Buttery rolls with cinnamon honey butter

Buttery rolls with cinnamon honey butter

Makes: 15 rolls

This year for thanksgiving I decided to make EVERYTHING from scratch for a few different reasons. First being that I am taking a whole foods approach, and I want to know everything that is in the foods I eat. second being that if I am going to eat foods that contain wheat or other grains I want to know exactly what is going into them so that I can buy the best ingredients possible.

I removed grains from all the recipes where it would not negatively affect the recipe (Pumpkin pie, apple pie, stuffed mushrooms) and used all natural sweeteners where I could (Pumpkin Pie, apple pie, sweet potato casserole, cranberry sauce) that way the few recipes I was making that contained wheat and/or sugar (these rolls, stuffing, gravy and jalapeno popper dip) I knew exactly what I was getting, and they are only a small component of the overall meal. Its easy to have wheat and sugar in just about every dish for Thanksgiving, and thats something that I really wanted to try and reduce this year, without sacrificing any of the flavor or texture.

Rolls Ingredients:

1 cup plus 1 tablespoon water (luke warm)
1 large egg
4 1/2 teaspoons lard, melted
1/4 cup sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
3 1/4 cup bread flour
2 1/4 teaspoons instant yeast
2 tablespoons melted butter

Instructions:

Combine all ingredients except butter in the order they are listed above using a stand mixer with the dough hook attachment.

Knead with the dough hook until the dough is smooth and elastic.
 
Cover with plastic wrap and allow to rise double in size, about an hour.

Once dough has risen, remove from bowl onto a lightly floured surface. Shape into 15 balls. Oiling fingers will help keep dough from sticking to your hands.

Lightly butter a 9x13 baking pan. Place rolls onto baking pan, cover and let rise until double in size, about 30 minutes.

Bake at 350 degrees for 15 minutes or until a light, golden brown.

After removing from the oven, brush with melted butter.

Butter Ingredients:

1 stick room temperature butter
1/4 cup powdered sugar
1/4 cup honey
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

Instructions: In a bowl with an electric mixer with whisk attachment beat butter until light in color, add in sugar, honey and cinnamon and beat until well combined, light and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Store covered in the fridge for up to 5 days, serve at room temperature.

Serve warm.

Paleo sweet potato casserole

Paleo sweet potato casserole
Serves: 10-12+



Makes 12 servings
4 large sweet potatoes
1/2 cup canned coconut milk
1 Tbsp. butter
2 Tbsp. maple syrup
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1/2 tsp ground ginger
1/2 tsp pumpkin pie spice
juice of half an orange
Pecan topping
3/4 cup chopped raw pecans
1 tsp cinnamon
1 Tbsp maple syrup
1 tsp melted butter

Instructions:


1. Bake your sweet potatoes in the oven at 375 for 45-60 minutes until they are fork tender.

2. After they have cooled, take the skin and remove it.
3.  Place cubed potatoes into your stand mixer and add in all the other ingredients. Using the mixer, blend until potatoes reach desired consistency and flavor. (You may like to add a little more coconut milk, spices, or syrup based on your taste.)

4. In a small bowl, combine all topping ingredients until pecans are well coated.
5. Dump sweet potatoes into an oven safe dish and top with pecan mixture.

6. Bake in preheated oven until topping is browned–about 15 minutes. Serve warm.

Scratch made Green Bean Casserole

Scratch made Green Bean Casserole

Serves: 10-12

Ingredients:

2 lbs. fresh green beans - steamed 

1/2 package mushrooms, sliced

1/2 onion, diced small

3 garlic cloves, minced

4 tablespoons butter

1 teaspoon soy sauce

1 cup heavy cream

1 cup chicken or turkey stock (RECIPE)

1/2 cup sour cream

4 tablespoons flour of choice

2 cups finely shredded cheddar cheese

1/4 grated parmesan

1 large onion for (ONION TANGLERS)

Instructions:

Place 2 tablespoons butter into a large pot or skillet. Add in mushrooms and cook down until soft. Add in onion and garlic and cook for several minutes. 

