Regardless of what holidays you celebrate, this time of year is filled with traditions. Some people celebrate Christmas by feasting on prime rib (which I remember predicting would be the “in” holiday food in 2009… can anyone recall if that actually happened?), while others prefer a traditional ham. Over the past decade, most of my Christmas meals have been centered around soups or stews like gumbo or chili, which can be made in advance. Though this isn’t a tradition that I grew up with, it’s one that I freaking love because it frees up your time and allows you to get to hangout with your loved ones rather than slave over a hot stove all day. As I always say, soups, stews and pretty much anything braise always taste better the next day! (Or the day after that.) All you have to do on the day of your feast is reheat and focus on having a good time.

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Though I developed this tangy shredded chicken chili verde with poblanos, sweet corn & navy beans using Knorr Homestyle Chicken Stock with the holidays in mind, it would be great on any cold winter’s night. (Also – the leftovers would be great the next morning over some eggs. Mmmmmm.) If you like a less spicy chili feel free to omit the jalapeno in the recipe, or if you like it spicier feel free to throw in a second one. Recipes are merely guidelines. Let your taste buds lead the way!

*I am a professional recipe developer being paid by Knorr as part of the Knorr 4 promotion. While Knorr is footing the bill, all recipes, content and opinions comes directly from my (sometimes offbeat and slightly cheesy) brain.

Recipes in this post:

• Chicken Chili Verde with Poblanos, Sweet Corn & Navy Beans

Related posts:

1. Sweet & Spicy Asian Bourbon Chicken
2. Prosciutto Wrapped Chicken & Whipped Sweet Potatoes
3. Brined Pork Roast w/ Curried Cranberry Apple Sauce

In only a week and a half one of the biggest cooking days of the year is upon us!!! I’ve been talking about it for months now. MONTHS. And I’ve been testing Thanksgiving recipes using Knorr Homestyle Stocks the whole time. Yet as one would expect for a procrastinator like myself, I haven’t sat down to plan my actual Thanksgiving meal. With a last second change of plans I am no longer going to be spending Turkey Day in Puerto Rico, but will be in the deep south where I’ve offered to cook the whole meal myself (though I’m sure I’ll have assistants)!

To get in the mood to even think about planning a whole meal I decided to make myself a entire Thanksgiving-themed dinner rather than just a side dish like I’ve been doing. I made this herb roasted turkey breast – a timeless classic where you rub the herbs and seasoning under the skin. Seriously once you taste this turkey breast you’ll throw out your old recipe or stop doing the whole bird altogether. (Though if that’s not an option, here is an entire turkey guide that can give you reference to all of the ins and outs of the roasting process from defrosting to resting. Or if you are feeling nontraditional – I can also suggest this chipotle-brined butterflied grilled turkey which was off the chiz-ain, yo!) Anyway, in addition to turkey breast, I decided to whip up some some cream cheese and garlic mash sweet potatoes spiked with some Knorr Homestyle Chicken Stock and dash of cinnamon and nutmeg. I finished off the plate with a Champagne-Rosemary Beurre Blanc. (Which may or may not have been an excuse to buy a bottle of champagne so I could drink the leftovers.) Regardless – this plate definitely screamed Thanksgiving at me and gave me some insight into what I could do next week. Now whether I actually stick with that insight or not is another story.

I doubt I will have another post up before Thanksgiving so just in case I wanted to let you guys know exactly how incredibly blessed and thankful I am to have you in my life! Some of us (at least me) have been putzing around this little blog for almost 6 1/2 years now. I am so fortunate to have made so many close friends, in real life – as well as in the ether world, from What We’re Eating. So THANK YOU for all of your love, support and comments from over the years. I freakin’ love you!

*I am a professional recipe developer being paid by Knorr as part of the Knorr 4 promotion. While Knorr is footing the bill, all content and opinions comes directly from my (sometimes offbeat and slightly cheesy) brain.

Recipes in this post:

• Kicked-Up Cream Cheese Mashed Sweet Potatoes
• Champagne-Rosemary Beurre Blanc

Related posts:

1. Mahi Mahi with Cherry Chipotle Beurre Blanc
2. Butternut Squash Succotash w/ Sage Brown Butter
3. Holiday Recipe: Cheesy Chile, Fennel & Potato Gratin

It’s November already! How the hell did that happen? I mean, wasn’t it just the fourth of July like a week ago? I can’t believe the holiday season is just around the corner! The next time you blink you’ll be in the middle of a flurry of day-long cooking, hair-pulling, holiday stress… er… fun, before sitting down at the Thanksgiving table and enjoying a feast with your loved ones. It goes by so quickly that sometimes it’s hard to slow down and remember to actually be deeply thankful for all that we have. It’s so easy to get wrapped up in the trials and tribulations of day-to-day life that you forget to stop and smell the roses, to appreciate the changing colors of the leaves or the glory of an icicle. Alright – you caught me. I’m spending the year on the coast in Puerto Rico, there are no leaves changing and a zero percent chance of snow that might form into an icicle. But I am thankful to have the opportunity to live in such an amazingly beautiful place and be surrounded by the welcoming arms of a genuinely warm culture. Where ever you are in your life or whatever your circumstances maybe, there are always things to be thankful for. While I think we should find the glory and appreciation for these things everyday, it’s nice to have a holiday that brings us all together so that we can share in our thanks outwardly and uplift each other.

