Spicy Turkey Sausage Lasagna

When my friend Laurabee came into town a few weeks ago I threw together a couple small lasagnas, one for us to share and one for the Parental Units since Mom was still in recovery mode from her knee surgery.  Apparently it turned out pretty well because her first question was when was I going to post it? So finally got a chance to throw another together to share with you guys.

Spicy Turkey Sausage Lasagna

5 hot turkey sausage links
4 cups (32 oz.) crushed tomatoes
salt and fresh cracked pepper, to taste
2-1/2 cups ricotta
2-1/2 cups shredded mozzarella
2 tsp. dried parsley
1 zucchini, halved and sliced thin
4 cups fresh chopped spinach
oven ready or regular cooked lasagna noodles (14-16)
1/4 cup grated Parmesan

Remove the casings from the turkey sausage links and tear the sausage into small pieces.  Cook the pieces over medium-high heat in a deep skillet, chopping into smaller bits with a spatula.

Once the turkey sausage is browned, add in 3-1/2 cups of the crushed tomatoes (set aside other 1/2 cup for final layer).  Season with salt and pepper to your liking.  Reduce heat to low.

In a medium bowl, mix together ricotta with 2 cups of the shredded mozzarella (set aside other 1/2 cup for final layer) and dried parsley.  Set aside.

Chop the zucchini into flat pieces (easier for layering).

Julienne the fresh spinach into smaller pieces. I actually found a spinach-arugula blend that adds another flavor note to the mix.

In a 9 x 13 pan, spread 1/4 cup of the crushed tomatoes you had set aside.  Lay down a layer of noodles.

Cover with half of the spicy sausage tomato mix.  Next add half of the cheese mixture.  Next sprinkle half the zucchini pieces and half of the chopped spinach.

Lay down another layer of noodles and repeat process.

Cover the whole thing with one more layer of noodles.  Top with last 1/4 cup of crushed tomatoes and sprinkle the rest of the shredded mozzarella and the Parmesan.

Cover with foil and bake for 45-50 minutes at 375 degrees.  Uncover and cook for another 10-15 minutes until baked through.

Buon appetito!

NOTES

If you've never tried them before, oven ready lasagna noodles are pretty good. They do cost a bit more than regular, but if you're into time saving, then they're pretty handy.

The first time I made this I used regular turkey sausage.  I accidentally picked up the hot sausage this time and now I think I would not go back to regular.  It's hot, but not burn-your-face-off-hot.

Turkish Tacos

 

 

Found a new ground turkey recipe I love and changed it up a bit to make an awesome taco filling...because crunchy food is fun and tacos rock.  You're welcome. :)

Turkish Tacos

1 small onion, chopped
1 small red pepper, chopped
2 tsp. minced garlic
1 lb. ground turkey
2 tbsp. tomato paste
1-1/4 tsp. cumin
1/2 tsp. ground red pepper
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
1 (14 oz.) can diced tomatoes
1/4 cup chopped olives
1/4 cup sliced almonds
1/4 cup raisins
2-3 tbsp. capers
salt and pepper, to taste

corn taco shells
shredded lettuce
shredded Monterrey Jack cheese

In a large skillet, sauté the onion, pepper, and garlic until onions are translucent.

Add in the ground turkey and cook until cooked through. Mix in the tomato paste, cumin, ground red pepper, and cinnamon.  Cook, stirring, for 2-3 minutes.

Add in the diced tomatoes, almonds, raisins and capers.  Continue to cook uncovered for 5-6 minutes.

Salt and pepper to taste.  Adjust spices as desired.

Stuff into taco shells with shredded lettuce and cheese.  Just try to stop at one, I dare you.

Let's Talk Turkey -- Part 2

Two more days til turkey time!!!  So I decided to do an unprecedented Tuesday post (gasp!) since I know you will all be very busy on Wednesday with all your pre-preps for the big day.

MORE TURKEY TALK

Didyaknow – Benjamin Franklin once wrote that he believed the turkey should have been our national bird because, among several reasons, it was an honorable bird as well as being native to America. I'm not sure it would be as easy to enjoy if you were sitting down to the dinner table with a roast representation of our country, even with mashed potatoes and gravy on the side.

In the South, preparing turkey seems to come down to two basic schools – roasting and deep-frying.  What don’t we deep-fry in the South? Well, apparently nothing.

FRY ME A RIVER

I like to think of deep-frying turkey as an X-game in the sport of cooking.  If you're willing to take on some challenges and a risk or two, then it's worth the effort.  Some things to know about deep-frying a turkey:

* They DO make special equipment for this procedure which usually includes a large stock pot, a poultry prod and/or lifter, a thermometer, a propane tank, and a whole lotta oil.

