BlogHer Food 2010 - Day 1: The Sessions

The InterContinental San Francisco

Finally, with all of the holiday posting over with - back to the conference! So let me tell you... despite only having the one small glass of wine {or was it two?}, did I sleep hard the night after the Deen Brothers event!  My flight the morning of my arrival day before had been at 6:00 a.m. which means I had to leave the house around 4ish for the airport, which means basically I tossed and turned all night and didn't sleep but maybe 2 hours max. Once I hit the bed at the hotel, I crashed.  By the way, I use one of those sleep machines at night and yes, it travels with me.  If you are bothered by extraneous noises from noisy hotel guests and slamming doors when you travel, you might want to check this baby out - I love it!

Registration started early Friday at 7:00 a.m. and breakfast was at 8:30 a.m.  I got up, showered and headed downstairs to register, received my lanyard, and a copy of the conference guide that included the agenda, session track details and a map. We also received a big, fat swag bag that was already packed full of goodies, but was intended to collect more products, promotional samples, and coupons from sponsors located in the ballroom foyer and side rooms. There were great sponsors - the likes of Kraft, Athenos, Philadephia Cream Cheese, Cas Cal, Pepperidge Farm, Scharffen Berger, Cuties, Nature's Path Organic, Nutella, Stacy's and Underwriters Laboratory.

Best I can remember, breakfast was a collection of typical continental type fare - croissants and bagels, yogurt, fruit, that sort of thing, and of course, coffee, which, in the absence of bacon and eggs, was really all my jet-lagged self was remotely interested in this first day! Note to the conference organizers - how about at least some scrambled eggs and bacon next year? Just sayin'...

By the way, if I were going to pinpoint a typical style of dress for the conference, I have to say fairly casual to business casual was the norm. I actually wore blue jeans one day and black jeans another with business casual blouses, and reserved the dressier slacks for the parties. A few people broke out the off-the-shoulder stuff and sparkly clothing for the parties, but most folks were dressed pretty casual and comfortable even for those.

This first day, following breakfast, there was a 30-minute welcome from the founders of BlogHer, three full sessions, each an hour and 15 minutes long, with break-outs in between for demonstrations and samplings by the sponsors, lunch and two keynotes, one during lunch and one after the last session and before the BlogHer/Food Fete Welcome Party finale in the evening.  It was definitely a full day.

I really liked the way that they designed the sessions along a group of tracks. There were no pre-session sign-ups, so you could follow one track completely through the entire conference, or you could mix and match tracks. In fact, the setting was pretty casual so that if you found yourself in a session you maybe didn't care for much, you could walk out of that one and right into another one at any point. There were four tracks - Values, Visuals, Vocation and Voice, each led by a moderator along with 3 to 4 experienced bloggers who were asked questions both by the moderator and the audience.

• The Values track dealt with topics concerning food safety and health, blogging ethics, urban farming, and the old school arts of canning, preserving and foraging.

• Visuals dealt with topics covering food styling, photography, and multimedia.

• Vocation dealt with the business side of blogging - working with brands and media, search engine optimization, recipe and cookbook writing.

• Voice dealt with topics representing writing tips, storytelling, social media, and the cultural and geographic elements of a a blog.

It was difficult to decide which tracks to pick - I wanted to attend at least 3 out of every 4 for every session! I won't get into the specifics here (maybe in another post), but I stuck to the straight Vocation track for day one. Session I covered the topic of "How to Stand Out in a Crowded Blogosphere," and was led by Nataya Anderson of Fête & Feast, Marla Meridith of Family Fresh Cooking - who you may also remember as my competitor in the recent POM challenge, Amanda Rettke of I Am Baker, and Carrie Vitt of Deliciously Organic. 

Session I was followed by the first break-out Demos and Samplings, sponsored by CasCal, makers of a hand crafted, all natural soda. Marketed as an alternative to wine, it is a fermented soda. I tried one and it was interesting - sort of reminded me of a fruity malt liquor in a way, but non-alcoholic. Basically you just wandered from table to table for tastings of product, to watch demonstrations, and take away samples to add to your swag bag if you wanted to.

Lunch was sponsored by Kraft, who fed us choices of pasta, grilled chicken and fish, along with a several varieties from their new line of Philadelphia Cooking Creme sauces - a new product to be released in February 2011. That's my plate and as you see, I had a little taste of all of them. Since I didn't eat breakfast, I was a little bit hungry!

I have read some criticisms about the food around the blogosphere, and heard that some foodies took off to the hills of San Francisco for lunches, skipping out on afternoon sessions to experience San Francisco cuisine and that's fine, but I was there to learn and experience so I wasn't going anywhere! Besides, I'm not much of a food snob and along with the pasta, chicken and fish, there was a very nice soup, a gorgeous salad, with tender baby greens, veggies, grapes and raspberries, an assortment of grilled vegetables and slices of prosciutto with melon, so essentially I was pretty okay with the food.  It was way better than any conference food I've ever had before, and I think I took about a bite of everything offered just about and it was all delicious. There were even separate buffets set up with gluten free selections, and plenty of vegetarian options as well, throughout the conference.

During lunch, there was what they call an Innovative Interview with Dominique Crenn - Chef at Luce Restaurant at the InterContinental, but if you are a fan of Iron Chef America on Food Network, you may recognize her as a challenger who beat Chef Michael Symon. Basically there was a moderator who conducted an interview with Chef Crenn basically about the progression of her career from her home in Vesailles to running the Luce restaurant.

After lunch it was time for Session II.  For me that was "How Bloggers Work with Brands and Media," with Jaden Hair of Steamy Kitchen, Georgia Pellegrini, Anupy Singla from Indian As Apple Pie, and David Leite of Leite's Culinaria.  This session led directly into Session III, which for me was "Beginner Level Search Engine Optimization," led by Stephanie Stiavetti of Wasabi Mon and Stephanie Manley of CopyKat Recipes. Both sessions, like the first, were informative and I enjoyed them.

Course there was great wine everywhere to be tasted - it is wine country after all - but one of the most popular cocktails at break out were the Clemen'thyme Sparkles. Made by Chef Kathy Casey they contained Cuties - California mandarin oranges - plus fresh lemon, vodka, a bit of fresh thyme, and a splash of champagne. They were mighty fine, I tell ya! Check out the recipe at the bottom of this post.

The final keynote of the day was another Innovator Interview, this time with Aida Mollencamp star of the Food Network Show Ask Aida (I watch her all the time). She seemed a bit uncomfortable and kinda nervous to me. Isn't it funny how you think somebody like that who is on television and doing all these public things to be a total natural in front of a crowd and turns out often they are as shy as the rest of us?  I guess being on a stage in front of a bunch of folks staring at you is a little unsettling for anybody. To be honest, I really didn't get a lot out of either one of the Innovator Interviews - I guess because I don't see becoming an Executive Chef or Multimedia Mogul Food Network Star anywhere in my future, and had I known that, I would've likely just skipped the keynotes altogether, though it was nice to have the break to settle down a bit from brain overload.

