls seasoned salt depending on how salty your broth or stock is
• 1 to 2 cups water
• 1 package frozen mixed vegetables - I use the one that has green beans, carrots and corn, use whatever you like
  

  

  I find it easier to roll the pastry between
  two pieces of waxed paper

  
  Bake for about 35 minutes at 425 F.
  Let sit for about 10 minutes.
  
  

        First make 1 and 1/2 batches of your favorite two crust pastry recipe. I do 150% of my recipe because this will make a pretty deep pie and I like to have a thicker crust. You may find that your recipe is enough as it is. I divide the pastry dough into two parts (one slightly larger than the other), wrap in plastic wrap and put into the refrigerator until I've got the filling made.

This is going to be tasty. 

        For the filling, I start after I get the pastry in the fridge to cool a little. Start by browning the beef and onion. If needed, and this will depend on how lean your meat is, I add some extra virgin olive oil. Add the liquid smoke. About half way before the beef is all the way browned, add the garlic and salt and pepper to taste. As soon as the beef is browned I transfer everything into a suitable bowl to wait until the gravy is started.

        To start the gravy heat the oil in the saucepan. After the oil is hot add the flour and mix with a whisk to get all the lumps out. Heat the mixture for at least a minute, stirring often. Then add the broth or stock and mix with the whisk to get all the lumps out. Heat to a boil, then add the Beef mixture that you saved. Again, heat to boiling. Add water until you get the consistency just a little bit thinner than you want the filling to be. Heat to boiling then turn the burner down as far as it will go. About half way through this process I preheat my oven to 425 degrees Fahrenheit.

I know it's not pretty, I only flute the edges
when I'm taking the pie out somewhere
 people will see. It tastes the same anyway.

        At this point I roll out the pastry and line an appropriate pie plate. A 9 inch deep dish pie plate will work great. I happen to use my 9" x 9" square stoneware pan. It's a little more difficult to line the pastry into the pan but it works. As soon as you have the pie plate lined, mix the veggies into the filling and then transfer into the pastry. Now roll out and cover the pie, making sure to seal the edges well. Cut some slits into the top to vent and into the oven it goes. Place it on the middle rack and bake for about 35 minutes. Let sit for about 10 Minutes. You might not need to let it sit for a long as me because my stoneware pan keeps the heat really well.

        I usually use a spoon to serve it with. I'm not really as concerned with cutting nice slices as I am getting a good mix of crust and filling, and my family has never seemed to be bothered by it. My kids love it and eat it right up. If I am fortunate enough to have leftovers they are great reheated up the next day for lunch. Enjoy ....

Buffalo Chicken and Potato Casserole

        I tried a recipe my wife had pinned on Pinterest. I may personally not be that big on Pinterest but, as I'm sure many wives are, my wife is addicted. So in addition to all the diy flower appliques on baby shoes, she pins a lot of interesting recipes.

The chicken  and buffalo sauce ready for the potato mixture

This makes it easy for me when I want to try something new but haven't found anything just yet. I just look through her food board. This particular recipe looked like it would be a good one to try, for a couple of reasons.  It looked like it would use a few potatoes and my wife has been worried about using the ones we have before they start growing more potatoes. Also, and most importantly, as I read the description I thought it sounded really good. It turned out that it was.

potato mixture on top

This recipe can be found on the Holy Cannoli Recipes blog.

http://holycannolirecipes.blogspot.com/2011/05/buffalo-chicken-potato-casserole.html

        As she already covered it in detail, I'll just give you the cliff notes. Basically, you mix just over a pound worth of cut up boneless, skinless chicken with some buffalo sauce and layer in in the bottom of a non-stick sprayed 13" x 9" pan. Next mix about 5 cups of shredded potato with about a cup of ranch dressing, a can of condensed cream of chicken soup and some shredded cheese. That gets layered on top of the chicken followed by some bread crumbs. Put foil across the top and bake for about 30 minutes at 350f. Remove foil and bake for another 25 minutes. At this point I found that the potatoes weren't done yet, so I baked it for about another 20 minutes.