Having a food blog means testing recipes for holidays WAY in advance. Sometimes there are recipes that you develop that you like, some that you can’t stand, and others that you flat out love. This Thanksgiving recipe that I developed for Knorr using their Homestyle Chicken Stock falls into the love category! Have you ever cooked your wild rice in orange juice before? It give it a sweetness and glazes the rice as it reduces and is absorbed. The dried cranberries add to the whole sweet-tart profile of the dish, while the fennel bulb and seeds play off the savory hot Italian sausage side. Really – I’m gonna go out on a limb here and say I might not miss stuffing on the Thanksgiving day table if this wild rice dressing were present. Okay, that might be a load of BS because I love stuffing, but this was sooooooo delicious. Good enough that over the course of two days my roommate and I polished off all ten portions and were sad when the last grain of rice was gone.

Have you planned out your Thanksgiving dishes yet? Do you try out the recipes in advance or just wing it and hope it all goes well the day of? I’d love to hear what you guys have lined up!

*I am a professional recipe developer being paid by Knorr as part of the Knorr 4 promotion. While Knorr is footing the bill, all recipes, content and opinions comes directly from my (sometimes offbeat and slightly cheesy) brain.

Recipes in this post:

• Sweet & Savory Wild Rice Dressing w/ Hot Italian Sausage, Orange, Dried Cranberries & Hazelnuts

Related posts:

1. Kickass Mexican Chorizo Cornbread Stuffing
2. Butternut Squash Succotash w/ Sage Brown Butter
3. Holiday Recipe: Cheesy Chile, Fennel & Potato Gratin

Before I dive into this post let me just say how beyond full you guys made my heart! The last post was so hard to write and even harder to press the publish button on but OMG the out-pouring of love and support from all of you has been incredible. I am going to respond to every comment and already have a follow-up post formulating in my mind that I hope to get to very soon but other work has been sucking up my time! Oh time, isn’t there any way to double you?

This Knorr Homestyle Stock holiday post about a far from low-cal side dish may seem odd on the heals of what I wrote last week. But like I said – I eat both low and high calorie foods in my day-to-day life! It’s really all about moderation and portion size…Two things that only briefly cross my mind when I sit down to a holiday feast… for about half of a second before the dishes start being passed around! I always end up taking a small serving of everything, which generally means an overflowing plate once the dust has settled. But that’s why you make side dishes like these glazed carrots to go along with items like this corn pudding with rosemary, caramelized onion & roasted garlic jam and chevre. Did you just drool a little? I did, while typing it.

One little confession: I didn’t dream this one up all by myself! I put a call out to my awesome facebook friends to let me pick their brains for their favorite holiday dishes. One of my friends from high school, Suzanne, said that she always looks forward to corn pudding – a classic regional side dish in the south western part of Virginia where I grew up. Another friend, Ayla, suggested a sweet potato & caramelized onion-roasted garlic jam casserole. Bada bing bada boom! Why not merge the two? And throw in some chevre and while we’re at it. When is chevre a bad idea? It plays well with both sweet and savory, which this dish has aspects of both. So thank you, Suzanne and Ayla, for helping a sister out!

Now I want to pick your brain too! What are some of your favorite holiday dishes? One that makes me nostalgic is sauerkraut slowly braised with pepperoni and pork. Not a dish that most people would consider a traditional American holiday food, but it made an appearance at every Thanksgiving & Christmas of my youth due to my mom’s eastern European roots. Can’t wait to hear your what favorites are!

*I am a professional recipe developer being paid by Knorr as part of the Knorr 4 promotion. While Knorr is footing the bill, all content and opinions comes directly from my (sometimes offbeat and slightly cheesy) brain.

Recipes in this post:

• Caramelized Onion-Roasted Garlic Jam & Chevre Corn Pudding

Related posts:

1. Butternut Squash Succotash w/ Sage Brown Butter
2. Holiday Recipe: Cheesy Chile, Fennel & Potato Gratin
3. Kickass Mexican Chorizo Cornbread Stuffing

We are eating roasted carrots with a sweet and tangy glaze of pomegranate molasses, orange juice, Knorr Homestyle Beef Stock and Chinese five-spice.

