Mrs. Cinquino's Italian Sausage Stuffing

A personal favorite

Ingredients:

1 Large bag of cubed bread crumbs (about 8 - 12 cups), preferably white. But you can also use organic whole wheat ones, or make your own.

1 onion, chopped

1 whole celery, chopped (raw fennel is good too!)

3 Tablespoons poultry seasoning

Salt and pepper to taste (extra pepper is good)

Fresh parsley

1 pound hot Italian sausage, raw

½ stick of butter

1 cup milk (or more as needed)

1 cup chicken broth (or more as needed)

Directions:

1: Put all the ingredients into a big bowl except for the butter, milk, and broth. Take the raw sausage out of its casing, slice, and mix it in.

2: Put the broth, butter, and milk into a sauce pot and heat until the butter melts. (If you are going to cook the stuffing in the turkey, leave out the broth.)

3: When the butter is melted and the liquid is warm, pour it over the mixture in the bowl, adding enough to make it really moist--soggy even, but not dripping.

4: Place the mixture into a casserole dish. Put it into the oven and bake at 350 degrees for about an hour or so--until the top is golden and the sausage fat is bubbling at the edges.

This must be served with gravy. And it's best when there is a peppery bite to it.

Coda alla Vaccinara

(This is my attempt, it looks like a success and tastes better)

2 (28-ounce) cans whole tomatoes, drained
3 tablespoons olive oil
5 pounds oxtail, cut into 3-inch pieces and trimmed of surface fat
Salt
Freshly ground black pepper
1/2 cup medium-diced carrot
2/3 cup medium-diced celery
2/3 cup medium-diced onion
2 cups white wine
2 whole cloves
1 small bay leaf
Half a bunch of thyme
1 pepperoncino (dried chile), crushed
2 to 4 cups chicken stock
1 cup veal or beef stock
2 medium carrots, cut into pieces 1 1/2” x 1/2” x 1/2”
2 stalks celery, cut into pieces 1 1/2” x 1/2” x 1/2”
1/8 teaspoon cocoa powder
Sautéed chicory or kale (optional).

1. Preheat the oven to 325 degrees.
2. Place the tomatoes in a bowl and crush them with your hands. Set aside.
3. Heat the oil in a large braising pan over high heat. Season the oxtail all over with salt and pepper. Brown in batches, about 3 minutes per side. Transfer to a bowl. Pour off all but about 2 tablespoons oil in the pan.
4. Add the diced carrot, celery and onion to the pan and sauté until the onions are translucent, about 4 minutes. Add the white wine and boil until reduced by half. Add the cloves, bay, thyme, pepperoncino and oxtails to the pot, then pour in the broken tomatoes and their juices and enough chicken and veal stock to cover the oxtail by about three-quarters. Bring to a boil, then transfer to the oven and cook, covered, until tender, about 3 hours.
5. Meanwhile, bring a medium pot of water to a boil. Season with enough salt so that the water tastes salty. Boil the carrot sticks until quite tender but not falling apart, 5 to 6 minutes. Using a slotted spoon, transfer the carrots to an ice-water bath. Once cool, drain. Do the same with the celery sticks.
6. Remove the oxtails and pass the sauce through a fine-mesh sieve, pressing on the solids. Return the strained sauce to the pan and skim off the fat. Stir in the cocoa powder and season to taste with salt and pepperoncino. Add the oxtails, along with the blanched carrot and celery batons. Season to taste again. Let the oxtail cool in the liquid. Just before serving, reheat the oxtail and serve with sautéed chicory or kale. Serves 6.

The Bird! - Apple Cider and Rosemary Marinated Turkey

Apple Cider Marinade:

1 (10-12 pound) fresh turkey or fully thawed frozen turkey

6 cups apple cider

2 cups water

6 sprigs fresh rosemary (rub between your hands to bruise for added flavor)

Roast Turkey:

2 onions, coarsely chopped, plus 1 or 2 onions, quartered, optional

6 garlic cloves

8 thyme sprigs

Zest of 1 lemon

2 (14-ounce) cans low-sodium chicken broth

Salt and fresh-ground black pepper, to taste

1/4 cup butter, at room temperature

2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley

To make marinade: Place a Reynolds Turkey-Size Oven Bag inside another oven bag of the same size so it is double thickness. Remove neck and innards from turkey neck cavity; discard or save for another use. Rinse the bird inside and out.

Place turkey in the inner bag in a large bowl or deep pan (we used a disposable foil roasting pan), breast side down.

Add the cider, water and rosemary sprigs. Remove as much air as possible from bags and seal each bag separately so as much of the turkey as possible is covered with the liquid (at least the entire breast should be submerged). Refrigerate 8 hours to overnight (you can turn the turkey if you wish).

To roast the turkey: Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Drain marinade. Lightly rinse the cavity of your turkey but not the outside skin. Pat the turkey dry (if you drain the turkey in the morning and aren't planning to roast it until the afternoon, let it air dry, uncovered, in the refrigerator until roasting time), tie the legs together (or place under clip on turkey) and tuck the wing tips over the back and underneath the turkey.

When ready to roast, place the chopped onions, garlic, thyme, lemon zest and broth in the bottom of the roasting pan. Place a rack over the liquid in the bottom of the pan (we used two stacked wire cooling racks). Salt and pepper the turkey cavities. Place turkey, breast side down, on rack; turkey should not be sitting in liquid (you can hold the turkey in position with the onion quarters and later serve the roasted onions).

