Turken (Teer-kin)
Hey....sorry it has taken me a long time to get a post ready about my Thanksgiving. To tell the truth, I had started writing my post two days afterwards but as I was writing, the post got longer and longer and longer and then I got tired, closed out my file and didn't touch it till tonite! I think what I was trying to do was write about the whole dinner I served in one post which was too much to do, so instead I decided to write about it in parts which is much easier. So.....I'm starting with my main course. I actually made seven dishes including dessert.
Here's my total menu:
Turken (I'll explain this below)
Smashed Potatoes & Green Beans
Candied Sweet Potatoes
Cheesy Macaroni & Broccoli
Peach Mustard Glaze over Honey Maple Glazed Ham
Whole Cranberries
2-layer Fudge Chocolate Marble Cake
Lemonade Tea
Smashed Potatoes & Green Beans
Candied Sweet Potatoes
Cheesy Macaroni & Broccoli
Peach Mustard Glaze over Honey Maple Glazed Ham
Whole Cranberries
2-layer Fudge Chocolate Marble Cake
Lemonade Tea
So, let's start talking about my main course: Turken and how I came up with this idea.
When this year's Thanksgiving came around, I was faced with the same question I have each year: how to make the menu different and more exciting than last year's? See, I'm not a fan of a lot of repetition, I try to challenge myself to think up new creative ways to do stuff, but this year presented me with a challenge: it was a MUST that I stick with the small budget I had. But, I welcome these kinds of situations and my brain went to work on a menu. It's still traditional in the sense of I had the turkey, dressing, sweet potatoes, cranberry sauce, etc., but I did some things a bit different than normal.
For one, I decided that since I love both turkey and chicken - why not combine them? I mean everyone's heard of Turduchen so that gave me my idea! And I decided to call it Turken (pronounced Teer-kin)! I'm sure this wasn't my invention or anything, but I was pretty proud of myself for coming up with something I had never done before. Turken was not going to just be alone on the plate either, I decided to make it into a layered dish like you usually do with turkey stuffed with dressing. My layers consisted of rice, gravy, and stuffing and of course the poultry!
I decided to make the rice, the stuffing, the turkey and chicken separately, well me clarify that: the chicken and turkey were poached together in a pan in the oven but the rice and stuffing I cooked those in separate pots. I made the gravy after the turkey and chicken were done and taken out of the pan. I then added the rice, stuffing and topped it with the turkey and chicken and ta da - you have Turken! I included my recipe for the dish below so if you ever want to try it....haa haaa! It was sooo good though let me tell ya! It is a lot of work, not something every week but it definitely can be a signature dish!!!! hee hee!
The other dishes like I said are pretty traditional but regardless of budget, I wasn't going to skip these. Thanksgiving growing up for me was always about having a lot of food and sitting with my family enjoying the blessings we have from God. And just because we have a lot of "stuff" going on in the world shouldn't stop us from realizing that we are still blessed and if you have your family, your health, your life - you're doing just fine!
Turken topped with parsley & lemon pepper
Well, I knew I had a large menu and only one of me to cook it so I decided to start Wednesday with the Turken and then work my way down my list cooking the extensive dishes first. Thanksgiving morning would be the cake first and then the minor dishes. Why cake you ask? Well...I did think about a pie, but again trying to add a little flair with the traditional I opted for a chocolate fudge marble cake. It's my hubby's favorite and it was just the excuse I needed to have something chocolate!!!
I bought a Duncan Hines Moist Cake Box Mix with the Chocolate Fudge Icing. I followed the directions on the box but I did add a teaspoon of vanilla extract and 1 tablespoon of melted butter to the recipe and my my...moist!Ok Kim...enough drooling over that chocolate...back to the Turken story! Whoooo I want to bake another cake! Anyways, I took some shortcuts not doing everything totally from scratch. But, happily I finished way before noon on Thursday and sat down to begin writing about the experience while hubby was shooting all the pics! And like I said, I'll post the other dishes in future posts.
So if your mouth is watering waiting for me to tell you the recipe for the Turken, I won't tease you anymore! haa haa! Oh...by the way this menu is for two people - me and my hubby! But...I made enough to probably feed a small army!