After the closing keynote for the day there was just enough time to run upstairs, freshen up and change clothes to head across the street to Élan for the BlogHer/Food Fête Welcome Party. Now this was really foodie fun. Three solid floors of tasting and samplings from all kinds of food vendors, we were instructed to start at the top and work our way downstairs. Silly me, I didn't bring my swag bag, so I basically walked out with just a few things in my hands - cookies mostly for midnight snacking later.

After the Welcome Party, I had to high-tail it back across the street to meet up with some other bloggers and a few folks from ZipList who were treating us to dinner.  ZipList is a free shopping list management tool that you can compile from your favorite recipes. To see it in action check out the recipes on Martha Stewart's website!

Instead of catching a cab we took a very brisk stroll across a couple of city blocks, which frankly I was not too crazy about. I may be a small town girl but I know that big city downtown transforms into something totally different when the sun goes down! But there's safety in numbers so I felt a little bit okay with it.  We finally arrived at Mint Plaza, a small area of restaurants and bars in downtown San Francisco

We ate at the French restaurant, Chez Papa.  I'll be honest with ya. It was a nice place, but far too packed, way too hot, dark and so noisy, that it was impossible to even have a decent conversation at this restaurant.  We sat in the very back where you see that big shell colored headboard looking backdrop on the wall.  I wish I could remember the exact description from the menu, but I had the fish, which on this night it was a sautéed Cod, on melted leeks, with an amazing butter sauce. It was delicious, though the fish was a little on the cool side and the leeks were stringy.  Ah well, not the best food experience for a visit to San Francisco, but the company was nice and the staff at the restaurant were very attentive.

Again, I didn't know any of the other bloggers who had been invited to the dinner previously, so it was nice meeting them - well briefly anyway given the darkness and the noise level of the restaurant. Invited were Tricia from Once a Month Mom, Kathy from Panini Happy, Maris of In Good Taste and Vanessa of ChefDruck Musings.  {I'm sure I've missed somebody.} After the meal, most everybody took off for some other commitment and the restaurant emptied a bit, so it got quiet enough that those couple of us left there were able to at least talk a few minutes before the trek back to the hotel. That was kinda interesting.

As we passed the Old Mint building on 5th Street, there were obvious homeless folks making their spots on the wide stairs for the night.  They shouted at everyone on the street, and some just to themselves it seemed, but I followed the lead of our fearless leaders, kept my eyes straight ahead and walked quickly by. It made me sad though. We have our own homeless in the south of course, but they are generally not so bold or vocal and pretty much keep to themselves hidden in the wooded areas rather than out in the public.

Got back to the hotel, got ready for bed, and hit the sack, exhausted again. What a full day!  Here's that cocktail I told you about.

By the way, I haven't tested all the links here yet, so let me know if any of them aren't working!

Photo Credit

Clemen'thyme Sparkle
Courtesy Cuties

1 large sprig of fresh thyme
1-1/2 ounces of vodka
1-3/4 ounces of Cuties Citrus Mix (recipe below)
Splash of champagne or sparkling wine
Small sprigs of fresh thyme and wedges of Cuties, for garnish

Drop the thyme into a shaker; add the citrus mix and vodka and fill the shaker with ice. Shake well and strain into martini glass, topping with a splash of champagne. Garnish if desired.

Cuties Citrus Mix:

1/4 cup of hot water
1/4 cup of local honey
5 Cuties, juiced (about 6 tablespoons juice)
1/2 cup of lemon juice

In a pitcher, mix the honey with the hot water until dissolved. Add remaining ingredients and refrigerate for up to 5 days.  Makes enough mix for about 6 drinks.

Non-alcoholic:  Use the mix on the rocks with a splash of soda water.

For more recipes visit Cuties on the net
Follow Cuties on Facebook

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Homemade Comeback Thousand Island Dressing

Homemade Thousand Island Dressing.  I'm guessing that just about every southerner has a recipe in their recipe box for this - and every one of them a little bit different.  It's a pretty simple dressing really - just a mix of mayonnaise, add in some ketchup or chili sauce, throw in some chopped sweet pickles or pickle relish and a bit of chopped egg and you'll have a perfectly fine Thousand Island dressing. But, I say, why not kick it up a bit and transform our fabulous and original Mississippi Comeback Sauce into a great Thousand Island dressing? DE-lish y'all - hope ya like it!

By the way, that's Trisha Yearwood's Baked Spaghetti peeking around in the background up there. I love it more every time I make it and it's a real crowd-pleaser. As a main dish for 6 adults and 2 kids, with a side salad and garlic bread, there was nary a drop left! I even used up the tail end of my homemade cream of mushroom soup with it!

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Homemade Comeback Thousand Island Dressing
From the Kitchen of Deep South Dish

1/8 cup of light olive oil or vegetable oil
1/4 cup of chili sauce
1/4 cup of of ketchup
1 tablespoon of Worcestershire sauce
1 teaspoon of spicy mustard
1 cup of Kraft mayonnaise
1 hard boiled egg, chopped
2 tablespoons of chopped sweet pickle or pickle relish
8 turns of the pepper grinder
Couple dashes of hot sauce
1/4 teaspoon of Slap Ya Mama or your favorite
   Cajun/Creole seasoning, or to taste
1/2 tablespoon of minced onion
1/4 teaspoon of garlic powder

Combine all of the ingredients until blended. Can also process in a food processor or blender for a smoother dressing. Store in fridge overnight before using. Use as a salad dressing, as a sandwich spread, or as a dipping sauce on everything! Can thin with a bit of milk if desired.

Source: http://deepsouthdish.com

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Turkey Bone Thanksgiving Gumbo - Turkey Carcass Gumbo

A delicious gumbo made from the carcass of the holiday turkey.

Turkey Bone Thanksgiving Gumbo

Turkey bone gumbo, Thanksgiving gumbo or Turkey Carcass Gumbo - no matter the name you use, it is a great way to transform at least one of your Thanksgiving leftovers into a whole 'nother meal, by extracting every ounce of flavor from that holiday bird. While everybody is busy traveling and gathering for the big feast on Thanksgiving, I wanted to remind you not to toss that turkey carcass after your Thanksgiving feast!

And by the way, once all the feasting is over, pop back by here and check out my list of Thanksgiving leftover recipes too. You're bound to find something to transform those leftovers into something else your family will be happy to gobble down.

You can use the carcass to make an incredible tasting stock for turkey noodle soup, or for this delicious gumbo. Once you've carved up the bird, simply break the carcass up, stick it in a container and hold it in the fridge until you are ready. You can also freeze the carcass if you want to wait, but just don't toss it - you've got another meal waiting there!

The smell of this stock simmering is amazing - smells like the turkey is roasting all over again I swear! And the stock makes a beautiful base for this gumbo. Once you've cooked the stock, you'll strain it out from all of the bones and vegetables - make sure you're straining it into another pot though and not down the drain though! {Ask me why I tell you this.} Toss all of those bones, veggies and any stray meat scraps. They have done their job and all of the flavor has been extracted from them - so don't be tempted to use any of that meat or vegetables in your gumbo.

