Cook the Cover: Canadian Living October 2014

Whether we like it or not, autumn is here. Chilly nights, jackets, leggings, and boots. Time to add on the layers when you step outside. Don't forget to boost your immune system, it's also the time of year you're most likely to catch a cold. I know I did, but I'm thankful that my sick days were kept to a minimum.

With September almost over, it's time to think of the lovely fall harvest. Soups and comfort food is on everyone's radar and don't forget that Thanksgiving is October 13 this year!

When I saw this month's cover, I panicked a little bit. Turkey? Such a huge undertaking! I've never roasted a turkey before! Aren't they tricky? What's the best way to fully cook the bird and not dry it out? I almost decided to skip this challenge, but then when would I ever get around to my first turkey attempt? What better way could there be than to have other bloggers go through the same cooking experience? Let's do it!

Lemon and Thyme Roast Turkey With White Wine Gravy
Shopping List: turkey, fresh thyme, garlic, dry white wine, sodium-reduced chicken broth, all-purpose flour, butter, lemon zest, salt, and pepper.

The shopping list was fairly easy. Most people already have garlic, wine, chicken broth, flour, butter, and your staples: salt and pepper in the kitchen. We only had to go find the turkey, thyme, and pick up a lemon. The short grocery list was another reason that I wanted to try this recipe. It's fairly straightforward and simple. No stuffing or bed of vegetables to tackle.

First up, make the lemon and thyme butter: In a bowl, melt the butter (a few seconds in the microwave), stir in the thyme, lemon zest, salt, and pepper.

Next, remove the giblets and neck from turkey; place the neck in roasting pan. Fill the turkey's cavity with thyme and garlic (ahhh I placed my hand in there!!). Place the turkey on a rack in the roasting pan (thank goodness the turkey fit). That lemon and thyme butter? Brush it all over the turkey.

Roast in 325°F (160°C) oven, basting every 45 minutes. To baste, take the pan out. Using oven mitts, tip all the juices to a corner and gather with baster. Pour the juices over the turkey to keep it from drying out.

The turkey is ready when the thermometer inserted in thickest part of breast reads 170°F (77°C). This takes about three and a half hours.

Isn't it beautiful?? That lovely golden skin and my home smelled soooo good!

Take the turkey out and gently tip to pour juices from the cavity into the roasting pan. Transfer turkey to carving board and cover loosely with foil. Let it rest for half an hour.

To make the gravy, discard the turkey neck from the pan. In a small pot, bring wine to a boil over medium-high heat. Whisk the turkey's juices with the broth and flour until smooth. Pour the wine into the roasting pan. Place the roasting pan on the stove and bring to a boil. Keep whisking as it'll thicken fairly quickly. Another first for me, making gravy from scratch!

Howard had the honours of carving the turkey (sneaking in bites now and then) and we set out sides for everyone to help themselves - buffet style. Mixed green salad, hasselback potatoes, stuffing, and cauliflower-broccoli gratin. The turkey and gravy still the star of the meal. The skin was delicious and we even ended up pouring the light gravy over the salad, stuffing, potatoes ...

I'm sure there are no-muss and no-fuss turkey recipes out there with no basting. But I think this is still a pretty easy and minimal prep recipe, plus the results were stellar. Give it a try if it's your first turkey! I would recommend having two timers on hand, one for every 45 minutes and one for the total cooking time. And the most important tool was the leave-in meat thermometer for peace of mind, you wouldn't want to carve the turkey and pop it back in the oven after finding it still cold!

Disclaimer: This is a sponsored post by Canadian Living and I received compensation for it. There was no requirement to produce a positive review of this recipe. All opinions are our own.

Thanksgiving Leftover Pizza

There's no rest for the full stomach! After Thanksgiving, I packed some of the leftovers from my aunt's dinner for the next day's lunch. What's a great way to use up all those leftover turkey meat and vegetable medleys? Pizza!

The small, tiny science part of me wanted to test the flours that the kind folks at Robin Hood sent us. So I took out some containers, labeled them, and mixed it with yeast, salt, and water.

Pizza Dough
(Makes about 1 large pizza)

250 grams of All-Purpose flour, Tastes Like White flour, or Omega-3 & Fibre flour
1/2 gram of yeast
8 grams of salt
175 grams of water

1. Sift the flour, yeast, and salt together. Add water.
2. Mix until dough forms. Knead it three to five times until combined and set in container.
3. Cover with plastic wrap, towel, or lid and let it sit in room temperature (away from cool breezes, open windows, or air conditioning).
4. Leave overnight for at least 18 hours.
5. Transfer dough to a floured work surface. Gently shape into a rough rectangle. Turn corners side down and mold gently into a ball.
6. Let dough rest, covered with plastic wrap or a damp kitchen towel for about an hour.
7. Carefully stretch dough into pizza shape (because it doesn't have to be a perfect circle) and place on parchment paper over a baking pan.

Look at the dough go! I woke up the next morning to a "pop" because the dough pushed the lids off! You'll notice that nothing happened with the Gluten Free dough, as it shouldn't because I didn't add xanthan gum (my bad).

Note the colours of the different pizza doughs. The All-Purpose one produced the largest amount of dough and it was also the most damp and sticky pizza dough to work with. Tastes Like White followed, the dough also being very pliable. The Omega-3 & Fibre dough produced a whole-wheat-looking colour and was drier and firmer. The texture was easier to shape if you used a rolling pin.

Just take out all the leftover food from the fridge. Pour some tomato sauce over the dough, some freshly sliced pieces of mozzarella, and pile on the turkey, broccoli, cauliflower, and peppers.

Bake for 15-20 minutes at 260°C (500°F) or until you notice the crust and toppings start to brown. The cheese should be fully melted and bubbling a little.

The Omega-3 & Fibre crust was easy to spot, darker in colour and firmer in texture. It almost tasted like whole wheat pizza crust to me.

The original All-Purpose flour and Tastes Like White performed similarly. Both were light and chewy and the salt in the dough came through. So depending on what you're looking for in nutritional value, you can easily substitute the two.

We hope you all had a lovely Thanksgiving dinner and next day lunch!

Disclaimer: The new Robin Hood Nutri Flour Blend varieties were sent to us for review. All opinions are our own.