Turken (Teer-kin)
Main Course
Ingredients:
1 pkg. boneless, skinless chicken cutlets or fillets
1 pkg. boneless, skinless turkey cutlets
EVOO
kosher salt
lemon pepper
vidalia onions (cut up about 1/2 and save some for the stuffing)
Gravy:
2 cans of cream of mushroom soup
2 cans of water
lemon pepper
kosher salt
1 tsp. all purpose flour
My Stuffing:
1 leek
4 green onions
2 corn muffins
sliced tart apples, peeled and sliced
1 tsp. Splenda
dry or fresh parsley
1/2 lemon
White Rice:
4 c. long grain rice
3 c. low sodium chicken broth
butter
Preparation:
Preheat oven to 425 degrees F.
In a pan, coat with a little EVOO and saute some onions in it. Add a sprinkle of lemon pepper just until they are translucent - about a couple of minutes. Then add raw chicken and turkey, salt and pepper them. The flavor from the onions will cook all over the poultry. Add enough water to completely cover the meat. Put in oven and poach for about 2 hours or until all the meat is tender and easily comes apart.
Meanwhile, in a pot add the chicken broth and rice. Cook until the water has about drained and add butter and more broth or water and continue to cook until the rice is tender. Set aside.
For the Stuffing:
Put apples in a bowl and add Splenda and just a little lemon juice. Set aside. Chop the leek and green onions and then clean them in cold water. In a pot, coat it with EVOO and add more vidalia onions. Then drain the green onions and leeks out of the water and add to the vidalias, saute them just for a few minutes and then add chopped apples. Continue to cook until apples are soft checking frequently. Then crumble the corn muffins in your hands as you add them to the pot. Stir together. Add a little water or broth to moisten the muffins. Simmer until everything else is done.
After the meat was done and tender, I removed it from the pan and washed it. Then I began to make the gravy. I added the mushroom soup and water and stirred until mixed. Then I added salt and pepper to taste. After that, I added 1 teaspoon of flour to thicken. After I liked the taste, I added the rice first. Then the next layer was the stuffing and lastly the meat.
Tada...Turken! I sprinkled parsley on top. And, let me tell you my hubby went nuts for it! It was perfect and the gravy got all over each layer. The meat just fell apart, the stuffing was so good cause I could taste the savory from the leeks but the sweetness from the apples. It was gone in three days! LOL! Nice when a plan comes together huh!!!
Stay tuned for more of my Thanksgiving dinner! Definitely tell me what you think!!
When this year's Thanksgiving came around, I was faced with the same question I have each year: how to make the menu different and more exciting than last year's? See, I'm not a fan of a lot of repetition, I try to challenge myself to think up new creative ways to do stuff, but this year presented me with a challenge: it was a MUST that I stick with the small budget I had. But, I welcome these kinds of situations and my brain went to work on a menu. It's still traditional in the sense of I had the turkey, dressing, sweet potatoes, cranberry sauce, etc., but I did some things a bit different than normal.
For one, I decided that since I love both turkey and chicken - why not combine them? I mean everyone's heard of Turduchen so that gave me my idea! And I decided to call it Turken (pronounced Teer-kin)! I'm sure this wasn't my invention or anything, but I was pretty proud of myself for coming up with something I had never done before. Turken was not going to just be alone on the plate either, I decided to make it into a layered dish like you usually do with turkey stuffed with dressing. My layers consisted of rice, gravy, and stuffing and of course the poultry!
I decided to make the rice, the stuffing, the turkey and chicken separately, well me clarify that: the chicken and turkey were poached together in a pan in the oven but the rice and stuffing I cooked those in separate pots. I made the gravy after the turkey and chicken were done and taken out of the pan. I then added the rice, stuffing and topped it with the turkey and chicken and ta da - you have Turken! I included my recipe for the dish below so if you ever want to try it....haa haaa! It was sooo good though let me tell ya! It is a lot of work, not something every week but it definitely can be a signature dish!!!! hee hee!
The other dishes like I said are pretty traditional but regardless of budget, I wasn't going to skip these. Thanksgiving growing up for me was always about having a lot of food and sitting with my family enjoying the blessings we have from God. And just because we have a lot of "stuff" going on in the world shouldn't stop us from realizing that we are still blessed and if you have your family, your health, your life - you're doing just fine!