Combine butter and parsley. Brush the back of the turkey with the butter mixture. Roast 45 minutes; if the turkey begins to brown too much, carefully tent with aluminum foil.

Remove the turkey from the oven (the oven will be very hot and there may be some steam so open it carefully) and reduce heat to 350 degrees. Using tongs, carefully turn the turkey, breast side up, on the rack in your roasting pan. Brush butter mixture over the breast and legs of the turkey and return to oven. Roast about 1 hour and 35 minutes or until a thermometer inserted into a thigh registers 165 degrees - make sure it is not touching a bone.You should start checking the temperature after about 1 hour.

Periodically brush the turkey with butter mixture while it roasts and rotate the pan if one side of turkey browns more than the other. It the turkey begins to get too brown, tent it with a piece of aluminum foil. Remove the cooked turkey from the oven, tent it with aluminum foil and let it sit 15 to 20 minutes before carving. (You can use the pan drippings to make Caramelized Onion Gravy.) Makes 6 to 8 servings.

Per serving: 468 calories, 48 percent calories from fat, 25 grams total fat, 10 grams saturated fat, 164 milligrams cholesterol, 8 grams carbohydrates, 1 gram total fiber, 6 grams total sugars, 7 grams net carbs, 50 grams protein, 168 milligrams sodium.

Sweet Potato Waffles

2 cups sweet potatoes, peeled and cubed

2 1/2 cups all purpose flour

1 tablespoon + 1 teaspoon baking powder

3/4 teaspoon salt

6 egg whites, at room temperature

1 1/4 cup skim milk

1/3 cup packed light brown sugar

1/4 cup butter, melted

2 tablespoon grated orange rind

Directions

1 » Steam cubed sweet potatoes for about 20 minutes or until tender when tested with a fork. Mash cooked potatoes and set aside.

2 » In a large bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder and salt and set aside.

3 » In another bowl combine the sweet potatoes, milk, brown sugar, butter and grated orange rind.

4 » Stir the sweet potato mixture into the flour mixture and thoroughly combine.

5 » Beat egg whites until stiff peaks form.

6 » Gradually fold egg whites into batter 1/3 at a time. The batter will be thick.

7 » Using a No. 20 scoop, place 2 scoops of batter onto a preheated, waffle iron, coated with cooking spray and cook until lightly browned, about 5 to 6 minutes.

8 » Serves 6, one waffle each.

Nutrition Facts

Serving Size » One Waffle

Calories » 380

Total Fat » 8g

Saturated Fat » 5g

Cholesterol » 20mg

Sodium » 720mg

Carbohydrates » 66g

Dietary Fiber » 3g

Protein » 12g

Diabetic Exchanges

Protein » 1.5

Carbohydrates » 4

Fat » 1.5

Squash and Apple Purée

Makes 6 servings
Ingredients:
3 pounds winter squash, peeled, seeded and cut into 1/2-inch cubes
2 apples, peeled and quartered
Salt and pepper
2 tablespoons grated orange zest
1/4 teaspoon ground ginger and/or cinnamon (optional)
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
Method:
Bring 1 inch of water to a boil in a medium saucepan fitted with a steamer basket. Put the squash and apples in the steamer, cover and steam until the squash is soft, 15-20 minutes. Transfer to a bowl and mash together to the consistency you prefer. Season with salt and pepper and add the orange zest and ginger and/or cinnamon, if using. Swirl in the olive oil.
Nutritional Information: (about 1 cup) 139 calories; 5 g fat; 26 g carbohydrates; 5 g fiber; 2 g protein.
Note: This side dish pairs well with roasted turkey or other fowl. It can also be used as a spread with crostini and soft cheese.

Just in time for Thanksgiving!

Pomegranate/balsamic

glazed carrots

(Serves: 8)

¼ cup pure pomegranate juice (or use a cherry-pomegranate blend)

1 T. balsamic vinegar

2 tsp. honey

2 T. unsalted butter, divided

2 T. olive oil

2 pounds carrots, trimmed, peeled and cut into sticks about 2 inches long and -inch wide

Kosher salt

1/3 cup lower-salt chicken broth

tsp. cayenne pepper

2 T. lightly packed fresh chopped fresh herbs such as parsley, tarragon or mint

Steps: In a glass measure whisk the juice, vinegar and honey. Cut 1 T. of the butter into 4 pieces and refrigerate.

In a 12-inch skillet, heat the remaining 1 T. butter with the olive oil over medium-high heat. When the butter has melted, add the carrots and 1½ tsp. salt and toss well to coat.

Cook without stirring until the bottom layer of carrots is lightly browned in spots, 4 to 5 minutes. Using tongs, stir and flip the carrots and then leave undisturbed for 1 to 2 minutes to brown.

Continue cooking, occasionally stirring and flipping, until most of the carrots are a bit browned in places and are starting to feel tender, an additional 3 to 5 minutes. Reduce the heat to medium if the bottom of the pan begins to brown too much.

Carefully add the chicken broth, cover quickly, and cook until all but about 1 T. of the broth has evaporated, about 2 minutes. Uncover, reduce the heat to medium-low, and add the pomegranate mixture (rewhisk, if necessary) and the cayenne.

Cook, stirring gently, until the mixture reduces and becomes slightly glazy, about 1 minute. Take the pan off the heat, add the chilled butter and gently toss with a heatproof spatula until the butter has melted, 30 seconds to 1 minute. Season to taste with salt and stir in about two-thirds of the herbs. Serve in a warm shallow bowl or on a platter, garnished with the remaining herbs.

First One.

First Post - Every Day I will update this account with a new, healthy recipe.