Hey
Herbies!
The Rockport Herb & Rose Study Group presented the "Holiday
Culinary Herb" program at the South Texas Botanical Gardens in Corpus
Christi, Texas http://www.stxbot.org/ on
Saturday, November 2 from 10:00 until noon!
We had a very good program with a good attendance and lots of positive
feedback!
HERBS FOR HOLIDAY COOKING
Saturday, November
2, 10-noon
This cooking workshop
teaches people how to use herbs in their holiday cooking and includes samples
of delicious new treats to wow your family and holiday guests.
This was our lineup for the program!
Holiday Culinary Herbs
Introduction about our Rockport Herb &
Rose Study Group by Linda T. Collins.
Photo courtesy of Mountain Rose Herbs
Chef Kevin Argetsinger http://www.sodpottage.com and his assistant-wife Tammy Clark presented the program Talk Turkey Brining along with
providing samples of a brined turkey and cranberry chutney. Wonderful!
For a juicier and tastier turkey, be sure to brine before cooking using a wet brine! Kevin discussed how to use a wet brine for animals
that fly a/k/a poultry and how to use a dry brine for four-legged animals that
walk a/k/a meat. I think that after hearing
his program and tasting his brined turkey that many of us will be brining our turkeys for Thanksgiving this year!
Kevin’s Brine for Poultry
- 1/2 cup kosher salt
- 1/2 cup brown sugar
- 1 gallon of water
You can also add citrus and spices to the
brine. You can either cut the recipe to
handle smaller amounts or double/triple it to handle large turkeys. You need
enough water to cover the meat. A turkey
can be in the brine for up to 4 days as long as it is kept cold, not over 30°.
If you don’t want to make a whole turkey,
you can brine just turkey breasts! After
you remove your turkey breasts from the brine, it will only continue to get
better if you make Herb
Butter-Roasted Turkey Breasts.
Or you can use the herb butter on a full size turkey too but be sure to
adjust your cooking time!
Herb Butter-Roasted Turkey
Breasts
- 2 skin-on,
bone-in turkey breasts (3 1/2–4 pounds)
- 1 cup (2
sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
- 1 ½
teaspoon chopped fresh thyme + 2 sprigs of thyme
- 1 ½
teaspoon chopped fresh oregano + 2 sprigs of oregano
- 1 ½
teaspoon chopped fresh rosemary + 2 sprigs of rosemary
- 1 ½
teaspoon chopped fresh Mexican Mint Marigold + 2 sprigs of Mexican Mint
Marigold
- 1 or 2
heads of garlic, cloves peeled, crushed
- Kosher
salt, freshly ground pepper
Preheat oven to 425°F.
Put butter into a bowl and blend remaining
ingredients to make an herb butter. Gently loosen skin from turkey breasts and
rub butter under skin and all over outside of breasts.
Scatter thyme sprigs, rosemary sprigs, and
garlic over a large rimmed baking sheet and arrange turkey breasts, skin side
up, on top. Roast turkey breasts, turning halfway through, until skin is crisp
and golden brown and an instant-read thermometer inserted into the thickest part
of breasts registers 160°F (for optimal moistness, you will want to cook the
white meat of the turkey breasts to a lower internal temperature than you would
if cooking a whole bird), 45–55 minutes.
Transfer turkey breasts to a platter and
let rest 10 minutes before carving.
Serve turkey breasts with pan drippings alongside.
Photo courtesy of Taste of Home
We all know that stuffing is a must with
turkey. This Sausage Stuffing is one of my favorite stuffing recipes that
everyone loves.
Sausage Stuffing
·
1 16-ounce package corn
bread stuffing
·
1 ½ cups canned chicken
broth
·
14 ounces sausage of
your choice
·
8 tablespoons butter
·
1 ½ cups chopped sweet
yellow onion
·
¾ cup chopped celery
·
¾ cup chopped leeks
·
¾ cup chopped fennel
bulb
·
4 garlic cloves, chopped
·
¾ cup nuts of your
choice or can add and/or substitute with chopped water chestnuts
·
½ cup raisins or dried
currants or dried cranberries
·
Salt and Pepper
·
2 large eggs beaten
Preheat
oven to 350°. Butter 13 x 9 x 2 inch glass baking dish. Mix corn bread stuffing
and chicken broth in a large bowl. Set aside. In a large heavy skillet brown
sausage until cooked. Drain and transfer sausage to the bowl with the stuffing.
Drain off fat in skillet. Melt the butter in the same skillet over medium heat.
Add onion, celery, leeks, fennel and garlic to skillet and cook until tender.
Transfer to bowl with the stuffing. Mix in nuts and fruit and season mixture
with salt and pepper. Then add beaten eggs and mix. Be sure not to have the
mixture to hot when you add eggs or the eggs will cook. Transfer beaten mixture
to the baking dish. Cover dish and bake about 45 minutes. Uncover and bake
another 10 minutes or until the top is golden and crisp.
When it comes to mashed potatoes for the holidays, try
something different. One of my
granddaughters told me that the Mashed Potatoes With Roasted Garlic and Bay that I made last Thanksgiving were the
best she ever had. I must say I
agree.
Mashed Potatoes With Roasted Garlic and Bay
- 4 pounds potatoes, Yukon Golds are good,
peeled, cut into quarters
- 3 fresh bay leaves or one dried bay leaf
- Kosher salt, freshly ground black pepper
- 2 cups heavy cream
- 3 tablespoons unsalted butter
- 2 tablespoons chopped chives
- *Roasted Garlic to taste (optional)
Put the potatoes
into a large pot, add the bay, 2 tablespoons salt, and cover with cold water.
