Thanksgiving, 2011

Bonnie’s Thanksgiving Box Happy Thanksgiving! I am so honored to be welcomed back into your homes for this amazing Thanksgiving Box. As always, my recipes will be simple, quick and delicious. My goal is to help you be able to actually enjoy your holiday with your family and friends, instead of spending it cooking! This time of year brings so many abundant choices, that it was hard to decide what to include in this special box! Deciding to stick with my "Cook Simply, Simply Cook" philosophy, I decided to go with the fairly traditional items and perhaps introduce you to something you may not have thought of before. I have included one of my favorite's for you...the Roasted Carrots with Honey is particularly special to me. Every Thanksgiving a neighbor has graciously gifted me with honey from his own honeybees and a bounty of his heirloom carrots. I just had to come up with a recipe that included both and we have enjoyed this sauteed dish for many years. I hope you enjoy it as well. I want to thank the many local farmers, vendors, artisans and bakers who have dedicated their lives to producing the finest products and meats for your families to enjoy. You can feel good about serving these dishes to your loved ones and know that each item was grown or made by hand with love and compassion for our planet. While in this thankful state of mind, I would also like to extend my heartfelt gratitude to Jennifer Piette. Her tireless efforts have ensured that local, sustainable and eco friendly foods are available to us every week. She meticulously searches for exciting new items and works closely with the farmers themselves. Thank you Jennifer for all that you have given us this year, we appreciate all that you do to make feeding our families healthy food a bit easier on all of us! Happy Cooking, Bonnie www.zumaorganic.com

Bonnie’s Thanksgiving Box The Ingredients:

Farm Fresh Artisanal Nuts & Dried Fruit Dairy • Yellow Onions (Finley

Farms) • Garlic (Chris Milliken) • Butterball Potatoes

(Weiser) • Sweet Potatoes (Garcia) • Parsnips (Weiser) • Micro Greens (Maggie’s

Greens) • Carrots (Roots) • Green Beans

(Lane/Cortez) • Watkins Pastured

Organic Turkey (Watkins)

• Local Honey (Lovebirds) • Ruby Dressing (Om

Sweet Mama) • Traditional Fresh

Cranberry Orange Relish (Bona Dea)

• Turkey Gravy (Bona Dea) • Stuffing (Bona Dea) • Bonnie’s Turkey Brine

(Zuma Organic) • Bonnie’s Tasty Herb Rub

(Bonnie Stolkivich) • Pumpkin Pie (Marcie’s

Pies) • Pecan Pie (Marcie’s Pies)

• Pecans (Avila) • Slivered Almonds (Fat

Uncle) • Medijool Dates (Chris

Milliken)

• Butter (Organic Valley)

• Whipping Cream (Straus Family)

The Menu: Local Pastured Turkey with Organic Five Spice Brine

Creamy Mashed Potatoes and Roasted Parsnips

Sweet Potato, Carrot and Honey Saute

Stellar Salad Mix with Toasted Pecans & Dates and Ruby Salad Dressing

Savory Green Beans with Slivered Almonds

Pumpkin & Pecan Pies with Whipped Cream

The Game Plan: Follow our step-by-step guide, and refer to the recipes below… Wednesday Prep Work

1. Vegetable Stock (10 min prep, 1 hour cook time) 2. The Perfect Turkey Brine (20 minute prep, 8 to 16 hour brine time) 3. Toasted Pecans (15 minutes)

Thanksgiving Day Cooking Schedule Pre-heat oven to 500 degree F

1. Figure out your MEAL TIME, and start roasting your turkey in the oven, allowing for cooking time plus 30 minutes for the turkey to rest once cooked. (See instructions below)

Once your turkey is in the oven, prep your side dishes as follows:

2. Gather your loved ones, kids, or partners around the table for a peeling and chopping fest. This is a great time to chew the fat and talk turkey

3. Peel the potatoes, sweet potatoes, carrots and parsnips. 4. Cut veggies:

• quarter the butterball potatoes • cut Sweet potatoes into 1” bite-sized pieces • cut carrots into 1” bite-sized pieces • prep parsnips by cutting lengthwise into quarters, and remove the “woody bit” in the

center • trim the green beans • pit and coarsely chop the dates • peel and chop the entire clove of garlic (this will save so much time).