finished dish

        According to the writer of Holy Cannoli, this recipe is meant to be done with cream of celery instead of cream of chicken, blue cheese instead of ranch and frozen hash browns instead of shredded potatoes. So it seems that this recipe can be tweaked fairly easily to accommodate personal taste. As my wife doesn't like celery or blue cheese, I don't think I'll get to experiment much with this one.
        So the finished dish is a nice buffalo flavored chicken with crispy topped creamy ranch potatoes on top. Now if you like buffalo chicken dipped in ranch, you will enjoy how all of this comes together. My wife and I both really liked how everything played together. I will be looking more into what Holy Cannoli has to offer. If the other recipes are this good, I'm in for a treat. At any rate, this one was great and I will be making it again in the future. Thanks to Holy Cannoli Recipes for letting me share this one.

Soft Brown Sugar Cookies

        This was another great find by my wife on Pinterest. +Susie Buetow posted this on her Susie QT pies Scraps of Life blog and said I could share on my blog. You'll want to give these a try.

I added the frosting while it was still warm and runny to give
it that smooth coating.

        This recipe was a hit. I brought some to a family get together and received a lot of positive comments about these. I think for me the best part was the flavor. The sour cream and the brown sugar make for a really nice sweet flavor. I've always preferred the taste of brown sugar over white. I do like the flavor of molasses  so brown sugar is a welcome change from standard white granulated sugar. The taste is smooth with a hint of creaminess from the sour cream and a hint of molasses from the brown sugar. Great combination in my opinion.  Also, and I think this has a lot to do with the sour cream, these are extremely soft. I think I would have preferred them a little stiffer and more chewy, but that is my opinion and preference.  If you are a fan of super soft cookies, then these are the best sugar cookies in that category that I am aware of. Without further delay, here is the recipe.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. 

Ingredients:

• 2/3 cup softened butter
• 1 & 1/2 cup packed brown sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1 teaspoonful vanilla extract
• 2 & 1/2 cup flour
• 1/2 teaspoonful baking powder
• 1 teaspoonful baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoonful salt
• 1 cup sour cream

Instructions:

         Cream together the sugar and butter. Beat in eggs one at a time and add the vanilla. Continue creaming the mixture until light. In another bowl mix together with a whisk the flour, baking powder, baking soda and the salt. Slowly add flour mixture and sour cream to creamed mixture by alternating portions. Mix well. 

        Drop by spoonfuls onto a lightly greased cookie sheet. Bake for 8 - 10 minutes. Cool on a wire rack. After cookies are cool, frost with Browned Butter Frosting. 

        Makes 2 - 4 dozen depending on spoonful sizes.

Browned Butter Frosting

• 1/4 cup butter
• 1 & 1/2 cup powdered sugar
• 2 tablespoonfuls milk

        Melt butter over medium heat in a suitable saucepan. Heat the butter until it turns golden brown. Keep an eye on the butter as it will go from melted to brown very quickly. You don't want to miss it and over cook the butter. Remove from heat and stir in powdered sugar. Add milk until the desired consistency is met.

        One thing I noticed when taking them off the sheet, was that my vinyl spatula was tearing the cookies up on the bottom. I switched to a metal spatula that was much thinner and I was able to get the cookies from the sheet to the cooling rack much easier. I personally prefer sugar cookies without frosting. So I made most of them plain. However, the Browned Butter Frosting that was suggested in the recipe seemed likely to enhance the overall flavor. So I made some to try. While I still think I personally liked them better plain, the frosting was great and really did enhance the already great flavor of the cookies.  Don't skip the frosting just because you don't normally like frosting on your cookies. At least give it a try. 

        At any rate these where great. I look forward to enjoying them again. I recommend giving them a try.

