Category: Thanksgiving

Smoked Turkey French Onion Soup

Dax Phillips 1 Comment

I don’t know about you, but I am somewhat happy that Thanksgiving is done with. Not that I did not mind a couple of days off of work, but I think my wife and I both said that we were kind of tired of eating. I think you can only have so many leftovers and then get tired of them, but as much as I like to come up with some leftover recipes, I decided that I would come up with a new recipe of sorts; the smoked turkey French onion soup. I normally make French onion soup around Christmas time, but whoa was I ever glad I made a batch of soup this past week. Not only was it light, but did it ever hit the spot.

Smoked Turkey French Onion Soup Recipe
Smoked Turkey French Onion Soup Recipe

If you do not have smoked turkey, no worries, Leftover turkey breast will suffice but the light smokiness give it a really great flavor.

Let’s get started.

Ingredients:

  • 4 whole onions, thinly sliced
  • 1 tbsp olive oil
  • 2 tbsp unsalted butter
  • 2 cloves of garlic, minced
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 1 tsp sugar
  • 8 cups of beef stock
  • 1/2 cup of dry Vermouth
  • 1 cup smoked turkey breast, cut into cubes
  • 1/2 tsp cracked black pepper
  • 1 1/2  tbsp fresh thyme
  • French baguette, cut into rounds
  • 2 cups of Alpine style cheese, finely grated

Start by heating a medium sized pot on medium heat. Add in the oil, butter, and toss in the onions and garlic. After the onions begin to sweat out, add in the salt, and sugar. Continue cooking until the onions caramelize. This can take up to 30 minutes, so keep an eye on them, not letting them burn, and adjust your heat to medium low. Take in the smell. Gosh I love that smell.

After the onions caramelize, add in the turkey, thyme, vermouth, and cook for a few minutes before adding in your beef stock. Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat, and cook for about 25 minutes.

Smoked Turkey French Onion Soup Recipe
Smoked Turkey French Onion Soup Recipe

 

Before you are ready to serve, preheat your oven to 400 degrees. Take a couple of rounds of your baguette, and generously top with the grated Alpine cheese. Place into the preheated oven, cooking for about 6-8 minutes or until the cheese is nice and melted. You can probably placed under your broiler as well. Your call.

When you are ready to serve, ladle the soup into a soup bowl and place the bread on top.

Dig in. Dunk that bread into the soup, spoon that deliciousness into your mouth and repeat. My wife,daughter and I fell in love with this soup, and it was one that had you going back for more. My wife and I both lifted our bowls at the end to finish every last drop of that awesome broth, and that is rare. Yep, this is a good one. Hope you enjoy!

 

Loaded Baked Potato Muffins

Dax Phillips Leave a comment

With one of my most recent recipes, the pizza muffins, I kept thinking as to what to make using the muffin tins as the pizza muffins were such a huge hit. To me the muffin tin is a bit like the waffle iron. As soon as you start tinkering and making great things with the waffle iron, then it gets you thinking of other creative ideas, much like the muffin tin. So with a recent Sunday meal, and one of my favorite meals of all time (chicken, mashed potatoes, and corn), I decided to come up with a twist of the mashed potatoes, and use the muffin tin to make loaded mashed potato muffins. Talk about crazy good, this is it!

Loaded Baked Potato Muffins
Loaded Baked Potato Muffins Recipe

First let me start by saying that I love mashed potatoes, but really love loaded mashed potatoes. Maybe it’s the texture of the bacon, or heck maybe it is just the bacon, but the combination of everything really made this meal shine.

Let’s get started.

Ingredients:

  • 4 russet potatoes, skins peeled and removed, and cut into cubes
  • 4 tbsp unsalted butter
  • 3/4 cup of milk
  • salt, to taste
  • cracked black pepper, to taste
  • 2 green onions, thinly sliced
  • 6 slices of bacon, cooked and chopped
  • 1 cup of shredded cheddar cheese
  • cooking spray

Start by adding your potatoes to a pot of cold water. Bring to a simmer and cook until fork tender, about 25 minutes or so.

During this time, cook your bacon, and slice your green onions.

When the potatoes are tender, strain them and return them back to the heat to evaporate any remaining water. Once evaporated, season with salt and pepper, and mash them however you desire. I use a ricer on mine as I like the nice, and smooth texture.  Add the potatoes to a mixing bowl, and add in the bacon, butter, and green onions. Give this a good mix, then taste and adjust any salt or pepper to your liking.

 

Loaded Baked Potato Muffin Ingredients
Loaded Baked Potato Muffin Ingredients

Preheat your oven to 375 degrees. During this time, spray the inside of the muffin tins with the cooking spray. Spoon the loaded mashed potatoes into each muffin tin, about 90% to the top. Sprinkle with the shredded cheese, then place into the oven for about 20 minutes, allowing the cheese to melt and somewhat crisp up.

Remove from the oven, and serve. To remove the muffins, I used an offset spatula, but you can use a butter knife to work your way around each muffin tin, and gently lift out. If some get stuck, don’t worry as it’s going down with the rest of your meal.

These things were awesome. Everything I loved about a loaded baked potato but in muffin form. What’s not to love about that! The muffin tin pulled through once again, and that made this cook a very happy person. Hope you enjoy!

