My Thanksgiving with Cy

Happy Thanksgiving from my little red kitchen.  Cy and I made a delicious Thanksgiving dinner before we both head to Montana for the real deal with his family.  Our dinner consisted of a roasted Turkey Breast, Herb Stuffing, Candied Sweet Potatoes with Cranberry Sauce and Gravy.  Everything turned out delicious.  I am so grateful this Thanksgiving for the many blessings that are in my life.  I am so lucky to have so many wonderful friends and family members.  I hope everyone has a safe and happy holiday filled with much gratitude, laughter, friends, family and good food.  

D&C 136:28

" If thou art merry, praise the Lord with singing, with music, with dancing, and with a prayer of praise and thanksgiving."

Roasted Turkey Breast

I'm not the biggest turkey fan, but let me say this turkey breast was bursting with flavors and could be eaten alone without globbing cranberry sauce or gravy all over it to make it taste better.

Ingredients:

1 2-3 lb Boneless Turkey Breast

2 Tbsp Olive Oil

1 Tsp Seasoned Salt

1 Tsp Paprika

1/2 Tsp Garlic Powder

1/2 Tsp Dried Parsley Flakes

1/2 Tsp Dried Basil

1/2 Tsp Pepper

Directions:

Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees.  Cover turkey with olive oil.  Combine all the spices and rub the spice mixture all over the turkey.  Cook for about 90 minutes or until a thermometer reads 170 degrees.

Herbed Stuffing Ingredients:

6 Tbsp butter

2 Stalks of Celery finely chopped

1 Onion minced

1/4 Cup Minced Fresh Parsley

1 Tsp Dried Sage

1 Tsp Dried Thyme

1/2 Tsp Dried Marjoram

21 ounce bay of plain dried bread cubes

3 1/2 Cups Chicken/Turkey Broth

2 Eggs Beaten Slightly

1 Tsp Salt

1 Tsp Pepper

Directions:

1.)  Preheat oven to 400 (you can do it for 375 for longer time if you want to match turkey temperature).  Butter a 9x13 inch casserole 

2.)  In a skillet over medium-high heat, melt the butter.  Add the celery and onion and saute until tender.  (8-10 minutes)  Mix in the parsley and spices and cook for another minute.  Transfer to a really large mixing bowl.

3.)  Add the bread cubes, broth, eggs, salt and pepper.  Stir until its evenly distributed and spread in the prepared casserole.  

4.)  Cover with foil and bake for 25 minutes.  Remove the foil and bake for another 25-30 minutes until the stuffing is golden brown on top.  This is by far one of the best tasting stuffing recipes I have had.

*Note this can be made ahead of time and put in fridge over night if needed, just allow it to come to room temperature before putting it into the oven*

Cranberry Sauce Ingredients:

1 12 oz Bag of Fresh Cranberries rinsed and dried
1 3/4 Cups of Sugar
1 Granny Smith Apple peeled and finely chopped
Zest and Juice of 1 Orange
Zest and Juice of 1 Lemon

Directions:

1.)  Cook the cranberries, sugar and a cup of water in a medium saucepan over medium low and heat for about 5-10 minutes or until the skins start to pop open on the cranberries
2.)  Add the apple, zest and juice and cook for another 15 minutes.  Remove from heat and allow to cool and chill.  Feel free to mash to your liking or to leave whole

Candied Sweet Potatoes Ingredients:

* Let me start by saying this is one of Cy's favorite side dishes now, and we have been honored to include it in our annual Thanksgiving now with his family.  It seriously could be dessert, it's that good!!

4 Cups Mashed Sweet Potatoes (About 4)

6 Tbsp Sugar

6 Tbsp Melted Butter

2 Beaten Eggs

1/2 Cup and 2 Tbsp Sweetened Condensed Milk

1 Tsp Vanilla

Topping:  * If you don't want it as sweet, half the topping, but that would be foolish!

2 Cup Brown Sugar

3 Cup Sweetened Coconut Flakes

12 Tbsp Melted Butter

Directions:  

1.)  Pre-heat oven to 400.  Prick sweet potatoes with a fork and cook for about 40-60 minutes until tender.

2.)  Once cooled, scoop out potato into a mixing bowl.  Add sugar, butter, eggs, sweetened condensed milk, and vanilla.  Beat with mixer until completely smooth or until it's still a bit chunky.  Spread into a 9x13 pan that has been greased with cooking spray or butter.

3.)  Combine ingredients for topping and try not to eat it all like I did before you put it over the potatoes.  :)  Spread evenly over potatoes and cook until top is golden brown (35-40 minutes).  

* Note this can also be made the night before, just cover and bring to room temperature before baking it.  Add topping right before baking, don't do that step ahead of time.

