Maple Bourbon Glazed Turkey Wings

November 30, 2013 · by ·

turkeywings

Happy Thanksgiving and Happy Chanukah everybody! Hope everyone who celebrates is enjoying the holiday and relaxing a bit. I also hope you’ve indulged in some good foodie fun!

Because Chanukah and Thanksgiving only coincide once every 70,000 years or so, KOL Foods selected a group of eight bloggers to come together and share eight days of fabulous turkey recipes with you! At the end of Chanukah, you will have the opportunity to vote for your favorite Thanksgivukkah recipe and you’ll also have the opportunity to win $200 in credit towards your next KOL Foods purchases! Learn more about the contest here. If you aren’t familiar with KOL Foods, they are the only source online for domestic, 100% grass-fed, kosher beef and organic, pastured, kosher chicken, turkey and duck.

We’ve been celebrating Thanksgiving for the past few years with an assortment of good friends and family. The great turkey debate happens in the house each year. Our friends and family are a mixture of vegetarians and meat-eaters, and there is always a discussion of whether to change things up to a dairy Thanksgiving dinner. Somehow, tradition always wins out, and a giant turkey is prepared. Somehow, the turkey business always lands in my kitchen. I usually rely on my parents for trusty Thanksgiving turkey recipes. The giant 20-pound birds often intimidates me. I decided to come up with my own bird ideas this year.

Each year when we make the turkey, there always seems to be a race to the favorite turkey parts. In our gaggle of friends, the thighs and wings seem to be the most popular. Probably because they retain a lot of turkey flavor and juice. Unfortunately for us, turkeys only have two thighs and two wings. This year, I decided to forego the whole turkey and only cook up the various turkey parts that our guests prefer. I love using pastured, grass-fed turkey and KOL Foods sent me some turkey wings to work with. I decided to go with a maple bourbon glaze for my turkey. I’ve done a similar glaze on chicken and thought it would work well with turkey.

I preheated the oven, then I sliced some onions and laid them in my roasting pan, along with some cubed sweet potatoes, acorn squash, garlic and herbs. I used a combination of fresh thyme and fresh sage. I laid the turkey on top of the cubed veggies and stuffed some additional herbs and garlic under the skin. I ground some salt and pepper over the turkey skin. In a bowl, I mixed together the maple syrup, olive oil, bourbon, soy sauce, dijon mustard, garlic paste, apple cider vinegar, chopped sage and thyme. I poured everything over the turkey and veggie mixture.

prepped-turkey-wings

I then baked it in the oven for about an hour and a half or so. I checked on the turkey a few times to baste with the pan juices and to make sure that the turkey skin wasn’t burning. Some sort of magic happened in that oven. As I pulled the turkey out of the oven, even I, the turkey hater, was tempted to take an early bite of these turkey wings. That crispy skin promised to be amazing.

baked-wings

Good news. The turkey did not disappoint.

If you have some leftover  turkey wings (or other parts) from your recent turkey feast, I would recommend you lightly brush on some of the sauce and bake/reheat the turkey at 325 until heated through to a safe temperature. Keep in mind, for a few small pieces, you do not need as much sauce. It is a great way though to refresh a bland or drier turkey. You could also chop up leftover turkey and  pan fry with some of the glaze and chopped veggies and onions. It tastes amazing. We did this with a leftover semi-dry turkey breast and it totally revived the turkey!

Check out the recipe below and then head on over to KOL Foods to enter to win $200 in KOL Foods credit!

Maple Bourbon Glazed Turkey Wings
 
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Ingredients
  • 6 cloves garlic, chopped
  • 10 sage leaves
  • 12 sprigs of thyme
  • 2 sweet potatoes, peeled and cubed
  • 1 small acorn squash, peeled and cubed
  • 1 large onion. chopped
  • 4.5 lbs turkey wings
  • ½ cup Bourbon
  • ½ cup Maple Syrup - Grade B
  • 1 tbsp. olive oil
  • 1 tbsp. apple cider vinegar
  • 1 tbsp. dijon mustard
  • 1 tbsp. soy sauce
  • 1 tbsp. garlic paste
Instructions
  1. Preheat the oven to 350
  2. Place the onions, sweet potatoes, squash and half of the garlic in the bottom of a roasting pan
  3. Chop up the herbs and place about a third of them over the veggies
  4. Place the turkey wings over the veggies and onions.
  5. Sprinkle ground pepper and salt over the turkey
  6. In a mixing bowl, mix up the bourbon, maple syrup, olive oil, vinegar, garlic paste, mustard and soy sauce. Mix in about a third of the herbs.
  7. Pour the sauce mixture over the turkey.
  8. Sprinkle the remaining herbs and garlic over the turkey.
  9. Bake in the oven for about 1.5-2 hours. Check and baste the turkey every 30 minutes.
  10. Enjoy!

turkeywings

Filed Under: Dinner, giveaway, Lunch, Main Course, meat, Thanksgiving · Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Cranberry Glazed Corned Turkey Roast

October 17, 2013 · by ·

Cranberry-Turkey

A whole bunch of Jewish holidays just ended and I’m already gearing up for the next set. How did that happen so fast?