5. Place butterball potatoes in ice water to prevent from discoloring. 6. Assemble roasted parsnip recipe, ready to put in oven.

Cooking schedule for the side dishes

60 minutes before MEAL TIME • Put water to boil for mashed potatoes

50 minutes before MEAL TIME • parsnips in the oven (cook 30-40 minutes)

30 – 45 minutes before MEAL TIME • boil potatoes (check after 20 minutes) • place stuffing in oven

25 – 30 minutes before MEAL TIME • cook the SWEET POTATO, CARROT& HONEY SAUTE • put water to boil for steaming green beans

15 – 20 minutes before MEAL TIME • steam green beans (6-8 minutes) • check parsnips & potatoes

10 – 15 minutes before MEAL TIME • stir stuffing • mash the potatoes • toast the slivered almonds • heat gravy

5 – 10 minutes before MEAL TIME • assemble the salad • plate the saute, mashed potatoes with parsnips, green beans, stuffing and cranberry relish.

Dessert 10 minutes before PIE make the whipping cream

Homemade Vegetable Broth (for Turkey Brine) (if you don’t have pre-made vegetable broth, this is a quick easy alternative. You can use any extra veggies you have in the refrigerator) Ingredients:

A variety of vegetables (onions, carrots, celery, tomatoes, broccoli, or mushrooms)

Your choice of seasonings (salt, pepper, garlic, bay leaves, etc.)

Water

Directions:

1. Place vegetables and seasonings in a large pot, and cover with water.

2. Bring to a boil.

3. Reduce heat and simmer for at least an hour.

4. Then, strain out the vegetables, and your broth is ready for use.

Turkey Brine For best results we suggest prepping the turkey the night before. *Brining the turkey adds moisture and flavor to keep it from drying out. Ingredients:

Turkey

Prepared* Zuma Organic Turkey Brine (prep instructions on label)

Directions:

Combine the prepared brine in a large stockpot over medium-high heat. Stir occasionally to dissolve solids and bring to a low boil.

Remove the brine from heat, cool to room temperature and refrigerate.

After the brine has cooled, place into a 5-gallon bucket.

Place the turkey (with innards removed*) breast side down in brine. If necessary, weigh down the bird to ensure it is fully immersed, cover and refrigerate or set in a cool area for 8 to 16 hours, turning the bird ONCE half way through brining. You can use an extra-large zip lock bag or trash bag and place inside a cooler with ice overnight.

Toasted Pecans Ingredients:

1 cup pecans

1 TBS olive oil

½ TBS Bonnie’s Tasty Herb Rub

Salt & Pepper

Directions:

In a medium mixing bowl add pecans, herb rub and S&P. Sprinkle the olive oil and coat all pecans.

In a foil lined baking sheet, toast pecans in the oven for about 3 minutes shaking pan throughout.

Let cool and set aside

The Perfect Turkey Roasting Instructions Total cooking time will be determined by the size of your turkey and how long it takes for it to reach desired temperature. 10-12 lbs turkeys – 2.5 to 3 hours 12-15 lbs turkeys – 3 to 3.5 hours 18-22 lbs turkeys – 4 to 4.5 hours **plan accordingly depending on the time you want to serve** Ingredients:

Bonnie’s Tasty Herb Rub

Salt & Pepper

*Optional Aromatics: 1 red apple, ½ sliced onion, 1 cinnamon stick, 1 cup water, 4 sprigs rosemary, 6 sage leaves, canola oil

Directions: Preheat the oven to 500 degrees F.

