Recipes:
Holiday Recipes
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1. Wild Mushroom Turkey Gravy - (Strict)
2. Sausage and Herb Stuffing (Liberal)
3. Cranberry Relish (Liberal)
4. Chestnut Soup (Strict)
5. Pumpkin Pie (Liberal)
6. Thanksgiving Carrots (Liberal)
7. Claudia's Thanksgiving Stuffing Recipes
8. Cranberry Sauce (Liberal)
9. Mushroom Sausage Stuffing (Liberal)
10. Chestnut Cream (Liberal)
11. Butternut Squash - Faux Sweet Potatoes (Liberal)
1. Wild Mushroom Turkey Gravy -
(Strict)
Here's the perfect way
to use those juices and drippings from your next roasted turkey. There's
more than one way to thicken a sauce or gravy.
Since flour and cornstarch are out when you're eating low-carb, a classic
French cream reduction is in order. This rich sauce is complemented by
the hearty taste of the mushrooms, and it's a great accompaniment to
anyone's Thanksgiving turkey!
2 cups defatted turkey juices from turkey
roasting pan or homemade turkey or chicken stock
1/2 cup heavy cream
3 tablespoons unsalted butter
10 ounces shiitake mushrooms, rinsed, stemmed and sliced
1 tablespoon chopped fresh thyme leaves
1 clove garlic, minced
1/4 cup dry sherry
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
1/2 teaspoon red wine vinegar
Bring the juice to a simmer in a small saucepan
over medium-high heat and reduce by half. Add the cream and cook until
reduced enough to coat
the back of a spoon, about 8 minutes.
Heat the butter in a skillet over
medium-high heat. Add the mushrooms, thyme, garlic, and sherry and cook,
stirring occasionally, until tender
and almost dry, about 6 minutes.
Combine the mushrooms with reduced gravy
and season with salt and pepper. Reheat, if necessary, and stir in the
vinegar. Transfer to a gravy boat
and keep warm until serving. top
2.
Sausage and Herb Stuffing (Liberal)
3/4 pound turkey sausage (you may use
pork breakfast sausage)
1/4 cup finely chopped celery
1/4 cup chopped red onion
2 eggs
2 cups coarsely chopped cauliflower
1/2 cup diced yellow squash
1/2 cup grated Parmesan
1 tablespoon chopped parsley leaves
3 tablespoons chopped fresh sage leaves
3 tablespoons chopped fresh thyme leaves
1 tablespoon minced garlic
1/8 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon fresh ground black pepper
Equipment: 8 by 8-inch square baking
dish
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Remove sausage from casing and crumble
it into a pan over medium heat. Add the celery and onion and cook, stirring,
until browned. Drain fat if necessary. Beat the eggs in a bowl. Using
a spoon, mix in the sausage mixture and all the remaining ingredients.
Pour the stuffing into the baking dish
and bake until hot and browned, about 30 minutes. Serve immediately. top
3.
Cranberry Relish - (Liberal)
1 cup sugar substitute (recommended: Splenda)
1 cup water
12 ounces fresh or frozen cranberries
1 teaspoon orange zest
Combine sugar substitute and water in a saucepan
and bring to a boil.
Add cranberries and orange zest and bring back to a boil. Reduce heat
and simmer for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. Remove from heat,
cool, cover and refrigerate until ready to serve. top
4. Chestnut Soup (Strict)
First Course (makes about 6 cups)
4 tablespoons unsalted butter
1/2 cup finely chopped celery
1/2 cup finally chopped carrot
1/2 cup finely chopped onion
3 flat leaf parsley springs
2 whole cloves
1 Bay leaf
6 cups low sodium chicken broth
1 14 -15 oz jar peeled, cooked whole chestnuts, crumbled 3 CUPS
1/4 cup heavy cream
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
Melt butter in a 3 quart heavy saucepan over
low heat, and then stir in celery, carrot and onion. Cover surface of
vegetables with a buttered
round of wax paper or parchment (buttered side down) and cover pan with
lid, then sweat vegetables 15 minutes (to soften). Wrap parsley, cloves,
and bay leaf in cheesecloth and tie into a bundle with string to make
a bouquet garni. Discard buttered paper from vegetables, add broth and
bouquet garni and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer, covered, 20
minutes. Add chestnuts and Madeira and simmer, covered, 3 minutes. Puree
soup in small batches (4 or 5) in a blender until smooth (use caution
when blending hot liquids), transferring to a 3-4 quart heavy saucepan.
Stir in cream, pepper, and salt to taste and reheat soup over moderate
heat stirring occasionally. Note: This soup can be made 2 days ahead
and cooled, uncovered, then chilled, covered. From Gourmet Magazine top
5.
Pumpkin Pie (Liberal)
1 can Libby's Pumpkin (15oz)
10 packs Splenda (more or less to your taste)
3/4 cup heavy cream
2 medium eggs
1 tsp Allspice or Pumpkin pie spice
Combine all ingredients in a bowl until blended. Spoon into muffin cups
or small oven safe dishes. Bake at 350 for about 50 minutes. Makes 12.
They'll be light and fluffy when first out of the oven, and then probably
collapse like a punctured souffle. Store in the refrigerator. top
6.
Thanksgiving Carrots (Liberal)
(Carrots are not allowed on the strict
diet)
Cook sliced carrots the way you usually do and toss with a spoonful
of butter and a spoonful of sugar free maple syrup. top
7. Claudia's Thanksgiving
Stuffing Recipes
My mom does a rice stuffing. What I did was chop very finely
a head of cauliflower and then added an equal amount of chopped water chestnuts.