This year, in the good ol’ US of A, we have the pleasure of two holidays happening at the same time. Thanksgiving happens to fall on the first night of Chanukah! They say this awesome phenomenon won’t happen for another 79,000 years. Since I don’t plan on being around for the next round of Thanksgivukkah, I thought it best to do something this year to honor the holiday. Two great foodie holidays colliding! I’ve got to do something, right? So stick around this blog. I hope to share a few more Thanksgivukkah recipes with you over the next month.

When I was at the kosher market the other day, they had a display of corned meats. My husband loves corned beef,  and when I saw they had corned turkey roasts, I decided that this would be perfect. I rarely make turkey, so this would be a special treat.  My aunt makes a great corned turkey, and swears that when she makes it, it tastes a bit like ham. I can’t be the judge of that, but this corned turkey came out pretty good, and would be perfect for a Thanksgiving/Chanukah holiday dinner mashup. It’s also great for any shabbat or festive dinner.

The corned turkey comes vaccum-sealed and wrapped in twine. I recommend rinsing the turkey well before cooking. You first boil the turkey for about an hour and a half, then you glaze it and bake it further. I took the twine off before baking, but left it on while I let it simmer. I added some pickling spice and onions to the water bath.

For the glaze, I usually make something similar to what I do for corned beef, but since I have Thanksgiving on my mind, I created a cranberry glaze for this dish. It worked out well! I will definitely do it again!

corned-turkey-cooking

 

Cranberry Glazed Corned Turkey Roast
 
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Recipe type: Poultry, Thansgiving, Main Course
Ingredients
  • 3 lb corned turkey roast (If you can't get corned turkey where you live, you can substitute corned beef)
  • 2 tbsp. pickling spice
  • 1 onion, sliced
  • ½ can whole berry cranberry sauce
  • ¼ cup brown sugar
  • 2 tbsp. white vinegar
  • 2 tbsp. chopped rosemary
  • 1 tbsp. chopped thyme
  • 2 tsp. chopped ginger
  • 2 tbsp. chili sauce
  • 1 tbsp. chopped garlic
Instructions
  1. Rinse the corned turkey roast.
  2. Place the turkey in a large pot of water. Add the pickling spice and the onion. Bring the water to a boil. Turn down the heat and cover with a lid. Simmer for an hour to and hour and a half.
  3. Preheat the oven to 375.
  4. After the hour and a half, transfer the turkey roast to a baking pan.
  5. Mix up the rest of the ingredients and pour over the turkey.
  6. Bake in the oven for around 40 minutes.
  7. Baste the turkey every 20 minutes with the sauce.
  8. Remove from the oven. Let cool a few minutes.
  9. Slice and serve.
  10. Enjoy!

Cranberry-Turkey

Filed Under: Chanukah, Dinner, hanukkah, Main Course, poultry, Thanksgiving · Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Bacon and Onion Stuffed Turkey Burgers

July 2, 2013 · by ·

Bacon-and-Onion-Stuffed-Turkey-Burgers

It may be shocking to see me posting a meat recipe. It happens once in a while. It’s grilling season. You got to cook up some burgers during grilling season!

When I do buy and cook meat, I like to know that my meat is coming from a good place. Kind of like the chicken on the Portlandia episode. Well, I’m not that intense. I do like to know though, that the animals were treated well and fed well. I prefer to only buy sustainable, pasture-raised and grass-fed meats when possible. That’s where KOL Foods comes in to play. They have an amazing selection of pastured and grass-fed meats and poultry. You can read more about them here.

They recently sent me some beef bacon and ground turkey. I was so excited when the meats showed up. I had a few things in mind as to what to create.

Being that July 4th, Independence Day, is almost upon us, I thought I would share a treat that’s perfect for your family barbecues. These bacon and onion stuffed turkey burgers come together fairly painlessly and you will reap the rewards with the amazing flavor.

Earlier in the day, I stepped on to my deck to pick some herbs for my burgers. I like using sage, rosemary, parsley  and thyme whenever I mix up some burger meat.

