Monday, November 30, 2020

Winter Crunch Grape Muffins #MuffinMonday

Winter Crunch grape muffins are baked until golden with those special grapes for a light and tender sweet treat perfect for breakfast or snack time.  

Food Lust People Love: Winter Crunch grape muffins are baked until golden with those special grapes for a light and tender sweet treat perfect for breakfast or snack time.

I must confess that I had never heard of Winter Crunch™grapes before they arrived, a gift of Melissa’s Produce, along with some sweet pumpkin persimmons and butterscotch pears. I was expecting the last two items since signing up to take part in the family baking challenge, but the grapes were a surprise.  

They are crunchy and sweet and it took a lot of self-control not to sit and eat the whole clamshell full before I could create something with them. This is not a sponsored post but I still wanted to take advantage of the gift by making something to share. 

According to the Melissa’s Produce website, “Due to their late harvest, these grapes develop an excellent sweet flavor tone that is juicy and delicious. Great sizing, sugar content and texture, this seedless grape variety tops the competition.” They are indeed lovely and a great bonus. 

Winter Crunch Grape Muffins

The grapes retain a bit of their eponymous crunch in these sweet muffins, even though I cut them into quarters. The reddish purple outsides contrast beautifully with the pale green insides. 

Ingredients for 6 muffins
1 1/4 cup or 156g all purpose flour
1/2 cup or 100g sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup or 120ml milk
1/4 cup or 60ml canola oil
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1 large egg
1 generous cup or about 175g fresh Winter Crunch™grapes, cut in quarters

Method
Preheat your oven to 350°F or 180°C Generously grease the cups and top of 6-cup muffin pan or use paper muffin liners.

In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, baking powder and salt. Stir in about two thirds of your quartered grapes, coating them well with the mixture. Set aside the other third for topping.


In another smaller mixing bowl, whisk together the milk, oil, vanilla and egg. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredient bowl. 


Gently fold the milk mixture into the flour mixture just until dry ingredients are moistened.


Divide your batter evenly between the six muffin cups. Top with the reserved grape quarters. I put some up and some down to show off the color difference. 

Food Lust People Love: Winter Crunch grape muffins are baked until golden with those special grapes for a light and tender sweet treat perfect for breakfast or snack time.

Bake for 20-25 minutes in your preheated oven or until muffins are turning golden.

Remove from oven and leave to cool on a wire rack for a few minutes before removing the muffins from the pan.

Food Lust People Love: Winter Crunch grape muffins are baked until golden with those special grapes for a light and tender sweet treat perfect for breakfast or snack time.

I couldn’t wait for these to cool completely and I’m so glad I didn’t. They are fabulous warm. 

This recipe can also be baked as a small coffee cake, if you don’t have a muffin pan.  Extend baking time by five to 10 minutes or, once again, until golden.  

Enjoy!

Food Lust People Love: Winter Crunch grape muffins are baked until golden with those special grapes for a light and tender sweet treat perfect for breakfast or snack time.

It’s the last Monday of the month so that means it is Muffin Monday. My blogger friends and I get together to share muffin recipes we hope you will love. Check them out below. 

Muffin Monday 
 #MuffinMonday is a group of muffin loving bakers who get together once a month to bake muffins. You can see all of our lovely muffins by following our Pinterest board. Updated links for all of our past events and more information about Muffin Monday can be found on our home page.

Pin these Winter Crunch Grape Muffins!

Food Lust People Love: Winter Crunch grape muffins are baked until golden with those special grapes for a light and tender sweet treat perfect for breakfast or snack time.

 .

Sunday, November 29, 2020

Thai-style Turkey Glass Noodle Salad

This Thai-style Turkey Glass Noodle Salad recipe will bring fresh zip to your leftover Thanksgiving or Christmas turkey by adding glass noodles, lime juice, chili peppers and fish sauce, turning it into an Asian specialty.

