The Best EverHoliday Dinner

Recipes, Articles, and Equipment

A Prepared Pantry Publication

The Prepared PantryDennis Weaver

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In my childhood, the best holidays were at my grandmother’s with uncles and aunts and lotsof cousins. We had a ball wandering through the farmyard and exploring the barn and thegranary. Sometimes we would hike along the creek that ran behind the pastures. Sooner or laterhunger and visions of turkey and dressing and pies would draw us back to the old brickfarmhouse. And then it seemed that it took forever for dinner to be ready.

My grandmother, mother, and aunts fixed fantastic holiday meals. We would like to help makeyours just a little bit better.

In this handbook, we’ll tell you how to roast a turkey or a chicken—how to make it moist andsucculent. You’ll find six different recipes. We’ll tell you how to make creamy mashed potatoes15 ways. You’ll learn how to make homemade dinner rolls from a mix or a recipe. And pies!We’ll share our best pumpkin and apple pie recipes plus a few other dessert recipes—over 40recipes in all. You’ll learn lots about tools and techniques.

We think you’ll like what you find. Happy holidays.

Dennis Weaver

The Prepared Pantry2 North Landmark Lane

Rigby, ID 83442208-745-7892

www.preparedpantry.com

Copyright 2005-10, The Prepared Pantry. All rights reserved.

The material herein is published by The Prepared Pantry for the private use of individuals and may not beused for commercial purposes without the express consent of the publisher. The information containedherein is believed accurate but the publisher makes no warranties, express or implied, and the recipient isusing this information at his or her own risk.

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Table of Contents

How to Roast the Best Chicken or Turkey Ever!.........................................................6Two Weeks in the Test Kitchen: The Journey to Find the Best Roast Chicken ..........7The Four Techniques for the Best Chicken or Turkey................................................10How to Inject a Chicken or Turkey with Marinade ...................................................... 11Tools of the Trade: How to Roast a Better Chicken or Turkey ...................................12How to Roast a Chicken or Turkey ............................................................................13FAQ’s about Roasted Chickens and Turkeys ............................................................14Six Great Recipes for Chicken or Turkey...................................................................15

Oven Roasted Garlic Chicken ................................................................................15Roast Chicken with Wild Rice.................................................................................16Honey Butter Roast Chicken ..................................................................................18Apricot Orange Chicken .........................................................................................19Mexicali-Lime Roast Chicken .................................................................................20Dressy Italian Chicken............................................................................................21

How to Store that Leftover Turkey .............................................................................21What to do with Leftover Turkey................................................................................22

Selecting and Baking Your Holiday Ham...................................................................23Nine Glaze Recipes for Your Holiday Ham................................................................25

How to Make Great Dinner Rolls ................................................................................28How to Make Kaiser Rolls .........................................................................................30

How to Make Great Mashed Potatoes........................................................................32How to Mash Potatoes .............................................................................................. 32A Guide to 15 Different Kinds of Mashed Potatoes....................................................33

Garlic Mashed Potatoes .........................................................................................33Sunday Dinner Potatoes ........................................................................................33Bacon and Cheese Mashed Potatoes ....................................................................33Cream Cheese Mashed Potatoes ..........................................................................34Garlic and Cheddar Cheese Mashed Potatoes ...................................................... 34Skins-on Mashed Potatoes ....................................................................................34Mashed Potatoes with Horseradish ........................................................................34Buttermilk Mashed Potatoes...................................................................................34Mashed Potatoes with Shallots ..............................................................................34Onion Mashed Potatoes.........................................................................................34Mashed Potatoes with Chives ................................................................................34French Onion Mashed Potatoes .............................................................................35Mashed Potatoes with Green Onions ..................................................................... 35Cheddar Mashed Potatoes.....................................................................................35Sour Cream Mashed Potatoes ...............................................................................35

Make Great Pies! .........................................................................................................35Five Essential Tools for the Pie Maker ......................................................................35

A Pastry Knife ........................................................................................................36A Rolling Pin ..........................................................................................................36Pie Pans.................................................................................................................37Other Tools ............................................................................................................38

Making the Crust .......................................................................................................38Five Easy Keys to a Great Pie!..................................................................................39The Best Pumpkin Pies .............................................................................................40

Four Egg Extra Light Pumpkin Pie..........................................................................40Adding Yams or Dry Pumpkin ................................................................................41About the Spices ....................................................................................................41

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Our Best Pumpkin Pie ............................................................................................41Mom’s Favorite Pumpkin Pie..................................................................................42Sweet Potato Pie with Pecan Streusel in a Gingersnap Crust ................................43Pumpkin Cream Cheese Pie Recipe ......................................................................44No-Bake Turtle Pumpkin Pie ..................................................................................46Pumpkin Pie Squares.............................................................................................47

The Best Apple Pies..................................................................................................48Fifteen Minute Apple Pie ........................................................................................48My Favorite Apple Pie ............................................................................................49Dutch Apple Pie ..................................................................................................... 50Bavarian Apple Pie.................................................................................................51Maple Apple Pie ..................................................................................................... 52Caramel Apple Pie .................................................................................................52

Other Recipes for the Holidays ..................................................................................53Pumpkin Cheesecake in a Gingersnap Crust ............................................................54No Bake Pumpkin Cheesecake Recipe ..................................................................... 55Pumpkin Cheesecake Recipe with a Chocolate Swirl................................................56White Chocolate Cheesecake ...................................................................................57New England Apple Pie Pastry..................................................................................58

Appendix...................................................................................................................... 60Video Cooking and Baking Lessons ..........................................................................60

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How to Roast the Best Chicken or Turkey Ever!