In one pan, I began to caramelize some onions and garlic. I love caramelized onions both on and in the burger.

Bacon and Onion Stuffed Turkey Burgers

In another grill pan, I began to fry up the bacon. Half of the bacon was reserved for garnishing the burgers, but the other half would be going in the burgers.

Bacon and Onion Stuffed Turkey Burgers

I let both the bacon and the onions cool a bit.

In the bacon pan, I sliced up some portabello mushrooms and grilled them.

I began to mix up my burgers. I mixed the ground turkey with chopped onion, garlic, salt, pepper, rosemary, parsley, thyme and sage. I then added some gluten free oats, vegan worcestershire sauce and an egg to the mix. I mixed everything well. If you are not gluten free, feel free to add some bread crumbs or panko crumbs instead. I wanted to keep these gluten free for me.

Bacon and Onion Stuffed Turkey Burgers

I crumbled up half of the cooked bacon.

Bacon and Onion Stuffed Turkey Burgers

I formed some of the burger mixture in to a patty and then placed about a tablespoon of chopped bacon and a tablespoon of onions in the center of the formed patty. I then placed more of the burger mixture over it and sealed the bacon and onions in.

Bacon and Onion Stuffed Turkey Burgers

I managed to get 7 burgers out of this mixture.

Bacon and Onion Stuffed Turkey Burgers

I then grilled the burgers in my grill pan until done. (You can use the BBQ. It was raining that day)

Burgers-Grilling

I served up the burgers with additional bacon, onion, mushrooms, spinach and avocado. Oh my. That burger was amazing! You must make it!

As far as KOL Foods goes, they are amazing. I found that the meats and poultry are much more flavorful than the traditional store-bought varieties. The turkey tastes like turkey and the no-nitrite bacon was incredibly flavorful. I really loved the meats I received from them and am excited to order and cook from them again soon. Thank you, KOL Foods!

Bacon and Onion Stuffed Turkey Burgers
 
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Ingredients
  • 1 tbsp. olive oil
  • 1 tsp. salt
  • 1 large vidalia onion, sliced
  • 1 large spanish onion, sliced
  • 1 large red onion, sliced
  • 5 cloves garlic, chopped
  • 1 lb. of bacon (beef or pork) - half will be used in the burger, other half to top burger
  • 1 pound of mushrooms (portabella or baby bella), sliced
  • 2 lb. ground turkey
  • 1 tbsp. worcestershire sauce
  • 1 small onion, chopped
  • 2 cloves garlic, chopped
  • 1 tbsp. fresh parsley, chopped
  • 1 tbsp. fresh rosemary, chopped
  • 1 tbsp. fresh sage, chopped
  • ½ tbsp. fresh thyme
  • 1 tsp. salt
  • 1 tsp. fresh ground pepper
  • 1 extra large egg
  • ½ cup gluten free oats or bread crumbs
  • 1 tbsp. olive oil
  • Recommended Burger Toppings:
  • Avocado
  • Bacon
  • spinach or arugula
  • caramelized onions
  • grilled mushrooms
Instructions
  1. In one pan, heat up some olive oil. Add the onions, garlic, salt and pepper. Cook on medium until the onions are caramelized. Set pan aside when done.
  2. In another pan, cook the bacon. Because the bacon is fatty, you don't need to add any oil. Cook the bacon until crisp. Drain on paper towels and set aside.
  3. In that same grill pan, grill the mushrooms until nicely browned. Set aside.
  4. Crumble up half of the bacon.
  5. In a mixing bowl, mix up the ground turkey with the fresh herbs, the egg, the oats or bread crumbs, the worcestershire sauce, salt and pepper.
  6. Form the burger in to a small patty.
  7. Place a tablespoon of the crumbled bacon and the caramelized onions in center of each patty. Top and seal with additional burger mixture.
  8. Cook burger on a barbecue or on a grill pan until done.
  9. Top with your favorite burger toppings.
  10. Enjoy!

Bacon-and-Onion-Stuffed-Turkey-Burgers

 

Filed Under: burger, Dinner, fleishig, Gluten Free, grilled, Lunch, meat, product review · Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Roasted Chicken Wrapped in Ramps

June 4, 2013 · by ·

Our fridge died this past week. It happened to give its final burst of cold air on a 90+ degree day. My kind of luck, right? So with that fridge, out went lots of food.

Somehow, the fridge and food mess happened at the right time. Things like these rarely do. It just worked out that we were able to find and buy a new fridge pretty quickly, thanks to the fine people at the Sears outlet. Just six or so hours after the fridge was delivered, I also had a brand new Fresh Direct order delivered to my door. It’s those little big things that happen, that can make your week look a little less bleak.