Food Lust People Love: This Thai-style Turkey Glass Noodle Salad recipe will bring fresh zip to your leftover Thanksgiving or Christmas turkey by adding glass noodles, lime juice, chili peppers and fish sauce, turning it into an Asian specialty

I learned how to make this salad from a Burmese friend who was my close neighbor when we lived in a small oilfield town in Brazil. I didn’t know any better so I assumed it was a typically Burmese recipe. Turns out that Burma, Vietnam and Thailand, among others, all claim it. Here in the US, most people seem to think of it as a Thai dish, hence my title. 

Ma Toe’s version starts with ground pork that she fries really crispy. And in addition to the dried shrimp, she also puts in some boiled shrimp for added protein. It’s one of our favorite things so I make a great big bowl and we eat it for several days. 

When we lived in Malaysia, occasionally I’d make it to take along to a school lunch or potluck, replacing the pork with ground chicken so even the Muslim students or my Muslim friends could enjoy it. It was delicious with either addition and just as good with shredded turkey.

If you are looking for creative ways to repurpose leftover turkey, you might want to try my Brie cranberry turkey quesadillas, my turkey cranberry Camembert muffins, or my own personal favorite turkey pot pie.  Make sure you scroll down to see what other holiday leftovers my Sunday FunDay friends are transforming into other wonderful dishes. 

Thai-style Turkey Glass Noodle Salad

Turkey is an excellent addition to glass noodle salad, a worthy and delicious use of leftovers. True confession: I actually poached boneless turkey breast to make this dish because I couldn’t wait for leftovers. 

Ingredients
For the salad:
8 oz or 227g bean thread or glass noodles (not rice sticks!)
1 packed cup or 200g shredded, leftover turkey 
1/2 chopped or 30g green onion tops
1/2 cup or 25g chopped cilantro, leaves and fine stems. (Discard hard woody stems.)
2 tablespoons dried shrimp

For the dressing:
1/4 cup or 60ml fresh lime juice
1 onion, sliced thinly
2 bird chilies, chopped
1/4 cup or 60ml fish sauce
1 tablespoon brown sugar


Method
Soak the glass noodles in cool tap water to soften for about 10 minutes.


Drain the water and put the noodles in a heatproof bowl. Pour boiling water over the noodles and leave for about 1 minute. Drain and rinse thoroughly with cool water. Set aside. 

Put the sliced onions and chopped chilies in a bowl with the lime juice and set aside while you make the rest of the dressing. 


Use a mortar and pestle to pound the dried shrimp into powder.


Combine the fish sauce and sugar in a small bowl. Stir till the sugar dissolves. Add the sweetened fish sauce to the lime juice and onions. Stir to combine.


Pour the dressing over your drained bean thread noodles in a large bowl. Toss to combine.
 

Tip: I find that the bean thread noodles don’t toss very well whole so I use my clean kitchen scissors to cut them up a bit. Or you can use your clean hands to mix the other ingredients into the noodles. 

Add in the green onion tops, cilantro and shrimp powder and toss to combine again. 


Mix in the shredded turkey. 


Taste for seasoning and add a little more fish sauce if more salt is needed. This salad just gets better as it hangs out in the refrigerator so it’s great to make ahead and chill until you serve. 

Food Lust People Love: This Thai-style Turkey Glass Noodle Salad recipe will bring fresh zip to your leftover Thanksgiving or Christmas turkey by adding glass noodles, lime juice, chili peppers and fish sauce, turning it into an Asian specialty

Enjoy! 

If too many leftovers are the bane of your existence after a big holiday meal, let us help you out. Check out these Sunday FunDay recipes that will transform your leftovers into new dishes your family will love.

We are a group of food bloggers who believe that Sunday should be a family Funday, so each Sunday we share recipes that will help you to enjoy your day. If you're a blogger interested in joining us, just visit our Facebook group and request to join!

Pin this Thai-Style Turkey Glass Noodle Salad!

Food Lust People Love: This Thai-style Turkey Glass Noodle Salad recipe will bring fresh zip to your leftover Thanksgiving or Christmas turkey by adding glass noodles, lime juice, chili peppers and fish sauce, turning it into an Asian specialty

.