Remove the bird from the brine and discard brine.

Place the bird on roasting rack inside a half sheet pan and pat dry with paper towels (this insures crispy skin!).

*Combine apple, onion, cinnamon stick and 1 cup of water in a microwave safe dish and microwave on high for 5 minutes. Add steeped aromatics to the turkey’s cavity along with rosemary and sage. Tuck the wings underneath the bird and coat the skin liberally with olive oil and Bonnies Tasty Herb Rub and S&P.

Roast the turkey on the lowest rack in oven at 500 degrees F for 30 minutes.

Insert a probe thermometer into thickest part of the breast and reduce oven temperature to 350 degrees F. Set the thermometer alarm (if available) to 161 degrees F. After your turkey reaches the allotted baking time (depending on weight of turkey) check the bird every 10 – 15 minutes to reach desired temperature (161 – 165 degrees F.)

Take the turkey out of the oven and loosely cover with foil. Let the bird rest about 30 minutes before carving.

Creamy Mashed Potatoes Ingredients:

2 – 3 pounds of potatoes

2 TBS Kosher Salt

up to 1 ½ cups of Half& Half, plain almond milk, soy milk or whole milk

Directions:

1. Peel and cut the potatoes in quarters.

2. Place in a large saucepan, add the salt and cover with water.

3. Bring to a boil over medium heat and then reduce heat to maintain a low boil. Cook until potatoes fall apart when poked with a fork.

4. Heat the half & half (or whatever dairy) in a medium saucepan over medium heat until simmering. Remove heat and set aside.

5. Remove the potatoes from the heat and drain off the water. Mash and add the cream mixture. Add S&P if desired. Let stand for 5 minutes so that the mixture thickens and then serve.

Roasted Parsnips Ingredients:

1 pounds of parsnips, tips removed and quartered

2 TBS olive oil

1 TBS sage, finely chopped

S & P

Directions:

Toss quartered parsnips with olive oil, chopped sage and S&P.

Roast on a lined baking sheet for 30-40 minutes.

Serve displayed around mashed potatoes*

Sweet Potato, Carrot & Honey Saute Ingredients:

6 cups of raw sweet potato, peeled and cubed into 1” bite size pieces

6 large carrots, cut into 1” circles

1 clove of garlic, minced

3 TBS olive oil

1 TBS fresh sage

3 TBS honey

S&P to taste

Directions:

1. In a large skillet place in the olive oil, garlic, sweet potatoes and carrots. 2. Cook long enough in a saute pan until it starts to brown (about 8 minutes) 3. Sprinkle with S&P and sage 4. Cook for additional 8 – 10 minutes or until carrots and potatoes are fork tender. 5. Add the honey and it let melt through the mixture.

Green Beans with Slivered Almonds

1-2 lbs Green Beans – trimmed and cut into 1”pieces 2 tbls melted butter or olive oil ¼ cup slivered almonds Squeeze of lemon Steam the green beans for 6 – 8 mintues till al dente. Toast the almonds on a baking sheet for 2 – 3 minutes. Shake the sheet half way through. Keep a close eye to prevent almonds from burning. Serve to taste either a drizzle of olive oil or melted butter, a squeeze of lemon and top with toasted almonds.

Stellar Salad Mix with Toasted Pecans & Medjool Dates Ingredients:

4 handfuls of Stellar Salad Mix

1 cup of toasted pecans

8 pitted dates, pitted and coarsly chopped

**optional fruit if desired (sliced strawberries or tangerines)

Directions:

Place all ingredients above into a large bowl and toss gently with Om Sweet Mama Ruby salad dressing.

Whipping Cream for Pie Ingredients:

1 cup of whipping cream

2 TSP of vanilla extract

2 TBS of sugar

Directions:

Combine the cream, sugar and vanilla in a medium bowl. Use an electric mixer to whip to stiff (but not grainy) peaks.

Chill until served.