cremefreesh

[cremefreesh]

Rating System Explained

Just a more in depth explanation of our rating system in case there is any confusion!

Ease: a scale of 1-5 that is how difficult somebody would find cooking the meal. For basic reference, see below.

1 - easy for anybody to do, even if you never or almost never cook; little to no actual cooking involved.

3 - some parts of the recipe could be challenging for a beginner, like getting cook time for meat exactly right or slicing things evenly, but it should be a snap for an intermediate/frequent cook, and beyond easy for an expert.

5 - pretty challenging: this recipe is probably difficult and/or a lot of work to do, even for people experienced in the kitchen.

Increased difficulty levels will most likely involve some degree of proficiency in one or more of the following: knife skills, advanced time management, multitasking, meeting small margins of error for correct cook time (correctly cooking poultry versus something like pulled pork), or dexterity for fine movement tasks (such as filleting, thinly or evenly slicing, carving, etc)

Taste: how good we felt about our meal, and if we think the recipe would be easy to replicate. Marked on a 1-5 scale.

1 - the ingredients didn’t really work together, maybe the meat was over- or under-seasoned, or something just came out a mess. Includes food we found inedible or barely touched.

3 - the meal is pretty good, but there are still some changes that would make the recipe better. Might later change up the sides or the approach for the main. 

5 - the meal was really good. everything worked together, and it was about as good as can be. perfection. the goal.

We experiment with recipes on this blog, so its natural not everything will get a high score. However, we might revisit low scoring recipes and change them later as we fix the problems in the dish. There’s always room for improvement!

Healthiness: how healthy a meal is and feels. Basically this takes into account how many unhealthy ingredients we used (like bacon, butter, i.e. the good stuff).

1 - pretty dang healthy! light meats, plenty of veggies/fruits/light carbs

3 - moderately healthy. we probably used a fair amount of butter or sugars, but not so much as to be too much. Still a meal you can enjoy without feeling too guilty.

5 - probably not healthy, definitely used butters/grease/fats/sugars without much (if any) healthy stuff to balance it out. Likely to involve a lot of frying, cheese, and red meat. Probably tastes good af, tho you might feel a lil bad afterwards. Comfort food.

If you’re wondering about healthy alternatives to any parts of a recipe, send us an ask about it!

[cremefreesh]

Turkey Dinner!

Tonight’s dinner was a slam dunkaroo. Gouda Ramsay (that’s me) and Julia Childhands (that’s my old roomie/cooking buddy/best friend in college) made an awesome turkey recipe we made up as we went along. 

Under the cut, there’s ingredients and instructions for our Dinner: Bacon-Wrapped Stuffed Turkey, Salad, Garlic Bread, and Caramelized Onions!

Ratings:

Ease: 3/5. Difficulty mostly in cook time for the meat.

Taste: 5/5! Flavor was amazing! Not too heavy, but oh so satisfying. 

Healthiness: 3/5. The white meat and the salad are a big health plus. Bacon and garlic bread, not so much. 

Cook time: 1 hour + 10 minutes prep for turkey stuffing

Dishes/cleanup: 3/5. Not too much going on in the dishes department (a pan, a couple of knives, cutting boards, and a baking tray, plus plates and silverware), but there are probably a number of produce leftovers that’ll need to be stored.  

Baked Turkey
 Ingredients:
 

2 lbs turkey (London Broil) 


Zest of 1 lemon


Juice of ½ lemon


3 cloves garlic (pressed)


¾ stick salted butter (softened)


3-4 slices of ¼ inch thick bacon


Small handful white onion (about 1/3 onion, cut into roughly ½ inch squares)


¼ cup fresh af rosemary leaves
(Optional) 

Whole Foods garlic lemon poultry seasoning


Fresh ground pepper 

(Optional) 1/2 cup Chicken or turkey stock for maximizing gravy yield

Salad:


½ bag fresh spinach


Juice of ½ lemon


Cherry tomatoes or baby bella mushrooms


Generous amount of basil


Salad croutons of choice


Drizzle of Extra Virgin Olive Oil (optional) 

Garlic bread:


1 loaf Italian bread


2-3 cloves garlic, pressed or minced


Olive oil, to stop bread from burning in pan (not needed if using a toaster oven)


Butter, to taste 

Caramelized onions:


White onion (used the left overs from stuffing the turkey, about 2/3rds)


Butter


Salt and pepper 

Directions:


> Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. 


> Take out your beautiful slab of turkey meat. Look at it. Appreciate it. Put it on a nice clean cutting board. Drizzle a bit of olive oil onto it. Rub it all over that turkey. 


> Using a long, sharp knife, cut a slit into the center of your turkey meat, being careful not to cut all the way through. 


> Open your turkey pocket.


> Lightly season the inside of your turkey pocket with the garlic lemon poultry seasoning, if you have it. 


> (Wash your hands.) Using a different cutting board, zest your lemon. Strip the rosemary leaves from their sprigs. Peel and press your garlic. Chop your onions. Tuck those onions into your turkey pocket. 


> In a small bowl, combine rosemary leaves, butter, lemon juice, half the lemon zest, and the pressed garlic. Make sure the texture is soft and creamy enough to scoop out from the bowl, but not so melted that it’s runny. This will ensure that the butter will gradually flavor your turkey and keep it moist. 


> Close up the turkey pocket by laying the top half of the meat on top of the bottom. If the turkey has trouble sitting comfortably, your pocket may be too small, or you may have used too much onion. We didn’t use any butcher string to hold it together, but you can if you wish. If so, tie it up after you add the bacon. 


> Lay your bacon across the turkey longways. The bacon will keep your turkey from drying out as it cooks, and will give the drippings flavor. 


> Put your turkey in the oven and bake for 50 minutes. 


> While the turkey is cooking, melt a knob of butter in a pan and add your chopped onions to it on low heat. Cover the pan with a lid and let the onions caramelize. Keep an eye on them, stirring occasionally, and stop cooking when the onions get soft throughout, about 10-15 minutes. 


> 15-20 minutes before the turkey is done, prepare the bread and salad. 


> For the bread: butter and fry (or toast) a few thick slices of bread, and when the bread turns golden brown, take it out and add the garlic.


> For the salad: tear up the basil leaves with your hands. Add them to a bowl with the rest of the ingredients and toss. You’re done with your salad! 

When the turkey is done:


> Remove your turkey from the oven. DO NOT cut into it immediately. While it’s hot, the turkey juices are between the meat fibers. Resting your turkey will allow the meat to recollect its juices so they won’t dribble out onto the cutting board when you carve it. Don't worry - it won't get cold. In fact, resting will raise the internal temperature of the meat up to 5 more degrees, depending on size. Using your fingers, give the turkey a poke to see if it's done. For a meat-poking guide, check out our post on tenderness!


> Rest your turkey for 5-6 minutes. Then you may cut into it. Strangely, our turkey looked a shade rosier than we were comfortable with at first, but it actually whitened a bit as the slices cooled. If you can hold your finger against the meat for more than a second and it looks pink, it is probably not cooked through. Optional: put your turkey drippings on the stove on medium heat and thicken them into a gravy by slowly adding small amounts of flour and stirring. Add the half cup of chicken broth to the mixture to yield more gravy. This is best done while the turkey is resting. 

> Carve into slices and enjoy your delicious turkey!

[cremefreesh]

The meal that started our journey into food blogging :3

And our recipe to match!~