Sunday, November 22, 2020

Marmalade Glazed Sweet Potatoes

Marmalade glazed sweet potatoes are a bit sweet, with a lovely sharp edge from the orange marmalade and a good splash of sherry vinegar. They are just as tasty as they are pretty and would make a great addition to your holiday table. I mean, really. Look at that shine!

Food Lust People Love: Marmalade glazed sweet potatoes are a bit sweet, with a lovely sharp edge from the orange marmalade and a good splash of sherry vinegar. They are just as tasty as they are pretty and would make a great addition to your holiday table. Look at that shine!

Over the years, when we lived outside of the United States and away from family, we celebrated Thanksgiving with various groups of friends, some American, others not. When we lived in Paris, we hosted a fun dinner with friends and neighbors. I roasted the turkey, made quite a few side dishes and pecan pies and told everyone to bring the side dish or dishes it simply would not be Thanksgiving in their houses without.

All told, we were about 20 people, children included, and the array of side dishes was downright impressive. There was one dish I was completely unfamiliar with so I had to ask. Apparently creamed pearl onions is a must-have family side for my friend, Teresa.

That was in the days before internet but years later I remember looking it up and creamed pearl onions are a New England favorite. I’ve never made them myself but I remember them fondly from that one special dinner.

In my family, sweet potatoes are one of the must-have side dishes. My grandmothers would make them sweet and sticky, pouring on the Karo syrup with lots of butter. Truly, you could eat them for dessert. 

I like them less sweet, often just with a sprinkling of brown sugar. This recipe with marmalade and sherry vinegar is a little fancier but just as easy.  

Marmalade Glazed Sweet Potatoes

This recipe is wonderful made with butternut squash or pumpkin as well. You can use homemade or store-bought marmalade for this dish. 

Ingredients
2 lbs or 900g sweet potatoes – more or less
1 tablespoon olive oil
1/2 teaspoon flakey sea salt or to taste
1/4 cup or 80g thin cut orange marmalade 
2 tablespoons sherry or red wine vinegar
2-3 sprigs fresh thyme, plus more for garnish
2 tablespoons butter

Method
Drizzle the olive oil in a large non-stick pan where the sweet potatoes can fit in one layer. Peel and cube the sweet potatoes and add them to the pan.


Mix together the marmalade, vinegar and the thyme leaves in a microwaveable bowl. Add in the butter and warm in the microwave until the butter starts to melt. Stir till the butter is completely melted and set aside.


Over a medium to high heat, cook the sweet potatoes, tossing or stirring occasionally, until they are browned on many sides, about 8-10 minutes. Add in a few tablespoons of water, turn the fire down to a simmer and cover the pan for 5-6 minutes or until the sweet potatoes cubes are fork tender. 


Remove the lid and add in the marmalade vinegar mixture. Over a medium heat, cook it down carefully until the sauce thickens and the sweet potatoes are well glazed. 

Food Lust People Love: Marmalade glazed sweet potatoes are a bit sweet, with a lovely sharp edge from the orange marmalade and a good splash of sherry vinegar. They are just as tasty as they are pretty and would make a great addition to your holiday table. Look at that shine!

Transfer to warm serving bowl and use a silicone spatula to spoon every last sticky drop of glaze over the sweet potatoes. 

Garnish with thyme, if desired.

Food Lust People Love: Marmalade glazed sweet potatoes are a bit sweet, with a lovely sharp edge from the orange marmalade and a good splash of sherry vinegar. They are just as tasty as they are pretty and would make a great addition to your holiday table. Look at that shine!

Enjoy!

Today’s SundayFunDay theme is That Holiday Feeling! Many thanks to our host Rebekah of Making Miracles. Check out all the great recipes below to get you in the holiday mood!


Pin these Marmalade Glazed Sweet Potatoes!

Food Lust People Love: Marmalade glazed sweet potatoes are a bit sweet, with a lovely sharp edge from the orange marmalade and a good splash of sherry vinegar. They are just as tasty as they are pretty and would make a great addition to your holiday table. Look at that shine!

 .
 

