Orange and Bourbon Infused Cranberry Sauce: Not like your Grandma makes it!

Poor cranberries, they've been the butt of jokes due to their natural, tart and ( without added sugar) unappetizing flavor. If you're not sure what I'm referring to, google "john oliver cranberries." Well, I happen to like cranberries plus the added sugar takes away the tart! 

Servings: About 15
Prepped: Three mornings before Thanksgiving
Don't forget to warm this up on Thanksgiving if you want it served warm! 

Ingredients
2 12 ounce bags of cranberries- You'll use 18 oz for this recipe and I like to use the remainder with mason jars filled with water and a tea light for table decor

Just under 3/4 cup of brown sugar, white sugar, and OJ (no pulp)
3 ounces water
4 TBSP bourbon
1/4 tsp plus 1/8 tsp cinnamon
a few dashes of nutmeg

1. In a medium sized saucepan over medium-low heat, dissolve the sugar and cinnamon in the orange juice, water, bourbon. 
2. Stir in the cranberries and increase heat to medium/ medium high. Put the splatter guard on and listen. Allow to come to a boil, then reduce heat to low and cook until the cranberries start to pop about 10 min. Not all will pop, maybe half. 
3. As they boil, mash with a spoon a few times.
4. After cooking, remove from burner and let sit uncovered on coll burner for about 10 min, stirring occasionally.  It will thicken as it cools.
5. Place in dish you'll serve in and allow to cool for another 20 without lid. Taste taste now and add sugar if it's too tart for you! 
6. Stir if added anything and store in fridge until the big day! 

Time Saver #1 Turkey Day: Wash and cut potatoes beforehand!

You can actually peel and cut potatoes the day before using them. That will definitely save you a lot of time and you can focus on other tasks you may have to do. 

Need: 5 lbs russett potatoes

Prepped: After dinner night before Thanksgiving

Remember to wash the potatoes completely. Also, cut off any visible dark or green spots. Remove sprouts, too. When washing, use a little bit of white vinegar (or plain lemon juice) and water in your rinsing process along with a veggie brush; at the end rinse well with just water.

After that, as soon as you peel and cut the potatoes, be sure to place them in dish you’ll boil them in on Thanksgiving.  Cover them with cold water within minutes of cutting; that will prevent them from turning dark. Cover container with stockpot lid.

The potatoes should be always covered by water completely. This is very important. Leaving some areas of the potatoes uncovered will cause them to turn dark and that is exactly what you are trying to avoid. Add a few drops of lemon or a little bit of salt to the water. Then, put the bowl in the refrigerator until is time to cook the potatoes. 

The next day just remove the potatoes from the container. Rinse under the faucet with running water (you can use a pasta strainer), season them and cook as desired. 

Thanksgiving Herb Stuffing

I hosted my first Thanksgiving this year for 5 people. It was a great success for the most part. I learned a lot of tips. First, read ALL directions twice before doing! This prevents a lot of mistakes. Second, you'll want one helper for the kitchen for the last hour or so of cooking. Everything else is up to you, but no fear- I prepped A LOT ahead of time as you'll see. I consider all of these recipes a level 2. Nothing is really tough to make for a traditional Thanksgiving meal but the volume of dishes, the orchestration necessary to have it all ready and hot, and the stress ( though don't let this ruin it- really) of hoping it'll all turn out okay make it a bit more than a beginner's level.

Servings: about 13-14 “normal” servings. For me, it feed five twice with 4 additional side servings

Prepped: afternoon before

Oven time: 40 minutes at 350 

*Easy to microwave for half a minute right before putting on table*

adapted from: http://www.food.com/recipe/thanksgiving-stuffing-cheat-using-stove-top-46560

Ingredients 
1 medium onion, minced

3 stalks celery, chopped fine

2 TBSP butter, unsalted
1/2 tsp poultry seasoning- need to make? http://allrecipes.com/recipe/homemade-poultry-seasoning
1 1/2 cups low sodium chicken broth
¼ cup water
2 (6 ounce) packages Pepperidge farm herb seasoned cubed

1. Finely dice the celery & onion. Heat butter in largest saucepan ( NOT 3 qt) over medium heat. Add onion and celery and poultry seasoning and cook until tender crisp. Remove from pan.

2. Add the water and broth to pan and heat to boil. Remove saucepan from heat

3. Add in stuffing (dry box ingredient) and mix lightly. Add veggies back.

If making now (not prepping early):

Put back over latent heat. Cover and let stand 5 minutes.

Put in GREASED 9 x 13 dish. Cover with foil to prevent tops from drying out too much. Middle rack at 350 for 20 min. Remove foil and cook another 10. Stuffing should be partly soft and partly crunchy when done.

If making on Thanksgiving:

Stir everything lightly in pan and transfer to a GREASED 9 x 13 baking dish. Cover with alum foil, label, and refrigerate. I put it in fridge 25 hrs before baking and it was great.

When ready to bake,  simply bake for 35 min at 350. Check, remove foil, and bake another 5-10 minutes. Stuffing should be partly soft and partly crunchy when done.

Chicken Garlic Bites

Simple and fun to make, a great dish that's a healthy alternative to fried chicken. 

