Beer Braised Turkey with Potatoes

Hello there! It's summer time, and just when I think the days couldn't possibly fly by any faster, they do. I love having the girls home with me, and we've been having lots of fun playing board (bored?) games, staying up late, camping in the backyard, and running through the sprinklers.

and we're only in week number two!

Today, though, my 7-year-old has the flu, and there is nothing worse than hearing friends outside riding bikes when you're stuck inside on the couch. She's a good sport, though, and is watching RV on loop (cute movie, ages 7+; quite a few bathroom-related jokes....) while I catch up on computer work.

Although we're in June, and slow cooker fare usually conjures up snowy/rainy days and crisp fall weather, I implore you to NOT forget about your slow cooker during the summer months. It keeps your kitchen cool, and provides more opportunity to play!

Beer Braised Turkey with Potatoes

The Ingredients.

serves 4-6

2 pounds potatoes, washed and quartered (no need to peel)

1 onion, peeled and thinly sliced

3 pounds turkey drumsticks, or a bone-in turkey breast

4 tablespoons butter (melted, or just toss in the half-stick)

1 tablespoon dried basil (or 1/4 cup finely diced fresh basil leaves)

1 lemon, juiced

1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

1 (12-ounce) bottle of beer (Redbridge, by Anheuser Busch is gluten free.) If you'd prefer to not cook with alcohol, you can use a non-alcoholic beer.

The Directions.

Use a 6-quart slow cooker. Place the potatoes and onion into the bottom of your insert, and add turkey on top. Frozen is okay--- and I did try to peel away some of the skin from my legs since I have weird skin issues. Plop in butter, basil, and lemon juice. Sprinkle on salt, and pour in the beer. Cover, and cook on low for 6-8 hours, or on high for 4-5 hours.

The Verdict.

I served our turkey dinner with steamed Brussels sprouts, although if I had gotten my act together earlier in the day would have preferred to roast them or make the world's best Brussels sprouts. The turkey was beautifully moist, and the drippings made a fabulous gravy (thicken by reducing in the stove, or by whisking in a cornstarch slurry--1 tablespoon cornstarch with 2 tablespoons cold water).

Save your turkey bones to make soup!

Turkey and Wild Rice Soup

Turkey Stew

Here's to the BEST. SUMMER. EVER!! What are your plans?

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What to Do With Your Turkey Bones and Leftover Meat

Happy Thanksgiving!

Hey, what are you doing on the computer on Thanksgiving day anyway.....?

hmm.

it's okay. I won't tell.

Are you wondering what to do with your leftover turkey meat and the bones? Look no more--I've got you covered!

Here are three completely different but absolutely wonderful soups. I can't decide which one I'm going to do this year, but I'm leaning towards the stew because it's good cold-weather food and it's supposed to rain the next few days.

enjoy your family! and don't pick fights with the crazy uncles...

{PS: click on the words under the pictures--- for some reason Blogger isn't letting me add a URL to the photos today. grrr.}

turkey and wild rice soup

turkey stew

old fashioned chicken turkey and noodle soup

Have an absolutely wonderful day with your family. 

updated, November 28: Happy Cyber Monday! I'm giving away 5 Hamilton Beach Slow Cookers this week! Click on over to my review page for your chance to win! 
 

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A Slow Cooker Thanksgiving

 

Be thankful for your crockpots this year. 

It sounds peculiar, and maybe even a bit stupid, but if you stop to really think about it, your crockpots are providing a gift. The gift of time.

thanks to this simple machine you have more time in your day to do the things you really want to do: garden, read, play, tickle, sleep, write, create, and spend time with your family.

life is good.

traditional stuffing

cornbread stuffing

candied sweet potatoes

homemade cranberry sauce

amazing mashed potatoes

sweet and sour caramelized onions

perfect turkey breast

creamed corn

 

spinach artichoke dip

crustless pumpkin pie

 

even MORE holiday food!

and just in case...

how to company clean in 30 minutes or less

have a wonderful Holiday! We're hosting again this year, and I'm looking forward to having all of our family in one place instead of making the rounds. As an added bonus, my birthday falls on Thanksgiving--pumpkin pie as birthday cake! yum. 

We're still hosting daily giveaways to help with your Holiday gift giving over on the GiveAway page--- go check them out and win! win! win! :-)

gobble ~ gobble ~ gobble

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Asian Inspired Turkey Breast (in the Slow Cooker) Recipe

 

Hello! How has summer been treating you so far? We've been laying kind of low, with weekend trips scattered here and there, but mostly we're just enjoying being at home. 