Turken topped with parsley & lemon pepper
Well, I knew I had a large menu and only one of me to cook it so I decided to start Wednesday with the Turken and then work my way down my list cooking the extensive dishes first. Thanksgiving morning would be the cake first and then the minor dishes. Why cake you ask? Well...I did think about a pie, but again trying to add a little flair with the traditional I opted for a chocolate fudge marble cake. It's my hubby's favorite and it was just the excuse I needed to have something chocolate!!!
I bought a Duncan Hines Moist Cake Box Mix with the Chocolate Fudge Icing. I followed the directions on the box but I did add a teaspoon of vanilla extract and 1 tablespoon of melted butter to the recipe and my my...moist!
Yummo!! Pass me some Ice Cream Please?
So if your mouth is watering waiting for me to tell you the recipe for the Turken, I won't tease you anymore! haa haa! Oh...by the way this menu is for two people - me and my hubby! But...I made enough to probably feed a small army!
Turken (Teer-kin)
Main Course
Ingredients:
1 pkg. boneless, skinless chicken cutlets or fillets
1 pkg. boneless, skinless turkey cutlets
EVOO
kosher salt
lemon pepper
vidalia onions (cut up about 1/2 and save some for the stuffing)
Gravy:
2 cans of cream of mushroom soup
2 cans of water
lemon pepper
kosher salt
1 tsp. all purpose flour
My Stuffing:
1 leek
4 green onions
2 corn muffins
sliced tart apples, peeled and sliced
1 tsp. Splenda
dry or fresh parsley
1/2 lemon
White Rice:
4 c. long grain rice
3 c. low sodium chicken broth
butter
Preparation:
Preheat oven to 425 degrees F.
In a pan, coat with a little EVOO and saute some onions in it. Add a sprinkle of lemon pepper just until they are translucent - about a couple of minutes. Then add raw chicken and turkey, salt and pepper them. The flavor from the onions will cook all over the poultry. Add enough water to completely cover the meat. Put in oven and poach for about 2 hours or until all the meat is tender and easily comes apart.
Meanwhile, in a pot add the chicken broth and rice. Cook until the water has about drained and add butter and more broth or water and continue to cook until the rice is tender. Set aside.
For the Stuffing:
Put apples in a bowl and add Splenda and just a little lemon juice. Set aside. Chop the leek and green onions and then clean them in cold water. In a pot, coat it with EVOO and add more vidalia onions. Then drain the green onions and leeks out of the water and add to the vidalias, saute them just for a few minutes and then add chopped apples. Continue to cook until apples are soft checking frequently. Then crumble the corn muffins in your hands as you add them to the pot. Stir together. Add a little water or broth to moisten the muffins. Simmer until everything else is done.
After the meat was done and tender, I removed it from the pan and washed it. Then I began to make the gravy. I added the mushroom soup and water and stirred until mixed. Then I added salt and pepper to taste. After that, I added 1 teaspoon of flour to thicken. After I liked the taste, I added the rice first. Then the next layer was the stuffing and lastly the meat.
Tada...Turken! I sprinkled parsley on top. And, let me tell you my hubby went nuts for it! It was perfect and the gravy got all over each layer. The meat just fell apart, the stuffing was so good cause I could taste the savory from the leeks but the sweetness from the apples. It was gone in three days! LOL! Nice when a plan comes together huh!!!
Stay tuned for more of my Thanksgiving dinner! Definitely tell me what you think!!
Nice!! I seriously want a slice of that cake.
ReplyDeleteWhat a georgous feast for the eyes, Kim!
ReplyDeleteI so love everything & especially the fab cake! Yum!
I thought man that Turkin looks great but hence I scrolled down a few inches and said 'Darn Girl' that chocolate cake! I would eat the turkin very fast so I could have the first corner (icing at every angle slice) piece, and of course seconds...
ReplyDeleteResponse to Jenn:
ReplyDeleteI wish I could let you have a piece, but it was gone in a day literally!!! hee hee
Response to Sophie:
Sophie, you are so kind! I'm glad you like it - I got more comin'!
Response to Chef E:
hee heee!!!! I cooked up a storm, and the cake was soooo good! :D