Jennie Russon's Turkey

Heres the instructions for the turkey I did: Read it all the way through I'm all over the place!

You have to marinade the turkey 24 hours before you cook it.  So make sure it is all thawed out the day before.

Wash your turkey, get a turkey bag big enough for your turkey fill it with 2 Tblsp of flour and shake it around.  Mix the following marinade:

1/3 c. Salt (I know it's a lot of salt)

1/2 tsp. pepper

1 C. Vegetable Oil

1 T. Sage

1 T. Rosemary

2 Bayleaves, crushed

1/4 tsp garlic powder

1 tsp. thyme

1 tsp. sweet basil

Then put your turkey in the bag and rub the marinade all over inside and outside your turkey.  Put the tie thing on the bag. Place your turkey upside down in the fridge on a cookie sheet then in the morning turn it right side up.  Follow the cooking instructions on the bag for the turkey.  When it is time to put your turkey in the oven open the bag and put pats of butter on the top of the turkey (about 1/2 to 1 cube of butter).  Cut slits in the top for ventilation and cook it for the time on the box.  When it is done I drain the drippings, it's a lot, and add some whorschire sauce and make a rue out of cornstarch and water.  I add potato water and make my gravy from that it's really simple!  Good Luck and Happy Thanksgiving everyone - if you have any questions call me.

Couples Night- Kristi and Staci

Strawberry Salad

 

Dressing:

1/2 c mayo

1/4 c milk

1/4 c sugar

1/8 c vinegar

1 T poppy seeds

1 head romaine (or bunch of spinach)

thinly sliced red onions (to your liking)

1 c sliced fresh strawberries

1/2 c sugared pecans

Cowboy Honey Dijon Chicken

1/2 cups dijon mustard

1/2 cups honey

1/4 cup lemon juice

1/2 teaspoon salt

6 whole chicken breasts

1 pound bacon

sharp cheddar cheese

canola oil

Make the marinade by mixing mustard, honey, lemon juice, and  salt.  Set aside.  Rinse chicken and place between waxed paper.  Pound until 1/2 to 3/4 inch thick.  Put chicken in marinade, cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate 1-3 hours.

Fry up the bacon and reserve 1/4 cup of the grease.  When chicken is done marinating heat equal parts bacon grease with equal quantity canola oil in pan over medium high heat.  Add 2 or 3 chicken breasts to pan.  Cook until brownish/blackish about 1-2 minutes per side.  Remove chicken to large baking sheet.  Repeat process until all chicken is ready.  Place in oven at 400 degrees for 10-15 minutes (until done).  Lay a piece (or 2) of bacon on top of chicken then sprinkle sharp cheese over the top.  Return to oven additional 5 minutes until cheese is melted and bacon is sizzling.  Serve immediately.

Rice Pilaf

1 onion chopped

2 celery stalks chopped

1 clove garlic

1 cup mushrooms 

2 Tbsp butter

1 cup rice

2 cups beef broth

1/4 cup bacon crumbled

1/2 tsp.pepper 

Saute onion, garlic, celery and mushrooms in butter just until tender.  Add the pepper, rice, and broth and bring to a boil.  Cover and turn on low for 20 min or until cooked and fluffy.  Sprinkle crumbled bacon in and serve.

Ice Cream Cakes

Chocolate Cake

Mix 2 cups sugar

2 eggs

1 cup vegetable oil

2 cups hot water

1 Tbsp vanilla

Then add:

 3 cups flour

2 tsp baking soda

2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 cup cocoa

Mix well.  Pour into 2 rounds or one bundt and bake at 350 for 35 minutes.

When cooled slice cake horizontally and spread softened ice cream of your choice then sandwich cake together and freeze.

Yellow Cake:

1 yellow cake mix

1 small box of vanilla pudding

4 eggs

1 cup water

1/2 cup oil

2 tsp vanilla

Mix well and follow box instructions for baking times.

When cooled slice cake horizontally and spread softened ice cream of your choice then sandwich cake together and freeze.

Apple Pie

Here is the link to the Apple Pie I told you all about with a whole wheat crust!
Like I said - he uses a half a stick of butter cut into pieces and placed on top of the apples and under the top crust.  Then he bastes the crust with melted butter before he bakes it (and even more basting with butter halfway through the baking!).
Amy

"Stuffed" Couples Night - Monica Bell and Hollie Andrus

Stuffed Peppers (click here for link)

Brittany Majors

Marinated Lamb Chops

So start with lamb loin chops.... Cheapest at cost co.
Put lamb chops in a ziploc with the following and marinade overnight:
1/4 cup olive oil
Rosemary (fresh or dried) lots
Salt
Pepper
crushed fresh garlic lots
Lemon juice(go with your gut I made this from a scanty recipe a friend gave me. No exact measurements sorry.)
Water: enough to bring the mixture in the bag to a 3/1 ratio.

When ready to cook place on a broiler pan. Broil for 5-8 mins until browning occurs than flip and do the same to the other side.

Reserve the the marinade and reduce in a sauce pan. Can add corn starch or flour to thicken quickly. Than use the gravy to pour on top of lamb when plated.

Crumble fresh goat cheese on top.

Ratatouille
(I got this from a blog called smittenkitchen.com )
1/2 onion, finely chopped

2 garlic cloves, very thinly sliced
1 cup tomato puree
2 tablespoons olive oil, divided
1 small eggplant (Italian eggplant works great
1 small zucchini
1 small yellow squash
1 long red bell pepper
Few sprigs fresh thyme
Salt and pepper
Few tablespoons soft goat cheese, for serving.

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.

Pour tomato puree into bottom of an oval baking dish, approximately 10 inches across the long way. Drop the sliced garlic cloves and chopped onion into the sauce, stir in one tablespoon of the olive oil and season the sauce generously with salt and pepper.

Trim the ends off the eggplant, zucchini and yellow squash. Carefully trim the ends off the red pepper and remove the core, leaving the edges intact, like a tube.

For the next part you will need a very sharp knife or some sort of slicing apparatus to cut the eggplant, zucchini, yellow squash and red pepper into very thin slices, approximately 1/16-inch thick.

Atop the tomato sauce, arrange slices of prepared vegetables concentrically from the outer edge to the inside of the baking dish, overlapping so just a smidgen of each flat surface is visible, alternating vegetables. You may have a handful leftover that do not fit.(This takes much longer than you would imagine)

Drizzle the remaining tablespoon of olive oil over the vegetables and season them generously with salt and pepper. Remove the leaves from the thyme sprigs. Sprinkle the fresh thyme over the dish.

Cover dish with a piece of parchment paper cut to fit inside.

Bake for approximately 45 to 55 minutes, until vegetables have released their liquid and are clearly cooked, but with some structure left so they are not totally limp. They should not be brown at the edges, and you should see that the tomato sauce is bubbling up around them.

Serve with a dab of soft goat cheese on top, alone, or with some crusty French bread, atop polenta, couscous, or your choice of grain.(I used couscous for my dinner night.)