In the world of food blogs, there seems to be a clear delineation between people who create their own recipes and those who adapt or share recipes created by others. Personally, I don’t think it matters, as long as you’re passing along something you’ve tested carefully, and honestly feel the recipe is worth sharing with others. But I do admire the creators: Love and Lemons and 101 Cookbooks have got it goin’ on. It’s pretty hard to be completely original in cooking anymore, when so many people are making it their life’s work to create every possible food combination imaginable.
These three recipes are my own, derived from a childhood in which the caraway seed was used on everything from pork tenderloin to scrambled eggs. Caraway is to Czechs what basil is to Italians. We’re not really happy without it somewhere in a meal. And since Turkey is an essentially bland meat, adding caraway changes the taste equation in the best possible way. My stuffing recipe also makes use of caraway and sage, and lots of onions and celery to increase the vegetable-to-bread ratio. It’s more of a savory pudding than the dry, crumbly stuff that sometimes falls sadly out of the inside of a turkey. Everybody in the family loves it, but we have a strict deal that I only make it twice a year, because we lack self control around this moist, sagey dish. And, finally, the gravy may have – you guessed it – the odd caraway seed in it, since it is made from the turkey drippings. Enjoy!
Serves: 6-8
Ingredients
- Prep time: 2 1/2 hours for the turkey, 1 hour for the stuffing, ten minutes for the gravy
- 1 8-10 pound turkey for roasting
- 2 cubes Knorr chicken bouillon cubes
- 2 tablespoons caraway seed
- salt and pepper to taste
Directions
- Wash turkey thoroughly and pat dry with paper towels.
- Place in a large roasting pan, and sprinkle with salt, pepper and caraway seed.
- Put bouillon cubes in bottom of roasting pan, to dissolve in the juices that will collect in the pan as the turkey roasts.
- Bake for 15 minutes per pound at 375 degrees. Baked uncovered, but if turkey starts to brown too quickly, cover loosely with foil. To test for doneness, stick a fork in it (now you know where that saying comes from) and if the juices that run out are clear, the turkey is done.
- Remove from oven and allow turkey to rest 15-20 minutes.
- The turkey can be carved in the kitchen or at the table; we prefer to carve in the kitchen, so that the turkey is hot for everyone. Drizzle with gravy before serving.
Serves: 6-8
Prep time: 1 hour
2 loaves white bread, made into bread crumbs in a food processor
Ingredients
- ¼ pound butter
- 2 large onions, minced
- 3 large stalks of celery, cut finely
- 1 dozen eggs
- 2 teaspoons salt
- pepper to taste
- 2 tablespoons ground sage
- 2 tablespoons caraway seed
- 1 cup minced parsley
Directions
- vegetable oil for greasing baking dish
- Using a food processor, shred bread into breadcrumbs. You can also do this by hand, tearing the bread into small pieces.
- In a large frying pan, melt the butter at medium-low heat. Add in the onions and celery and cook five minutes until both are translucent. Allow to cool.
- Pour bread crumbs into an extra-large bowl.
- Mix in eggs, then onion, celery and butter mixture.
- Add salt, pepper, sage, and caraway and mix well. (I use my hands to make certain it is well combined and not too dry. Mixture will be very wet, and if it’s not, throw in another egg or two to dampen it. Mix in parsley last and combine well.
- In a large greased baking dish, pour the stuffing mixture and smooth down. It should not be more than three inches deep, so that the top will be crunchy while the middle is soft after baking.
- Bake in over at 375 degrees for 35 minutes.
Drippings from bottom of turkey roasting pan, fat removed
Ingredients
- 1 cup whole milk
- 1 cube Knorr chicken bouillon
- 1 tablespoon cornstarch
Directions
- Skim fat from drippings. You can also refrigerate the drippings, allow the fat to harden on top, and remove that way.
- In a medium saucepan, combine drippings, ½ cup milk, and bouillon cube, and bring to a low boil, stirring constantly.
- Dissolve cornstarch into remaining ½ cup of milk and whisk well to prevent any lumps from forming.
- Pour milk and cornstarch into the drippings and keep stirring.
- Drippings will thicken to a gravy consistency.
- You can add milk to thin gravy, or allow it to cook down if you prefer thicker gravy.
- When it reaches the preferred consistency remove from heat. Reheat just before serving.
