A Country Dreaming Thanksgiving…

With my favorite holiday quickly approaching this Thursday, the only thing that seems to be on my mind is food – and knowing me I am always country dreaming!  Mix the two together and you have yourself a Country Dreaming Thanksgiving!  Here are some of today’s hottest country music stars favorite Thanksgiving recipe’s from their tables to yours! Enjoy!

MIRANDA LAMBERT
“We’re real traditional,” Lambert says. “Football, turkey, and stuffing, Blake’s mom makes ham and the best baked beans ever. My dad’s been deep-frying the turkey, which is sometimes wild turkey, because we hunt.”[1]

Miranda’s Corn Bread Stuffing[2]
1 (14.75 ounce) can creamed corn
1 (11.25 ounce) can corn (don’t drain)
1 cup macaroni (uncooked)
1/2 cup butter
8 ounces cubed processed cheese (Velveeta) or shredded cheddar cheese
Mix together creamed corn, whole kernel corn, and uncooked macaroni. Slice the butter, and mix into the corn mixture along with the cheese. Place in a buttered casserole dish. Cover. Bake at 350°F for 30 minutes. Uncover, stir, and bake uncovered for 30 more minutes.

TRISHA YEARWOOD
The first year I cooked Thanksgiving dinner in Oklahoma,” She recalls, “ Garth had me cook a stunt turkey before the big day so he could taste-test it!”[3]

Trisha Yearwood’s No Baste, No Bother Roasted Turkey [4]
½ Stick salted butter, softened
One 12-Pound Turkey completely thawed and all giblets removed.
2 Tablespoons salt
2 Teaspoons pepper
2 Stalks celery, cut in lengths to fit turkey cavity
1 Medium sweet onion, such as Vidalia, cut in half
1 Large carrot, cut in lengths to fit the turkey cavity
2 Cups boiling water

Adjust the oven racks so the covered roasting pan fits easily inside.  Preheat the oven to 500 degrees F.  Rub the butter on the outside and in the cavity of the turkey.  Sprinkle the salt and pepper on the inside and outside of the turkey.  Put the celery, onion and carrot in the cavity.  Place the turkey, breast side up in a large roasting pan.  Pour the boiling water into the pan. Cover with a tight fitting lid and put the pan in the oven.

Start a timer when the oven temperature returns to 500 degrees F.  Bake for exactly 1 hour and turn off the oven.  Do not open the door!  Leave the turkey in the oven until the oven completely cools; this may take 4 to 6 hours. Reserve the pan juices and refrigerate the turkey if it will not be served soon after roasting.

SARA EVANS

Sara Evans Honey Beer Ham (Serves 16)

1 bone-in ham shank (8 lb)
12 oz beer
1 cup honey
1 cup brown sugar
2 tablespoons whole cloves (or 1/2 tsp ground cloves)

Pre-heat oven to 275°. Place ham in roasting pan, making sure the cut side is down. Pour beer over meat, drizzle honey evenly over top. Use brown sugar and pat evenly over the honey. Score ham. Pierce ham with whole cloves or sprinkle ground cloves. Cook uncovered. Internal temperature should reach 160 degrees.  Will take 4 to 6 hours.

KRYSTAL KIETH
“This recipe is a combination of my great-grandmother Nannie’s ‘Pumkin Bread’ recipe and my own ‘Pumpkin Spice Icing’ recipe,” Keith continues of her pumpkin bread cupcakes recipe. “She used to make loaves of pumpkin bread for Thanksgiving and Christmas and they were definitely a highlight. I hope you all love them as much as I do.”[5]

Pumpkin Bread Cupcakes[6]
3 cups sugar
4 eggs
1 cup vegetable oil
1 tsp vanilla
2 cups pumpkin puree
3 1/2 cups flour
1/3 tsp salt
2 tsp baking soda
2 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp nutmeg
1 cup nuts