Friday, November 20, 2020

Cheesy Shrimp Stuffed Poblano Peppers

These cheesy shrimp stuffed poblano peppers are wrapped in bacon and roasted till the bacon is crispy and the cheese is soft and melted. They make a fabulous starter or even a good main course, served with sides. 

Food Lust People Love: These cheesy shrimp stuffed poblano peppers are wrapped in bacon and roasted till the bacon is crispy and the cheese is soft and melted. They make a fabulous starter or even a good main course, served with sides.

Pretty sure I’ve mentioned this before but my meals each week are often predicated on whatever catches my eye in the market or grocery store. (These days mostly just the grocery store since I am limiting my forays into the public to once a week.) 

These shiny green poblano peppers jumped out at me and I suddenly remembered a recipe I made years and years ago around this time, from a post on my friend Christine’s blog, where she used cornbread dressing to stuff poblanos. Girl after my own Texas heart. 


When she first posted it, I had never come across poblano peppers in Dubai but then, suddenly, my supermarket had some! You’ve never seen anyone so excited over a vegetable since, honestly, I don’t know when. I know, I'm sad, but here we are. 

Meanwhile, I'm back in Texas where poblanos abound. I didn’t have any cornbread stuffing on hand but I did have queso fresco or farmer’s cheese, shrimp and bacon and who can resist those? If you are looking for a non-traditional Thanksgiving dish, try these stuffed peppers. We loved them!

Cheesy Shrimp Stuffed Poblano Peppers

For this dish I used jalapeño bacon but any smoked bacon would be just as lovely. We happen to be chili pepper freaks in our house so our motto is the more heat the better. It’s also hard to tell from the photos but my poblano peppers were about 6-7 in or 15-18cm long. The cheese is a fresh, soft, dry curd cheese highly prized for many recipes in Mexico and South America. If you can’t get a similar cheese, perhaps try a fresh goat cheese instead. The flavor will be different but still delicious. We are looking for something that will melt without melting out of the pepper. In a pinch you could use grated cheddar mixed through with well-drained cottage cheese or ricotta so it doesn’t completely melt and drip out of the peppers because no one wants that. 


Ingredients
4 fresh poblano peppers (480g total)
10 1/2 oz or 300g raw, peeled, cleaned shrimp
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 tablespoons butter
5 oz or 142g queso fresco
8 slices smoked bacon 

Optional to serve: your favorite salsa

Method
Heat your broiler to high, move your oven rack up to the top position and put the peppers on a big sheet of aluminum foil on a large baking pan. 

Roast the peppers for several minutes on each side, making sure to keep a close eye on them so they just pop and char a little but don’t completely burn. 


When they are nice and scorched on all sides, remove the pan from the oven and wrap the foil loosely around the peppers, closing the steam in by crimping the sides.  Set aside for 10 minutes. 

Open the foil and gentle remove the outer peelings. Cut a slit up the middle of each pepper. Save the foil for use later. 


Sauté the garlic in the butter for a few minutes, being careful not to let it color or, God forbid, burn. Add in the shrimp and cook till they release their water, then cook a few more minutes, until the pan is almost, but not quite, dry again. Remove from the heat and set aside to cool. 


Preheat your oven to 400°F or 200°C. 

Slice the cheese into slim sticks and fill the bottom of the pepper with a little of them, tucking cheese right up under the seeded core at the stem end.


Add in one quarter of the shrimp with garlic.


 Top with more cheese. 


As best you can, try to gently pull up the sides of the pepper to close the slit. Stick a toothpick in, if that helps. Use two slices of bacon to wrap around and around the pepper to hold it closed.


Repeat until all four peppers are stuffed and bacon-wrapped. 

Return the peppers to the foil and put it back on the baking pan.


Bake in the preheated oven for 15-20 minutes or until the bacon is cooked and golden. 

Remove from the oven and leave to cool for about five minutes. 

Food Lust People Love: These cheesy shrimp stuffed poblano peppers are wrapped in bacon and roasted till the bacon is crispy and the cheese is soft and melted. They make a fabulous starter or even a good main course, served with sides.

