Saturday, April 11, 2009

Super Moist Turkey

adapted from Trisha Yearwood

12 lb. turkey
1 onion, quartered
1 stalk celery, cut into thirds
1 carrot, cut into thirds
1/2 c butter, softened
Salt
Pepper
Poultry seasoning
1.5 c boiling water

Preheat oven to 500 degrees. Clean and dry turkey, then place in a large roasting pan. (You MUST use a roasting pan with a lid!) Season inside and out with salt, pepper and poultry seasoning. Put half of butter inside cavity, then add onions, carrots and celery. Rub remaining butter on outside of turkey. Pour boiling water around base of turkey. Immediately cover and put pan into oven.

Bake at 500 degrees for one hour. DO NOT OPEN OVEN DOOR AT ANY TIME after the turkey is put into the oven! Let turkey sit in oven until oven is cooled, 4-6 hours.

*Today we are using a 13 lb. turkey, so I am roasting at 500 for 1:20, then turning off the oven and letting it sit.

This is the juiciest turkey EVER. Even my turkey-hating husband LOVES it!

Thursday, April 9, 2009

Blueberry Coffee Cake


1/4 c butter, softened
4 oz fat free cream cheese, softened
1 c sugar
1 egg
1 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1 tsp vanilla
2 cups fresh blueberries
2 tbsp sugar
1 tsp cinnamon

Preheat oven to 350.

Beat butter and cream cheese on medium speed until creamy. Gradually add 1 c sugar, beating well. Add egg; beat well.

Combine flour, baking powder & salt. Stir into butter mixture. Stir in vanilla. Fold in berries. Pour into a sprayed 9" round cake pan. Combine 2 tbsp sugar with 1.5 tsp cinnamon. Sprinkle over batter.

Bake 1 hour. Cool on wire rack.

Makes 8 servings

We made this on Tuesday night after dinner, baked and cooled it while we watched a movie, then refrigerated it overnight. In the morning we just cut it and microwaved the slices for 20 seconds before serving. It was SO good! We may be eating again on Easter even though we just had it yesterday!

Monday, April 6, 2009

Grilled steak, baked corn, creamy potatoes

Last night we went out to dinner at the local BBQ joint. Yummy!

Tonight we had a yummy, filling meal.

Grilled steak:

2 NY strip steaks
3 garlic cloves, minced
1/2 tsp. thyme
1/2 tsp. basil
1/2 tsp. rosemary

Mix garlic, thyme, basil & rosemary. Rub into steak, then grill to desired doneness.

Baked corn:

4 ears corn, shucked
4 tbsp butter, softened
1.5 tsp Mrs. Dash (any flavor, we used Original)

Mix butter and seasoning. Spread evenly over corn. Wrap ears individually in foil. Bake at 400 degrees for 45 minutes, turning occasionally.

Creamy potatoes:

2.5 pounds gold potatoes, peeled and diced
1/4 c butter, softened
3/4 c buttermilk
1/4 c Parmesan cheese, grated
salt and pepper

Boil potatoes in salted water until tender. Drain; return to pan. Mash with potato masher. Stir in butter, buttermilk and cheese. Season with salt and pepper as desired.

We have about 4 cups of mashed potatoes left. We plan on using them tomorrow morning for potato pancakes. Yum!