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Our Christmas Meal…

So, many of you asked me what we are making for Christmas this year and after 4 grocery store trips in less than 24 hours (ugh!), I think we are ready. Anyway here are a few of the things that will be on our menu:

There are so many fun and fabulous ways to cook a turkey. Fry it. Grill it. Roast it. But, I always wondered why more people don’t slow cook their turkeys. You’ve all tried the slow cooked chicken by now, right? You’ve got to try that if you haven’t. Dipping a bite of chicken in the juice, oh, it’s so good. So why wouldn’t we want the same tender, fall-off-the-bone texture for a turkey?

This past Thanksgiving we slow cooked a turkey, and it was awesome and easy to make.

Here is what you need:

  • 15 lb turkey
  • fresh sage and thyme
  • sea salt
  • 1 large onion
  • 2 lemons
  • 1/2 cup butter or ghee
  • 1 1/2 cup white wine

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  1. Preheat oven to 225 degrees Fahrenheit.
  2. Next, rinse and pat dry your turkey.
  3. Then, chop your herbs and set aside.
  4. Then melt your butter and add the herbs to make a herb butter.
  5. Then, it’s time to get messy. Separate the skin from the turkey breast and spread the herb butter between the skin and the meat of the turkey breast.
  6. Place quartered onion in the baking dish alongside the turkey breast and some inside the cavity of the turkey.  Also stuff the cavity with the lemons (cut in half) and any additional herbs you might like. Season with sea salt and freshly ground black pepper as desired. Pour wine into the pan.
  7. Truss the turkey and slow roast for approximately twelve hours, cover tightly with foil. Baste every 2 to 3 hours, if possible.
  8. Increase the heat to 375 degrees and continue roasting for one and one-half hours or until the skin is a rich brown and the meat has reached an internal temperature of at least 185 F. Allow the turkey to rest for 30 minutes prior to carving.

Our fear was that it wouldn’t turn out nice and brown like a traditional turkey but as you can see, it browned very nicely!
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So on to my new favorite side…So I’ve never made a sweet potato casserole and I’m not sure why since I love sweet potatoes so much. Oh my goodness, this tastes more like a dessert. It is fabulous, if I do say so myself!!

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Sweet Potato Casserole

Here is what you need:

Filling

  • 4 large sweet potatoes (or pre-cut bag from Trader Joe’s 2 lbs)
  • 1/2 cup canned coconut milk
  • 3 tbsp maple syrup
  • 1 tsp cinnamon
  • 1/2 tsp nutmeg
  • 1/2 tsp celtic salt
  • 1/2 tsp vanilla
  • 1/4 cup butter
  • 1 egg

Topping

  • 1 cup raw pecans, chopped (Trader Joe’s has a pre-chopped bag)
  • 1/3 cup almond meal or flour
  • 1 tsp cinnamon
  • 2 tbsp maple syrup
  • 1 tbsp butter
  • 1/2 tsp vanilla
  • 1/2 tsp celtic salt
  • 1 tbsp coconut palm sugar (for the top)

Of course I bought pre-pealed pre-cut sweet potatoes from Trader Joe’s. You can get them in the freezer section at Whole Foods too. Or you can just use 4 large sweet potatoes, peel and chop them.

Then, boil the sweet potato in a large pot of water for about 10 or so minutes until they are fork tender. Next put in a food processor with the rest of the “Filling” ingredients and blend until smooth. Move to a 9″ Pyrex glass pie or glass baking dish.

For the topping, mix in a medium bowl all of the ingredients except for the coconut palm sugar. If you don’t melt the butter, you may need to use your hands to mush it all together. I used my hands since I needed to spread the “Topping” over the “Filling” anyway .  Then, dust 1 tbsp of coconut palm sugar evenly over your topping. Cook on 350 for 20-25 minutes and enjoy!

 

Ahh and our broccoli casserole. It’s such a favorite of ours.  This year I added about 1/3 cup of almond meal to the mixture to thicken it up a bit and it was a nice change.

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And for dessert: Chocolate Bark

Okay, here is one other super simple, super tasty dessert that I’ve been using all season long for holiday parties, etc.

All you need is some dark chocolate, good salt chunks, and some nuts or seeds and or dried fruit that you like.

This is what I used:

  • Trader Joe’s Dark Chocolate 70% cacao Bar (It’s a 1 lb bar and only $5 but I only used 1/2 lb)
  • slivered almonds, handful
  • pepitas, handful
  • sunflower seeds, handful
  • dried cherries

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The easiest way to melt the chocolate (I only use 1/2 lb since that is all that will fit on one cookie sheet) is to get a big metal bowl, break the chocolate apart and put it in the bowl. Next, get a pan, add hot water and bring it to a boil. Then set the metal bowl on top and stir the chocolate as it melts. Once it’s melted, lay out some parchment paper on a cookie sheet and spread it evenly (make it pretty thin). Then immediately add your nuts, seeds, dried fruit, salt, etc. asap  while the chocolate is still melted. Then put in the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes or until it has hardened. Then break apart into pieces and enjoy!_DSC5256c

So those are a few of our favorite things. I hope you all have a very Merry Christmas!!

Happy Holidays from our family to yours!

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  • Amber - Looks amazing! Merry Christmas!ReplyCancel

  • Pat - Merry Christmas to you guys! The broccoli casserole looks especially good, will have to give that a try. We typically roast broccoli…

    Turkey looks good as well. We did a big bird earlier in the season, and did a brine soak overnight, then cooked a bit faster than yours but with a hotter browning at the end. Crisp outside, and juicy inside!

    So, finally, Happy New Year to you guys!ReplyCancel

    • landriav - Thanks Pat! Merry Christmas to you too!!ReplyCancel

  • Joyce Parker - Wow! I always thought it was never suggested because of potential food poisoning since it would take so long to bring it to the correct temperature, but I do see there are plenty other sites around recommending the same thing.ReplyCancel

  • Rebecca Denney - How do you store these? I make a similar chocolate but they either got too melty for me or the chocolate got a little dis colored when they went from fridge to room temperature. Any ideas on that? Thank you! They look beautiful!!ReplyCancel

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