As always with any gumbo, practice mise en place y'all, meaning make sure that before you start cooking, you have everything gathered up and in one place. Chop up all of veggies for The Trinity, and have all of your seasonings, measuring spoons and cups at hand and ready to use. The roux waits for nobody, so have everything ready to go! Make your roux fresh on the stove-top if you prefer, or save yourself a little time by making an oven roux ahead of time, or simply use your microwave. Doesn't matter one bit.

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Fresh sweet potatoes baked in a cane syrup and brown sugar, bourbon glaze.

Bourbon Glazed Sweet Potatoes

Here in The Deep South, we absolutely love our sweet potatoes. And we love our cane syrup. Oh yeah, and our bourbon. You'll find it expressed in an awful lot of recipes, especially around the holidays, so it's no surprise that we love our sweet potatoes glazed with a syrupy bourbon too. For us down along this way, that's most often made using Steen's pure cane syrup, a well loved and local favorite from Louisiana.

Of course, if you don't have access to Steen's you could certainly substitute another brand of cane syrup, pure maple syrup, sorghum syrup, or even some molasses, loosened with a bit of corn syrup.

Now. They say (whoever they are) that liquor cooks off during the cooking process, but I don't buy into it and never have, which is why I don't generally cook with added wine or liquor in my recipes, since we have a non-drinker in the household (though I'll use a little bit of vanilla extract). I think some of it does burn off, but not all of it, so all that to say... this might be a dish that you should reserve for the adults.

A couple other things to note here. While I used bourbon - Jim Bean and Maker's Mark are both good choices - a good southern whiskey will work just fine in this recipe too. Jack Daniels comes to mind. Use what you have and like. As far as butter, goes you will notice that I mostly use unsalted butter in the recipes that I write. The primary reason for that is just simple control over salt in my recipes - one stick of salted butter can contain between 3/4 and 1 full teaspoon of salt per stick. I do, however, keep both types in my freezer and which I use depends on what I'm making. For this recipe I used fresh, raw sweet potatoes and felt the salted butter more appropriate. If you use unsalted butter instead, you'll probably want to add salt sprinkled on the layers. Also, if you substitute canned sweet potatoes or canned yams for the fresh sweet potatoes, understand that those often are canned in heavy syrup, so you will want to taste and adjust for sweetness.

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Recipe: Bourbon Glazed Sweet Potatoes

©From the Kitchen of Deep South Dish

Prep time: 45 min |Cook time: 30 min |

Yield: About 4 to 6 servings

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Ingredients

• 3 pounds of raw sweet potatoes, about 4
• Kosher salt, to taste
• 1/2 cup (1 stick) of cold salted butter, divided
• 1/4 cup of Steen's pure cane syrup
• 1-1/2 cups of brown sugar, packed and divided
• 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon of cloves
• Grating of fresh nutmeg (about 5 passes on a microplane)
• 1/4 cup of chopped pecans, optional
• 1/4 to 1/2 cup of bourbon

Instructions

Bake the sweet potatoes at 400 degrees F for about 45-50 minutes, or just until fork tender but not mushy. Can be done in advance; can also boil whole until tender. Butter a 9 x 9 inch casserole dish; set aside. Once sweet potatoes are cooled, peel, cut into 1/2 inch rounds and layer into the casserole dish, sprinkling a few light pinches of salt in between the layers.

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F. Melt half of the butter in a skillet, stirring in the cane syrup and half of the brown sugar until blended. Stir in the cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg and pecans. Remove from the heat and stir in the bourbon. Taste and adjust as needed.

Pour the butter and bourbon mixture on top of the sweet potatoes. Cut the remaining butter into thin slices and spread over the top of the sweet potatoes. Sprinkle the rest of the brown sugar all over the top.

Bake, uncovered at 325 degrees F, basting a few times with a spoon or a baster, for about 25-30 minutes, or until bubbly and thickened.

Note: I call for the regular salted butter in this recipe since I used fresh, raw sweet potatoes and feel the salted butter more appropriate. If you use unsalted butter, you'll probably want to use some additional salt sprinkled on the layers. Also, if you substitute canned sweet potatoes or canned yams for the fresh sweet potatoes, understand that those are very often already heavily sweetened, and you may want to adjust the brown sugar accordingly.

Source: http://deepsouthdish.com

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©Deep South Dish

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Southern Sweet Potato Bread
Praline Butternut Squash and Sweet Potato Casserole
6 Ways to Cook Sweet Potatoes

Posted by Mary on November 23, 2010

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Top 10 Turkey Tips - How to Open Roast a Turkey Perfectly

This time of year it's all about the turkey, or more importantly, not only how to roast a turkey, but how to roast a turkey perfectly so that it's at it's most juicy, tender perfection. Here are some of my favorite tips to help you achieve the perfect turkey.

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1. Factor in thawing time!  If you're using a fresh turkey, this won't be an issue, but most people buy their turkeys frozen solid, and depending on the size, they can take quite a bit of time to thaw so be sure to plan for it. Never, ever, ever thaw your turkey on the countertop. Never. Thaw it unopened, breast side up, on a tray in the refrigerator - about 24 hours for every 4 pounds - or use the speed method, which is what I usually do since I don't buy my turkey that far in advance. To speed thaw, place the unopened turkey, breast side down in a sink and fill with cold tap water. Drain and change the water to fresh cool water about every 30 minutes or so - depending on how large it is. For a smaller turkey, 10 to 18 pounds, it'll take about 3 to 4 days in the fridge, 5 to 9 hours with the speed thaw method. For a larger turkey, 22 to 24 pounds, it'll take about 6 days in the fridge, or about 12 hours with the speed method. Once thawed, store in the fridge until you're ready to cook it!

2.  Brine. Your. Turkey. Learn the science behind brining and why you should do it, and check out my brining formula while you're at it. Buy the large turkey brining bags, or a kit, and if you don't have room in your fridge, you can use a small cooler - just a little bit bigger than your bird - so long as you keep plenty of ice on hand. You must keep the temperature at 40 degrees or less, so keep a thermometer in the cooler, and check it frequently. Fill several large zippered storage bags with ice and load them in with the turkey and the brining solution, so that you don't dilute your brine - refresh them as often as needed! My brining recipe is not cooked, but many are. If you use a cooked version you must cool it and refrigerate it overnight. Do not put the turkey into a brine that is not well chilled. When you are done with the brine, rinse the turkey well, inside and out, place it into a pan and let it sit, uncovered in the fridge overnight to dry.

3.  Truss. Trussing makes the bird more compact, helps it to keep its shape and cook more evenly, and makes it easier to carve.  Even if you simply truss the legs and tuck the wings up underneath, it makes a big difference. Find out more about trussing here.