Bring to a boil over medium-high heat and cook until the potatoes are tender,
about 20 minutes. Drain them well and remove the bay leaf. Meanwhile, heat the
cream and butter in a small saucepan.
*Put the potatoes, along with the roasted
garlic, through a ricer or food mill into a bowl. Add the hot cream and season
with salt and pepper. Mix together with a spoon and add the chives.
*If you don’t have
a ricer or food mill, you can use a mixer.
*ROASTED GARLIC
- Whole
heads of garlic
- Olive
oil
- Salt
& Pepper
- Fresh herbs of your
choice (can use oregano, rosemary, thyme, marjoram, chives)
Preheat over to 350°. Cut just the very top part
of the garlic off. Place into a piece of foil and drizzle the olive oil over
it, add some salt and pepper and herbs and seal tightly. Bake for about 40 to
45 minutes. Remove and serve on crusty bread as a spread. Very good with
Italian dishes.
Photo courtesy of Epicurious
Do you every get tired of the Holiday Green Bean
Casserole that everyone serves? Try
something different this year with Fresh
Green Beans With Fresh Herbs!
Fresh Green Beans With Fresh Herbs
4 tablespoons olive oil, butter, or a mix
of these
¼ cup freshly chopped onion
2-3 cloves finely chopped garlic
¼ cup finely chopped celery
¼ cup fresh basil,
chiffonade
¼ cup fresh parsley, chopped
1/8 cup fresh Mexican Marigold Mint
1 teaspoon fresh rosemary,
chopped
Freshly ground pepper & Salt to taste
1 pound fresh green beans, snapped and
blanched
Sauté
onion and celery until tender, then add the garlic, the herbs, salt and pepper
and sauté a few more minutes. Gently stir in the beans and continue cooking. (I
like my beans crisp for a better flavor and color, but you can cook them to
your liking.) If needed, you can add more salt and pepper before serving. Fresh
parsley can be added as a garnish.
Photo courtesy of Epicurious, John Kernick, Gourmet
Pat Baugh presented demonstrations
and tastings for Baked Butternut
Squash and Quinoa Salad with
Mint, Almonds and Cranberries. Both were delicious!
This was sooo good!! DH loves it and
he is not usually too fond of squash. I used Splenda brown sugar mix and cut
that in half; also cut the butter in half and it was still delicious without
the anise seed, had none. Loved the combination of cardamom, brown sugar and
lemon and of course the butter just topped it off perfectly. I will be making
this again!! Thanks for sharing it!
Are you tired of eating your leftover
Thanksgiving meal? If you are, try this recipe. It is healthy and delicious.
The combination of the minty mint and the sweet cranberries are so refreshing,
just like a dip in the pool.
Ruth Hoese could not attend the
program, but sent her wonderful Cranberry
Chutney which was loved by all.
Here is the recipe!
Cranberry Chutney
Makes about 2 1/2 cups. This can be made with
Splenda or half Splenda and half sugar.
- 1 cup water
- 1 cup sugar
- 1 12 ounce package fresh cranberries
- 1/2 cup vinegar I used 1/2 rice wine vinegar and 1/2 apple cider vinegar
- 1/2 cup raisins, golden are prettier
- 1/2 cup peeled diced apples (optional)
- 1/4 teaspoon each ground allspice,
- 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1 tablespoon grated ginger (or to taste if you think that
would be too strong, if not available use 1/4 to 1/2 tsp ground)
- 1/8 teaspoon ground cloves
I did not have allspice for this batch- I used ground cloves-1/2
tsp; and 1/8 tsp Chinese 5 spices, and a pinch of nutmeg)
1 small orange or tangerine put through food
processor (optional)
Combine water and sugar in a medium saucepan.
Bring to boil over medium heat. Add remaining ingredients; return to boil.
Reduce heat and simmer 15 minutes or until
apples are tender. Pour into medium glass mixing bowl. Place a piece of plastic
wrap directly on sauce.
Cool to room temperature and refrigerate
overnight to allow flavors to blend. Serve at room temperature.
I always use this recipe as a starting point and change it each
year. Be sure to use small amounts of
your spices first and add or delete to your taste. I also cook quite a bit longer than 15
minutes- until it reaches the consistency you see in the sample.
Alternatives idea in this could be:
- red wine
- orange vinegar
- a touch of vanilla
For dessert we had Rosemary Cookies prepared by Mary Ann
Davis.
Not one was left over! They were wonderful.
Rosemary Shortbread Cookies
8 Tablespoons Butter (1 stick of
butter)
½ Tablespoons fresh Rosemary, finely chopped (1 ½ teaspoons)
¼ Cup superfine sugar
1 ¼ Cups all-purpose flour
Sugar (can use red and green
colored sugar)
Cream butter and sugar until smooth. Work in the flour and rosemary to make
soft dough; shape into a ball. Roll out on a floured surface until ¼ inch
thick, cut into rounds with a 2” fluted cutter, or cut into any shape that you
like. Bake on a greased baking sheet in a 325° oven for 15 to 20 minutes or
until the shortbread changes color. Cool on a wire rack and sprinkle with
sugar. Makes about 12 cookies.
Recipe from A Collection of Recipes complied by the Aransas/San Patricio County
Master Gardener Association April 1999.
Photo courtsey of ? but thank you very much!
Thank
you everyone that helped with this program and a big thank you to our busy Chef
Kevin for taking the time to give us a wonderful presentation. Also thank you for those of you that attended
and for the Botanical Gardens for inviting us to give this great presentation.
Now
go out there and cook with fresh herbs to surprise your family and friends!
They will turn an ordinary meal into a dynamite meal!