Gravy Ingredients:

1/2 Cup Butter
1 1/2 Cups Finely Chopped Onion
1/4 Cup Flour
1 Tsp Salt
1/2 Tsp Pepper
2 Cups Turkey/Chicken Broth
1 Tbsp Heavy Cream

Directions:

1.)  In a saute pan, cook the butter and onions on medium low for 12-15 minutes or until the onions are browned.
2.)  Sprinkle the flour into the pan and whisk until combined, then add the salt and pepper.  Cook for 2-3 minutes.  Add the broth and cook for another 4-5 minutes until thickened.  Add the cream and serve.  You can add more chicken/turkey broth to thin out as needed.

Pumpkin Apple Soup with Apple Sage Scones

   

I love this time of year because it is soup season!!  Soup is such a comfort food on those crisp fall days.  Unfortunately, I live in Arizona and October has turned into an extension of summer this year and we have just gotten a few crisp nights here and there so far.  This soup has me excited for fall in Arizona, one of my favorite bloggers Brown Eyed Baker posted this.

Ingredients for Pumpkin Apple Soup:

1 Tbsp Olive Oil

1 Small Diced Onion

2 Granny Smith Apples (Peeled and Diced)

1/2 Tsp Salt

6 Cups Vegetable Broth

2/3 Cup of No Sugar Added Applesauce

1/2 Tsp Ground White Pepper

1/2 Tsp Ground Sage

1/2 Tsp Dried Thyme

1/4 Tsp Nutmeg

2 Cans of Pumpkin Puree

1/4 Cup Brown Sugar

1/2 - 3/4 Cup Heavy Cream

Directions:

1.)  In a large pot add oil over medium heat.  Add the onion, salt and apples when the oil is heated.  Cook until the onion is tender about 6-8 minutes. 

2.) Add the broth, applesauce, white pepper, sage, thyme and nutmeg.  Bring the mixture to a boil and cook for another 5 minutes.  You are looking for the apples to become very tender.

3.) Turn the heat to medium and add the pumpkin and brown sugar and cook another 15 minutes.  

4.)  Blend soup with a blender or immersion blender.  Turn the heat to low and add the cream.  Heat all the way through and serve alongside the scones.

Ingredients for the Apple Sage Scones:

2 1/2 Cups Flour

1/2 Cup Sugar

1 Tbsp Baking Powder

1/2 Tsp Salt

1/2 Cup cold and diced Butter

1 Finely Chopped and Peeled Pink Lady Apple

1/2 Cup Finely Diced Gruyere Cheese

1 1/2 Tsp Minced Fresh Sage

1 Cup Heavy Cream

Directions:

1.)  Preheat the oven to 425.  Spray scone pan with cooking spray

2.)  In a large bowl, whisk the dry ingredients together.  Cut in the cubed butter and mix with a pastry blender or your fingers until the texture is like coarse sand.

3.)  Stir the apple, cheese and sage into the mixture and make sure everything is coated with flour.

4.)  Pour cream into the mixture and gently stir until the cream is absorbed.  Knead the dough a bit until it comes together.  Divide among your scone pan or shape and cook on a greased lined parchment paper.  

5.)  Bake for about 20 - 25 minutes until the top becomes golden.  Cool in the pan for another 10 minutes and serve.  These didn't last long so I'm not sure how long they last :)

Huckleberry Coffee Cake

My boyfriend Cy, is from Montana and he introduced me to huckleberries and lets just say it changed my life.  I'm like a kid in the candy store when I'm in Montana because everything is flavored with huckleberries!  Last summer Cy took me to the farmers market in Missoula where I got to try my first piece of Black Cat Bake Shop's Huckleberry Coffee Cake.  I have never been a huge coffee cake fan but let me just say it was the best piece I ever had in my life still to this day.  Cy brought me back some huckleberries on his last trip he took there this summer and I wanted to try and replicate their coffee cake for us.  I got the vote of approval from Cy and it turned out delicious!  I'm sure if you don't have huckleberries you can use blueberries and it would taste wonderful.

Also on a side note, you see that vase in the picture above?  Cy has gotten into making vases from stumps of wood and he taught me how to make one and viola, our creation, isn't it beautiful?!

Ingredients

For the Topping:

5 Tbsp Flour

1/2 Cup Sugar

1 Tsp Cinnamon

4 Tbsp Cold Butter

A little bit of salt

For the Cake:

1 3/4 Cups and 3 Tbsp of Flour

2 Tsp Baking Powder

1/2 Tsp Salt

4 Tbsp softened Butter

3/4 Cup Sugar

1 Egg

1 Tsp Vanilla

2-3 Cups of Huckleberries

1/2 Cup Whole Milk

Directions

1.)  Heat oven to 375.  Butter a 9 inch round pan and dust with a little bit of flour.  Line it with a parchment round on the bottom

2.)  Prepare the streusel topping by mixing the flour, sugar, cinnamon and salt.  Cut the butter into little squares and using your fingertips or pastry blender cut the butter into the flour mixture until it looks like crumbs.  