4.  Stuff the Turkey ... with Aromatics.  People have gotten fearful of stuffing a turkey with dressing anymore, but I have never been fearful of it really. We grew up on it and not one of us ever got sick from it. If you don't want to stuff, definitely use some aromatics inside the cavity of your turkey.  Salt (skip if you've brined) and pepper the insides first, then stuff with a couple of lemons, cut in half or sliced, some fresh rosemary, and smashed garlic cloves. Some people stuff with onion and seasonal fruits - like apples and oranges, instead.

5.  Inject flavor.  This has become a big trend, mostly for fried turkeys but also for open roasted turkeys because it infuses extra flavor right into the turkey meat. Make up your own injecting formula, or simply purchase a kit that includes the injector and the seasoning.

6.  High heat at the beginning.  Alton Brown's roast turkey (14 to 16 pound sized) recipe starts the turkey off in a very hot 500 degree oven for 30 minutes, and then reduces the heat down to 350 degrees for the remaining roasting time - about 2 to 2-1/2 hours for that size bird. I have done this method (though not quite that hot) and it works well. Michael Symon does his (10 pound) turkey at 425 for about 45 minutes, then reduces it down to 375 degrees F for about 15 to 20 minutes longer per pound. Anne Burrell goes for 450 degrees F for about 45 minutes (with her 12 to 14 pound turkey), then lowers to 350 degrees for the remaining time, about 17 minutes per pound.

7. Coat the turkey. You can use vegetable oil, canola oil, or butter, but most of us prefer butter. Season the butter with a bit of fresh cracked black pepper, or really whatever you like. Pat the turkey dry, carefully lift the skin around the breast area and smear butter up under the skin and all over the top of the skin everywhere. Martha Stewart likes to use a wine and butter drenched cheesecloth that is draped over the breast meat and is then constantly basted - at least every 30 minutes - to keep it from drying out. Don't let the cheesecloth dry out if you use this method, because it will stick to the skin and tear the skin away. The cheesecloth is very carefully removed during the final 1/3 of the cooking time and the turkey basted.  I prefer the simple butter smear, no cheesecloth. Some people also like to rub Cajun seasoning on top of the turkey after buttering but keep in mind that the seasonings tend to darken during the roasting process (think blackened if you will) so keep that in mind as far as presentation goes if you choose to use it. I think an injection of Cajun seasoning is the better way to go.

8. Frequent basting. While the turkey is roasting, I love to baste it about every 30 minutes. It really transforms the color.  Do it right in the oven, rather than removing the turkey, if possible, but quickly so you won't lose your oven heat! Turn the roasting pan several times during the course of basting just to insure more even roasting.

9.  Cover the breast meat at the end.  During the last 1/3 of the roasting period, very loosely tent only the breast meat with a piece of aluminum foil. This will help to shield the breast meat and prevent it from overcooking while the darker meat continues to cook. Some folks start their turkey out breast side down and then turn it over near the last 1/3 or so of the cooking time and swear that it keeps the breast meat moist. I tried it before but found it too awkward and I feel the brining has that covered now anyway.

10. Ignore the pop up timer and use a thermometer. Period. If you are trying to roast a turkey without one of these - either an instant read thermometer or a digital probe thermometer - or if you are, heaven forbid, going by the pop up timer, you are more likely than not, overcooking your turkey. A probe can be inserted and left in the turkey and will let you know when it reaches temperature. Otherwise, use an instant read thermometer and begin checking the temperature about a half hour before the anticipated time. The turkey is done when an instant read thermometer inserted into thickest part of the thigh meat reads right at about 180 degrees. Loosely tent the turkey and let it rest - it will continue cooking for a bit.

These are a few of the tips and tricks I've picked up over the years. Do you have any tricks of your own to achieve a perfect, moist turkey?

For more tips and tricks pop over to our Facebook page and check out our reader suggestions too!

Helpful Links:

How to Brine
Trussing a Turkey
Oven Roasted Turkey

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7 Top Tips to Perfect Your Holiday Dressing or Stuffing

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The perfect dressing, or stuffing... however you look at it, can be a bit elusive, and to be honest it just takes practice to get it to the consistency that you like. Some people like their dressing on the dry side, others like it almost soupy. Here are some of my favorite dressing tips that I've picked up along my way of practice.

7 Top Tips to Perfect Your Holiday Dressing or Stuffing

©From the Kitchen of Deep South Dish

1. Use very dry bread and/or cornbread.  Ideally, they both should be day old, stale bread, so that it dries out well. Any kind of bread can be used - toasted sliced sandwich bread or leftover biscuits or rolls, toasted in the oven until crisp and dry, even saltine crackers will do. Whatever you have - use it up! That's how we roll in The South. For my cornbread dressing I don't like the texture of a pure cornbread dressing all alone, so I prefer to mix my cornbread with some bread.

2. Taste.  Add in all of the seasonings and taste the dressing before you add in the raw eggs, because the flavor then is pretty much gonna be the flavor it will be once baked. I like to use a mixture of seasonings that is a copycat version of Bell's seasoning since I can't find the Bell's brand down here. Adjust the seasonings as needed, then add the eggs and add in additional stock if it isn't moist enough. There are some folks who add in boiled eggs to their dressing. I'm not sure why this practice started, but since it's a cooked dressing, I use raw eggs, which I feel help both with the flavor, but also help with sort of fluffing up the dressing a bit. It may be that chopped up boiled eggs adds a different kind of texture to the dressing - maybe one day I'll end up giving it a try.

3. Texture. Some people prefer their dressing on the dry side. Others like it more wet.  Some like it more fluffy. Make it the way that you like it. Either way, you still don't want stuffing that is too dry, and at the other end of the spectrum, you certainly don't want it to be really wet and soupy. Perfect stuffing is somewhere in between there ... on which end depends on the consistency you prefer.

4. Always understand that the stock measurements in a dressing recipe are simply a guide and never written in stone. If you use bread or cornbread that is fresh and not day old, it will affect the way liquids are absorbed. Sometimes I add in a bit of canned turkey gravy along with the stock for extra flavor. Toss that in before you begin adding in any stock, and only add as much stock as you need to get it to the consistency you like. In other words, start with a little bit of liquid, toss it and add more only as needed to get it to the consistency you want. I usually recommend somewhere between 4 and 6 cups of stock or other liquid for a large pan of dressing, and generally find that I fall right about in the middle, at about 5 cups of stock for a moist dressing. You'll use less if you like your dressing more fluffy.

5. Moisture. Sauteed vegetables, butter, eggs, and stock/broth are what give your dressing it's moisture. Saute the vegetables in butter to soften them, and then transfer the entire skillet to the bread.

6. Soft or Crunchy?  Cover the dressing with aluminum foil before baking for a softer dressing and remove in the last 10 minutes of cooking. Like a harder, crunchy top? Then bake it uncovered.