Then add in the flour and whisk until combined. Add in your warm stock and heavy cream and bring to a boil, then reduce to a simmer as it thickens. Check seasoning.

Steam or boil your green beans until they are soft.

Add into your pot along with your shredded cheeses, soy sauce and sour cream. 

Stir to combine and add to a 9x13 baking dish.

Top with your onion tanglers (recipe) or french fried onions and bake at 350 for 20 minutes until bubbly and browned on top.

Thanksgiving Stuffing from Scratch

Thanksgiving Stuffing from Scratch
Serves: 10-12+


Ingredients:


2 round sourdough loaves (source from a quality baker), at least 2 days old
1 lb ground sage or (hot italian) sausage
3-4 leaves of kale, stems removed and finely chopped
1/2 package of sliced mushrooms
1 small onion, diced
3 garlic cloves, minced
2 stalks of celery
2 cans of sliced water chestnuts, drained
1 egg
2 quarts (approx.) of homemade chicken or turkey broth (RECIPE) warmed
1/4 cup of dried cranberries, rehydrated in broth before adding in
2 tablespoons butter
salt and pepper
fresh parsley, sage, thyme, tarragon chopped

Instructions:

Take your sourdough bread and chop into bite-sized pieces. Place in a 200 degree oven and dry out for 10 minutes. Melt 2 tablespoons butter and add in chopped fresh parsley, sage, thyme and tarragon to the butter and then gently saute the croutons in the butter until golden brown and crispy. 

In the meantime, in a large skillet, add in the ground sausage and brown. Bread sausage into small pieces. Remove from pan. 

Add in the onion, garlic, mushrooms, kale, and celery to the skillet and saute with 2 additional tablespoons butter. 

Once everything has softened, add the sausage back in. Adjust seasonings.

Add bread and sausage mixture into a large crock-pot and add in your softened dried cranberries and water chestnuts.

Whisk your egg and add it into the 2 quarts (approximately) of warm chicken stock, slowly pour into crock-pot while stirring ingredients. Once all liquid has been added, make sure that your stuffing is moist throughout. Cook on low for 4 hours, removing the lid the final hour to crisp up the top. 

Bacon and Jalapeño Popper Dip

Bacon and Jalapeño Popper Dip
Serves: 18



My jalapeno poppers are kind of legendary, I've made them for years now, not just for parties, but sometimes for dinner, they are that good! This year for thanksgiving I was looking to recreate some of my old recipes, and I've seen a few of these floating around with the onset of football season, so I decided to give a jalapeno popper dip a try.

First things first, my dip varies from others out there, because it absolutely had to contain bacon, that is the best part of my jalapeno poppers. Next, all the recipes that I saw out there used a very small amount of fresh raw jalapenos for the dip, YUCK! Everyone knows that the sweet and smoky deliciousness of a jalapeno comes from roasting it, like in my jalapeno popper recipe, so I knew I had to keep that element.

If you were looking to make this grain-free or primal, you could omit the cracker topping or use a gluten free cracker substitute, but being that it is thanksgiving, I've decided to omit grains where it made sense for the recipe, and that way the recipes that use grains are a special treat for Thanksgiving that doesn't sacrifice flavor and texture. 

Ingredients:

1 pkg. (8 oz.)  Cream Cheese, softened
1/2 cup  Mayonnaise
1/2 cup shredded cheddar cheese
1/4 cup grated parmesan cheese
8-10 jalapeño peppers, roasted whole in oven until soft, then chopped
6 slices of bacon, cooked until crisp and chopped
12 Ritz Crackers, crushed (about 1/2 cup)

Instructions:

Roast your jalapeno peppers ahead of time over an open flame, or in the oven until the skins have blistered and softened. Remove skins and chop jalapenos. If you want to tame the heat, remove the seeds inside. 