Servings: 3-4 meals depending on your hunger level

Level: 1, easy to make and hard to burn

Ingredients
2 boneless skinless chicken breasts, cut into bite size pieces
1/2 cup olive oil
4 cloves garlic, minced
1/4 teaspoon pepper
1/2 cup breadcrumbs
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper

1. Place chicken in shallow dish to marinate. In small bowl, mix olive oil, garlic, and black pepper. Pour over chicken.
2. Cover and marinate 30 minutes. Then, drain.
3. Preheat oven to 475°F. Mix bread crumbs and cayenne. Lightly coat chicken with the mixture. 
4. Arrange in a single layer on cookie sheet, cover with aluminum foil for easy cleanup and bake 10 minutes or until brown. Serve with your favorite dipping sauce! 

Spicy Chicken Rigatoni, like Bravo's Chicken Fra Diavolo

Spicy chicken, garlic, a combo of alfredo and marinara sauce, and a handful of peas make up this Spicy Chicken Rigatoni, one of my favorite pasta dishes copied from a dish at Bravo. This is a meal for hungry nights and special occasions. 

Servings: 4, no side dishes necessary with this filling meal

Level 2: While pan frying can be tough, the chicken is cut beforehand making it hard to burn. Yet, the cook is in the kitchen from prep until finish of this dish, which is about an hour first time. 

Ingredients

2 boneless skinless chicken breasts, cut into super thin strips, try not to dice but rather slice

3 cloves garlic, minced  

1 TBSP crushed red pepper flake

1/2 tsp pepper 

3-4 TBSP EVOO
a bit of butter

2 cups Bertolli alfredo sauce ( one jar is just under two cups which is fine)

2 cups Newman's Own marinara sauce 

1/2 cup frozen peas, I used 3/4 cup and I liked it but it might be too much for some

1 lb rigatoni noodles, Barilla brand regular not whole wheat, cooked al dente * see note below

 Sprinkle of fresh parmesan cheese and a pinch of red pepper flake for garnish.

***I have used rigatoni and medium shells (both Barilla brand). While I preferred the rigatoni, Chris liked the medium shells more. I am trying it for a third time this week with Gigli pasta from World Market ( their house brand). It is tri colored, but Gigli pasta is the same as campanelle pasta, which is what Bravo serves it with and I think it holds the sauce perfectly! Will update the post once tried! 

1. In a large skillet on medium heat, heat two tablespoons olive oil and a slice of butter.  

2. Add in thin strips of chicken breast, season side facing you with the red pepper flake and pepper. Toss in garlic as evenly as you can over top of chicken and increase heat to medium high. Cook about 3 minutes then flip and season that side with red pepper flakes and pepper.

3. Cook until chicken is done at a temperature of 160 degrees. This should only take a few minutes because the chicken is cut thin. Add in marinara sauce and stir. Then add in alfredo sauce. Let the sauces simmer for about 10 minutes. I throw the frozen peas in the microwave while it's simmering and add them to the dish with a minute or two left. 

4.  Garnish with fresh parmesan cheese, and a pinch or two of red pepper flake.

Rice Pilaf with Sliced Almonds

A nice side dish to most recipes, if you don't have chicken broth on hand feel free to use bouillon. If either broth or bouillon is low sodium, I might add a bit of salt to the rice before covering to simmer for 20 minutes. 

Level: 1, very simple

Servings: 2

Ingredients:

1 1/2 TBSP  butter

About 15 angel hair pasta strands, uncooked

1/8 cup minced onion

1/4 tsp minced garlic

just over a 1/2 cup uncooked jasmine rice

1 cup and a splash extra chicken broth

pepper, to taste

1/4 cup almond, chopped  

1. Melt butter in a medium saucepan over medium-low heat. Stir in spaghetti, cooking about 1 minute while stirring constantly until coated with the melted butter and very lightly browned.

2. Stir onion and garlic into the saucepan, and cook about 1 1/2 minutes, until tender. Stir in jasmine rice, pour in broth. Season mixture with pepper ( and salt only if using low sodium broth). Bring the mixture to a boil, reduce to simmer, cover, and cook 15 minutes, until rice is tender and liquid has been absorbed.

3. While cooking, chop up almonds. Once rice is done, add almonds to the pan and serve! 

Breakfast Scramble

Servings: 2
Level: 2, a bit of prep work and timing is important with the recipe. Be sure to watch the tomatoes carefully.

Ingredients and directions for each ingredient: 
Asparagus, at least 10 stalks baked in oven at 450 for 20 min with EVOO, garlic powder, and paprika
1/4 onion, chopped and partially caramelized with EVOO for about 12 min over medium heat
about 8 grape tomatoes, chopped in quarters and grilled over low heat for 7 min ( season with a bit of pepper)
3 slices of bacon cooked crispy
3 eggs, over easy
a 12 inch skillet single layer of cooked hash browns
freshly grated extra sharp cheddar for toppings

Prep: Preheat oven. Chop onion, tomatoes, and grate cheese. Wash and season asparagus on baking sheet lined with aluminum for easy cleanup.
1. Cook in following order: start bacon in 12 inch skillet ( i usually cook a few extra pieces), ( put asparagus in as soon as oven heats)  cook onion in 10 in skillet over medium for 5, then turn down heat to low and add tomatoes, cook for about 3-4 more.  Set all aside on plate.
2. Start hash browns in 12 inch skillet used for bacon.
3. Cook eggs in 10 inch skillet.
5. Cut asparagus into 1/4 once cooked. Plate hash browns, eggs, then cheese. Half all other ingredients and mix together!