7. How to fix a too dry or too wet stuffing?  If your dressing doesn't turn out right, don't fret. You can usually fix it.  If you find your stuffing is too dry, add additional warmed broth to it, stir well, and return to the oven, checking periodically. If the stuffing is overly wet and too gummy, cook it uncovered for a bit longer, checking periodically.

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©Deep South Dish

What are some of your favorite tips to perfect your own holiday stuffing?

My collection of Southern Thanksgiving recipes can be found right here. 

My Collection of Dressing and Stuffing Recipes:

Traditional Southern Cornbread Dressing
Southern Cornbread and Oyster Dressing
Chicken and Cornbread Dressing
Homemade Herb Dressing
Chicken and Herb Dressing
Seafood and Eggplant Dressing
Seafood Stuffed Mirlitons
Cajun Rice Dressing (Dirty Rice)

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Another great way to enjoy green beans in a casserole is to add a little onion, bacon and cheese and top it off with a stuffing mix!

Stuffing Topped Cheesy Green Bean Casserole

I remembered seeing this cheesy green bean and stuffing casserole in Kraft's Food & Family magazine a few years back (okay, so I'm slow) and really liked the idea of a stuffing topped green bean casserole. Or, I guess, technically this would be a dressing topped casserole since it's not stuffed into anything.  But, anyway... I thought it'd be a great side dish anytime really, but especially for the holidays, if you are stuffing your turkey and always have that little bit of leftover stuffing. If you have leftovers, it sure would make a fantastic holiday leftovers casserole too!

Of course, I changed it up just a bit - using well drained, canned French style green beans rather than frozen, a little less cheese than they called for, and I added some sauteed onion and bacon. Actually, this was the casserole I set out to make when I discovered I had no cream of mushroom soup in my pantry! No problem, I simply made up a batch of homemade cream of mushroom copycat, and as you see, it worked out beautifully.

Here's how to make it.

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Perfectly Cheesy Potatoes au Gratin

Perfect Potatoes au Gratin, made with thinly sliced potatoes in a cheesy dreamy cream sauce.

Cheesy Potatoes au Gratin

Hello Au Gratin Potatoes, meet the best, perfectly cheesy, Potatoes au Gratin, evah. Ya know, seriously... I am of the opinion that it'd be kinda hard to mess up a dish of potatoes au gratin no matter what you do to them - I mean c'mon now. Potatoes. Cheese. Butter. Cream. Hello. If you're making this for the holidays, you'll want to double the ingredients and do extra layers.

Well, I personally love Julia's way with this classic potato dish, however I decided to play with it a bit. You know. For the holidays.  Julia uses Swiss cheese to transform her scalloped potatoes to cheesy au gratin potatoes, but since cheddar is more mainstream in most households, I switched over to cheddar for this one.

Cheddar can be a bit fussy on its own though so I thought I would add in a little bit of my beloved Velveeta too. Now I know that some of you running across this are going to scoff at my use of Velveeta, and frankly that's perfectly okay. You don't have to use it, but I love it, and especially love to add some in with macaroni and cheese. If you want a guaranteed, creamy sauce without the notorious curdling cheddar is known for, then add a little bit of Velveeta in there and see what a difference it makes.

Not at all hard, this dish is a simple, small cheese sauce, poured over the top of layers of very thin sliced potatoes, each sprinkled with salt, pepper, and some shredded cheese - here cheddar. A mandoline is key for these kinds of potatoes I think, but if you don't happen to own one, you can simply slice the potatoes by hand.

If you like your potatoes sliced thicker, or you don't have a mandolin, cut them about 1/4 inch thick, place them into a pot, cover with water and bring to a boil. Immediately turn off the heat, remove pot from the burner, and let them sit in the water for 5 minutes. Drain well, pat dry and proceed.

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Recipe: Perfectly Cheesy Potatoes au Gratin

©From the Kitchen of Deep South Dish

Prep time: 20 min |Cook time: 20 min |

Yield: About 6 to 8 servings

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Ingredients

• 2 pounds of baking potatoes (about 6 medium)
• 1 clove of garlic
• 6 tablespoons of butter
• 2 cups of half and half
• Kosher salt and freshly cracked black pepper, to taste
• 2 ounces of Velveeta, cubed
• About 2-1/2 cups of shredded sharp or extra sharp cheddar cheese, divided

Instructions

Preheat oven to 425 degrees F. Lightly smash and peel the garlic; rub all over a 9 x 13 inch baking dish. Butter the dish and set aside.

Peel the potatoes and slice thin, about 1/8 inch. A mandolin works fantastic for this, but see the tip below if you are hand slicing. Hold the potatoes in a bowl of cool water to keep. Once you are ready to layer the dish, drain the potatoes and then transfer them to a clean dish towel and pat thoroughly dry.

Meanwhile, in a saucepan or large skillet, heat the butter with the half and half until the butter is melted and the half and half is hot. Stir in the Velveeta and 1/2 cup of the cheddar, or whatever cheese you are using. Cook and stir over medium heat until all of the cheese is melted and mixture is smooth.

Layer 1/2 of the potatoes in the bottom of the buttered baking dish. Season with salt and pepper to taste and sprinkle about 1/3 of the remaining cheese on top. Repeat the layer of potatoes, salt and pepper and another 1/3 of the cheese. Reserve the last 1/3 of the shredded cheese for the last few minutes of cooking. You can also use more cheese in the layers and on top if you like.

Pour the cheese sauce evenly over the top of the casserole and bake, uncovered, at 425 degrees F, for about 20-25 minutes, or until bubbly and potatoes are fork tender. Remove from the oven, top with the remaining shredded cheese and return to the oven for about 5 minutes, or until cheese begins to brown. Serves about 8 - prepare extra layers to double, testing potatoes in the center before topping with the final cheese and returning to the oven.

Tip: If you like your potatoes sliced thicker, or you don't have a mandolin, cut the potatoes about 1/4 inch thick, place them into a pot, cover with water and bring to a boil. Immediately turn off the heat, remove pot from the burner, and let them sit in the water for 5 minutes. Drain well, pat dry and proceed.

Source: http://deepsouthdish.com

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©Deep South Dish

Check These Out Too!

Scalloped Potatoes
Mashed Potatoes with Cream Cheese
Mashed Potato Casserole

Posted by Mary on November 21, 2010

Images and Full Post Content including Recipe ©Deep South Dish. Do not repost or republish elsewhere without explicit prior permission. All rights reserved.
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A souffle'd casserole of baked grits with cheese and sausage.

Baked Garlic Cheese Grits with Sausage

I love my stovetop version of garlic cheese grits. They are a creamy, cheesy, and perfect garlicky cradle for eggs in purgatory, shrimp and grits, or grillades and grits, or as a tasty side dish, great with scrambled or fried, dirty eggs.  Last week though, we were chatting over on the Facebook page about everybody's favorite way to make a baked, casserole-style cheese grits, like this one; souffle-like and fluffy.

Well, there's the whole garlic cheese roll debacle that has caused some to give up on their favorite garlic cheese grits casseroles all together, but it seems a lot of people simply favored the recipes found right off the backs of their favorite grits box! Who knew?

