Almost end of month Turkey Part 1

 Through the lovely giving of a friend we have all the makings for a turkey feast. Other than dessert but that's all on us. We have only cooked a turkey once in our current apartment so this is a familiar but unique challenge. Size matters. How it started:

We were gifted a 13 lb turkey,  veggies and a few other things. That is the largest turkey we can fit in our small oven. That doesn't mean the largest one we've gotten, I mean we can't fit anything larger.

My preferred tray has hard wire handles and support on the bottom. It worked in previous years just fine. But not with this oven. The handles were an inch too wide for my tiny 30" apartment oven ('ll get to what i used on and in the turkey). You've seen this kind of pan, roughly 12 x 17. It's the 12 inches including the handles that is the problem. 

Same dimensions but a rectangle and it *just fit* inside the oven. So for future reference 11 x 16 is preferred size.

Now for the coating and other details. I only have stove top dressing so am not putting it inside the turkey for ease of cooking. I did quarter a small yellow onion, thought I had quartered a lemon but it was a small orange but stuffed that in there anyway along with some garlic slices and a good few tablespoons of unsalted butter. I should have salted the whole thing first but forgot.  

Butter coating:

1 cube (1/2 lb) unsalted butter softened

2 or 3 tbl Italian seasoning

2 tsp sage

Salt and Pepper

 

Mix that all together and set aside. Prep the thawed turkey and put it in the roasting pan first before coating. Don't used your hands, use a rubber spatula, fork or spoon. The turkey will chill the butter again and make it difficult to move around. I have seen olive oil used instead and that's an option. I prepped all the veggies the night before which is a HUGE time and space saver. This is not a high quality turkey but it was a gift and we will eat it for sure. 

We were also given a bundle of baby/very thin asparagus, cauliflower, broccoli, potatoes, carrots, some chicken broth, and two each, zucchini and yellow squash. That will go into a very tasty casserole later.

I diced up the veggies the night before so I had the carrots, celery and onion all ready to toss in a pot to saute before mixing in with the stuffing. Asparagus has been snapped and set in water then in a zip bag in the fridge so that is ready to go to steam in the microwave then lemon, garlic, salt and pepper will be added.  The neck and 'giblets' have been simmered in a pot with some chicken broth and the dregs from the veggies for the stuffing. That will be saved out for stock later and hope to make some soup down the road. The gravy is going to be from a package but am tempted to do a scratch gravy as well. Yeah, so much broth and juices to use for that it should be great.

So that's Part 1 of the Turkey Dinner, Part 2 will be after disassembling and serving. There is enough turkey for two, maybe 4 people for sure. 🦃🦃 

New month, new supplies

 This months supplies almost didn't happen due to circumstances beyond my control. A little late but money did come in so cooking has commenced.

Meats on the menu for this month: Stew beef chunks cut into smaller bits and portioned into four roughly 1 lb bags, packets of chicken thighs and chicken breasts, approx. 1 lb of shrimp and the ever present approx. 6lbs of hamburger in rough 2 lb portions divided in large freezer bags. Coming up for dishes as add ins, chow mein veggies, stir fry veggies and the assortment of red and green bell peppers, shredded cabbage for coleslaw, onions, garlic, potatoes, the usual.

Today was beef 'tips' (aka stew beef cut up smaller) with brown and mushroom gravy over mashed potatoes.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 This recipe could not be simpler. Chopped 1/4 of an onion, 2 cloves garlic crushed, 1 lb beef chunks, 1 packet each mushroom gravy mix and brown gravy mix and about a tablespoon of Italian salad dressing mix. One trick that I have heard and have yet to remember is sprinkling a teaspoon of baking soda on the beef before cooking. Apparently what this does is help tenderize the meat before cooking. This is really a good thing to do with tough cuts of meat like stew meat that you aren't going to stew for a long time.

I patted dry the beef then added a tsp salt and pepper, onion and garlic powder with a 1/2 tsp paprika. Let that sit in the fridge in a bowl while I cooked the potatoes. 

Heat pan with a little oil, add in the onion, cook until a bit soft, add in the meat and continue to cook until all sides are not pink. Add in crushed garlic and continue to cook until fragrant. Mix the two packets of  gravy and the Italian dressing mix with a whisk thoroughly in 2 cups of water. Add into the pan slowly and continue to stir on medium high heat until it begins to bubble, turn down to low, put cover on and check every minute or so to stir and make sure the gravy is congealing properly. Also gives the meat a chance to loose up a bit. Usually about five or six minutes. Serve over mashed potatoes. I had just enough left over for one small helping as a snack later on.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Beef prices. Through, the, roof. But it's worth it for having enough for meals to the end of the month. Yes, two or three years ago the price was about ten dollars cheaper for hamburger and about five dollars cheaper for the stew meat. Chicken thankfully hasn't gone up that much, but I am thankful for having the assistance to make this possible. 

Another delicious redux: Shrimp over seasoned rice. I got a picture of the finished product but now I do not remember how I cooked the shrimp. It wasn't garlic shrimp but did use similar seasoning to the rice, which was my basic recipe I skimmed from Pinterest. It definitely benefited from a liberal sprinkling of lemon juice to spark up the savory flavors of the rice and shrimp. I know I used a lot of butter and some oil, garlic of course and added in about a tablespoon of cornstarch mixed in water at the end for a sauce that stuck to the shrimp. We still have half a bag of shrimp and will probably use that with the chow mein veggies over rice. Yep that's what I'm going to do. 

Usually I am not focused on getting pictures when I'm cooking no one should be. If you're cooking, that's what you're doing and if it's something involved, you don't want to take your focus off to get pictures. So most of the time I'm doing that and then sit down to eat and forget to take pictures because  I want to eat. 

Self centered people tend to be the ones that post to instagram or whatever their account is of how great their cooking is or what restaurant they're eating at. Some people may sound and look like they enjoy sharing their food and recipes but if all the post is look at me look at what I'm eating, no. I am sharing what I cook for my kids and their kids when I'm not around anymore and any other random friends and family to enjoy good food. I preserved recipes from my parents as well for the same reason.

No matter what you cook, cook with your heart.