Crunchy Caramel Corn

        This is a personal favorite of mine. I love caramel corn of all kinds. Soft and chewy or crunchy. I even love the store bought kind like Fiddle Faddle etc. However, there is something satisfying about a good crunchy snack. I happen to think that my crunchy caramel corn is the best. Well, at least it's the best that I've tried. This recipe is one that I dug out of my mothers box of recipes. I have no idea where it came from. I don't know if she or some other member of the family made it up or if someone found it in a cookbook or on the back of a box of brown sugar or something. I do know that my mother made it as least as far back as when I was a little child of three or four years old, possibly earlier. Those are my earliest memories of it at least. At any rate here is the recipe.

• 16 cups popped popcorn
• 1 cup peanuts - optional
• 1 cup packed brown sugar
• 1/4 cup light corn syrup
• 1 stick butter
• a pinch of salt
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda

Preheat oven to 300 degrees Fahrenheit

        First, divide the popcorn and peanuts into a couple of 13" x 9" baking pans. Make sure to keep out any unpopped kernels  It's not fun chomping down on one of those. Then in a saucepan melt and bring to a boil the butter, sugar, syrup and salt. Stir constantly. As soon as it gets to a boil, stop stirring and let it continue to boil for one minute. Don't let it go too much further than that or you can burn the sugar. Then remove from heat and stir in the vanilla and baking soda. It should bubble up and and get kind of fluffy. Without delay, pour over the popcorn and stir it in to coat all of the popcorn. Then place the pans in the oven on the center rack for 10 minutes. Stir again and bake for another 8 -10 minutes. Again, cooking for too long can burn the sugar. After it is done baking spread out into a single layer on some wax paper and allow to cool. Spreading it out helps you to get the popcorn broken up into small bite sized pieces and lets it cool faster. You should end up with a crisp and crunchy caramel corn.

        I almost always omit the peanuts as a couple members of my family are allergic  I personally love the nuts in it, but I usually don't want to make two batches. I just want to eat some. Even without the nuts it is very good. I've always gotten positive feedback on it. I hope you enjoy it as well.

Turkey Brine and Aromatic

        I know that Thanksgiving is over, but Christmas is coming up. I know that a lot of people like to have turkey for Christmas dinner as well as Thanksgiving. So I thought I'd share with you what I did. Our Turkeys turned out moist tender and flavorful. Part of that reason was the brine.

        I know that there has been some debate about the benefits of brining a Turkey. I am still a fan. I like the texture of a bird that has been brined and it is very moist. I suppose that it will all boil down to preference. Still, it will be your bird, and you will be the one eating it. Some say you can't make gravy with the drippings. I've personally never had that problem. My gravy always seems to come out pretty good. One thing to note, is that brining will add salt to your turkey. Perhaps people are adding too much salt, which then is too much for gravy. Basically brining causes some exchanges of water and salts in and out of the flesh. First, the bird which is relatively unsalty, loses water and allows salt to enter the meat. After the meat is saltier, then water enters the meat, more than the original amount which makes it moister. Well that's the basics of what happens. It does take time and preparation so you will need to plan ahead. So go if you want to brine then follow along.

Brine

• 2 to 3 gallons of water and ice
• 6 to 10 teaspoons salt
• 6 to 10 teaspoons packed brown sugar
• 2 tablespoons liquid smoke
• 1 tablespoon black pepper
• 1 tablespoon allspice
• 1 tablespoon minced garlic
• 1 lemon cut in half
• 1 small onion cut in half
• 1 ginger beer

        You are going to want to try and keep the salt/ sugar ratio to about 10 teaspoons for every 3 gallons. Don't worry too much about being precise. these are just rough guidelines. I did about two gallons for a twelve pound turkey. So use your best judgement to plan ahead. Mix about two quarts of water with all of the other ingredients except the ginger beer. Bring to a boil, making sure all the salt and sugar dissolve completely. Allow the mixture to cool completely and refrigerate. You can use ice to cool and chill the mixture quicker. I like to use a plastic bucket to brine my turkey in. I use a 3&1/2 or 5 gallon bucket depending on the size of the turkey. Mix the now chilled brine mixture with more water and the ginger beer to bring to your final volume. Place your thawed, cleaned (no internal organs etc) turkey in the brine. Make sure that the turkey is completely covered. Weigh it down if you need to. Cover and refrigerate for 10 to 20 hours depending on the size of your bird. You don't want to leave it in too long or it can get too salty. You will want to do a minimum of eight hours to make sure it is moist enough. I did my twelve pound turkey for about twelve hours.