* Do NOT fry your turkey in the house...or even close to a house...unless you have a good fire plan or have purchased a specifically marked indoor turkey fryer. Which they do have on the market now, they're like hyperbaric bird chambers.

* Do NOT stuff your turkey before frying unless you want to deal with oozing gooey stuffing bits floating (and burning) in your oil.  If you want flavor, you can inject your turkey with a marinade before frying.

* You DO want your turkey to be completely thawed, or fresh, and patted dry.  You know how oil and water don't mix? Now imagine that with 20-30 gallons of angry hot oil...you see where I'm going with this.

Why then, despite the risks and more than slight danger of cooking a bird this way, do people do it? Because the end product is crazy good and very moist and it takes less time than cooking turkey in a conventional oven.
 
ROASTY GOODNESS

 

The most traditional way to prepare turkey is to roast it.  Roasting is a dry heat cooking method where hot air surrounds your produce and cooks it outside in.  The best way to get a nice even roast is to make sure air has room to circulate around the turkey and that’s why most people roast their bird on a rack or a bed of mirepoix.

Mirepoix is a mix of chopped onions, carrots and celery (traditional ratio is 2:1:1) which will add flavor to your drippings resulting in a nice rich-tasting gravy.  One thing to keep in mind if you go that route, the bigger your bird, the bigger you need to make your veggie pieces (it’s all about proportion).

You also want to make sure you have the right size pan for roasting.  It needs to be big enough to allow air to circulate, but close enough to prevent your juices from spreading out to far and scorching on the pan.

You’ll want to cook your bird uncovered.  If you cover it with foil, you create a steam bath which will compromise the roasting.  So keep that in mind when you get your pan, if the pan is too deep for your bird, it creates a similar situation.

Don’t forget to baste!  Basting is key in keeping the turkey moistened since hot air around it is dry, so make sure to do that on a regular basis throughout your cooking process.

There is much back and forth on whether or not it’s safe/healthy to cook a stuffed turkey.  The important thing to remember is that if you do stuff your bird, you want to make sure that the turkey and stuffing are the SAME temperature.  Introducing a hot item into a cold bird is where bacteria get happy and you get into trouble.

BROWN BAGGING IT

Now some people swear by the brown bag roasting method.  My sister-in-law does a mean brown bag bourbon turkey which is super tasty.  I always wondered how people could cook something in a brown bag without it bursting into flames in the process and now I know – brown bags burn at 450° so as long as you are baking/roasting your dish at temperatures under that, it’s all good (and flame-free!).

Now when I say “brown bag” I mean a brown PAPER bag, not a plastic grocery bag that happens to be brown.  You can use any ole paper grocery bag, but probably best to find one with little to no printing so that you’re not adding extraneous chemicals to the mix.

What you will want to do is make sure to grease down the upper part of the bag (on the inside) so that it doesn’t stick to the turkey whiles it’s cooking.  Butter or olive oil works fine.

I conferred with my SIL and she said that she uses two bags, puts one on either end so they overlap in the middle, but you can use one (if you’re bird isn’t too big) and staple it closed.  Do not use tape…please.

I know, I know, after telling you to cook your turkey UNCOVERED, why would I tell you about shoving it in a bag.  Unlike foil, paper “breathes” which allows some of the moisture to escape while still keeping enough in to turn your turkey into a moist marvel.

IS IT SOUP YET?

Once your turkey has done it’s time in the oven (or fryer), the best way to test it is to poke it in the thickest part of the thigh.  You want the juices that flow out to be clear, not pink or red.  Either of the latter means it “ain’t dun cookin’ yet.”

After it is done, let your turkey sit for about 15 minutes so that the meat can settle and absorb the moisture you’ve worked so hard to maintain. If you cut it too soon, all those nice juices will flow out and you’ll end up with dry turkey.  But if you have a little patience, glory sweet glory!

So here ends my treatise on turkey. I hope you all have a super wonderful food, friend and family-filled holiday.

Happy Thanksgiving and Bon Appetit!

Let's Talk Turkey -- Part 1

 

In prep for the biggest eating holiday of the year, I thought we could talk a little bit about the bird biz behind the buzz of Thanksgiving.

TURKEY TALK

I'll be honest, I'm not sure which I like better, swapping Thanksgiving turkey recipes or swapping stories about wrestling with Thanksgiving turkeys (and I mean that literally in one case). 

MEAT TO EAT

Didyaknow, you'll get the best meat-to-bone ratio on turkeys weighing over 12 lbs.

The one thing people seem to forget when buying turkey for a gathering is that you need to factor in the bone weight when planning how many lbs. to purchase.