Serve with your favorite salsa for a generous first course or with a side salad and veggies as a main course. 

Food Lust People Love: These cheesy shrimp stuffed poblano peppers are wrapped in bacon and roasted till the bacon is crispy and the cheese is soft and melted. They make a fabulous starter or even a good main course, served with sides.

Enjoy! 

This month my Fish Friday Foodie friends are sharing recipes to serve for Thanksgiving. Many thanks to our founder and host, Wendy of A Day in the Life on the Farm. Check out the recipes below.



Are you a food blogger who would you like to join Fish Friday Foodies? We post and share new seafood/fish recipes on the third Friday of the month. To join our group please email Wendy at wendyklik1517 (at) gmail.com. Visit our Facebook page and Pinterest page for more wonderful fish and seafood recipe ideas.

Pin these Cheesy Shrimp Stuffed Poblano Peppers!

Food Lust People Love: These cheesy shrimp stuffed poblano peppers are wrapped in bacon and roasted till the bacon is crispy and the cheese is soft and melted. They make a fabulous starter or even a good main course, served with sides.

.

Thursday, November 19, 2020

Walnut Butter Bundt Cake #BundtBakers

This walnut butter Bundt cake is delightfully flavored with homemade toasted walnut butter, which is super easy to make. The walnuts at the bottom of the pan are a pretty topping when the cake is turned upright. 

Food Lust People Love: This walnut butter Bundt cake is delightfully flavored with homemade toasted walnut butter, which is super easy to make. The walnuts at the bottom of the pan are a pretty topping when the cake is turned upright.

Recipes abound on the internet for homemade nut butters but I must confess that I have never made any. We don’t have any nut allergies and good ole Jif has been my go-to peanut butter since time eternal. If I had a dime for every jar I’ve hauled overseas in my suitcases over the last thirty plus years, I’d be a wealthy woman. 

That said, the last place I lived outside of the US was Dubai and Jif was blessedly available there. Even in Kuala Lumpur and Singapore it turned up on occasion. Anyhoo, no good reason to make my own nut butter until now. 

This month’s Bundt Baker theme is Nut Butters so I decided to be brave and try something new. I have this to say: Toasted walnut butter is fabulous. Such lovely flavor! Who knew it would be so easy to make.

Walnut Butter Bundt Cake

If you have an allergy to walnuts, I daresay you could substitute any nut you can tolerate but I highly recommend not skipping the toasting step. It adds a lot of depth to the nut butter. I used a 10-cup Bundt pan to bake this because I love the way the bottom of the Nordic Ware Fleur de Lis pan holds the extra walnut pieces in an almost diamond pattern, but it would fit in a 6 or 8 cup one as well, for a smaller taller Bundt.  

Ingredients
1 1/2 cups or 190g all-purpose flour, plus extra for the pan
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/3 cup or 75g butter, at room temperature, plus extra for the pan
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/3 cup or 75g fine sugar
2 large eggs
2 tablespoons milk
4 1/4 oz or 120g walnut pieces

Method
Turn your oven on to preheat to 350°F or 180°C. Put the walnuts on a baking pan and pop them in the preheating oven. Keep a close eye on them as the oven heats up and give the pan a shake every few minutes. Remove the walnuts from the oven when they start smelling toasted.


Grease your Bundt pan with butter and lightly flour. (As mentioned above, mine is the Nordic Ware Fleur de Lis <Amazon affiliate link with a good price. I paid almost $12 more back in 2015! Dang it.)

Process half of the toasted walnuts in your food processor until they become a fairly smooth paste. 


Beat together the butter and sugar till fluffy and pale. Add in the eggs one at a time.


Cream well until well combined before adding another one. 


Beat in the walnut butter, vanilla extract and milk.


Sift in the flour, baking soda and salt. Fold well to combine. 


Put the remaining half of the toasted walnuts into the bottom of your prepared Bundt pan. 


Spoon in the batter. 


Gently use the bottom of a spoon to smooth the top out. You don't want to dislodge the nuts.