Icing:
2 sticks butter, softened
4 cups powdered sugar
4 Tbsp milk
3 Tbsp pumpkin puree
1/2 tsp cinnamon, plus extra for dusting
1/4 tsp nutmeg, plus extra for dusting

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Mix all the pumpkin bread ingredients in order from sugar to nuts using a stand or electric hand mixer. Make sure to incorporate each ingredient before the next one is added. You can either spray or line the wells of a muffin tin. Spoon 1/3 cup of mixture into each well. Place in the oven for 25 minutes. You can also use a mini-loaf pan (8 mini-loaves per pan) as long as you adjust your baking time to 35-40 minutes.

While the cupcakes are baking, prepare the icing. Whip the butter, pumpkin, cinnamon and nutmeg together. Slowly begin to add in the powdered sugar with the mixer on the lowest level to avoid a powdered sugar bomb going off in your kitchen. Once all the sugar is incorporated well, add the milk and beat/whip for 2-3 minutes. Remove cupcakes from the oven and allow to completely cool.

Once cool, use a metal blade spatula, rubber spatula or a butter knife to ice the cupcakes. For a decorative touch you can dust the finished product with some cinnamon and nutmeg.

TIM MCGRAW
While living in Nashville for a year, country music star Tim McGraw was running low on money and felt a hankering for classic Southern cooking. He called his grandmother, who walked him through how to make chicken and dumplings. Impressed by the delicious and inexpensive meal, Tim made the recipe his own and eventually used it in the courtship of his future wife, Faith Hill.[7]

Tim McGraw’s Chicken and Dumplings[8]

1 Whole Medium-Sized Fryer Organic Chicken
1 Cup Organic Chicken Broth ( if you prefer low sodium that works too)
Water ( About Six Cups..enough to cover the chicken in the pot)
2 Cups All Purpose Flour
3 Tablespoons Butter-Flavored Shortening
Sea Salt ( to taste)
1/2 Cup Buttermilk ( please don’t try and use low fat with this)

1) In a large stockpot, cover the chicken with water and season to taste with sea salt. Boil the chicken for about 45 minutes on medium-high heat until the meat is very tender and easy to remove from the bone.

2) Remove from heat and remove the chicken from the pot. DO NOT DRAIN THE WATER. Pull chicken from the bone and return to the pot with remaining water. Add chicken broth to the pot.

3) In a medium mixing bowl, combine shortening and flour. Mix together and add buttermilk to form a doughy consistency. Sprinkle flour on cutting board. Pinch off part of the dough and roll into a thin sheet and cut into squares.

4) Drop one square at a time into chicken broth mixture. Continue this until all of the dough is used. Add sea salt and pepper to taste.

5) Allow the chicken and dumplings to cook for 2 hours on medium-high heat until the mixture is thick and creamy. Serve and enjoy.

DUSTIN LYNCH

“Every year around the holidays, I always look forward to my mom’s apple pie,” says Dustin. “And ice cream – you’ve gotta have ice cream with it!“[9]

Dustin Lynch’s Famous Apple Pie[10]

Pastry for 9-inch double crust pie
6 cups sliced and peeled tart apples
1/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup light brown sugar, packed
2 tablespoons flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon finely grated lemon zest
2 teaspoons lemon juice
1 tablespoon butter, cut in small pieces

Line a 9-inch pie pan with pastry. Mix next 8 ingredients and fill pie shell, laying apple slices flat. Dot with the butter. Roll out top crust and cut slits in several places for steam to escape. Moisten edges of crust well with cold water and adjust top crust. With fingers or fork, pinch two crusts together to make a tight seal around pie. Bake at 450° 15 minutes. Reduce heat to 350° and bake 40 to 50 minutes longer.

I hope you all enjoy your Thanksgiving holiday this year with those that you love, all of us at Brooke Communications and Best Country 103 would like to wish you the warmest and yummiest of all Thanksgivings this year! Tis’ the season!

Comments

comments