Franklin’s Smoked Turkey Breast

Dax Phillips Leave a comment

I don’t know about you, but I am pretty exhausted from the Thanksgiving holiday. As normal, I spent hours in the kitchen cooking up the feast which included a green bean casserole, creamed corn, gravy, a dry brined turkey, mashed potatoes, dressing/stuffing, and this thing of beauty; Franklin’s smoked turkey breast. My colleague turned me onto this recipe and he swore by it. Whenever someone who cooks gets that excited about something, I figured it was worth a shot, and boy was this one ever delicious. As a matter of fact, many said it was probably their favorite, along with my Thanksgiving sausage stuffing.

This turned out awesome, and as I cannot compare as I’ve never had the honor to get to Austin, Texas to try Franklin’s BBQ, I can tell you that this was fall apart tender with just the right amount of smoke.

Franklin's Smoked Turkey Breast Recipe
Franklin’s Smoked Turkey Breast Recipe

Let’s get started.

Ingredients:

  • 3.5 lb turkey breast
  • 2 whole sticks of butter, unsalted
  • 3 tbsp course cracked black pepper
  • 1 tbsp salt
  • heavy duty aluminum foil
  • your favorite wood chips for smoking (I used cherry)

Start by mixing the salt and pepper in a bowl. remove the skin from the turkey breast and discard it.

Rub the turkey breast with the black pepper and salt, all over all of the sides. Now get your smoker ready. I’ve been using the Smokenator 1000 for some time now, but you could use your grill if you desire. Once the smoker comes to temperature (I shoot for about 250 degrees), add the turkey breast, cover, and let it slowly smoke for about 2.5 hours. Once the turkey is slightly browned, carefully remove it and place it on a plate.

Pull 2 big sheets of aluminum foil off, enough to easily wrap the turkey breast, and top the breast with the two sticks of butter. Cover with the foil, and return back to the smoker, butter side down. Make sure the breast is completely covered and to not have butter dripping down into your smoker! 

How to make Franklin's BBQ smoked turkey breast
How to make Franklin’s BBQ smoked turkey breast

Continue cooking for another 1-2 hours, or until the center of the breast registers around 160 degrees.

When you are ready to serve, carefully remove the foil from the turkey breast, and pull apart with a couple of forks.

This smoked turkey breast was so tender and juicy from cooking in that butter, and it was perfectly seasoned. I served mine on a couple of toasted buns, along with some barbecue sauce and pickles. I will definitely be making this again and again, plus it is perfect to serve during any holiday season. Hope you enjoy!

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Franklin's Smoked Turkey Breast
Author: 
Recipe type: Turkey
Prep time: 
Cook time: 
Total time: 
Serves: 8
 
Ingredients
  • 3.5 lb turkey breast
  • 2 whole sticks of butter, unsalted
  • 3 tbsp course cracked black pepper
  • 1 tbsp salt
  • heavy duty aluminum foil
  • your favorite wood chips for smoking (I used cherry)
Instructions
  1. Start by mixing the salt and pepper in a bowl. remove the skin from the turkey breast and discard it.
  2. Rub the turkey breast with the black pepper and salt, all over all of the sides. Now get your smoker ready. I’ve been using the Smokenator 1000 for some time now, but you could use your grill if you desire. Once the smoker comes to temperature (I shoot for about 250 degrees), add the turkey breast, cover, and let it slowly smoke for about 2.5 hours. Once the turkey is slightly browned, carefully remove it and place it on a plate.
  3. Pull 2 big sheets of aluminum foil off, enough to easily wrap the turkey breast, and top the breast with the two sticks of butter. Cover with the foil, and return back to the smoker, butter side down. Make sure the breast is completely covered and to not have butter dripping down into your smoker!
  4. Continue cooking for another 1-2 hours, or until the center of the breast registers around 160 degrees.
  5. When you are ready to serve, carefully remove the foil from the turkey breast, and pull apart with a couple of forks.

 

Celery Root Puree

Dax Phillips 1 Comment

Our local farmer’s market is winding down, and that is always unfortunate. A couple of weeks ago I stopped there, as I always do, and took a look around. A lot of root vegetables were starting to appear, and I figured I would pick up a few things, one of them being the knobby looking celery root. If you have never seen or used celery root, trust me, it’s pretty darn awesome.  It looks a bit hairy and the roots are still hanging on the base of it, but when you peel all of that back, your left with pretty much a white ball. There are all sorts of ways to cook celery root, and I decided to go with a classic, and make a celery root puree. Smooth, earthy, and creamy, this puree is a perfect side dish as we head into colder weather.

Celery Root Puree
Celery Root Puree

Let’s get started.

Ingredients:

  • 1 celery root, peeled and cut into large chunks
  • 2 medium sized potatoes, peeled and quartered
  • 1 tsp of salt, to taste
  • 2 cups of heavy cream
  • water to cover the potatoes and celery root
  • 4 tbsp unsalted butter

Start by adding the celery root, potatoes, heavy cream, and water to a medium sized pot.

Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat, and simmer for about 40 minutes or until the vegetables are fork tender.

Remove about a cup of the cream and set it to the side. Strain the mixture, then use a stick blender, or masher, and blend into a smooth puree. Fold in the reserved cream, butter, and salt. Taste for any additional salt.

The result is something you would think would be a mashed potato, but it’s not. It may be something better! This stuff is super creamy, light, and has just that slight bit of earthiness that I know your guests will be trying to guess at. I’m glad I picked this up at the farmer’s market, and I know that I will be making this again before winter is over. Hope you enjoy!