3.)  In a bowl, whisk the flour, baking powder and salt together.  In another bigger bowl, beat the butter and sugar together until its fluffy.  Add the egg and vanilla and beat until its all combined.  

4.)  Beat in 1/3 of the dry mixture until just combined.  Follow by adding 1/2 the milk.  Add another 1/3 of the flour mixture and beat until combined.  Follow with the rest of the milk.  Finish by beating the remaining flour mixture into the dough until just combined.  The batter will be thick but trust me the cake will be moist.  

5.)  Fold in the huckleberries until they are even all around.

6.)  Spoon the cake batter into the pan and smooth it down until its flat.  Sprinkle with the streusel topping.  Bake in the oven for about 40 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.  

7.)  Cool in the pan for about 20 minutes.  Flip it out onto a cooling rack, remove the parchment paper lining and flip back onto a plate.  Dust with powdered sugar to make it even more stunning.  

Happy Sunday everyone!  

"In so many relationships and circumstances in life, we must live with differences. Where vital, our side of these differences should not be denied or abandoned, but as followers of Christ we should live peacefully with others who do not share our values or accept the teachings upon which they are based. The Father’s plan of salvation, which we know by prophetic revelation, places us in a mortal circumstance where we are to keep His commandments. That includes loving our neighbors of different cultures and beliefs as He has loved us. As a Book of Mormon prophet taught, we must press forward, having “a love of God and of all men" (2 Nephi 31:20)." Elder Oaks - General Conference October 2014

Sweet Dumpling Squash

It should come as no surprise that Fall is my FAVORITE time of year.  All the delicious squash, pumpkins and apples have me running to the grocery store on almost a daily basis.  I think I would be perfectly happy seasoning everything with Cinnamon, Nutmeg and Allspice.  This recipe is one of my favorite Fall recipes and I think the picture speaks for itself.  These cute little Sweet Dumpling Squash have such a sweet and buttery taste when cooked which provides them so much flavor without much added effort. They are even wonderful just stuffed and baked with brown sugar, butter and some crumbled Biscoff cookies.  I love how versatile they are and how they become an elegant dish without much effort.  Sweet Dumpling Squash are only around at the beginning of fall and will start disappearing so hurry to the grocery store!!

Ingredients:

4 Sweet Dumpling Squash

1 Cup of Cooked Quinoa

1 Diced Zucchini

1 Diced Red Pepper

4 oz of Cooked and Crumbled Bacon

1 Cup of Diced Red Onion

Garlic Salt

Smoked Paprika

Garlic Olive Oil

Freshly Grated Cheddar Cheese

Directions:  

1.)  Pre-heat oven to 350.  Pierce Squash all over with knife.  Place on aluminum foil and bake for 40-50 minutes or until they are soft and tender

2.)  Slice off the tops and scoop out the seeds.  

* Note be careful not to scoop a hole on the bottom of the squash.  Remove all the strings and seeds leaving a shell of squash around the inside.  

3.)  Saute onion over medium-high heat with a little bit of garlic oil until the onion is soft.  Add the zucchini and pepper.  Season with garlic salt and smoked paprika.  I didn't measure but you want a really intense smokey flavor so keep adding that flavor is there.  Cook until veggies are soft and browned.

4.)  Add the quinoa and bacon pieces to the veggies and mix to combine.  Fill the squash with filling and top with shredded cheese.

5.)  Bake for 15 minutes and then turn broiler to low and melt the cheese.

Delicious and healthy and swap out and add anything you like.  

Fig Newton Bars

My grandmother got me hooked on fig newton's growing up as a kid but I'm tired of going to the grocery store and looking at their food labels and not being able to identify half of the ingredients.  This is a delicious and wonderful treat where you probably have most of the ingredients in your pantry already.  I like to call them grown up fig newton's.

Ingredients

3/4 cup flour
1/2 cup whole wheat flour or white whole wheat flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
6 tablespoons softened butter
3/4 cup light brown sugar
1 egg at room temperature
2 teaspoons vanilla
8 ounces dried figs, quartered
2 cups apple juice
2 teaspoons lemon juice

Instructions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Take an 8 inch square baking pan and line it with enough foil that you will have some excess hanging over the pan edges.  Grease the foil in the pan. 


2. Mix the flours, baking powder, and salt in a tiny bowl.  On medium-high speed with your mixer, beat the butter and sugar until its light and fluffy, about 2-3 minutes.  Mix in the egg and vanilla and beat until just combined.  Stir in the flour mixture until its all incorporated.  Reserve just under a cup of the dough and place the rest of the dough into your greased pan and spread in an even layer.  Place in oven and bake about 20 minutes, it should look golden brown.  Roll the remaining dough in a square as big as your pan.  (I rolled mine on a silk pad so it wouldn't stick)  Place rolled out dough in the freezer for about 45 minutes or until its firm.