This was the first time I ordered through Fresh Direct, the fabulous online grocery delivery service. I am thrilled they have begun to deliver to my neighborhood. I was very impressed with their selection and prices.

So it happened, that I found myself looking at the most beautiful bunch of fresh and local ramps. Have you tried ramps? Ramps are a variety of wild leeks. They have a short season – usually found in my area in the Spring time. They are wildly popular. It seems that as soon as you see them at the farmer’s market, you must grab them fast, or they will be gone before you know it. So this season, every time I have seen them, I have been sure to grab them so that I don’t miss out.

I really love the way ramps look when cooked whole. I find them both pretty and tasty. Their dark green leaves add so much to the look of a dish. They taste fantastic too!

For a recent Shabbat dinner, I chose to wrap some chicken drumsticks in the ramps and glaze them with a sauce, then roast them in the oven. I loved the way these looked, both raw and cooked. They tasted even better.

I began my liberally sprinkling the chicken with salt and fresh ground pepper. I trimmed and washed the ramps and then wrapped them whole around each drumstick. I then brushed each chicken leg with the sauce I prepared and poured the rest of the glaze over the chicken. I then baked the chicken at 375 for about an hour. Everyone enjoyed this chicken. It was served up with some fresh roasted asparagus and roasted sunchokes.

 

You really can’t go wrong with this chicken dish. Enjoy!

ramp-wrapped-chicken

Roasted Chicken Wrapped in Ramps
 
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Recipe type: Poultry, Main Course
Ingredients
  • 1 package chicken pieces (I used drumsticks)
  • salt
  • fresh ground pepper
  • 1 bunch of wraps (1 ramp per chicken piece)
  • 1 tbsp. maple syrup
  • 2 tsp. Dijon mustard
  • 1.5 tbsp. olive oil
  • 2 tsp. garlic paste
  • 2 tsp. ginger paste
Instructions
  1. Preheat the oven to 375.
  2. Wash and dry your chicken pieces.
  3. Sprinkle the chicken with salt and pepper.
  4. Wrap each piece of chicken in a ramp and place in baking dish.
  5. In a small bowl, mix up the maple syrups, Dijon mustard, olive oil, garlic, and ginger.
  6. Brush the glaze mixture on to chicken. Pour any remaining mixture over the chicken.
  7. Sprinkle additional salt and pepper oven the chicken.
  8. Bake in the oven at 375 for about an hour. Check the chicken for doneness.
  9. Enjoy!

 

Filed Under: chicken, Dinner, Main Course, shabbat · Tagged: , , , , , , , , ,

African Peanut Chicken

February 24, 2011 · by ·
This chicken was so good that I didn’t get a chance to take a picture of it. Well actually it tasted good, but looked pretty awful. It was also shabbat. So really no chance to get a good shot of it.


I love trying new ideas. The weekend is really my canvas to play with flavor. What I love most of all though, is experimenting with my dinner guests.

I love Asian style peanut sauces on foods, but had never ventured into the African peanut realm in food making. I often come upon recipes for African peanut soups and chicken dishes, but have held back on messing with them. The dear hubster has never been a fan of the asian peanut sauce – so I always assumed that an African peanut dish was off limits.

I decided to ignore his opinions and work out a recipe for me. I was really in the mood for a chicken dish that popped with flavor. I was in the mood for something different. A colleague has often mentioned a traditional African peanut sauce that she makes for her husband. I thought I would try my hand at something.

In searching through cookbooks and various blogs, I came up with a recipe that worked with what I had on hand. It came out amazing. Even the hubster loved it. To prove it, he devoured all the leftovers.

African Peanut Chicken with Vegetables

Ingredients:

1.5 cups of creamy peanut butter (not the sugary kind)
3 cups of vegetable broth
1 chicken – cut up
1.5 tbsp vegetable oil
salt
pepper
1 large onion, chopped
6 cloves of garlic, chopped
1 red bell pepper, diced
1 green pepper, diced
1 jalapeno, diced (optional)
2 teaspoons cayenne pepper
1 tbsp ground coriander
1 can diced tomatoes
2 large turnips, cubed
3 carrots, sliced
1 potato, cubed
1 sweet potato, cubed
cilantro, chopped (about a handful)

Preheat your oven to 325°F.


In a small bowl, whisk the peanut butter with 1.5 cups of the vegetable broth.


Wash and dry your chicken. Season it with salt and pepper.


In a large dutch oven, brown the chicken in the vegetable oil. Transfer the chicken to a plate.


Add the onion, garlic, and peppers to the pot. S

auté a few minutes. Add in the cayenne and coriander.