While I type, the big kids are watching an "America's Got Talent" marathon from the DVR and the baby (now eighteen months! eeps!) is cooking Lincoln Log soup in the play kitchen.

and the heater is running. because it's 66 degrees in the house and drizzling outside and I AM A GREAT BIG HUGE HONKING WUSS.

I promise I'll turn it off by 10am.

I think.

maybe.

I get emails about slow cooking during the summer time, and my answer is that yes, I do use my slowcooker(s) year round. It helps that it is F R E E Z I N G today, but even on hot days I prefer to use the crockpot than heat up the kitchen by using the stove or oven. I like that fish steams so nicely in foil packets without a fishy smell, and I'm getting pretty good at making lettuce wraps. 

This is a great summer time recipe---- the turkey is seasoned with soy sauce, a bit of peanut butter, lime juice and some horseradish which creates a touch of surprise heat. The leftover turkey makes fantastic sandwich filling (I can't seem to get enough of that turkey-and-mayo combination). 

The Ingredients.

serves 6

1 turkey breast (5-7 pounds)

1/3 cup soy sauce (I use La Choy or Tamari wheat free so it's gluten free)

1/3 cup sesame oil 

1 tablespoon all natural peanut butter

1 tablespoon prepared horseradish cream (or 1 teaspoon freshly grated)

3 garlic cloves, smashed and chopped

2 limes, juiced

1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

The Directions.

Use the largest slow cooker you've got. I skinned my breast (because I have weird skin issues) and then placed it meat-side down into a 6.5-quart slow cooker. It was not quite big enough, but I made it work (more on that in a sec.).

In a small mixing bowl, combine the soy sauce, sesame oil, peanut butter, horseradish, chopped garlic, lime juice, and salt. Whisk together until everything is incorporated. Pour the sauce all over the turkey breast, allowing the sauce to pool up in the ribcage cavity.

Cover. If your lid doesn't fit on your pot completely (mine didn't), cover the top of your stoneware with layers of foil. Crimp the edges as tightly as you can and then place your lid on top. Cook on low for about 8 hours, or until meat is no longer pink when you cut into it and registers 170 degrees. If your turkey has a built-in thermometer it should pop up.

Carefully remove the turkey from the pot and let sit for 10 minutes or so before slicing.

If desired (highly recommended!), pour the crock drippings into a small sauce pan and boil on the stove until the sauce has thickened and reduced (about 8 min or so? I didn't really time this part ---  don't wander off --- stirring every so often). Serve with your favorite sides with the gravy drizzled over the top.

We had our meat with salad and roasted vegetables.

The Verdict.

I forget about turkey in the non-Winter Holiday months. It's low in fat, low in cholesterol, and tastes great. I need to make it more often--- especially since the leftovers are so awesome in sandwiches. My kids are growing up, and ate everything on their plates without complaint.

The baby (so far) eats anything and everything. 

Including the hairy raisins she finds under the couch.

more turkey? no problem.

whole turkey in the crock

turkey breast with white wine (and butter!)

cajun turkey breast

turkey and wild rice soup
apple, cheddar, and turkey meatballs

absolutely crazy turkey (you probably shouldn't actually make this)

also? I've been adopted! Wendy, from Celiacs in the House hosts an Adopt a Gluten Free Blogger roundup and Sunny from And Love it Too and Shea from Dixie Chick Cooks chose me! Both of these ladies are wonderful, and I urge you to take time perusing their sites.

Shea also writes Ingredient Challenge Monday and is hosting a giveaway for two of my books: More Make it Fast, Cook it Slow, and the new Totally Together Journal: Shortcuts to an Organized Life (out this August).

Thank you ladies for having me and for hosting the contest!

have a wonderful day. stay warm.

:-)

HA!

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Slow Cooker Creamy Turkey Dinner Recipe

Q: Can you make a creamy turkey dinner with mushrooms without using a can of condensed soup?

A: Absolutely.

I haven't bought condensed cream of something soup for about 10 years. I know this because I've been married 11 years, and I know that during that first year of marriage I used this "wonder soup" a lot.

lots and lots. quite often, even.

I stocked up when the cans were on sale, and I gave myself a pat on the back when I saw them all lined up in the cupboard.

There is nothing wrong with using canned condensed soup.

Once in a while.

I don't personally buy or use it anymore because of our gluten allergy, and I although I've learned there are non-glutenized soups now on the market, I still don't buy it because I've gotten used to cooking without.

I'm pretty much the furthest thing from a food snob. I figure whatever gets food on your table at the end of a busy day is good, whether that's Taco Bell, a frozen lasagna, gloppy condensed soup, or 365 (366) days of food from a crockpot. It's your choice.