Bake for 25-30 minutes or until a cake tester inserted into the walnut butter cake comes out clean. If you are a person who uses an instant read thermometer, the King Arthur Flour website says the internal temperature of a baked cake should be between 200-210°F or 93-99°C.

Remove the cake from the oven and let cool for about 10 minutes. 

Food Lust People Love: This walnut butter Bundt cake is delightfully flavored with homemade toasted walnut butter, which is super easy to make. The walnuts at the bottom of the pan are a pretty topping when the cake is turned upright.

Loosen the cake from the Bundt pan and invert it onto a serving plate. 

Food Lust People Love: This walnut butter Bundt cake is delightfully flavored with homemade toasted walnut butter, which is super easy to make. The walnuts at the bottom of the pan are a pretty topping when the cake is turned upright.

Slice to serve with tea, coffee, hot cocoa or a cold glass of milk.

Food Lust People Love: This walnut butter Bundt cake is delightfully flavored with homemade toasted walnut butter, which is super easy to make. The walnuts at the bottom of the pan are a pretty topping when the cake is turned upright.

 Enjoy! 

As mentioned, this month’s Bundt Bakers theme is Nut Butters. Many thanks to our host, Wendy of A Day in the Life on the Farm. Check out the other recipes using nut butters in the batter, icing or glaze below. 


BundtBakers

#BundtBakers is a group of Bundt loving bakers who get together once a month to bake Bundts with a common ingredient or theme. You can see all of our lovely Bundts by following our Pinterest board. We take turns hosting each month and choosing the theme/ingredient. Updated links for all of our past events and more information about BundtBakers can be found on our home page.

Pin this Walnut Butter Bundt Cake! 

Food Lust People Love: This walnut butter Bundt cake is delightfully flavored with homemade toasted walnut butter, which is super easy to make. The walnuts at the bottom of the pan are a pretty topping when the cake is turned upright.

 .

Monday, November 16, 2020

Sous Vide Whole Stuffed Turkey

This sous vide whole stuffed turkey is full of flavor from the sausage stuffing within and crispy without from a quick roast in the oven. Its spicy rubbed golden skin is divine! 

Food Lust People Love: This sous vide whole stuffed turkey is full of flavor from the sausage stuffing within and crispy without from a quick roast in the oven. Its spicy rubbed golden skin is divine!

As I mentioned in my recipe post for sous vide roast leg of lamb, with a sous vide precision cooker you will never, ever suffer through a dried out roast again. 

In fact even turkey, notorious for uneven cooking, results in tender moist dark AND light meat. It is easy if you follow my recipe below, cooking your bird long and slow, followed by a quick oven roasting to get that golden skin everyone fights over.

The secret to cooking a whole bird with a sous vide precision cooker is the stuffing, which not only adds flavor and moisture but, almost as importantly, fills the cavity which makes it possible for the turkey to remain submerged. 

If you are a fan of sous vide precision cooking, you might want to take a look at my chicken crown roast and tender sliceable pork roast as well.

Sous Vide Whole Stuffed Turkey

Very important: you must start one day ahead of when you want to roast and serve your turkey. It is essential to allow time for the seasonings to become one with the bird and for the skin to dry out before using the sous vide precision cooker, if you want crispy golden skin. And who doesn't? 

Ingredients
For the turkey:
1 fresh or frozen turkey (completely thawed - Approx weight 8 lb 5 oz or 3.8kg)
Dry rub (See below)
1/2 teaspoon poultry seasoning
1/2 teaspoon baking soda

For the dry rub:
2 tablespoons poultry seasoning 
(if poultry seasoning is unsalted) 1 teaspoon fine sea salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/2 teaspoon cayenne

For the stuffing:
2 medium onions
2-3 ribs celery
3 slices smoked bacon
2 tablespoons butter
1 1/2 cups or 135g fresh breadcrumbs
1 1/2 lb or 700g sausage meat
2 teaspoons poultry seasoning
1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
zest 1/2 orange
salt to taste*

Extra equipment:
Sous vide precision cooker
Large vessel that can hold enough water to cover your turkey. I used my Coleman cooler/ice chest, which works beautifully if you have something big to sous vide.