Beth shared her Mexican version of cheese grits, with jalapenos, hot sauce and pimentos, yum! Marcia offered suggestions such as substituting a bit of half and half for part of the water and using extra sharp cheddar for a flavor pop (thanks Marcia!), and several others even use sort of a queso combo - adding Velveeta cheese and Rotel tomatoes in the grits. For the record, while I kept this recipe here basic this time, y'all know, I am so going there with the queso cheese grits!

We southerners love our grits, and we seem to be pretty fond of a grits casserole too, especially when you pair that up with some spicy breakfast sausage. Add in some fried or scrambled eggs and you've got a very nice eye-opener for those holiday guests.  I know the pictures don't do the dish justice - I don't care how hard you try, there is just no way to make a pretty picture of a serving of a grits casserole. But... if you're like me, you already know you can't always judge a book by it's cover, and that's certainly the case with this delicious breakfast casserole.

Here's how to make it. Enjoy!

Click Here to Read More & to Get Recipe »

Weekend Cocktails: Hot Buttered Rum

Hot buttered rum. A warm drink made from butter, brown sugar and a few typical spices - cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg, allspice - oh yeah. And rum.

It's a delicious, heartwarming winter drink that is just perfect for the adults over the holidays. Though it is traditionally made with plain water, I thought why not make it with apple cider?

Careful. These go down real smooth, especially on a cold night, but they are rich and with a punch. Enjoy, but drink responsibly!

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Hot Buttered Rum
From the Kitchen of Deep South Dish

1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter
1 cup dark brown sugar, packed
1 teaspoon of cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
Couple dashes of allspice
4 cups of apple cider
1 cup rum
Vanilla ice cream or whipped cream
Fresh grated whole nutmeg, for garnish
Whole cinnamon sticks, for garnish, optional

In a large sauce pan, melt the butter over medium low heat. Whisk together the brown sugar, cinnamon, cloves and allspice.  Add to the butter and whisk until well blended. Turn the heat to medium high and whisk in the apple cider, a little at a time.  Bring up to a boil, reduce heat and simmer about 5 minutes. Remove from heat and stir in the rum.

To serve, loosely fill each mug or glass about 1/3 full of ice cream or whipped cream.  Slowly pour the buttered rum over the cream to fill the glass. Do not stir.  Grate fresh nutmeg over top. Add a cinnamon stick for garnish if desired.

Makes about 8 to 10, depending on the size of glass used.

Adults only. Drink responsibly.

Source: http://deepsouthdish.com

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Milk Punch
Italian Hot Chocolate
Cafe au Lait

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Five cup salad, and all of its expanded cup versions, is another old fashioned holiday fruit salad.Simple but delicious.

Old Fashioned 5 Cup Salad

Five Cup Salad is another fruit salad that has been around forever - well, for as long as I can remember anyway - and, while it's good any time of the year, is a great addition to the holiday table too. Many of us will remember it from days gone by in our Mama's and Grandma's kitchens, but as always, there are some variations that have appeared in this fruit salad over the years. Some adding additional cups of various ingredients, some even changing up the fruit, but I think this version represents the old, basic 5 cup salad.

The beauty of it, is that it's so easy - just dump, mix and refrigerate, no cooking required.  I've included a few variations with the recipe, at least the ones that I'm aware of. For those who don't care for the tartness of pure sour cream, a mixture of sour cream with whipped cream is what I personally prefer.

Another one of those not so photogenic foods, I wish I could convey the personality of this fruit salad with the camera, but I'm betting some of you already know it. I highly recommend a pretty garnish of chopped pecans, a dollop of whipped cream and a maraschino cherry on top as shown above!

Here's how to make it. Enjoy!

Click Here to Read More & to Get Recipe »

A thick and creamy soup with all the goodness of a loaded baked potato - bacon, butter, sour cream, cheddar cheese and green onion.

Loaded Baked Potato Soup

I blame the creation of this Loaded Baked Potato soup recipe on Facebook.  Yep. One day Randy, a reader over there, posted on the wall asking for potato soup recipes so, of course, I gave him links to my Creamy Potato Soup, and my Creamy Cheesy Potato Soup with Bacon.  Then, I started thinking... one of those is a shortcut soup and is creamy; the other I used the immersion blender on, so it is also creamy. I really need a chunky potato soup up here on the site.

Then, just a little while later that very same day, Donna posted on the wall that she had made the O'Charley's Loaded Baked Potato copycat soup and it was delicious. Well, there wasn't getting potato soup out of my mind then for sure!

She just used an internet recipe from one of those recipe mines, so I checked a few out and while they all sounded pretty good, many were a little too heavy on the cream, half and half and sour cream than I felt they needed to be, so I set out to develop my own version of a loaded baked potato soup.  Most recipes for loaded potato soup also incorporated mashed baked potatoes, and while I definitely wanted them to be baked first, I wanted them to be texturally more like a baked potato when they hit the soup.

The soup still has all the goodies of a loaded baked potato in it - bacon, butter, sour cream, cheddar cheese and green onion, and of course I included a few dashes of hot sauce, along with some of my favorite Slap Ya Mama Cajun seasoning. Sauteing some basic veggies in bacon drippings and butter first was a great base, to which I then made a light roux, followed by a broth base and a combination of milk and half and half. Later in went the sour cream, freshly grated cheese, and green onions along with a nice repeat of some ingredients in the garnish. Layers of flavor y'all - that's what it's all about!

Click Here to Read More & to Get Recipe »

How to Get Through the Holidays Without a Can of Mushroom Soup

A homemade version of cream of mushroom soup.

Homemade Cream of Mushroom Soup

Now if y'all have been reading this recipe site for long, you already know that I am fully endeared to my Campbell's condensed soups and most especially our beloved southern béchamel (that's Campbell's Cream of Mushroom soup for those of y'all with a more sophisticated palate). I have several that are pantry staples around here.

So when I went to make a casserole recently I was surprised to see that I didn't have a single can of cream of mushroom soup in the pantry! Somehow that had failed to make it to the shopping list the past few times. It happens.

I figured there was no better time than now to get a copycat cream of mushroom soup recipe up. In my little ole opinion, there is nothing more convenient than Campbell's line of condensed soups, but this makes a superb substitute if you happen to run out yourself, or should you prefer a fresh, homemade alternative.

This recipe for a homemade version of cream of mushroom soup makes just a bit over a quart and is about the equivalent to 4 cans of the condensed soup, and... it is freezable. I've included variations also for cream of chicken and cream of celery, since these are the three most common condensed soups for cooking. The cans are equal to about 1-1/2 cups of the mixture - simply freeze in those portions and you'll always have an emergency substitute. Here's how to make it!

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Congealed salads may have gone the wayside in many southern homes, but this Cherry Coke Salad might just bring you right back to it.

Old Fashioned Cherry Coke Salad

Coke Salad. The Amazing Coca-Cola Salad. Cherry Cola Salad. Fruit salad embedded in cherry Jello. Congealed Salad.