This recipe was inspired from one of my early condensed soup crockpot meals I made (OFTEN) as a newlywed. This is a good dinner to eat in front of the TV while balancing a paper plate on your lap, sprawled out in an inflatable chair.

I miss our inflatable chairs!

The Ingredients.
serves 4-6


2 pounds turkey breast, cut in chunks
1/2 cup beef broth
2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
1 onion, thinly sliced
8 ounces sliced mushrooms
1 tablespoon dried parsley (unless you have fresh, then use about 1/4 cup at the very end)
1/2 cup half and half or heavy cream
1 cup frozen green beans (I like the long thin ones, not the thick weird ones they give you in the school cafeteria)

The Directions.

Use a 4 quart slow cooker. Put the turkey into the bottom of your cooker, and pour on the beef broth and balsamic vinegar. Add onion, mushrooms, and dried parsley. Stir a bit to combine. Cover and cook on low for 6-7 hours, or on high for about 4. If you only have a 6-quart slow cooker, this will cook much faster, unless you increase the quantities. Remember that slow cookers work the best when they're at least 2/3 of the way full.
If you are going to use a 6-quart, check after 4-5 hours on low, or 2-3 on high.
If you'd like the turkey super tender and shreddy, cook for a longer period of time on low.

Stir in the heavy cream and green beans. Cover and cook on high for another 30 minutes, or until beans are thawed and heated through. Serve over cooked pasta.

The Verdict.

My kids wanted me to call this "Winner Winner Turkey Dinner" (they've watched a bit too much of Guy Fieri, lately). I liked the combo of beef broth with the touch of vinegar when paired with the mushrooms. It's tasty, and you don't end up feeling like you ingested a week's worth of sodium.
Adam ate two plates, and took the leftovers to work for the next day's lunch.

I'm going to keep my eyes open for an inflatable arm chair.

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Slow Cooker Big Easy Meatloaf Recipe

It's the summer! And evidently that means that I neglect the computer.

oops! Sorry about that.

But I have been crockpotting, and I'd like to share a meatloaf I threw together that we enjoyed out in the yard.

I really appreciate that I can use the crockpot on a hot day and not have it heat up the house the way the oven or stove does. I also appreciate that the kids and I can be out in the yard playing in the water instead of hanging out in the house while I tend to dinner.

The Ingredients
serves 4-6

1 pound lean ground turkey or beef
1 small onion, chopped
2 fully cooked andouille sausage links (6-ounces, total)
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1/4 teaspoon paprika
1/4 teaspoon thyme
1/4 teaspoon cumin
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
1 egg, lightly beaten

The Directions

Use a 6-quart slow cooker. I put a metal loaf pan into the slow cooker and baked the meatloaf in it (no need to add water, just put the loaf pan into the crock), but if you'd prefer to not use a loaf pan, you can just make a blob with the meat and put it directly into the crock.

Anyhow, take the casing off of the sausage, and chop it into pieces. Toss it in a mixing bowl with the ground meat, all the spices and the beaten egg. Mix well; I always use my hands. Shove the meat mixture into a 9 x 5 x 3 baking pan and put this pan into an oval crockpot (or plop the meat blob into the crock all alone).

Cover, and cook on low for 6-8 hours, or on high for 3 to 5 hours. You'll know the loaf is done when it's brown on the top and it starts to pull away from the sides. If you're not using the loaf pan, the meat will cook faster---check after 4 hours on low, 2 to 3 on high.

When thoroughly cooked, turn off and unplug the cooker and let the meat sit for about 15 minutes before removing from the pot.

The Verdict

I loved how the andouille sausage livens up this meatloaf (which can sometimes be pretty darn boring). I also liked that I was able to use up the two sausages I had roaming about the freezer and a package of ground turkey meat. We ate our meatloaf in the yard with some potato wedges. The kids always dip meatloaf into A-1 sauce.

always.

more meatloaf!

traditional meatloaf
blue cheese and cherry meatloaf (sounds weird, but it's totally good)

I haven't started reading The Help yet, have you? I ordered it through Amazon, and sent it off with Grandma with strict instructions not to bring it back until July 1 so I could meet a few writing deadlines. She read it in three days, and LOVED it. I'm so looking forward to diving in!

brand new in the GF/CF world: My friend Diane just released her new cookbook, available for download. It's a great price, and a wonderful resource. She is also offering an affiliate program if you'd like to help out with advertising (this is not an affiliate link, btw, just helping to get the word out!).

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Slow Cooker Turkey Stew Recipe

I made the most delicious turkey stew over the weekend. I've never actually had turkey stew, so I don't know if it's the best that exists, but it's definitely the best I've ever had. And, since I used leftover food from Thanksgiving, it was free!

