I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving!
Ours was quiet (as quiet as it can get with 6 kids and 3 dogs!) with just our family and our first grand puppy. It was wonderful having everyone home all in one place.
As the kids grow older, I treasure these moments. I know one day soon, one of the boys will say, “We’re going to spend Thanksgiving with girlfriend/wife’s family.” It will be wonderful but sad all at the same time. Isn’t life funny? You raise your kids to be independent, then you have to let go which is very emotional.
This Thanksgiving, we had our regular menu of turkey, shrimp fried rice, potato casserole, green bean casserole, cranberry sauce, and rolls. But, because three of us are on a keto diet, we had to make some extra dishes. I want to share our menu with you.
The LOML wanted to try a new way to bake the turkey this year. He found this recipe:
Ingredients
For the bacon butter:
8 tablespoons unsalted butter
4 ounces thick-cut bacon (about 4 slices), coarsely chopped
1 tablespoon dried thyme
1 teaspoon dried rubbed sage
For the turkey:
1 (12 to 15 pound) turkey, thawed if frozen
1 medium onion, peeled and quartered
1 1/2 pounds thick-cut bacon (about 22 slices)
Instructions
Thaw the turkey. If your turkey is frozen, thaw it in the refrigerator. For a 12-15 pound turkey, this will take about 3 days, estimating 5 hours of thaw time for each pound of turkey.
Make the bacon butter. Place all the ingredients in a food processor fitted with the blade attachment and pulse until smooth. This can be done up to 3 days in advance and stored in the refrigerator, but bring the butter back to room temperature before rubbing down the turkey.
Prepare the turkey and rub with the bacon butter. Remove the giblets and neck from the turkey’s cavity. Save the neck for making stock and the giblets for making gravy. Set the turkey breast-side up on a roasting rack set inside a roasting pan. Liberally rub the turkey inside and out with the bacon butter. Put the onion pieces in the cavity of the turkey. Tie the turkey’s legs together with a piece of kitchen twine, if desired.
Wrap the legs and wings with bacon. Wrap each leg with 2 slices of bacon. Wrap each wing with 1 slice of bacon, tucking the ends underneath the bird or in the crease between the leg and the breast.
Weave the bacon blanket. Lay 8 slices of bacon side by side on a piece of parchment or waxed paper. Make sure the slices are as close together as possible. Working from the bottom up, weave another 8 slices of bacon into the first layer. Again, make sure these slices are as close together as possible.
Blanket the turkey breast. Place the woven bacon onto the turkey breasts. Set the piece of paper next to the roasting pan and line the bacon blanket up at an angle to create a diamond. Carefully flip the paper over the turkey breast. don’t worry about aligning it perfectly ~ you will still be able to move the blanket a little once you get it into place. Remove the parchment and tuck the blanket in and around the breast and into the leg crease. Trim any excessive overhanging bacon with scissors, if desired.
Bring the bird to room temperature. You can make the bird from start to finish in one day or refrigerate the bacon-wrapped bird overnight. Either way, the bird should sit at room temperature for 2 hours before roasting.
Roast the bird. Arrange a rack in the bottom third of the oven, remove any racks above it, and heat to 425 degrees. Pour 2 cups of water into the roasting pan underneath the turkey. This will create steam in the oven and prevent the bacon from rapidly shrinking and falling off the bird. Roast the turkey for 30 minutes to darken and crisp the skin.
Reduce the oven temperature and roast until it reaches 165 degrees Fahrenheit. Reduce the oven temperature to 325 degrees. Roast for an additional 2 to 2 1/2 hours. The rule of thumb for cooking a turkey is 13 minutes per pound, but more important than time is the temperature of the turkey. Use a probe thermometer to test the turkey in 3 places ~ the breast, the outer thigh, and between the thigh and breast. The turkey should reach 165 degrees Fahrenheit in all 3 places.