It's known by many names, but it's that last term that tends to garner harsh judgment toward the old gelatin encased salads. It's name comes, of course, from that fact that the contents - be they fruit or vegetables - are thickened, or congealed, into gelatin. I'm not sure why congealed salads fell out of favor, and all but disappeared from the holiday table. Maybe it was the term "congealed" that made them sound un-appetizing, but really, although some were made using a bit of shredded vegetables, most are made with fruit, and are simply fruit salads encased in Jello.

Congealed salads were once a constant presence in The South, not only at holiday tables, but also at ladies luncheons, potlucks, family gatherings, southern teas, church suppers, and of course, as a typical funeral food.  You rarely see them anymore.  I'm pretty sure they were heavily popular here in The South as a cooling salad, with our heat-oppressive summers.  There's just something about the coolness and texture of Jello that is soothing on a scorching summer day.

Since modern days have come to associate the term gelatin with boxes of pre-sweetened Jello gelatin, I think most people these days would be more welcoming to a revival of the sweet versions of congealed salad - such as this Coke Salad. In truth, however, many times, congealed salads were more along the lines of savory, intended to be served as a side dish to meats. There are any manner of vegetable congealed salads, such as cabbage, cucumber, avocado, asparagus, and broccoli - usually congealed with an unflavored gelatin.

In fact, in the early 1900s, an entry into a cooking contest claimed fame with a savory salad encased in gelatin called Old Fashioned Perfection Salad. It was made using a combination of finely shredded cabbage, chopped green pepper, celery, and pimento as well as pimento stuffed green olives, stirred into unflavored gelatin. It was then set in a mold, and often served in slices with a dollop of mayonnaise, as a side dish to roast, chicken and ham. Since I love the retro recipes, maybe I'll give this one a spin soon.

It was around the 1930s when jelled or “congealed” salads really boomed though, literally taking over the salad category in many cookbooks all over the country. Jello introduced lime flavored gelatin around this time because it seemed to be a well rounded flavor to suit many recipes, both sweet and savory. The Amazing Coca-Cola Salad was introduced at some point by replacing part of the liquid in the congealed salad with small bottles of Coca Cola. It became so popular that Jello introduced, very briefly, a cola flavored gelatin. It didn't go over very well though.

Click Here to Read More & to Get Recipe »

Southern Chicken and Cornbread Dressing with Homemade Chicken Gravy

Chicken and cornbread dressing in a casserole form and served with homemade gravy is pure comfort food anytime of the year. It's a perfect dish to carry to a potluck or church social too!

Southern Chicken and Cornbread Dressing

I previously posted my Chicken and Herb Dressing recipe, because, while chicken and dressing is more traditionally made with cornbread, I happen to be a southern gal - yes born and bred - who loves herb and bread dressing.

I know. I am such a rebel.

Seriously though, that's the kind of dressing my southern born and bred Mama always made and what I grew up with.  Mostly though, when I posted that herb dressing with chicken, I needed to use up a bunch of odds and ends pieces of bread that had accumulated in the pantry.  And, that is one thing you can be absolutely certain of. We are all about using it up Down South. Okay. It might have also had a little somethin' to do with me being downright lazy and not feeling up to making a skillet of cornbread first too.

So here's the chicken and cornbread dressing because, yes we also do indeed love our cornbread - though you can get in a big ole argument with some southerners about that even.  But guess what? I use both cornbread and bread in my chicken and cornbread dressing, cuz that's how we rebels roll.

You can use any kind of leftover chicken, boil a chicken, or grab one of those rotisserie chickens from the deli and let them do the work! Here I used about 3 pounds of chicken thighs that I roasted in a 425 degrees F oven for about 35 minutes or so. Use homemade chicken stock if you've got that, otherwise, a commercial broth is fine, just be mindful about the overall salt unless you're using a reduced sodium version.

Consistency is one of those areas that can take a few times with a dressing.  Too much liquid and it's far too gooey. Not enough and it's way too dry.  I used 4 cups of broth this time - here's the consistency. A little soupy, but not too much.

This produced a nice dressing that will hold together in squares as in the top picture, yet still be moist, as hopefully shown in the picture below.

Before turning it out into the casserole dish, you can mix it all together if you like, but I'm kinda into this concept of layering with the chicken sandwiched between the layers of dressing. Neither way is right or wrong, so do what you prefer. I do dressing first on the bottom layer, then topped that with the cooked chicken.

And then topped that with the rest of the dressing.

Bake it uncovered at 350 degrees F until bubbly and golden brown, about 45 minutes or so.

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Recipe: Southern Chicken and Cornbread Dressing with Homemade Chicken Gravy

From the Kitchen of Deep South Dish

Prep time: 10 min |Cook time: 45 min |

Yield: About 10 to 12 servings

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Ingredients:

• 3 cups of cooked, shredded chicken
• 1 pan of cornbread (about 6 cups) 
• 4 slices of bread, toasted and crumbled
• 1 stick (1/2 cup) of butter
• 1 medium onion, chopped
• 1 cup of chopped celery
• 1 teaspoon salt, or to taste
• 1/2 teaspoon Slap Ya Mama or your favorite
•    Cajun/Creole seasoning, or to taste, optional
• 6-8 turns of the pepper grinder, or to taste
• 1 teaspoon of Bell's seasoning, optional
• 1 teaspoon of poultry seasoning
• 4-6 cups of chicken broth
• 3 eggs, beaten
• Additional butter, sliced, optional
• Homemade Gravy, recipe below

Instructions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.  Butter a 9 x 13 inch oblong baking dish or coat with non-stick spray; set aside.

In a large bowl, combine the cornbread and bread. In a separate skillet, saute veggies in butter; let cool.  Add to cornbread mix. Add 4 cups of the broth and let stand 5 mins. Add the beaten eggs; gently toss. This is where you fix the consistency. If you want a more fluffy stuffing, you'll use less stock. If you prefer a wetter stuffing, add additional stock as needed to reach desired consistency, taking care not to get too overly soupy! In the recipe pictured here I used 4 cups.

Add half of the dressing to the prepared baking dish, top with the shredded chicken, top with the remaining dressing on top and spread out, but do not pack down. Dot the top with slices of butter, and bake at 350 degrees F, uncovered, for about 40-45 minutes, or until light golden brown on top. Cook longer for a crunchy consistency on top. Let rest 5 to 10 minutes before serving.

Drizzle with cream gravy, if desired. Serves about 10 to 12

Tip:  Use a 9 x 9 inch pan of homemade cornbread, or use the back of the bag recipe, or two boxes of Jiffy cornbread, made in a 9 x 9 inch glass baking dish. Can also substitute the large (16 ounce) bags of pre-seasoned Pepperidge Farm Cornbread Stuffing - just be sure to adjust seasonings since those are pre-seasoned crumbs.

Be sure to check out my 7 Top Tips to Perfect Your Holiday Stuffing. 