I'm kind of bummed Adam took the leftovers to work to eat for lunch, because now I'm forced to eat peanut butter on an apple-cinnamon rice cake. Again.

The Ingredients.
serves 8

There are two parts, here. The first part is to make broth with your leftover turkey carcass. If you don't have a carcass on hand, and would still like to make this soup, jump to the next step and use 8 cups of chicken broth and 2-3 cups chopped turkey.

for broth:
use a 6 quart slow cooker.

turkey carcass, or rib cage bone-sets from 2 turkey breasts
9 cups of water
2 tablespoons granulated chicken bouillon (read label carefully for msg and gluten, I used the Herb Ox brand)
2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar (this takes the meat flavor out of the bones, and creates a beautiful color and flavor)
1 large onion, finely diced OR 1 tablespoon dried onion flakes

cook on low overnight, or for about 8 hours. Unplug, and remove stoneware from cooking element. Uncover and let cool. When cool enough to "go fishing," remove all bones from broth, leaving meat inside the pot.

note: if your slow cooker releases a bunch of steam and condensation while cooking, put a layer of foil or parchment paper down over the top, then put the lid on so you don't lose your cooking liquid.

for stew, add the following:

2 cups peeled and diced sweet potato
1 (28-ounce) can diced or stewed Italian style tomatoes
1 teaspoon oregano
1 teaspoon coriander
1 tablespoon chile powder
1 (15-ounce) can corn, and juice
4 cloves chopped garlic OR 1 teaspoon dried garlic powder

The Directions.

Combine all ingredients in a 6 quart slow cooker and cook on low for 6-7 hours, or until sweet potatoes have reached desired tenderness and flavors have melded.

The Verdict.

We all really liked this a lot. The girls were slow to warm up because they thought the name "turkey stew" was weird and didn't like that the broth wasn't clear, but I didn't offer them anything else to eat. When they finally tasted it, they happily finished their bowls. Adam said he liked it even better than our normal turkey soup, which is pretty high praise, since that soup is fantastic. I really liked the deep color and the sweet potatoes in contrast to the tomato base. This did not have any spicy taste, just lots of flavor.

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Slow Cooker Turkey Tetrazzini Recipe

Sharon emailed me last week and said that she had a hanker'n for some Turkey Tetrazzini a la Slow Cooker. I didn't know that I had a hanker'n until I read her email and the recipes she linked for me to look at.
But I did. I seemed to have had a hanker'n. She sent links to Epicurious, AllRecipes, and Food Network.

After reading through the recipes, I wrote one of my own to work with the slow cooker. It worked, eventually. I at first didn't include enough pasta, so my tetrazzini was more like wallpaper paste than a creamy pasta dish. This was easily fixed, however, and the end result was a nice comforting meal we enjoyed on an unseasonably chilly night.

Thank you, Sharon!

The Ingredients.

1 (16-ounce package) dry spaghetti noodles (maybe divided. Please read the entire recipe and decide for yourself how you'd like to proceed!) I used brown rice noodles from TJ's.
1-2 pounds turkey breast tenders, cut in small chunks
5 ounces sliced mushrooms
1 small onion, diced
1 (14.5-ounce) can artichoke hearts, drained and chopped
1 cup frozen peas
1/2 teaspoon pepper
1 (8-ounce) block cream cheese, chunked
1/4 cup shredded Parmesan cheese
2 cups chicken broth (check for gluten!)
salt to taste at the table

The Directions.

Use a 5-6 quart slow cooker, and spray the inside well with cooking spray.

What I did: I initially used a half-package of spaghetti noodles, and broke them in half, and laid them on the bottom of the stoneware. I then layered the other ingredients on top, in the order I typed up above. But! after cooking on low for 3 hours, I noticed that the noodles pretty much disappeared, so I cooked the remainder of the package on the stovetop in heavily salted water (super-heavily salted, the top of the container fell off!) until barely al dente, then stirred the drained pasta into the slow cooker.

I then cooked on low for only one more hour, then clicked it to warm for another 3. The turkey was fully cooked, the noodles were perfect, but the onion that I didn't cut fine enough had still a bit of a crunch.

The Verdict.

So. My dilemma is in deciding if it would have been better to put the entire package of pasta into the machine and then layer the ingredients in and cook on low for 3-5 hours (not high!) or if it is better to leave all the pasta out, and just cook it on the stove, then mix it in.
Or, do what I did.
I just don't know.

I do know that this worked, but it certainly wasn't a very hands-off meal. And we ate it, even the leftovers for lunch the next day (the onion was soft by then!)

other pasta dishes that work well:

traditional lasagna
buffalo chicken lasagna
macaroni and cheese
ziti

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