Rest for 30 minutes and the carve. Carefully remove the turkey and the roasting rack to a cutting board or rimmed baking sheet. Rest the turkey for at least 30 minutes before carving. Use the drippings to make gravy, if desired. Just as you would carve a chicken or plain turkey, start by removing the turkey’s legs before carving the breasts. To keep the bacon intact, cut through the bacon first and then carve the breast beneath. Serve the turkey with any of the bacon crumbs that may fall off the bird as you carve.
CAULIFLOWER FRIED RICE
Can you tell which is the real fried rice and which one is the cauliflower fried rice??
Ingredients
One bag Green Giant cauliflower medley rice
1 egg, scrambled
2 Chinese sausage links, diced
large pinch bean sprouts
1/2 pound shrimp, pealed, diced, cooked
6 snow peas, julienne
1/2 onion, diced
ginger, minced
1 clove garlic, minced
Directions
On medium heat, brown sausage.
Add 3 Tablespoons oil and 2 pats of butter.
Add tsp of salt and diced onions – cook until clear and starting to carmelize.
Add ginger and garlic to pan for one minute.
Add cauliflower rice. Let brown for 3 minutes, toss, let cook for another 3 minutes (until cauliflower browns).
Add scrambled eggs and toss.
Sprinkle soy sauce and toss to taste.
Add bean sprouts and julienne snow peas toss for one minute.
Ingredients
6 slices bacon, cut 1/2 inch thick
2 medium heads cauliflower, cut into bite-size florets (3-4 pounds total)
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
6 ounces cream cheese, at room temperature
2 cups shredded cheddar cheese
4 scallions, white and light green parts only, thinly sliced
2/3 cup sour cream
Directions
Preheat oven to 425 degrees Fahrenheit.
Cook the bacon in a medium nonstick skillet over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until brown and crispy, 6-7 minutes. Transfer to a paper towel-lined plate. Reserve 2 tablespoons of the bacon drippings.
Put the cauliflower florets in a 3-quart casserole dish. Toss with the reserved 2 tablespoons bacon drippings, 3/4 teaspoon salt and 1/2 teaspoon pepper. Roast until the florets are soft and begin to brown, about 30 minutes.
Meanwhile, mix together the cream cheese and 1 cup of the cheddar cheese in a medium bowl until well combined. Dollop over the cauliflower, then sprinkle with the remaining 1 cup cheddar cheese and bake until the cauliflower is tender when poked with a knife and the cheddar cheese is melted and bubbly, 5-7 minutes more.
Dollop the sour cream evenly over the casserole and sprinkle with the scallions and reserved bacon pieces.
Which one is the real pumpkin pie and which is the paleo pumpkin pie?
One of my favorite parts of Thanksgiving is eating the pumpkin pie after a long recuperation from eating all the great Thanksgiving meal. We have a ritual in our kitchen Thanksgiving morning where I make the pumpkin pies, hogging the oven for about an hour, before we put the turkey in to cook.
This year, the LOML and I can’t eat the pumpkin pie (insert crying crazy woman here!). So I hunted around for a good paleo pumpkin pie recipe and found this one on Ancestral Nutrition blog. Click on the title and it will take you to her site.
Pie Crust
2 cups coarse almond flour
3 Tablespoons brown sugar truvia
2 dashes ground cinnamon
1/3 cup salted butter
Combine all ingredients in a bowl. Stir until combined. Pour into pie pan and spread evenly including up the sides. Bake at 350 degrees for 10 minutes. Let cool.
Pie Ingredients
1 can pumpkin
1/2 can coconut milk
1/2 cup honey (or for a firmer filling, try 1/2 cup coconut sugar)
3 eggs
1 Tablespoon cinnamon
1 tsp. pumpkin pie spice
You can either blend in a blender/food processor or beat all ingredients by hand. Make sure there are no lumps. Bake at 350 degrees for about 50 minutes or until the center is set.
Our meal was wonderful! Everybody loved the new turkey recipe and the dieters at the table liked all the keto recipes.
While we enjoyed our meal, we had fun with our “Conversation Starters”. You can click to read all about it.
What was on your menu??
Love y’all,
Linda
Linking up to:
Your awesome post has been featured on Full Plate Thursday,458. Thanks so much for sharing your talent with us and come back to see us real soon!
Miz Helen