Beat cream cheese and mayo in medium bowl until well blended. Stir in cheese and peppers.

 

Once cooked and well combined stir in the bacon bits.

You can either place into a small crock pot to warm through and serve out of, or place into a small casserole dish and bake at 350 for 20 minutes.


Makes 18 Servings (2 Tbls Per Serving)

Nutritional Info: Calories 180; Carbs 13g; Protein 3g; Fat 13g; Fiber 0g

Thanksgiving Roasted Turkey

Thanksgiving Roasted Turkey 

Ingredients;

1 turkey - I had a 20lb turkey for this recipe
1 gallon apple cider
1 handfull whole peppercorns
3-4 bay leaves
1 cup salt
1 cup sugar
1 tablespoon each dried thyme and rosemary
1 lemon

1 quart turkey stock (or chicken or veggie stock)
1/4 cup white wine
1 stick butter
celery ribs
carrots
mushroom stems
onion
garlic
parsley stems
lemon zest
salt and pepper

Instructions:

The first thing I did was brine my turkey. Tuesday evening I took the mostly thawed turkey and placed in a large stock pot ( you can buy brining bags if you don't have a large enough pot).

In a large saucepan I added 1 gallon apple cider with 1 cup salt and 1 cup of sugar.

Then I placed a handful of black peppercorns, a tablespoon dried rosemary and thyme, and brought the mixture up to a simmer to dissolve the salt and sugar.

Then I added 1 gallon of Ice water to the stock pot, along with 1 sliced lemon and the cider mixture.

Sorry I have no pictures of this, I did it at my parents house. Refrigerate for 24 hours.

Then take your turkey out, and rinse under cold water, inside and out of the turkey. Place on baking sheet and dry with paper towels, inside and out. Let dry overnight.

Thursday morning taken your dried turkey, liberally salt and pepper the skin.

Place cut celery, onion, and lemons inside cavity, along with leftover parsley stems.

Then take 1 stick of room temperature butter and mash 3 roasted garlic cloves, 1 tablespoon each chopped sage and parsley, and the juice and zest of 1 lemon and mash together. Pull the skin from the turkey breast and smear the compound butter mixture in between breast and skin, going as far down the thigh as you can. Then take remaining butter and spread on the outside of the bird, all over the beasts, thighs and drumsticks.

Place in roasting pan with rack. Pour 32 ounces of stock (turkey, chicken or vegetable, whatever you can find) in the bottom of the roaster, along with 2 chopped carrots, onions and celery stalks. Add 1/4 cup white wine to pan. I was also making stuffed mushrooms as an appetizer, so I added my mushroom stems to the bottom of the roasting pan to deepen the flavor of the pan drippings for my gravy.

Place tin foil over the top, tenting the turkey in a 325 oven. You'll cook the turkey 15 minutes per pound, but the last 45 minutes remove the foil to brown the skin. Check with thermometer in thigh to reach 165 degrees, the remove from oven, re-tent with foil and allow to cool for at least 20 minutes.

Best ever cranberry sauce

Best Ever Cranberry Sauce

Makes: 1 pint

Ingredients:

1 bag fresh cranberries

1 cup REAL maple syrup or honey

1 cup apple cider or apple juice

1/4 cup orange juice

1 tablespoon of orange zest

Instructions:

Place all ingredients into a large stock pot. Bring to a rapid boil, and let boil for 10 minutes, mashing with a potato masher. Simmer for another 10 minutes.

I like smooth cranberry sauce, and am not a fan of the texture of cranberry skins or seeds, so this makes the perfect consistency of thick and smooth. Pour mixture through a strainer, pressing and mashing all the thick cranberry pulp through the strainer.

Once the mixture has been strained, and only the skins remain in the strainer, return the liquid to the stove and boil another 10-15minutes until thick and reduced.

Cool in the fridge in a glass jar, and this delicious smooth thick sauce is ready for your turkey day!