We’ve all experienced dry, tasteless chicken or turkey. Sometimes it's hard to swallowor rubbery. But even good chicken or turkey usually isn’t as tasty and succulent as itcould be. To be really good, it must be melt-in-your-mouth succulent and loaded withflavor.

So we spent two weeks in the test kitchen in pursuit of these two dimensions—moistness and flavor. We experiment with chicken with the assumption that whateverworked with chicken, would work with turkey. What we found were multiple techniquesto make the very best chicken or turkey.

In following section, we’ll tell you about our two weeks in the test kitchen, all thechickens that we roasted, and what we discovered. In the next section, we’ll share foursecrets to great chicken or turkey plus some additional tips and techniques. We’lldescribe each of these four techniques plus share a video with each technique with step-by-step instructions so you’ll really get to know these techniques.

Then we’ll talk to you about the tools of the trade and recommend the equipment that willbest fit your cooking.

Finally, we’ll give you six recipes. So let’s get started . . .

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Two Weeks in the Test Kitchen:The Journey to Find the Best Roast Chicken

Sunday dinner is usually a highlight at ourhouse. It’s a lingering, casual dinner,usually with extended family. Often wehave a pot roast put on before church plusplenty of potatoes and gravy. Sometimeswe have roast chicken--simply fixed withseasonings and herbs.

Somewhere along the line, we determinedto find the best way to roast a chicken. Soit was off to the test kitchen. We outlinedthe project—never dreaming that it wouldbecome so involved. First, we had torecruit Lou Anne Johnson, our chiefkitchen engineer, and Debbie Frantzen, our operations manager and a qualified foodie.We were concerned that Lou Anne might not find chickens exciting enough for a majorproject, but once she saw where we were going, she was on board. We knew that LouAnne would be exhaustive. Unlike anyone we’ve ever met, Lou Anne will bake from acookbook—front to back—just for recreation.

So we began the research phase. We read everything that we could about roastchicken. We went on line. We looked in periodicals. We reviewed recipes in nearlyevery cookbook that we owned. We kept notes and dog-eared pages.

We were ready to get started. We would try different recipes and techniques until wefound what worked. We would use staff for testers—especially the crew downstairs inProduction and in Fulfillment. (Actually, we fed chicken to everyone that came through,sales people, delivery drivers, and all.)

Lou Ann made the first trip to the grocery store. We live and work in a small town; thereare about 3,200 people in Rigby. Food shopping consists of one grocery store which isremarkably well-stocked for a little town in the country.

Lou Anne came back from the grocery store giggling.

“The meat department manager doesn’t understand where all his chickens went.”

That’s because she bought them all.

Over the next week, we roasted tons of chickens. We roasted them horizontally andvertically, in the pan and on racks. We roasted them right out of the wrapping and aftersoaking them in brine.

Over and over, we’ve set chicken on plates in front of our conscripted testers. We filledplates with chicken, each with a placard identifying what chicken was on what plate.They would walk down the line with plate in hand, adding a little chicken from each plate.Then we would quiz them.

“Did you like this one or that one better? What did you like best about that chicken?”

Everyone likes a moist chicken. In fact, the most common complaint was, “This chickenis dry.”

Some of the chickens were soggy and greasy, at least in parts. Chickens have so muchfat that there is quite a pool after baking. If the chicken is sitting in that pool, it’s greasyand soggy. With a rack, the juices dripped to the bottom of the pan and all the fatdrained off for a healthier meal. So, very quickly we decided that our chickens had to beroasted on racks. (A rotisserie does the same thing.)

We used both horizontal and vertical racks. We could tell no difference in the meat butwith the vertical racks, we had a nice even golden color on the skins. We found that ifyou use a horizontal rack, turn the chicken breast up so that the tender breast meat isturned away from the heating elements in the bottom of the oven. The breast cooksmore readily than does the leg meat.

Chickens roasted on racks wereconsistently dry. So we tried a verticalrack with an infuser. The rack has acylindrical reservoir in the center thatprotrudes into the chicken’s breast cavity.As the chicken cooks, the liquidevaporates and fills the cavity. (Think“beer-can chicken”) We used apple juice,orange juice, water with herbs, and waterwith garlic. Any liquid made the meatmuch, much more moist and in everycase was preferred over the dry rack-roasted chicken. It was clear thatinfusers made a much superior chicken.

While the infusers made for moist, succulentinfusers did not impart a lot of flavor. Maythese racks but we never discovered it. Svertical rack with an infuser for the moisture.