Once the onion mixture has softened, add in the chopped root veggies.

Stir in the peanut butter mixture as well as the tomatoes and the remaining broth.

Add the chicken to the pot and bring to a boil. Turn the heat down to simmer and cover the pot. Transfer the chicken to the oven and cook for another hour.

After an hour – take the chicken out of the oven and place on the stove on medium heat. Transfer the chicken and veggies to a serving dish. Simmer, and reduce the sauce on the stove. Should take about 15 minutes. Mix in the cilantro.


Pour the sauce over the chicken. Serve over rice.


Enjoy!

Filed Under: Dinner · Tagged: , , , ,

Morrocan Chicken Over Couscous

March 17, 2009 · by ·

Someone recently shared with me a Moroccan chicken dish recipe that is cooked in the crockpot. It sounded good, but I am not so big on crockpot cooking (even though I secretly want to be). I decided to adapt the recipe to make it on the stove and also upped the spice ante a bit as well. I was very happy with how easy it was and how well it turned out. Even my 7-year-old asked for second helpings. She ate the chicken and didn’t just pick out the olives! She never asks for second helpings, unless its mac and cheese. So this was the ultimate compliment a mom could get.

Morrocan Chicken Over Couscous
Ingredients:

1 cut up chicken
salt
pepper
olive oil
1 onion, chopped
5 cloves garlic, chopped
1 tablespoon ginger paste
1 teaspoon hot pepper flakes
2 carrots, chopped, or a good handful or baby carrots, cut up
rind of one lemon
juice of one lemon
1 teaspoon cumin
1/2 teaspoon coriander
1 teaspoon turmeric
1 cup vegetable broth
1/2 cup of white wine
handful of green olives
In a large pan or dutch oven, heat up some olive oil. Add in the ginger. Saute 1 minute.
Dust your chicken with salt and pepper.
Add the chicken to the pot and brown on both sides for 5-10 minutes per side.

Add in the onions and the garlic. Cook for a few minutes. Add in the spices.

Add the lemon rind and the lemon juice. Add in the carrots.

Add the broth and the wine. Cover and cook for 45 minutes.

While the chicken is cooking, cook up the couscous. Couscous is super easy. Put the desired amount of couscous in a bowl, and the same amount of boiling water, and cover and let sit for 5-7 minutes. Fluff with a fork.

About 3 minutes before serving the chicken, toss in the olives.

Serve the chicken over the couscous. Enjoy!
Filed Under: chicken, Dinner · Tagged: , , , , , ,

Tarragon Chicken

March 11, 2008 · by ·

Happy Monday. I realized when I got home this evening that my fridge was pretty empty. A few veggies. Not much to work with. I usually do fruit and veggie shopping on Sundays, but it just didn’t happen yesterday.

I had taken out some chicken drumsticks to defrost last night – but had nothing planned for them. Drumsticks are always a hit with my daughter. When she was around 2, she decided to rename drumsticks with the name “poonie.” Not sure where it came from. She is creative like that. Mittens were called “pockins.”

Based on the contents of my fridge, or lack thereof, I came up with a menu of tarragon chicken, rice with peas, and steamed broccoli.

 

Hint: When cooking with wine, only use wine that you are willing to drink.

Most tarragon chicken recipes I have seen have some sort of cream base in it. Since we keep kosher, here is the recipe I came up with:

Ingredients

    • cut up chicken – I used a package of drumsticks

 

  • salt

 

 

  • fresh ground black pepper

 

 

  • olive oil

 

 

  • 5 Shallots

 

 

  • 1 onion

 

 

  • 5 cloves of garlic

 

 

  • 2 tbsp dried tarragon or a good handful of fresh tarragon – chopped

 

 

  • 1-2 Tbsp dijon mustard

 

 

  • 3/4 cup of good white wine

 

 

  • 1 cup of broth (chicken or veggie)

 

 

  • Chopped Plum Tomatoes (1-2)

 

Sprinkle salt and pepper on your chicken. Brown the chicken in olive oil about 5-10 minutes.

Chop up your garlic, onions, and shallots. Add it to the browned chicken. Let it saute 5 minutes.

Add in the liquids and the mustard. Stir a bit and bring up the browned bits. Bring to a boil, then turn the stove to low. Cover until chicken is done, around 20-30 minutes, depending on cut. Check on your chicken to make sure there is still some liquid in the pan. Throw in the tomatoes a few minutes before you are ready to eat. Yum! It is wonderful served with rice. Enjoy!

Filed Under: chicken, Dinner, Gluten Free, poultry · Tagged: , , , ,
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