What are your thankful for?

So for Thanksgiving we had a bit of a mishap. Shaun (my fiancé)  and I were going to just make food at his house during the day. We get all ready to go there, and guess what happens? The oven doesn't work. And it's basically the basis for everything we are cooking. 


Anyways, over the next few days we were at my friend's house and cooked our dishes one by one. So here are the recipes for it!


The first is the turkey recipe which I got from Food Network. Now it didn't turn out as well as I would have liked as they did not have any turkey breasts at the store... so we just used turkey cutlets and made individual stuffed pieces. 


Also since I don't drink alcohol, though I don't mind cooking with it, but I am not yet old enough to buy said alcohol to cook with, so I  used Apricot Nector I found in a can in the juice section for the brandy, and additional chicken broth for the white wine. In some places though you can find non alcoholic white wine, so look for that first!

Turkey Roulade with Cranberry-Apricot Stuffing

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup whole almonds
• 2 teaspoons fennel seeds
• 1/3 cup Cognac or other brandy
• 1/4 cup water
• 2/3 cup dried cranberries
• 2/3 cup dried apricots (about 8 medium), coarsely chopped
• 2 medium shallots, minced
• 4 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
• 2 teaspoons kosher salt, plus additional for seasoning
• Freshly ground black pepper
• 2 tablespoons fresh parsley leaves
• 2 boneless, skinless turkey breast halves, butterflied (about 5 to 6 pounds)
• 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
• 3 cups white wine
• 1/2 cup chicken broth

Directions

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.

Spread the almonds and fennel seeds on a baking sheet and cook until golden and aromatic, about 10 minutes. Let cool to room temperature. Warm the cognac and water in a small saucepan, add the cranberries and apricots, and set aside until plump, about 10 minutes.

In a small food processor, pulse the almonds and fennel until coarsely chopped, then add the fruit and any unabsorbed liquid with the shallot, butter, 2 teaspoons salt and pepper, to taste, until the fruit and nuts are coarsely chopped. Add the parsley and pulse once or twice more.

Place the turkey breast halves on a cutting board. Divide and spread the fruit mixture evenly over them, leaving about a 1-inch border. Starting with the long end of each breast, roll like a jelly roll and tie firmly with butchers twine. Season generously with salt and pepper.

Heat a large skillet over medium-high heat, add the oil, and heat until shimmering. Sear the turkey roulades, turning occasionally, until they are golden brown on all sides, about 8 minutes. Place the 2 roulades on a rack in a roasting pan and pour 2 cups of the wine over them. Roast, uncovered, until an instant-read thermometer inserted into the center of the meat registers 165 degrees F, about 1 hour and 10 minutes. Transfer the breasts to a carving board, tent loosely with foil, and let rest while you make the sauce.

Put the roasting pan over medium heat on the stovetop. Add the remaining 1 cup of wine and stir with a wooden spoon to release the brown bits that cling to the pan. Add the chicken broth and cook until syrupy, about 5 minutes. Season with salt and pepper.

Carve the turkey into 1-inch thick slices and serve with the pan sauce.

Then we had the traditional green bean casserole, which Shaun had never had before!

1 can (10 3/4 ounces) Campbell's® Condensed Cream of Mushroom Soup (Regular, 98% Fat Free or Healthy Request®)

1/2 cup milk

1 teaspoon soy sauce

Dash ground black pepper

4 cups cooked cut green beans

1 1/3 cups French's® French Fried Onions

• Stir the soup, milk, soy sauce, black pepper, beans and 2/3 cuponions in a 1 1/2-quart casserole.
• Bake at 350°F. for 25 minutes or until the bean mixture is hot and bubbling.  Stir the bean mixture.  Sprinkle with the remaining onions.
• Bake for 5 minutes or until the onions are golden brown.

And Finally we had these Sweet-Potato Souffles which were alright...they didn't turn out as good as I thought they would...

Ingredients

8 small sweet potatoes or yams (choose whichever is brighter in color at your grocery store or farmer's market), peeled and chopped into large chunks 8 egg whites, beaten until peaks are just starting to form 4 tablespoons unsalted butter (regular or vegan) 4 tablespoons soy milk 2 tablespoon honey 2 teaspoon salt 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon 1/4 teaspoon scooped seeds from a real vanilla bean 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg

Put the potatoes in a large pot of cold salted water.  Turn heat to high and boil until the pieces are tender when pierced with a fork.  Once the water starts boiling, reduce the heat to medium or medium-high to avoid splattering. Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Drain the potatoes in a colander, then transfer to a large bowl.  Add all the other ingredients and combine with a potato masher.  Once most of the lumps are mashed out, finish with an immersion blender to make the potatoes completely smooth.  Taste the mixture, and add salt if necessary. Mix the sweet potatoes with 1/3 of the egg mixture.  Stir until completely combined.  Then fold in another third.  Mix until combine.  Fold in the remaining egg whites, and mix just until combined.  Mix lightly to keep air in the mixture. Spray 12 ramekins or ovenproof custard cups with cooking spray.  Evenly scoop the mixture into the ramekins.  Place them directly on the oven rack.  Bake for 30 minutes or until the soufflés are just slightly firm to the touch.  Remove them carefully so you don’t smash down the soufflé.  Serve immediately, while hot, or keep them warm to serve later. So there ya go, that's we did for our Thanksgiving. We have yet to make our pumpkin pie though...so that will come soon :) Soon our Sunday dinner recipe will be on here for fried chicken! Yours till the cookie crumbles