THE Turkey... by Shari

This has got to be the tastiest turkey ever made...

First melt a stick of butter then add a bottle of white wine usually a chardonney.  Then add garlic, thyme and basil.  Let this simmer approx. 30. min.  While this is simmering get the turkey ready.  Fix the turkey up and put it in the roasting pan, then cover the exposed area with cheese cloth.  When ready to go in the oven use a baster and baste with the butter/wine.  Baste about every 20 min. Until the mixture is gone then use the juice from the turkey.  The cheese cloth helps hold the moisture and flavor in the turkey.  The cloth gets black but when you take it off the turkey is a beautiful golden brown.

This turkey is WONDERFUL!!   It only lasted 3 days and the kids asked to take it to lunch at school even..  we used the last bit on our Friday night Pizza.... mmmmmmmmm

Andie Paysinger - asenji@themall.net

Following is the ham recipe I developed originally for cooking "dry-cured" hams from my family's farm in Kentucky. These are usually quite salty as they are pre-cured in a barrel of salt before being hung in the smoke house. People
in the south like saltier ham than folks out here so I experimented until I discovered this way of cooking them which actually extracts a lot of the salt. Then I discovered that very cheap store hams also come out nicely flavored
when cooked this way. I always warn people to keep the heat low and the time long - as one doesn't get the same results with more heat and less time. I have cooked this for a lot of people and told quite a few people who have used this method and have yet to find anyone who has not found this to be just about the best ham ever.

This recipe (or cooking method) works really well with the absolute cheapest bone-in ham, the holiday "Loss Leaders" at 49, 59, cents a pound, sometimes less. DON'T GET THE SHANK END

For a 12 to 15 pound ham you will NEED the following:

A deep roasting pan, dutch oven or deep baking dish just big enough for the ham to fit into with enough room to let you turn it over.

An Ice Pick! This is very important!!!

Maple syrup - I find it at Trader Joe's a specialty discount grocery chain here in Calif. or at Price/Costco and at Smart & Final. I am sure there is a similar source in your area. I usually buy a quart and use most of it.

Dry mustard, (Coleman's) about 2 tablespoons.

Optional - Whole cloves to stick in the ham but not necessary.

1. Trim any skin off the ham but leave some of the fat, - less than 1/4 inch thickness. Score the fat down to the meat in a diamond or tic-tac-toe pattern, your choice.
2. Take the ice pick and stab the ham all over, and I mean many, many stabs. Use up some of your latent aggression.
3. Take the dry mustard and massage it into the ham. If you must, stick whole cloves into the ham, as many as you want.
4. Put the ham in the pot. Pour in the maple syrup until it comes up at least 1/2 way on the ham, a little more won't hurt, it won't be going to waste.
5. Place the ham in a COLD oven and turn the temp control to 300 degrees F. Set timer for 30 minutes. After 30 minutes reduce heat to 250. and turn the ham over in the syrup.
6. Continue cooking for 3 hours for a 12 pound ham, add 30 minutes for each 2 pounds over that, turning the ham every 30 minutes. This is a long, slow method that will have remarkable results.
7. At the end of the baking time, remove ham from pot, allow to drain on a rack for 20 minutes then slice.

Most of the salt in the ham will have been extracted through the stab wounds and the meat will have absorbed some of the maple flavor from the syrup.

When the liquid left in the pot has cooled, strain it through a coffee filter and freeze it, you can use it two more times. After that it loses a bit of flavor or becomes too salty.
 

Ice Cream Bucket Lasagna
Recipe by: Linda Stolz <lstolz@nisa.net>

I cook a large package of hamburger (apx 5 lbs), drain.  Place it back in the pan I cooked it in, *(don't dirty another pan) and add tomato sauce and spices as you like
it.

Then in another large bowl, mix two large containers of cottage cheese, four eggs, and salt and pepper.

A third bowl has a large quantity of shredded mozzarella.

Finally, I open two packages of lasagna noodles, either no-bake or regular, doesn't matter.  I prefer the regular, they are thicker..the no bake kinda disappear in my lasagna because they are so thin.

Place all the ingredient bowls and pans in a row on the counter.  Then I take 6
(one gallon) ice cream buckets or similar container.  Layer as follows:

small amount of Sauce
Noodles
Sauce (it is important that all of the uncooked noodles are covered in sauce)
cottage cheese
noodles
sauce
cottage cheese
noodles
sauce
mozzarella cheese to cover top (we love this quite thick)

That is it!  You end up with six lasagnas, and only 3 dirty pans.  Freeze. Once solid, slip from the ice cream bucket, and place in gallon ziplock bags. Now they go back in the freezer, taking up much less space.

I use the ice cream bucket because it makes it the exact correct size and shape for my  5 quart crockpot.  You may find another container that works better for you.

When its lasagna eating day, just pop it in the crockpot on LOW, and let her go all day...come home, dinner is ready!

Tasty Brisket by Hedy
this is sooooo good...

Buy a nice big brisket, probably around 3 - 5 pounds, and put it in a roasting pan. (if 3-5 lbs is big 14 must be rediculous!!)