Method
Clean the turkey, removing the top part of the tail and any stray feathers inspector 12 might have missed. I have needle-nose jewelry pliers that work great for removing feathers (and, by the way, pin bones in fish.)

Season the turkey inside and out with the dry rub.  


Mix the 1/2 teaspoon of the poultry seasoning with the 1/2 teaspoon of baking soda and sprinkle it on the top of the bird from a great height, so you get an even layer. According to Serious Eats, this helps the skin dry so it will super crispy when roasted. 


Place your turkey in a casserole dish, breast up, uncovered in the refrigerator for 24 hours. 

You can now prepare the stuffing. 

Cut the bacon into small pieces. Fry it until crispy in a medium sized pan. Meanwhile, finely chop your onions and celery. 

Remove the bacon from the pan and set aside. Add the butter to the pan and sauté the chopped vegetables in the butter and bacon fat until softened. Leave to cool. 


In a large bowl, combine the bacon, sausage meat and the rest of the stuffing ingredients, along with the sautéed onion and celery. 


Fry a small piece of the stuffing and check the salt. Add salt to the stuffing, if necessary, and mix well. Refrigerate the stuffing until needed. 

The following day, use the stuffing to fill the cavity and the neck. 


Tuck the skin flaps in to cover the stuffing as best you can. 


The stuffing is essential to displace air and conduct heat through the bird as well as adding flavor. 

Use poultry string or silicone bands to truss the legs of the turkey together and to hold the wing tips close to the bird. 


Place the turkey in a 2 1/2 gallon bag and submerge it carefully in water to remove as much of the air inside as possible. If there is still some air inside of the turkey, it might want to float. If your bird wants to float, put a brick in a plastic bag and lean it against the turkey to keep it submerged. I’ve cooked various whole birds with this method and sometimes they need a brick and sometimes they don’t! As you can see, this particular turkey behaved without one. 


Sous vide at 160°F or 71°C for six hours.

When the timer goes off, remove the bag from the water bath. Carefully remove the turkey from the bag, holding it legs down so liquid can drain out of it and back into the bag. Reserve any juice left behind to add to gravy later. It's not so attractive right now but worry not! After roasting it will be much prettier. 

Food Lust People Love: This sous vide whole stuffed turkey is full of flavor from the sausage stuffing within and crispy without from a quick roast in the oven. Its spicy rubbed golden skin is divine!

Heat your oven to 450°F or 232°C. Remove the silicone bands or string and pat the bird dry with paper towels, being careful not to break the skin. 

Heat a large iron skillet on the stovetop and place the turkey in it. Roast in your very hot oven for 8-10 minutes to brown the skin, turning the pan around midway through to ensure even browning. 

Food Lust People Love: This sous vide whole stuffed turkey is full of flavor from the sausage stuffing within and crispy without from a quick roast in the oven. Its spicy rubbed golden skin is divine!

Let it rest for 10 minutes, carve and serve.

Food Lust People Love: This sous vide whole stuffed turkey is full of flavor from the sausage stuffing within and crispy without from a quick roast in the oven. Its spicy rubbed golden skin is divine!

Enjoy! 

It’s Multicooker Monday when I join a group of blogger friends sharing recipes using small kitchen appliances. Check them out! Many thanks to our host and leader, Sue of Palatable Pastime


Multicooker Monday is a blogger group created by Sue of Palatable Pastime for all of us who need encouragement to make better use of our small appliances like slow cookers, Instant Pots, Air Fryers, rice cookers and sous vide machines. We get together every third Monday of the month to share our recipes. If you are a food blogger who would like to post with us, please request to join our Facebook group.

Pin this Sous Vide Whole Stuffed Turkey! 

Food Lust People Love: This sous vide whole stuffed turkey is full of flavor from the sausage stuffing within and crispy without from a quick roast in the oven. Its spicy rubbed golden skin is divine!
 .