To create a moist chicken, we next tried a stepan. We placed the chicken on a rack in ainches. Since we didn’t want a boiled-lookchicken for about half the time with the lid ofthen place the lid on the pan to capture thebut the meat was not as moist and nice asthat since the infuser concentrated the steaentire cooking, the resulting roast chicken wa

We tried soaking our chickens in water beforwater for a moister roast. The results wereplain water did not do much, an hour insucculent chicken. The brine water soak rivaand infuser; our testers couldn’t tell the differe

About the racks used:

We tested three racks in the roasting ofour chickens: A horizontal nonstick rackthat was large enough for a turkey, anonstick vertical rack, a stainless steelvertical rack with an infuser. All of theseracks are available at The PreparedPantry. If you use either the horizontalrack or the nonstick vertical rack, soakyour chickens in brine water beforebaking. With the rack with the vertical

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chicken, much superior to dry roasted, thebe there is a trick to imparting flavor withtill, we would not hesitate to purchase a

am roast—roasting the chicken in a steamypan and added water to a depth of 1 1/2

ing chicken, our strategy was to bake thef so as to brown the chicken skin nicely andsteam. The roasted chicken was attractivewhen we used the infuser. We concludedm in the breast cavity and did so over thes much more moist.

e roasting. Maybe the chicken would retainsurprising. While soaking the chicken in

brine water made for a very moist, veryled the chickens baked with a vertical racknce.

infuser, soaking is not necessary.

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So at this point, we had concluded that, in addition to roasting on a rack or rotisserie, achicken is much more succulent when either infused with steam or soaked in brine. Notonly is the chicken much better eating, it makes for a healthier, less fatty chicken. Wefound that the best brine water was one-half cup of salt to 8 or 10 cups of cold water anda soak time of about an hour in the refrigerator was about right.

We were giddy over our success. Never had we made such succulent, moist, roastchicken. And the techniques were simple—brining or infusing with steam. We couldn’twait to share them with our subscribers.

By now we had fallen in love with our stainless steel vertical rack with infuser. It madechicken so moist and tender. But we were disappointed with the flavor. The rack ispresented as a method to add flavor to chickens. We would fill the infuser reservoir witha beverage, stock, or juice, and it would impart some flavor to the chicken but not asmuch as we would like.

But then we read about tucking herbs and seasoning under the skin of a chicken, rightagainst the meat. We had to try that. It was back to the store for more chicken.

We started baking chickens, making little pockets for seasoning under the skin on thebreasts and thighs. We made garlic chicken, orange chicken, and lemon chicken. Thetechnique worked. The chicken was now moist and flavorful.

But then we considered marinades.

A marinade has three purposes: it imparts flavor to the chicken, it adds moisture to thechicken to make it more succulent, and it breaks down tissues in the flesh for moretender meat. While a marinade works well for cut up chicken, it requires a lot ofmarinade to soak a whole chicken.

So we looked at injectors. A hypodermic injector injects marinade deep into the flesh.The marinade imparts flavor and moisture and does help to break down tissues for moretender meat.

So we bought even more chickens and started experimenting with techniques andrecipes. We made savory chickens and sweet chickens. We found that an injector isvery easy to use and very effectively imparts flavors to the meat. It makes for a veryflavorful, tasty roast chicken.

Now we had arrived. We knew how to make very succulent chicken and very flavorfulchicken. We had four techniques in our arsenal: brining, infusing with steam, tuckingseasonings and herbs under the skin, and injecting marinades. All four were very useful.

We’ll explain these four techniques, where each is applicable, and present aninstructional video for each.

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The Four Techniques for the Best Chicken or Turkey

In our quest for the best roast chicken or turkey, we examined four techniques--two forflavor and two for moistness and tenderness. For flavor, we used a technique for puttingherbs and spices under the skin and one for injecting chicken with a marinade. Formoistness, we brined and infused chickens with steam. All four of the techniques areremarkably successful.

See the Video: Four Techniques for Better Chicken

Or type the following URL in your browser:http://www.preparedpantry.com/4-Chicken-Techniques.htm

For Moistness and Tenderness: Brining

Brine the chicken for one hour, in the refrigerator, in a solution of 1/2 cup salt for tencups water. If you brine the chicken, you can still insert flavors under the skin. Injectingmarinade after brining does not work well.

For Moistness and Tenderness: Infusing with Steam

Infusing with steam leaves the chicken moist and tender without becoming soggy. Thebest way to infuse with steam is with a vertical rack with infuser. You can injectmarinade into the chicken before baking with this method.

For Flavor: Inserting Herbs and Spices Under the Skin

With the back of a spoon, create pockets on the breasts and legs. Place spices or herbsin these pockets and spread around. This works best in conjunction with brining orinfusing steam during baking.

For Flavor: Inserting Marinade

Use a marinade injector to insert a wide range of marinades directly into the meat of thechicken. Puree chunky marinades first--those with herbs or vegetables. This methodworks well in conjunction with a vertical rack with infuser.

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How to Inject a Chicken or Turkey with Marinade

It’s really quite simple, injecting a chicken with a flavorful marinade. We tried it over andover with different recipes until we had the technique down. You can use any marinadethat will pass through the needle on your injector. The injector that we use has a largediameter needle with two large holes cut into the sides of the needle. Still, marinadeswith large pieces of herbs will not pass through. To solve that problem, we put chunkymarinades in our blender and pureed them.

The techniques used here can also be applied to turkeys and modified for roasts.

1. Prepare the marinade. Depending on the strength of the marinade and howflavorful you will want your chicken, you will need a cup of marinade.

2. Leave the skin on the chicken. It will hold moisture and flavor and protect thetender breast meat from scorching.

3. Load your injector. You will need to load it several times to use all yourmarinade. Use the first third to marinate the legs and then one third in each ofthe two breasts.