Okay… I know what you are thinking. You are thinking, “Wtf, Amanda – it’s only October 4th and you are already posting holiday recipes?!?” I know – it’s like going into Walmart around Labor Day and seeing the Christmas decorations starting to line the shelves… but dudes! It’s already OCTOBER! Seriously – how did that happen? It really feels like it was just Christmas a month or two ago but in reality it’s almost been a full year! For me, planning holiday meals is kind of like planning a super-creative Halloween costume – it’s something that I spend all year meaning to do then the next thing you know you have less than 24 hours to come up with something ingenious and eventually you end up as a damn witch or ghost or any other played-out costume that is readily accessible from the party supply store. What? That doesn’t happen to you too? Anywhoodles, holiday meals fall in that same category. I always intend to do loads of planning and have a drool-inducing menu written out months in advance but then find myself wandering the aisles of the grocery store, hours before they are scheduled to close on the Wednesday before Thanksgiving or Christmas Eve wondering what in the world I’m gonna make. Then again, that really isn’t much different than me before every meal I make. I wander – a lot. Never have been much of a planner.

This year, though, working with the Knorr Homestyle Stocks has me thinking about the holidays well in advance. I developed this carrot recipe as a holiday side-dish that would bring a big, bold flavor to the table but still be pretty healthy considering all of the butter and starches that you know you are gonna gorge on in the form of mashed potatoes and gravy… and stuffing… oooo and all that crispy turkey skin, or ham, or prime rib… and oh my gawd the desserts! Yeah – sometimes it’s good to have at least one guilt-free yet uber delicious section of your plate.

The recipe below is only four servings so it’s easy to make any night of the week, not just for the holidays. For a larger crowd, simply double (or triple) the recipes and bake the carrots in a bigger pan. The cooking time will stay the same as long as the carrots are baked in a single layer. Also, this dish can be made up to 24 hours in advance. Just cool carrots to room temperature then refrigerate until you are ready to reheat. Reheat in the oven or microwave until just heated through. Do not allow the carrots to cook further (and thus become mushy or burnt)!

*I am a professional recipe developer being paid by Knorr as part of the Knorr 4 promotion. While Knorr is footing the bill, all content and opinions comes directly from my (sometimes offbeat and slightly cheesy) brain.

Recipes in this post:

• Sweet and Tangy Pomegranate Glazed Carrots

Related posts:

1. Butternut Squash Succotash w/ Sage Brown Butter
2. Holiday Recipe: Cheesy Chile, Fennel & Potato Gratin
3. Kickass Mexican Chorizo Cornbread Stuffing

We’re eating grilled butterflied turkey that was brined in a mixture flavored with chipotle in adobo puree, epazote, cumin, chile powder, garlic and mexican oregano to ensure flavorful juicy meat.

So what if I’m not posting my turkey recipe until after Thanksgiving! Get off my back, yo! You can always use this recipe for Christmas… or Turkey Day next year or in the middle of summer during grilling season!

Apparently a technique that I’ve always known as “butterflying” is trendy under a different name – Spatchcock. Spatchcocking and butterflying a turkey (or any fowl) are really the same: you simply cut out the back bone of the bird then crack the breast bone so the bird can lay completely flat (essential for even cooking!). Here’s a video for those of you (like me) that are visual learners. Watch and learn. This technique is a great time saver and cuts the cooking process in half. If you know me, you know I can be one lazy ho, so the less time I have to spend tending to the bird the better.

After butterflying our bird, I submerged it into a Mexican chipotle spiced brine to sit overnight to give it some flavor. The day of our feast I just patted it dry, seasoned the skin, then seared both sides over high heat on the grill before putting it into its final resting place: an aluminum roasting pan on the grill over indirect heat. All in all, I think the cooking process took me about 2 hours and produced fantastically moist and smokey turkey. Next time you have a reason for a feast, why not try spatchcocking your bird and throwing it on the grill?

Recipes in this post:

• Chipotle Brined Grilled Butterflied Turkey

Related posts:

1. Turkey Cooking Basics
2. Baked Rigatoni with Turkey Bolognese
3. Sweet & Spicy Asian Bourbon Chicken

In my opinion, all you really need in order to cook great food is knowledge of proper cooking times and temperatures (as well as the ability to season). With that in mind I want to give you some turkey cooking time basics. This will allow you to season your bird however you like then cook it to perfection.

Turkey Basics:

Defrosting
- First of all, always make sure that your turkey is completely defrosted before you begin the cooking process. There are two safe methods for defrosting a turkey.

1) Defrosting in the refrigerator. To defrost in the fridge simply move the turkey from the freezer to ther fridge and allow the bird to defrost for about 24-36 hours for ever 5lbs. For example if you have a 12 pound bird you will need to move the turkey from the freezer to the fridge at least 2 1/2 days before you want to cook it.

2) The cold water method. This is the quicker defrosting method but it’s suggested that you roast the turkey immediately after defrosting. For this method simply completely submerge the turkey in cold water, changing the water ever 30 minutes. The turkey will defrost at a rate of 1 pound/30 minutes. So for instance the same 12 pound bird will be defrosted in approximately 6 hours using the cold water method.

Resting - When cooking all meat it's a fundamental basic that you allow your meat to rest, loosely covered in foil, for at least 10 minutes after it's removed from the heat source to allow the juices to be reabsorbed. Cooking a turkey is no different. If you do not allow your bird to rest and prematurely cut into it all of the juices will end up on your cutting board rather than in the meat and you'll be eating dry leftovers for days!