        After the bird has been in the brine you will want to rinse it off inside and out and pat it dry before cooking. Stuff the bird with aromatics if you want and cook it with your preferred method. Make sure to get it to a safe internal temperature but not overdone. The meat should come out moist, tender and flavorful. Enjoy.

        I like to pair a brined bird with some things meant to add more flavor to the meat. To be honest the flavors from the brine are really subtle. Still, I think a brined bird tastes a lot better. The aromatics enhance and kick the flavor up another notch. If you also want to give it a try, this is what I like to do.

Aromatics

• a fist full of fresh rosemary
• a small onion cut in quarters
• an apple cut in quarters
• a tablespoon minced garlic
• a tablespoon cinnamon
• a tablespoon sage

        Alternating ingredients a portion at a time, I layer them into the cavity of the bird. Again, this is not something that needs precision. The amounts given are just a guideline. Feel free to adjust as you see fit. After the bird is stuffed with the aromatics, cook it with you r favorite method. Make sure to get it to a safe internal temperature but not overdone. 

Image courtesy of TheKohser and used under Creative Commons and GNU licences. https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Oven_roasted_brine-soaked_turkey.jpg

        I have always loved the turkeys I have cooked after brining and stuffing with aromatics. I love how juicy and tender they are. I love how flavorful they are. I was hooked after the first time I tried one like this. I don't think I'll stop preparing them this way anytime soon. I hope you enjoy the results as much as I do.

Happy Thanksgiving

Well Thanksgiving is over. Black Friday too. I don't know about you, but I had a wonderful Thanksgiving. There was a lot of wonderful food all around. I was very fortunate to be able to spend this day and enjoy good food with family. This is the stuff that some of the best memories are made from.

Even though I had work all week, except Thanksgiving Day, including Black Friday and the following weekend, I started my cooking contributions Monday night. I actually didn't even get my turkey until then. I know, I know, that's bad planning on my part. So I got that thawing in ice water. The size turkey I had took about 12 hours to thaw. After I got that going, I made some pies. All the great pies everyone brings, are one of the best parts of Thanksgiving for me. This year I made up my own pie to make. I'm not yet happy with the results but when I get that recipe where I want it, I'll share it with you. After the turkey had thawed out, it was time for the brine. So on Tuesday I got the brine made and the turkey in it. Wednesday was mostly uneventful for me. About all I did that day was get the stuff ready for putting the turkey together to cook. Some sweet potatoes, carrots and onion to cook with and some apples, onion, fresh rosemary and garlic to stuff the bird with for flavor. I was scheduled for work until late so my wife got it out of the brine, put together and started cooking. If you're paying attention you may notice that we started cooking the turkey on Wednesday. No, we didn't eat it on Wednesday  we had the turkey Thursday evening. We planned on cooking in a pit and planned on cooking for the better part of a full day. Thursday was the busy day for me. I started cooking about 6:30 in the morning. I got a batch of rolls rising. Then went and did some sale shopping. After I returned home I made cupcakes and cookies. Kneaded the roll dough and form rolls for them to rise again. Also my wife and I made mashed potatoes. At 1:00 in the afternoon it was time for lunch with my family. Later it was time to help get the turkeys out of the pit, bake the rolls, and make some more mashed potatoes. 

We had many of the traditional Thanksgiving Day foods. Including but not limited to turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes, garden salad, green bean casserole, and rolls. Like many of you, I'm sure, my family spent some time with both sides of our family. On my side we went to my grandmother's house. We had roast turkey and all the fixing there. My mother cooked the turkey and it was a good one. I like her stuffing. She makes it with french bread, celery and onion and bakes it in the oven. My family has never really been one for stuffing the actual bird. Mostly  I think, because everyone wants some and the bird wont hold enough. So why bother stuffing the bird and baking more when it is easier to just bake all of it. We had peach cobbler, pecan pie, lemon meringue pie, chocolate meringue pie, my butter finger pie, apple pie and some little pumpkin custard pies. Yes, we like pies.