4. Start with a leg. Insert the needle deep along the bone. Press lightly on theplunger to begin releasing marinade and then begin withdrawing the needle,slowly releasing the marinade as you withdraw the needle. Inject the other legand both thighs.

5. Next inject the breasts. Insert the needle into the deepest part of the meat andinject marinade as you withdraw the needle. Tip the needle, inject the needlethrough the same hole again and press the needle into another part of the breast.Do this “directional drilling” again so that the entire breast has received marinadeand yet there is only one hole in the skin.

6. Reload the plunger and inject the second breast. The objective is to get as muchmarinade as possible dispersed in the meat. There are two keys to loading upthe chicken with marinade: probing the needle into different parts of the chickenand pressing on the plunger as you withdraw the needle thereby injectingmarinade along the way.

7. Place the chicken in a bowl and return it to the refrigerator. Let it rest in therefrigerator for 30 minutes so that the marinade can seep through the tissues.

8. Remove the chicken from the refrigerator and prepare it to roast by wiping anymarinade from the skin and basting the skin with melted butter. Marinade left onthe skin may burn. Butter helps the skin brown properly.

9. Bake according to recipe instructions.

Notes:

1. After pureeing your marinade, if a piece still gets stuck in the needle, use a pieceof fine wire to unclog the needle. A twist-tie stripped to the wire works perfectly.

2. With liquid within the meat, infused chickens take longer to cook. At 350 degreesallow up to two hours.

3. If you use an infuser, be sure and place a pan under the chicken to catch excessdrippings. The infuser sets in a nine-inch pie pan perfectly.

4. It doesn’t work to inject marinade into a brined chicken. A brined chicken hasretained water and there is less capacity for marinade. For the best chicken, usea vertical rack with an infuser to make the chicken very moist and an injector forthe most flavor.

5. Don’t let the chicken sit for over 30 minutes in the refrigerator.

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6. Do not leave the chicken on the counter. Food safety requires that raw chickenbe refrigerated.

7. You can use leftover marinade that has not been contaminated with any juicesfrom the chicken. Discard any marinade in the injector marinade that hastouched the needle.

Tools of the Trade: How to Roast a Better Chicken or Turkey

You can use two of the four techniques explained in this handbook without any specialequipment: brining and inserting flavors under the skin. To be equipped for the othertwo techniques, you will need the following equipment.

For infusing steam into your chicken:

Stainless Steel Vertical Roaster Rack with InfuserTN265

This vertical roasting rack has a reservoir in the center ofthe catch basin. You fill this reservoir with water, abeverage, wine, or juice. The steam imparts some flavorto the chicken. It also makes the chicken moist andsucculent.

For injecting marinade into your chicken:

Professional Marinade Injector TN777

You can make very flavorful, succulent chicken by injectingmarinade into the meat with this hyperemic-type injector. Ifthe marinade contains an acid, it will also help tenderize thechicken.

The secret is to load the meat with marinade, injectingmarinade until it can hold no more. Poke a minimum numberof holes into the chicken—one for each breast and one foreach thigh—so that marinade does not seep from the extraholes.

This is an inexpensive and very useful tool for your kitchen that works as well with othermeats as it does with chicken.

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How to Roast a Chicken or Turkey

This is a basic chicken recipe but much more moistand tender than a chicken just popped into the oven.You can easily modify this for a turkey.

1 whole chicken, 3 1/2 to 4 pounds in weight2-3 tablespoons butter, meltedsalt and pepper

1/2 cup salt for brining or use an infuser

Chicken can become very dry in roasting and nearlyunpalatable. To avoid dry chicken, you need to infusewater into the chicken. You can do that in one of twoways. Use a vertical roasting rack with an infuser. Inthis way, you create steam in the body cavity thatpermeates the meat. The infuser can be loaded withwater, juice, cider, pop, or beer. Herbs or spices canbe added to the reservoir.

The other way to create a moist chicken is to soak it in a brine solution for an hour. Thesalt water will permeate the bird so that the chicken retains water prior to roasting. If youuse a brine soak, dissolve one-half cup of salt in 8 to 10 cups of cold water and soak thebird for an hour in the refrigerator just prior to roasting.

Directions

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

1. If you are not using an infuser, soak the chicken in 8 to 10 cups of water withthe 1/2 cup salt dissolved in the water.

2. Wash the chicken and pat it dry. Salt and pepper the body cavity. Place thechicken on a vertical or horizontal baking rack. If you have not soaked thechicken, use a vertical rack with an infuser. Fill the reservoir with the liquid ofyour choice.

3. Use a pastry brush to brush the skin of the chicken with the melted butter.Use a spoon to lift the skin away from the breast meat. Spoon any herbs orherb butter into the pockets and press on the skin to spread the paste ontothe breasts or sprinkle salt and pepper into the cavities. (See how this isdone in a video clip.)

4. Place the chicken in the center of the oven and roast it until it is done, about 11/2 hours. Test for doneness with an insta-read thermometer. (See below.)

Cook’s notes:

Do not overcook. Use an insta-read thermometer to tell when your chicken is cooked.The thermometer should be inserted deep into the meat but not against the bone sincethe bones tend to reach a higher temperature than does the meat. The breast meatshould test 165 degrees and the thigh meat, 170.

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You can roast a chicken without brining or without an infuser but the meat will tend to bemuch drier. The cooking times will be about the same.