3. Cook the figs, apple juice and a pinch of salt in a saucepan over medium heat.  Stir occasionally.  Cook until its soft and syrupy, should take about 20 minutes.  Cool the figs a bit and then process them with the lemon juice until it has the consistency of jam.


4. Spread fig mixture over the baked crust.  Top with the frozen piece of dough and press it lightly down so it sticks.  Bake for about 30 minutes or until the top is golden brown.  Cool completely and then lift the foil out and cut into squares.  YUM!

Halibut with Buttered Pecan Sauce

We were in Mexico last weekend with some friends, Paul and Robin.  We got to talking about a fishing trip Paul will be taking to Alaska to catch Salmon and Flounder and it got me craving fish.  This recipe is delicious.  The spicy and savory rice with the taste of the sweet pecan sauce pair beautifully together while still not overpowering the taste of the halibut.  One of my favorite dishes.  

Ingredients For the Rice:

1 Tbsp Olive Oil

1/2 Cup Diced Onion

1/4 Cup Diced Red Pepper

3/4 Cup Brown Rice

1 1/2 Cups Chicken Broth

Salt and Cayenne Pepper to taste

1/2 Cup of Green Onions

Directions For the Rice:

Over medium-high heat the olive oil and add the onion and pepper until they are tender (a couple of minutes).  Stir in the rice and cook for about a minute before mixing in the broth.  After adding the broth, bring the mixture to a boil, reduce the heat and cover and cook until the rice is tender (about 20 minutes).  Season with salt and cayenne pepper to your taste and then stir in the green onions.

Ingredients For the Halibut:

2 Tsp Olive Oil

1 Tbsp Smoked Paprika

2 Tbsp Fresh Thyme

2 Tsp Garlic Powder

1 Tsp Salt

1 Tsp Pepper

4 Halibuts (6 oz each)

Directions for Fish:

Combine the oil, paprika, thyme, garlic powder

Directions For the Fish:

Combine all the ingredients in a bowl with a whisk.  Pat on both sides of the fish.  Oil grates for grill and cook over medium high heat for about 3-4 minutes per side.  

Ingredients for the Buttered Pecan Sauce:

1/2 Cup Chopped Pecans

2/3 Cup Sugar

1/3 Cup Water

Pinch of Salt

1 Tbsp Butter

1 Tbsp Apple Juice or Coconut Milk

Directions for Buttered Pecan Sauce:

Toast the pecans in a small saucepan over medium heat.  Stir for about 3-4 minutes until you can smell their wonderful flavor.  Put on plate and set them aside.  Combine sugar and water and bring to a boil, lower the heat and cook until its reduced by half about 5-10 minutes.  Stir in the pecans and salt.  Cook for about 1-2 minutes more.  Remove from the heat and serve the fish over the rice and the drizzle the sauce over your entree.  

* Note * The sauce does thicken when cooling or when storing left overs in the fridge but just heat it up and stir and it will be back to a sauce

Creamy Maple Cinnamon Almond Butter

I can' say enough how much I love almond butter.  I will choose it every time over any peanut butter out there especially when its homemade and packed with deliciousness.  

What you'll need are some basic ingredients and a good food processor

Ingredients:

2 Cups of Raw Almonds

3 Tbsp 100% Pure Maple Syrup

2 Tbsp Whole Golden Flax Seeds

2 Tbsp Hemp Seeds

1 Tbsp Chia Seeds

1 Tsp Cinnamon

1/2 Tsp Salt

1 1/2 Tsp Pure Vanilla Extract

Directions:

1.)  Preheat your oven to 300 Degrees

2.)  Line a baking sheet with a mat or parchment paper.  Mix together the almonds with the seeds and maple syrup and spread them out over the sheet and bake for 30 minutes.  Stir after 15 minutes.

3.)  Allow to cool off of the pan for a couple of minutes and then place them in a food processor.  Now mine was a smaller processor so I divided my almonds up into batches and did it a couple of times, but if yours is bigger, throw them all in.  Process for about 10 minutes, make sure you scrape the bowl and allow the processor to stop about every minute or so.  In the end you will have a wonderful creamy and smooth almond butter.

4.)  Add the vanilla, salt and cinnamon and process until its incorporated.  Here you can taste and add additional cinnamon, maple syrup, or salt to your liking.  

5.)  Transfer to a jar and top on your favorite bread.  DELICIOUS, its ok to lick the bowl too. 

Makes a little over a cup, mine stored in the fridge for several weeks