Homemade Cream Gravy
From the Kitchen of Deep South Dish

1/2 cup of fat (bacon drippings, canola oil,
   butter, or a combination)
1/2 cup of all purpose flour
2 cups (more or less) of room temperature
   chicken stock/broth
Salt and pepper, to taste

Heat the fat in a cast iron skillet over medium high heat. Stir in flour, cooking and stirring with a wooden spoon until fully incorporated. Continue cooking, stirring constantly until mixture turns a very light brown color. Reduce the heat if needed - just take care not to burn the roux!  Remove skillet from the heat and turn heat source down to medium. Slowly begin adding in at least one half of the stock, stirring constantly until fully incorporated, adding more stock as needed to reach the desired consistency.  Taste, season with salt and pepper as desired. Drizzle over individual servings of the chicken and dressing.

See my gravy tips for additional information.

Source: http://deepsouthdish.com

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©Deep South Dish

Check These Out Too!

Southern Chicken and Herb Dressing
Southern Cornbread Dressing
Seafood and Eggplant Dressing

Posted by Mary on November 12, 2010

Images and Full Post Content including Recipe ©Deep South Dish. Do not repost elsewhere without explicit permission. All rights reserved.
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Butterball Indoor Electric Turkey Fryer Review

GIVEAWAY IS CLOSED! Wish I had a couple hundred of these to give away but there is only one - Congratulations to ALICIA! Thanks to the sponsor for providing such a great giveaway and to each of you for such a great level of participation. I appreciate you all for being a part of Deep South Dish!! Keep reading for more fun giveaways.

Fried turkey. In my own kitchen.  If I had not done it with my own two hands, I would never have believed it.  

Ever had a fried turkey? Well, let me tell you, y'all know how we are with our frying Down South, and believe me, we are fully endeared to our fried turkeys around the holidays. Once you try it, I think you'll be hooked. It gives you a nice, juicy and tender turkey in flat out no time hardly at all.

Frankly, you hear so many stories about turkey fryer disasters, that I was always scared to even try to fry a turkey at home. I settled for putting an order in with one of the many people in my area who fry up massive batches of turkeys to sell to other people over the holidays.

When I was contacted by the folks at Masterbuilt to test drive their Butterball indoor electric turkey fryer, I wondered if I'd heard right. Indoor?  Electric? Turkey fryer? You mean ... like my beloved deep fryer? Well, gotta say, I was intrigued.

So I set out, bought a turkey - it will fry one up to 14 pounds - some peanut oil, and waited for the delivery of the fryer. When the Fedex fella rang the bell, I was excited to see that not only was this a turkey fryer, but it could also act as a steamer and boiler. Woohoo!! We like our seafood boils down here too ya know!

Most conventional turkey fryers take a lot of oil - this Butterball turkey fryer from Masterbuilt actually uses 1/3 of the oil of those conventional fryers, only about 2 gallons. With a built-in drain valve and tap, it's super easy to drain and preserve your oil, and a snap to clean. For smaller jobs, you can also use the fryer with only one gallon of oil.

Now for the stats. The unit uses a porcelain coated inner pot, containing a cooking basket, complete with a handy drain clip, that makes it possible to fry up a variety of other favorite foods too - like doughnuts, French fries, onion rings, and more. The control panel is user-friendly and consists of a digital timer, a red "power" light, a green "ready" light, and a simple control knob for adjusting the thermostat up to 375 degrees F.  There's a fold-away lid with a viewing window, a removable filter, helping to reduce cooking odors, and a pop off storage door for cord and spigot storage.

Check it out yourself!



I decided to fry this first turkey "naked" so to speak, so that I could see exactly how it would turn out without any enhancements.  Well, it was delicious - moist, tender and juicy just like a turkey ought to be - but next turkey up, I am so going for the Cajun Injector to introduce some of that spicy goodness into the turkey.

Yes. I admit it. I was nervous. But this was so easy to use that was very short-lived.

The one important thing you need to do after you thaw the turkey, is to rinse it off with warm water to release any ice crystals. Then let the turkey drain well, and use paper towels to pat it very dry, both inside and out. Once the unit heated up - about 25 minutes or so - and I got that basket carefully eased down into the hot oil and the lid closed, any nervousness subsided. It really was a breeze.

But you really want to see the star don't you?

Can you believe that this 13+ pound turkey only took about 46 minutes to fry?

There is a lifting hook to use to very slowly lower and lift the basket from the oil, and the fryer basket has built-in drain clips allowing you to clip it onto the fryer unit to drain. Once it drained, I transfered the basket to a baking sheet, atop a cooling rack, and just let the turkey cool right in the basket. This turkey was pretty close to the max size for the fryer, so I had to work a butter knife around the edges to work it out, but as you see, it still came out looking pretty good!

I removed both of the breasts and sliced them thick. 

Just look how gorgeous and juicy this white meat is!

Then I deboned the thighs and put them with the turkey legs on a separate platter. Scrumptious!

So, there you are.

Whether gathering the family for a holiday dinner or making a variety of meals to freeze for later, this indoor electric turkey fryer delivers foolproof operation and delicious results - and it can be safely used indoors, right from the convenience of the kitchen counter.  You are just gonna love it.

ONE reader will get their very own Butterball Indoor Electric Turkey Fryer from Masterbuilt!

Plus this "DADGUM That's Good" cookbook, written specifically for the line of Masterbuilt products by John McLemore - that fella up in the video there and co-owner & CEO of the Masterbuilt family business.

The cookbook, intended for use with the Masterbuilt products, includes a foreword by none other than The Queen Paula Deen, who owns and uses several of the Masterbuilt products herself.  It includes recipes like Pork Dumplings, Shrimp Boil, Beignets, Twice Fried Fries, Deep Fried Oreos and Southern Fried Chicken, to name a few.

But... that's not all y'all!

You'll also receive a coupon good toward the purchase of a Butterball turkey!

A fryer, a cookbook and a turkey. Now ya can't beat that with a stick!

Just leave a comment here letting me know how having this turkey fryer will help you out this holiday season. That's it!


Anonymous comments are temporarily on, so while it's okay to comment anonymously to enter, be sure to at least leave me your first name in the comment, and some way to contact you should you be the lucky winner.

~~~~~~~~~~~

The Rules & Legal Stuff:

➮Giveaway closes on Monday, November 15, 2010 at 12:00 noon CST.
➮Open to residents of the United States only please. Must be 18 years of age or older.
➮You must leave an email address in your comment, be linked to a public profile containing your email address, or provide some way for me to contact you, in case you win.
➮You may send me an email if you don't want to post your email address publicly. Please put "Turkey Fryer Giveaway" in the Subject line.
➮The winner will be announced in this post and notified by email and will have 48 hours from the time of that email to reply and claim their win before an alternate winner will be selected. The sooner  you reply, the sooner this turkey fryer can be in your hands!


Good luck!!

Disclosure:  Prize packs and information were all provided to me from Masterbuilt.

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