Do not set the chicken in a baking pan to roast. The liquids will drain out of the chickeninto the pan and permeate parts of the chicken to make it soggy and greasy. A rackallows the grease to drip away from the chicken.

FAQ’s about Roasted Chickens and Turkeys

At what temperature should I roast mychicken or turkey?

In preparing this handbook, we read manyrecipes and found baking temperaturesfrom 325 to 500 degrees. As a principlefor roasting meat, a slow roast is preferredand results in a tender, moist product.And while we tried higher temperatures,we had better results with the oven set on350 or 375 degrees.

One of the reasons offered for highertemperatures is the argument that highertemperatures are required to brown the bird. Not so. If you brush your chicken withmelted butter before baking, it will brown very nicely.

What about stuffed chicken?

If you stuff your chicken with dressing will it be moist?

Not as moist as a brined chicken or one baked with an infuser. If you have a very moistdressing, it may help. But to be safe, the dressing must reach 160 degrees. (Dressingstuffed inside of a chicken or a turkey where unsafe juices can drip into the dressing, is acommon source of food poisoning.) By the time the dressing in the far recesses of thechicken reaches 160 degrees, the tender breast meat will be overcooked and dry.

Won’t soaking in water do the same thing as soaking in brine?

No. We don’t understand the chemistry, but soaking in brine works much better thansoaking in plain water. The chicken is moister and more tender. It seems that the saltwater penetrates the walls of the cells better than unsalted water.

Do I use cold water or warm?

Cold water. You don’t want either the chicken or the water rising above 40 degrees. At40 degrees, bacteria start to multiply much more rapidly.

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Since it’s only an hour, can I let my chicken soak on the counter?

No. You have to keep the temperature below 40 degrees. If you kept adding ice to chillthe water, you could.

If you really don’t have room in the refrigerator, consider a vertical roaster with infuser.

What does basting do?

Basting with butter helps brown the skin nicely and make it crisper. If you eat the skin,that’s important. The butter makes the skin taste better. We don’t think that the butterpenetrates enough to make an appreciable difference in the flavor of the meat.

We rub our chickens with butter before baking but don’t bother to baste while baking.

Six Great Recipes for Chicken or Turkey

Oven Roasted Garlic Chicken

This chicken will be moist and flavorfuland yet have the distinct flavor of ovenroasted garlic.

Ingredients:

For the chicken

1 whole chicken, 3 1/2 to 4 pounds inweight2-3 tablespoons butter, meltedsalt and pepper1/2 cup salt for brining or use an infuser

For the garlic paste:

8 to 10 cloves of roasted garlic or 2 or 3 cloves of raw garlic.1/4 cup softened butter.

Directions:

Roast chicken can be very dry and nearly unpalatable. To avoid dry chicken, you needto infuse water into the chicken. You can do that in one of two ways. Use a verticalroasting rack with an infuser. In this way, you create steam in the body cavity thatpermeates the meat.

The other way to create a moist chicken is to soak it in a brine solution for an hour. Thesalt water will permeate the bird so that the chicken retains water prior to roasting. If youuse a brine soak, dissolve one-half cup of salt in 8 to 10 cups of cold water and soak thebird for an hour in the refrigerator just prior to roasting.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

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1. Make the garlic paste by mincing the garlic and then mixing it in a small bowl withthe softened butter until you have made a paste. Set aside.

2. Wash the chicken and pat it dry. Salt and pepper the body cavity. Place thechicken on a vertical or horizontal baking rack. If you have not soaked thechicken, use a vertical rack with an infuser. Fill the reservoir with the liquid ofyour choice.

3. Use a pastry brush to brush the skin of the chicken with the melted butter. Use aspoon to lift the skin away from the breast meat. Spoon the garlic paste into thepockets and press on the skin to spread the paste onto the breasts. (See howthis is done in a video clip.)

4. Place the chicken in the center of the oven and roast it until it is done, one hourto an hour and 15 minutes. Test for doneness with an insta-read thermometer.(See below.)

Cook’s notes:

Do not overcook. Use an insta-read thermometer to tell when your chicken is cooked.The thermometer should be inserted deep into the meat but not against the bone sincethe bones tend to reach a higher temperature than does the meat. The breast meatshould test 165 degrees and the thigh meat, 170.

You can roast a chicken without brining or without an infuser but the meat will tend to bemuch drier. The cooking times will be about the same.

Do not set the chicken in a baking pan to roast. The liquids will drain out of the chickeninto the pan and permeate parts of the chicken to make it soggy and greasy. A rackallows the grease to drip away from the chicken.

Roast Chicken with Wild Rice

When we lived in Minnesota, wild rice was readilyavailable, harvested from the marshy lakes in thenorthern part of the state. We miss those rice dishes.So we decided to roast a chicken with wild rice. Again,this is a recipe for a tender, moist roast chicken.

The nut-like flavor of wild rice complements this moistchicken perfectly.

For the chicken:

1 whole chicken (4 -5 lbs), brinedsalt and pepper4 cloves roasted garlic or two cloves raw garlic,mincedabout 1 1/2 cups water1 teaspoon sage1 teaspoon oregano

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.