Later we had dinner with my wife's family. We had more people there so we had two turkeys. These were cooked in the pit. I brined one and my sister-in-law brined the other. My wife and sister-in-law were the ones that actually got them into the pit though. I personally like the pit cooked turkey better. It was more moist, tender and flavorful. Other members brought in some great food as well. We had sweet potatoes, mashed potatoes, stuffing, green bean casserole, carrots, onion, and rolls. Pecan and pumpkin pie were brought. We also had cookies and cupcakes. 

It was great getting to spend the day with our families and share all the wonderful food. There were many great dishes. I am grateful for times like these, when we can not only enjoy such great food but share it with those we love. I hope your Thanksgiving celebration was a great one as well.

Image courtesy of Tom Curtis / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Homemade Butterfingers Recipe

        As promised, here's more about those homemade butter fingers. So what to do about all that leftover candy? Specifically candy corn. Personally, I like candy corn for about a day and then it is just gross. Of course I keep eating it anyway, all the while thinking how much I don't like it anymore. So that is why this recipe seems like the perfect solution for that leftover candy corn.

These are amazing, give them a try.

        My co-worker originally told me about this recipe and I am so glad she did. It comes from the Plain Chicken blog. She's actually got a lot of great recipes to try out. I will be going back to try more. Here's the link Plain Chicken: Homemade Butterfingers

Here is the simple recipe

• 1 pound candy corn
• 1 pound peanut butter
• 1 pound almond bark

        Melt the candy corn. Place it into a microwave safe bowl and microwave on high for one minute. Stir, then microwave for fifteen more seconds. Alternate stirring and microwaving on high in fifteen second increments until candy corn is completely melted. Mix in the peanut butter and then spread into a parchment lined 8" x 8" pan and let cool completely. 

        After the filling has cooled, cut into pieces  Melt almond bark, and dip the cut filling pieces into the chocolate. Place coated pieces onto waxed paper and let cool completely. Enjoy.

        Overall, I found the process pretty easy. However, this was the first time that I had ever tried to chocolate coat anything, and that turned out a little more difficult than I had anticipated. I think If I had frozen the filling pieces after I cut them, they would have been easier to work with. Smaller pieces probably would've helped too. As soon as I got them into the chocolate, they got warm and started to get soft and fall apart. 

        Some tips I can give, start with getting your peanut butter out of the jar first. Let's face it, it takes time to get a whole pound of peanut butter out of a jar. You don't want the candy corn to cool too much before you get it mixed with the peanut butter. It gets too hard to work with. Also, the microwave method is not your only option for melting the candy corn. If you are more comfortable, a double boiler will also work. Either way, be careful not to scorch it. Next, cut the cooled filling with a straight edged knife with a thin blade. I tried a serrated knife and a thicker blade and they both broke the filling up more than cut it. The chocolate can also be melted in the microwave or on the stove with a double boiler. Either way, be careful not to scorch it. Freeze the filling pieces before dipping as it will make them easier to work with in the chocolate. I'm sure there are many other things that could make it easier to do this already easy recipe but those are the ones I noticed.

        Like all the comments that I noticed said, this recipe is really delicious. I personally think that the peanut butter flavor is a little stronger in these than the original. However, that may be due to the brand and type of peanut butter that I used. The taste is awesome at any rate. The texture is not the crispy, crunchy texture from the original. Mine did turn out crispy and crunchy, just a lot chewier and softer than the original. Even though it was not the same as the commercial product, I did fine the texture very pleasing and ultimately adding to a very enjoyable piece of candy. My family loved them. Well those without peanut allergies that is. I made chocolate covered pretzels and popcorn with the leftover almond bark to make up for it though. So everyone got a treat. I hope you enjoy these as well. I thought they were great.

Thanks to Plain Chicken for letting me share this one.