Gently cut shallow diagonal slices in it.  Crush a clove of garlic or two, and rub into the brisket, then put pieces of the garlic cloves in the slits you cut. (I use a couple Tablespoons of the ready minced garlic from the store)

Plop a couple of tablespoons of prepared horseradish onto the brisket and rub it into the meat. (well I wa out of this this last time and it was still good)

Mix an envelope of Lipton's onion soup with 2 cups of water (you may want to double this if the brisket is very big, or if you are making two briskets together).  Pour over the brisket. (I used 3 for 15 lbs.)

Cover the roasting pan (aluminum foil is okay), and cook at about 275 degrees for about 3 hours (more or less, depending on the thickness of the meat). Baste occasionally, and add more water if need be -- you should have a nice amount of juice.  If you need to, you can raise the temperature towards the end to speed up the cooking.  About an  hour before the brisket is done, you can add chunks of carrots, onions and celery. (I did not baste, covered tightly and went ot bed.. turned it off at about 5 am)

I did not add the veggies.. I cook this while I slept last month and made the best taquitos out of some of the meat, the rest i just sliced and bagged up to serve with noodles.. major Yumm!!
 

Parmesan Oven-Fried Chicken Sticks

Recipe By     : adapted by Suzy Wert from Cooking Light Magazine
Serving Size  : 12    Preparation Time :0:00
Categories    : Chicken

  Amount  Measure       Ingredient -- Preparation Method
--------  ------------  --------------------------------
     1/2  cup           fine -- dry breadcrumbs
     1/2 cup           crushed saltines
     1/3  cup           grated parmesan cheese
   2      tablespoons   dried parsley
     1/2  teaspoon   Beau Monde, Old Bay, Poultry seasoning, or ground celery
seed
     1/4  teaspoon      garlic salt or garlic powder
     1/2  teaspoon      pepper or cayenne
   12                    chicken breast halves -- skinned
     1/2  cup           italian reduced-calorie salad dressing*
                        vegetable cooking spray

*may sub buttermilk, regular dressing, or mixed up egg, but the italian
dressing has a really good flavor--use garlic powder instead of garlic salt if
you use salad dressing.

Combine first 5 ingredients; set aside. Debone and cut chicken breasts
crosswise into strips about 1/2" x 1/2" x whatever length, probably about 2" -
3".  Dip chicken in salad dressing; dredge in breadcrumb-cracker-cheese
mixture. Place chicken,  on a cookie sheet coated with cooking spray. Bake,
uncovered, at 350F for 45 minutes or until tender.

Flash freeze and bag in large ziploc.  Squeeze out air.  To serve:  Pick out
as many strips as you want to cook and heat on a cookie sheet at 400 until hot
and crisp.

In recipes:  These are GREAT!  I use with Chicken marengo, Chicken parmesan,
Any chicken-with-sauce recipe I have...just heat them and while the oven is
going, make your recipe and serve them under or on top of what you're making.
We also like them plain.  They are quick to cook, even frozen, since they are
in pieces.  Very versatile!  They also are less greasy than the chicken
fingers you get in a restaurant becasue they aren't deep fat fried.~SW
 

Roast Sticky Chicken

Recipe By     : Busy Cooks Web Site

   4      tsp           salt
   2      tsp           paprika
   1      tsp           cayenne pepper
   1      tsp           onion powder
   1      tsp           thyme
   1      tsp           white pepper
     1/2  tsp           garlic powder
     1/2  tsp           black pepper
   1      large         roasting chicken
   1      cup           chopped onion

In a small bowl, thoroughly combine all the spices. Remove giblets from chicken, clean the cavity well and pat dry with paper towels. Rub the spice mixture into the chicken, both inside and out, making sure it is evenly distributed and down deep into the  skin. Place in a resealable plastic bag, seal and refrigerate overnight.

When ready to roast chicken, stuff cavity with onions, and place in a shallow baking pan. Roast, uncovered, at 250 degrees for 5 hours (yes, 250 degrees for 5 hours). After the first hour, baste chicken occasionally (every half hour or so) with pan juices. The pan juices will start to caramelize on the bottom of pan and the chicken will turn golden brown. If the chicken contains a pop-up thermometer, ignore it. Let chicken rest about 10 minutes before carving.

Notes:This recipe is a great way to roast a large chicken for planned leftovers. It is reminiscent of those rotisserie-style chickens that are so popular now, and it is very easy to make. The meat comes out very moist and flavorful, so it is as good leftover as freshly cooked. Please try it and you will never roast chicken any other way. You need to start this the night before serving.
 

My version....

Sticky Orange Chicken Robbyn's Style

Recipe By     :Robbyn Snider
Serving Size  : 6
Spice Mix for 1 Chicken

       1      teaspoon  Black Pepper
       1      teaspoon  Garlic Powder
       1      teaspoon  Thyme
       1      teaspoon  Onion Powder
  2          teaspoons  Paprika
  1 1/3    tablespoons  Salt
  1              Large  Roasting Chicken
  1     Large  Orange

Place rinsed and prepared chickens in zip bags and sprinkle spice mix over the chicken.  Rub bag to make it even.. put chicken in fridge over night.. next day 12-24 hours later, remove chickens from fridge and fill cavity with a whole orange cut into chunks. put in large roaster with as deep of sides as possible and roast chicken 5 hours at 250* after juices have formed apx 1.5 hours begin basting ever 30 min or so.  This is soooooooooooooo good!!!  My kids devoured the entire chicken we served for dinner!
 

 

Back to Friendly-Freezer ..............................          .Back to the Plan Page

Back to our Home page