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1. To cook the chicken, place a rack inside of a large roasting pan with lid. Salt andpepper the chicken. With your fingers, create a pocket between the skin andbreast meat on each side. Spoon half of the garlic on each side. Place thechicken breast side up in the pan on the rack. Pour the water into the pan to adepth of about 1 1/2 inches. Sprinkle the sage and oregano over the chickenbreast and legs.

2. Place the chicken in the oven and set the timer for 30 minutes. Bake without thelid on the pan. After 30 minutes, check to make sure there is still water in thepan, add more if necessary, and put the lid on the pan. Bake for another 30 to40 minutes or until the chicken tests done with an insta-read thermometer.

For the wild rice pilaf:

2 cups chicken broth2 cups water1/2 teaspoon salt1 cup wild rice1/2 cup long-grain rice1/4 teaspoon ground pepper

1 tablespoon butter2/3 cup diced sweet onion such as Vandalia2/3 cup carrot slices8 ounces sliced mushrooms

1. While the chicken is cooking, make the pilaf. In a medium pan with a lid, bringthe broth, water, and salt to a boil. Add the wild rice, turn the heat down, coverwith a lid, and simmer for 30 minutes. Add the white rice, bring to a boil again,turn down to simmer, cover, and let simmer for 20 to 25 minutes. Remove thepan from the heat and fluff the rice with a fork.

2. While the rice is cooking, sauté the vegetables. Melt the butter in a skillet. Sautéthe carrot slices until they are almost tender. Add the diced onion and sauté for 2or 3 minutes. Add the mushrooms and cook for another couple minutes. Addthe sautéed vegetables to the cooked rice.

Place the roasted chicken on a platter and surround the chicken with the rice pilaf.Garnish with sprigs of parsley if desired.

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Honey Butter Roast Chicken

Like the honey-roast meats at the deli, this is a mildlysweet flavor that everyone in your family will enjoy.Make the marinade and inject in the chicken with amarinade injector.

For the chicken:

1 whole chicken

butter for basting

Make the marinade and set aside. (Recipe follows)

Wash the chicken and pat dry. Use a marinade injectorto load the chicken meat with marinade. (See how todo this with a video.) After marinating, return thechicken to the refrigerator for 30 minutes to allow themarinade to seep through the meat.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

After 30 minutes, remove the chicken from the refrigerator. Wipe any marinade from theskin with a paper towel.

Place the chicken breast side up in the pan on the rack or on a vertical rack with aninfuser and water to add steam to the chicken. (The chicken will be more moist andsucculent with an infuser.)

Brush the chicken with melted butter.

Place the chicken in the oven for 1 3/4 hours or until the chicken tests done with aninsta-read thermometer.

Note: Chicken cooks faster on a vertical rack where the heat can reach it from all sides.On a horizontal rack in a pan, cooking time is extended by about 15 minutes.

For the Honey Butter Marinade:

1/3 cup chicken broth2/3 cup honey2 tablespoons lemon juice1/4 teaspoon salt2 tablespoons butter

Add all the ingredients to a small saucepan and heat until the butter melts and the salt isdissolved. Cool to room temperature.

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Apricot Orange Chicken

This sweet-spicy marinade makes a fantastic chicken.The marinade is made with an orange and apricot jam.You will use a marinade injector to inject marinade inthe chicken.

For the chicken:

1 whole chicken

butter for basting

Make the marinade and set aside. (Recipe follows)

Wash the chicken and pat dry. Use a marinade injectorto load the chicken meat with marinade. (See how todo this with a video.) After marinating, return thechicken to the refrigerator for 30 minutes to allow themarinade to seep through the meat.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

After 30 minutes, remove the chicken from the refrigerator. Wipe any marinade from theskin with a paper towel.

Place the chicken breast side up in the pan on the rack or on a vertical rack with aninfuser and water to add steam to the chicken. (The chicken will be more moist andsucculent with an infuser.)

Brush the chicken with melted butter.

Place the chicken in the oven for 1 3/4 hours or until the chicken tests done with aninsta-read thermometer.

Note: Chicken cooks faster on a vertical rack where the heat can reach it from all sides.On a horizontal rack in a pan, cooking time is extended by about 15 minutes.

For the Apricot Orange Marinade:

1/2 cup orange juice1/2 cup apricot jamzest from one orange1/2 teaspoon salt4 tablespoons butter

Add all the ingredients to a small saucepan and heat until the butter melts and the salt isdissolved. Cool to room temperature. Puree the mixture in a food processor or blender.

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Mexicali-Lime Roast Chicken

This chicken has a nice south-of-the-border touch withcilantro and lime. Make the marinade and inject in thechicken with a marinade injector.

For the chicken:

1 whole chicken

butter for basting

Make the marinade and set aside. (Recipe follows)

Wash the chicken and pat dry. Use a marinade injectorto load the chicken meat with marinade. (See how todo this with a video.) After marinating, return thechicken to the refrigerator for 30 minutes to allow themarinade to seep through the meat.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

After 30 minutes, remove the chicken from the refrigerator. Wipe any marinade from theskin with a paper towel.

Place the chicken breast side up in the pan on the rack or on a vertical rack with aninfuser and water to add steam to the chicken. (The chicken will be more moist andsucculent with an infuser.)

Brush the chicken with melted butter.

Place the chicken in the oven for 1 3/4 hours or until the chicken tests done with aninsta-read thermometer.

