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: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Kale and Butternut Squash Salad

October 22, 2013 · by ·

kale-for-top

The first time that kale showed up in my CSA, I was petrified and had no idea what to do with the abundance of curly leafy greens sitting in my kitchen. Ever since then though, I have learned to love kale and all of its applications. While I love kale cooked in dishes like frittata and roasted kale, it’s also great raw, in a salad.

Massaged kale is a great way to eat raw kale. When you massage some kale with a bit of kosher salt, the kale begins to soften and break down pretty quickly. It only takes a few minutes to knead it to perfection.

As you may already know, I love fall veggies. The abundance of greens and gourds make me so happy. I seem to be roasting up squash weekly. The massaged kale pairs very well with the roasted butternut squash. I thought I’d share with you this fantastic salad.

I began by peeling and cubing my butternut squash. I sprinkled it with olive oil, salt, pepper, cloves of garlic and fresh herbs. I then roasted it at 400 for about 40 minutes.

cut-up-squash

While the squash roasted, I washed, trimmed and cut up the kale.

cut-up-kale

I placed the kale in a large mixing bowl and sprinkled some kosher salt over the kale. With my clean hands, I kneaded the kale well. Massaging the kale quickly brought out the water in the kale and broke it down. You will see in the before and after pictures of the kale how much it reduces as you massage it!

kale-before-and-after

I dressed the kale with some chopped shallots, pumpkin seeds, dried cranberries, ed wine vinegar, olive oil, salt, pepper and that yummy roasted squash.

kale-for-top

This salad is so delicious  and keeps well in the fridge for a few days. Hope you enjoy!

Kale and Butternut Squash Salad
 
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Author:
Recipe type: Salad
Ingredients
Roasted Butternut Squash
  • 1 small butternut squash, peeled, seeded and cubed
  • 1.5 tbsp. olive oil
  • 1 tbsp. chopped fresh thyme
  • 1 tbsp. chopped fresh rosemary
  • 5 cloves smashed garlic (optional)
  • 1-2 tsp. salt
  • 2 tsp. ground pepper
Kale Salad
  • 1 bunch of kale
  • kosher salt
  • 2 tbsp. olive oil
  • 1 tbsp. red wine vinegar
  • additional salt and pepper to taste
  • 2.5 tbsp. pumpkin seeds
  • 2 tbsp. dried cranberries
  • 1 chopped shallot
Instructions
For the Butternut Squash:
  1. Preheat the oven to 400
  2. Peel and cube the butternut squash
  3. Toss the squash with olive oil and spread over a baking sheet
  4. Sprinkle over the herbs, salt and pepper
  5. Bake in the oven for about 40 minutes, checking on the squash and flipping, every 15 minutes.
  6. Remove from the oven once it's browned, but but not overdone. Cool.
For the Kale and Salad:
  1. Wash and trim the kale. Cut away the tough stems.
  2. Chop up the kale and place in a large mixing bowl.
  3. Sprinkle some kosher salt over the kale
  4. With you clean hands, knead the salt in to the kale. Knead for about 3-5 minutes. You will see the kale reduce and soften. The moisture will seep out of the kale.
  5. Toss the kale with the olive oil, vinegar, salt and pepper.
  6. Mix in the rest of the salad ingredients, along with the butternut squash.
  7. Enjoy!

kale-salad

Filed Under: Appetizers, Brunch, Chanukah, Gluten Free, Lunch, Salads, Thanksgiving, Vegan, Vegetarian · Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Vegan Green Bean Casserole -Thanksgiving Redux

December 5, 2010 · by ·

I never had a casserole growing up. Not even a bite of one of those canned french fried onions! Imagine that!


Casseroles always piqued my curiosity. These four ingredient dishes that look so easy and convenient. What could be wrong with that? Of course the ingredients scared me. A can of this with a bag of that and throw in some can of cream soup. Yikes! MSG + Fat + unidentified objects. Seriously? I’m supposed to eat that?

This year was the first year I was hosting Thanksgiving. I wanted to do it right. Wanted to bring in some of that “traditional” American Thanksgiving that I didn’t grow up with.

One of the iconic dishes that comes with tradition is the green bean casserole.

How could I make it kosher and tasty and healthier was my question.

Here is what I came up with.

Vegan Green Bean Casserole (adapted from a recipe on vegweb.com)
Ingredients:

1.5 cups vegetable broth
1 onion, chopped
1 cup baby bell mushrooms, chopped
1 carrots, diced
4 cloves garlic, smashed and chopped
basil, a few leaves, chopped
oregano, a bunch of leaves, chopped
sage leaves, a few – chopped
thyme, a few sprigs, chopped
salt
pepper
cayenne
2 tbsp. corn starch
3 tbsp. cold water
16oz. cut green beans (I used frozen)
1.5 cans of those crunchy french fried onions (I found them at whole foods and trader joes)
Directions:

Preheat oven to 350.

In a saucepan, heat the soy milk and broth.

In another pan, saute the onions, garlic, mushrooms, and carrots. Add the herbs. I like to add a teaspoon or two of cayenne to bump up the heat a bit, but it’s purely optional. Saute on medium until everything is soft.

In a small bowl, mix the cornstarch with the cold water. Add it to the broth mixture to thicken it.

Add the green beans and sauteed veggie mixture to the broth mixture. Mix in a half a can of the fried onions. Pour the mixture into a baking pan. I used a 9×9 pan, but I could have used something slightly larger. Sprinkle more fried onions over the top.

Bake for 20 minutes.

To be honest, I was surprised that I actually liked this. It had some sort of comforting taste to it. I probably won’t make it again for at least another year. It’s not bad though. Just not what we are used to eating. You have to make it once, though. Enjoy!
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