This became my rice. I added pine nuts and chopped celery, and you can
chop mushrooms too. Mom's secret ingredients are: a dollop of bacon grease
and bread crumbs--I used smashed pork rinds. Then seasoning to taste:
sage, salt and pepper. I baked it inside the turkey as usual and I honestly
thought it
was as good as rice. You can use other nuts for the pine nuts, of course,
I would use walnuts or pecans.
Pork Rind Stuffing
1 3-4-ounce bag plain pork rinds, lightly crushed
1 egg, beaten
1/2 can chicken broth
1/2 onion, diced
3 stalks celery, diced
1/2 teaspoon sage
1/4 teaspoon thyme
1/4 teaspoon salt
3 tablespoons butter
Cook the onions and celery in the butter until tender.
Toss with the crushed pork rinds. Pour the beaten egg over the rinds
and toss lightly.
Add up to 1/2 can of broth until the mixture reaches the desired consistency.
Can be used inside the bird or baked separately in a baking dish.
Better
Than Bread Stuffing
1 head cauliflower
2 tablespoons butter
1 cup sausage (about 2 links or 1/2 package Jimmy Dean Sausage - I used
hot)
1 cup chopped mushrooms
1 cup diced celery
1/2 cup diced onion
2 tablespoons chopped garlic
2 cup shredded sharp cheddar cheese
2 eggs, slightly beaten
1 tablespoon white pepper
2 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon dried parsley
1 teaspoon sage
1 teaspoon hot pepper flakes
Cut the cauliflower in corn-sized pieces
and steam it until it's soft but not mushy. Set aside. Saute the butter,
sausage, chopped mushrooms, diced celery, diced onion, and chopped garlic
until soft. Add the shredded cheese, eggs, white pepper,
salt, dried parsley, sage, hot pepper flakes. Toss well to combine all
the ingredients thoroughly. Spoon the entire mix into a casserole. Flatten
the surface with the back of large spoon.
Bake in oven while roasting your meat. (I do it by itself in a 350 oven
until it's hot and the cheese melts. Let the casserole stand while
you get the rest of the dinner ready. top
8.
Cranberry Sauce (Liberal)
Here's a simple recipe for cranberry sauce that
literally takes 15 minutes to make. My kids can't tell it from the regular
stuff.
1 bag (12 oz) of cranberries. (I cut the little stem part off of
each with a tiny paring knife. The recipe doesn't say you have to, though.)
1 cup water
1 cup Splenda
Combine the water and splenda in a saucepan and bring to
a boil. When it boils, drop in the cranberries and boil gently until
the mixture is
the desired consistency. The cranberries pop open. Remove from heat and
let cool.
You can grate in a little orange peel or put in two drops of orange extract
if you like that added.
To get smooth cranberry sauce you pour the mixture into a mesh strainer
over a mixing bowl. Push the mixture through with the back of a spoon. top
9.
Mushroom Sausage Stuffing (Liberal)
(can be used to stuff poultry or vegetables)
4 onions, thinly sliced
2-4 T. olive oil
4 c. coarsely chopped mushrooms (use your favorites)
1/2 c. dry white wine
2 T. butter
2 lbs. spicy sugar-free turkey sausage meat, removed from casings
1 bunch fresh tarragon, leaves only
Salt and pepper
Saute the onions in olive oil over medium-low heat until
caramelized, about 30 minutes. Turn the heat up to medium high and add
the mushrooms.
Saute the mushrooms until crisp on the edges, about 10 to 15 minutes.
Season with salt and pepper. Turn the heat to high and add the wine.
Let the wine cook off for a couple of minutes, then lower the heat and
simmer with the mushrooms and onions for another 10 minutes. Stir in
the butter 1 tablespoon at a time until combined. Remove from the heat
and set aside.
In a large skillet, brown the sausage. When cooked
through, about 5 to 7 minutes, add to the mushroom mixture along with
the tarragon and combine thoroughly. Fill the cavity of turkey just as
you would with any other stuffing.
You can also use this recipe as a side dish or to stuff vegetables. top
10.
Chestnut Cream (Liberal)
(A nice condiment with roast turkey. Sounds
and tastes fancy, but isn't)
2 cans whole chestnuts (drained)
1/2 cup sugar free chicken broth
1/2 cup milk *
1/4 heavy cream
3 tablespoons Brandy
Salt and pepper to taste
1 teaspoon Splenda (can double this if you like it sweeter)
Put all the
ingredients except brandy in a blender or food processor and beat until
smooth, about 2 minutes. Transfer to serving bowl and
stir in brandy. Add salt and pepper, splenda to taste. Heat slightly
in microwave. Should be slightly warm, not boiling hot.
*Cannot use regular
milk - see recipe for milk/cream top
11.
Butternut Squash - Faux Sweet Potatoes (Liberal)
serves 4
1 butternut squash
Sugar free maple syrup
Coarsely chopped walnuts
Butter
Cleave a butternut squash in quarters or whatever smaller pieces
you can manage with a big knife. Then, put in steamer or in a pot with
about 2 inches of water, or in the microwave and steam until a knife
easily pierces the skin. Cook with the skin side up. Let squash cool.
(You can do this a day or two ahead, also, which will leave you with
about 10 minutes prep time on the day)
Peel the butternut squash and cut into sweet potato sized pieces. Arrange
the pieces in a glass baking dish in one layer, or as close to one layer
as you can get.
Pour over sugar-free maple syrup, putting about a teaspoon full on each
piece. Then sprinkle with walnuts and top with pats of butter. Put under
the broiler or in a hot oven until everything is melted and gooey.
This year I am going to whip some heavy cream with sugar-free
marshmallow syrup to taste. Then you could put a dot on each serving
when you serve
it, or have it on the side on the buffet or table. top
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