Note: Chicken cooks faster on a vertical rack where the heat can reach it from all sides.On a horizontal rack in a pan, cooking time is extended by about 15 minutes.

For the Mexicali-Lime Marinade:

1/2 cup cider vinegar1/4 cup cilantro, choppedjuice from one lime1 tablespoon taco seasoning3 cloves garlic, whole1/2 teaspoon salt4 tablespoons butter

Add all the ingredients, including the whole cloves of garlic, to a small saucepan andheat until the butter melts and the salt is dissolved. Cool to room temperature. Puree themixture in a food processor or blender.

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Dressy Italian Chicken

This chicken has a nice Italian touch. Use Italian salad dressing and inject in thechicken with a marinade injector.

For the chicken:

1 whole chickenbutter for basting1 cup Italian salad dressing

Wash the chicken and pat dry. Use a food processor to pulverize any chunks in theItalian dressing. Use a marinade injector to load the chicken meat with marinade. (Seehow to do this with a video.) After marinating, return the chicken to the refrigerator for30 minutes to allow the marinade to seep through the meat.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

After 30 minutes, remove the chicken from the refrigerator. Wipe any marinade from theskin with a paper towel.

Place the chicken breast side up in the pan on the rack or on a vertical rack with aninfuser and water to add steam to the chicken. (The chicken will be more moist andsucculent with an infuser.)

Brush the chicken with melted butter.

Place the chicken in the oven for 1 3/4 hours or until the chicken tests done with aninsta-read thermometer.

Note: Chicken cooks faster on a vertical rack where the heat can reach it from all sides.On a horizontal rack in a pan, cooking time is extended by about 15 minutes.

How to Store that Leftover Turkey

From the time the turkey comes out of theoven until the leftovers find their way back tothe refrigerator should not exceed two hours.That also goes for the stuffing and gravy.After two hours at room temperature, bacterialevels may have grown to dangerous levels.The stuffing should be removed from the bird.If you need to keep it hot, store it in the ovenat 200 degrees.

Once you put the turkey in the refrigerator, itshould cool rapidly. Remember, bacteria willkeep multiplying until the meat reaches 40degrees. To cool properly, not only shouldthe stuffing be removed but the meat should be removed from the bones. If you have alot of meat leftover, place it in several smaller dishes instead of a larger one so that it willcool more rapidly.

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Tightly covered, your leftover turkey will keep in the refrigerator for 3 or 4 days. We oftenstore turkey meat in zipper-type plastic bags. Your stuffing and gravy should be usedwithin a day or so.

If you would like to keep your turkey longer than a few days, freeze it. It will last up tothree months in the freezer. Zipper-type freezer bags work well. Cut the boned turkeyinto pieces that your family will use. If you are going to use it for sandwiches, freezeslices. If you will use the turkey in soups and casseroles, cube it. Pull out what you needfor soups, casseroles, or a stir fry. The stock or gravy can be frozen as well. If you dobagged lunches, try making the sandwiches with frozen slices. (Remember, all meatmust be kept at 40 degrees, even while thawing.)

What to do with Leftover Turkey

We hope that you had a wonderful holiday withfamily or friends! Now what are you going to do withall that leftover turkey? Here are some of ourfavorite turkey recipes. Click on the links to see therecipes.

Turkey Salad Sandwiches: We havealways been partial to chicken saladsandwiches. This a version made withleftover turkey meat. The dried cranberriesare a terrific addition--bright red sweetnuggets of flavor.

Open Face Turkey and CheeseSandwiches: This is a hot sandwich toppedwith a cheese sauce. The surpriseingredient is some of your leftover chip dipspread on the bread as you wouldmayonnaise.

Turkey Supreme: This is a traditionalturkey dish, turkey in a white sauce served over rice. We added slivered almondsand peas. This is easy-to-make comfort food.

Turkey White Bean Chili: This soup is so good, it's worth cooking up anotherturkey. It's hearty, spicy, and full of flavor--and easy to make with canned beans.

Turkey Enchiladas: When I was growing up, my mother made this dish often.She would freeze her leftover turkey and use it later for this dish that was alwaysa favorite with the family.

Turkey Tacos: You can make traditional tacos with leftover turkey meat. This isan excellent recipe for the dark meat from the turkey.

Turkey Club Salad: This beautiful salad is simple to prepare. It is made withleftover turkey, bacon bits, tomato and lettuce--just like a club sandwich.

Turkey and Broccoli Quiche: This is a favorite around our test kitchen and agreat recipe and dish to serve to guests.

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Selecting and Baking Your Holiday Ham

Use this guide to help you select and prepare yourbaked ham for that special meal. With this guide, youwill be able to identify and understand the varioustypes of hams and select the best ham for yourfamily. We’ll even tell you how to bake your ham.

This guide is organized in a question-and-answerformat for easy reference.

What are the different types of hams that I shouldconsider?

A ham is cured pork, specifically the entire back leg ofa hog. But ham is very different than uncured pork.It’s the curing process that changes the flavor andtexture of the meat. Cured hams can be either curedin brine—the most common—or dry cured. There arefour major types of brine-cured hams: fresh, cured, canned but not pasteurized, andcanned and pasteurized. With the exception of some dry-cured hams, any ham that isnot pasteurized must be refrigerated.