Fr'instance, in college, my roommates and I decided to host a turkey dinner with all the fixin's for our friends who had not yet left for the holidays.  So we bought a 15-lb. turkey for 15 people... :/  Being the gracious hosts we were, we gave our guests the bounty from the bird and made do with the bone scrapings for ourselves. We were like hyenas picking the bones cleaned. Not pretty, but lesson learned.

I usually count 2-3 lbs. for bones and then plan accordingly after that.  In looking around online, I found a useful site at USA Today to help with that and any other T-day math needs you might have.

GIBBLES and Other Fun Parts
okay, I know they're called giblets, but seriously, isn't "gibbles" more fun to say?

You want to make sure the first thing you do is locate the packet of extraneous parts and remove it from the bird before cooking.  You laugh, but it's amazing how many people forget about that and consequently how many birds are inedible as a result of that (because they are usually encased in plastic).

Just a heads up, the body cavity isn't the only place they get tucked away.  For the above mentioned turkey dinner, I came home to find one of my roommates and a friend of ours conducting a cavity search...with a flashlight...on our turkey.  It was under the neck flap, on the other end of the bird.  It was not a good year for that bird.

Some people I know roast the extras when they cook their turkey and then add them to the gravy for bonus flavor, or you can boil them up separately, drain it and use it in making your gravy.

IS IT CHILLY IN THERE?

So for those of you who fly fresh when it comes to turkeys, kudos on saving yourself a lot of headache and super bravo for planning so well in advance.  I'm not familiar with many places that you can procure a fresh turkey without having to pre-order it several weeks before the week before Thanksgiving. Heads up though, if you haven't purchased fresh turkey before, it does cost more than frozen.

For the rest of us, who despite our better intentions, do not plan that far ahead, the challenge of the best way to defrost a bird lies ahead.  It's still going to take some pre-planning, so don't expect a day of miracle.

The two most recommended ways to properly defrost a turkey are in the refrigerator or using a cold water bath.  The foodsafety.gov has a handy chart that breaks down time/days to bird weight, so definitely check that out.

De-frigeration (don't know if that's a real word, but please feel free to use it) takes longer, but doesn't require as much attention. Pop it in the fridge (breast side up) still in its wrapper and let sit for the per weight allotted amount of time.

Cold water bathing doesn't require as much time and does require a bit more attention because you'll need to change out of the water every so often so that it doesn't get too cold which becomes counter-productive to the whole defrosting process.

In my family, we usually go the bath route, quite literally one year.  Was at my brother's house and my sis-in-law and I decided to toss the bird in the kid's bathtub. Turned the water on and let it fill...only we kind of forgot that we left the water running until one of my young nieces came by and made a comment about how much fun the turkey was having in the tub.  We got there before things go too messy (and the turkey enjoyed a nice cold bath).

NO DRY GUY

Universally, I think the biggest challenge to preparing a turkey is keeping it moist.  All the gravy in the word can't disguise a dry bird.

One method is using fat.  Fat = flavor.  Fat = moisture.  A bird's natural fat is one way to maintain moisture, but oftentimes because fat has become a less than pleasant word when associated with food, your bird may have already been cleaned of excess fat.  A couple of ways to introduce this back is by using butter or bacon or fatback.

Barding is adding a thin sheet of fatback or a layer of bacon across the top of your bird.  The drippings will soak into the bird, keeping it moist and add a nice flavor to the pan drippings which can be turned into gravy. The thing to remember about using bacon, though, is that you are going to have to fight off family to claim the crispy goodness from the top of the bird. Trust me, it's worth a few bruises.

Larding is inserting fat into the food, I've done this before by putting butter under the skin of the turkey and it melts into the bird.  Again, gives some nice flavor to your drippings.

Another way to keep the turkey moist before cooking is to add moisture to it.

Brining seems like the trendy thing to do this year as I've seen lots of brining packets available at various shops.  It's similar to marinating, but takes much longer (up to 10 hours) so does require some serious planning ahead. At it's most basic, a brine is a mixture of salt, sugar and water, but usually folks will add herbs and spices to help infuse the bird with more flavor.  Brining hydrates the uncooked bird in such a way that it not only adds flavor, but helps to tenderize it and can shorten the cooking time.

There are several sites online, including one by Butterball which provides instructions on how properly brine a bird.

Okay, this seems like as good a place as any to stop right now.  As I was researching this I discovered that there's a lot of be said about turkey prep, so I am going to continue this discussion on Wednesday...or possibly Tuesday because I know most of you will be busy getting ready for the big day on Wednesday...but in either case, there will be more to come. Plan to talk to you about cooking methods and hopefully provide some helpful hints along the way.