Sunday, November 15, 2020

Roasted Bruschetta Pattypan Squash

This roasted bruschetta pattypan squash - filled with ripe tomatoes, garlic and basil splashed with balsamic vinegar - makes a delicious and gorgeous main course for any special occasion. Added bonus: Even your vegetarian and vegan family and friends can enjoy it!

Food Lust People Love: This roasted bruschetta pattypan squash - filled with ripe tomatoes, garlic and basil splashed with balsamic vinegar - makes a delicious and gorgeous main course for any special occasion. Added bonus: Even your vegetarian and vegan family and friends can enjoy it!

I can’t tell you how excited I was when I came across two lovely large pattypan squash grown by a local farmer. I didn’t even know they grew that big! Prior to these, the pattypans of my experience were either tiny baby squash or more typically, they were about four or five inches across. 

Special squash deserves to be made into a special dish. I couldn’t bring myself to cut it up and spoil its beauty. Stuffing seemed to be the best answer. With the tomatoes so wonderful and ripe, I wanted them to shine too. 

Except for the chopped squash, this stuffing is exactly the same topping I put on toasted baguette slices for our family favorite classic bruschetta, hence the title. The wonderful bruschetta filling infuses the squash with great flavor as it roasts to golden perfection. 

Roasted Bruschetta Pattypan Squash

If you can’t find large pattypan squash, use whatever squash is your favorite. Don’t worry about the weight of your tomatoes. A little more or less won’t really matter. 

Ingredients
1 large pattypan or scallop squash (mine weighed 1 lb 9 oz or 650g)
For the filling: 
1 large clove garlic
4 small tomatoes (mine weighted about 9 oz or 260g)
7-8 leaves fresh basil, plus extra for garnish, if desired
2 tablespoons olive oil, plus a little extra for the baking pan
1 tablespoon best quality balsamic vinegar
1/4 teaspoon fine sea salt
Freshly ground black pepper

Optional to serve: 
Freshly grated Parmesan cheese

Method
Cut the top off of the squash. Use a spoon to scrape the seeds and fibers out of the middle.


Use a sharp knife to trim off the squash to enlarge the cavity. Chop the squash bits you trim off and set them aside. We’ll add these to the bruschetta filling.


Preheat your oven to 350°F or 180°C. Lightly grease a baking pan or iron skillet. 

Remove the cores from the tomatoes and chop them into small pieces. Put a couple of paper towels on your cutting board to catch the juice that will inevitably pour off. Otherwise you’ll find it dripping off the work surface onto your feet. Not that that has ever happened to me. 

Mince the garlic. Roll the basil leaves together and slice them thinly into strips. Then chop the rolled slices roughly. 


Put the tomatoes, chopped squash bits, garlic and basil into a small mixing bowl. 

Add in the olive oil, vinegar, salt and several good grinds of black peppers. Stir well to combine. 


Spoon the filling into the pattypan squash.

Food Lust People Love: This roasted bruschetta pattypan squash - filled with ripe tomatoes, garlic and basil splashed with balsamic vinegar - makes a delicious and gorgeous main course for any special occasion. Added bonus: Even your vegetarian and vegan family and friends can enjoy it!

Roast in your preheated oven for 55-60 minutes or until the squash is cooked through. 

Remove from the oven. Sprinkle with basil strips. 

Food Lust People Love: This roasted bruschetta pattypan squash - filled with ripe tomatoes, garlic and basil splashed with balsamic vinegar - makes a delicious and gorgeous main course for any special occasion. Added bonus: Even your vegetarian and vegan family and friends can enjoy it!

Cut the squash into quarters to serve and let your guests add grated Parmesan, as desired. 

Enjoy! 


Happy Sunday FunDay, where we share recipes your families will love every Sunday. Today our theme is Squash it to me! - perfect for the season. Many thanks to our host, Rebekah of Making Miracles

Pin this Roasted Bruschetta Pattypan Squash!

Food Lust People Love: This roasted bruschetta pattypan squash - filled with ripe tomatoes, garlic and basil splashed with balsamic vinegar - makes a delicious and gorgeous main course for any special occasion. Added bonus: Even your vegetarian and vegan family and friends can enjoy it!

 .