Dry cured hams are usually more expensive, are quite salty, have a unique flavor, andare not commonly used as dinner hams. A country ham is a dry cured ham that isusually heavily salted and is usually soaked to remove some of the salt before it iscooked and eaten. Dry cured hams are not generally found in grocery stores. Dry curedhams include prosciutto, serrano, and like types.

Hams may be whole or half. A half will be labeled either as a rump half or a shank half.In some cases, a half ham has had a cut removed and is therefore a rump portion or ashank portion. A shank portion will have more connective tissue and will be less meaty.

What about water content?

Except for dry cured hams, hams absorb moisture from the curing brine either bysoaking or injection. In smoking and drying, that moisture may be removed. Thegovernment dictates that the moisture level must be indicated by the labeling. The driestproduct labeled “Ham” will not exceed ten percent added water. A product labeled “Hamwith Natural Juices” is the next driest, then “Ham Water Added” and finally a “Ham andWater Product” which has as much as 35% water.

Should I be concerned about nitrites?

The brine used for curing is a combination of water, sugar, salt, and sodium nitrite. Afterseveral days of curing, the ham is washed free of brine, cooked, and is sometimessmoked. According to government allowances, the finished product cannot contain morethan 200 parts per million of nitrite. All processors are regularly inspected by the USDAto assure compliance.

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The nitrites used are approved by the FDA as safe in the concentrations allowed.

How do I select a quality ham?

Hams may be one of those items where you usually get what you pay for. Massproduced, inexpensive hams may be processed in as little as twelve hours. Moreexpensive hams may not be ready for market with less than two weeks of processing.Additionally, the best hams come from selected pigs that have been fed high proteindiets prior to slaughter.

Processors may vary the amount of salt or sugar in a ham to meet companyspecifications. Additionally, the smoking process may vary. When you find a ham thathas the flavor that you like, stick with it.

Color and appearance are important considerations in selecting a ham.

Select a fresh ham that is a bright grayish-pink. Those fresh hams that have a pale, soft,watery appearance are less desirable. A fresh ham that has a greenish cast mayindicate bacterial growth and should be avoided.

Select a cured ham that has a bright pink color. A lighter-colored pink or a non-uniformcoloring may be the result of improper curing or exposure to store lights. Again, agreenish cast may reflect the presence of bacterial growth. Avoid those hams that havea multi-colored appearance. It may suggest the presence of bacteria.

Avoid those hams that have excessive marbling. These may have a greasy taste.

The general rule is to plan on six to eight ounces of boneless ham per serving and eightto twelve ounces of bone-in ham per serving.

It is the opinion of some that bone-in hams taste better.

How do I prepare my ham?

Most hams, including many canned hams, require refrigeration before baking. Unless itis pasteurized and states that refrigeration is not required, keep your ham in therefrigerator.

As with all meat products, make certain that your ham is properly baked--though a hammarked “fully cooked” does not need to be cooked again. A Kitchen thermometer isessential. Measure the baked temperature of the meat in the thickest portion of the hamand in at least two spots to make sure that the thermometer is not inserted into a pocketof hotter fat. Make certain also that the thermometer is not placed against the bone.

To be safe, a fresh ham should be baked to 170 degrees and a cured uncooked hambaked to 160 degrees—many bacteria can survive to temperatures of 140 degrees. Ifyou are warming a fully cooked ham, heat it to 140 degrees.

If you are purchasing a bone-in ham, be certain of your carving skills. Carve at rightangles to the bone. Let the baked ham set for five minutes before beginning to carve.

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What about glazes for my ham?

Glazes are a very nice touch for you ham. You can make a glaze or simply glaze yourham with a jelly. Red currant jelly is the traditional favorite followed by pineapple jelly.Pomegranate jelly which is bright and clear and sweet is our favorite. All three areavailable at The Prepared Pantry.

Nine Glaze Recipes for Your Holiday Ham

There is a myriad of glazes to spark up thatham dinner. Choose one that suits youperfectly. Here’s a tray full of ten glazes toget you started.

Applesauce Glaze

1 cup applesauce1/4 cup brown sugar1/3 cup honey1 teaspoon dry mustard

Mix the ingredients thoroughly. Pour aportion over the ham and save theremaining amount as a table sauce. Heatthe table sauce and stir well to assure that the sugar crystals are dissolved beforeserving.

Cinnamon Raisin Sauce

1/2 cup brown sugar1 tablespoon cornstarch1/2 teaspoon cinnamon1 cup apple juice1/2 cup raisins1 tablespoon butter or margarine

In a small saucepan, combine the brown sugar, cornstarch, cinnamon, and apple juice.Cook, stirring constantly, until the mixture is clear and thickened. Add the raisins andcook until they are plump, about ten minutes. Stir in the butter.

Apricot Pecan Glaze

1 cup apricot preserves1/3 cup finely chopped pecans, peanuts, or walnuts

Thirty minutes before ham is baked, spread apricot preserves on the ham and thensprinkle with the nuts.

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Orange Marmalade Glaze

1 cup orange marmalade

Thirty minutes before ham is baked, spread orange marmalade on the ham.

Old-Fashioned Mustard Sauce

3 tablespoons butter1 tablespoon all-purpose flour1 tablespoon prepared mustard1 dash pepper1 teaspoon salt1 cup milk

Melt the butter in a saucepan. Mix the flour, mustard, pepper, and salt in. Using a whisk,stir in the milk. Bring to simmer and let simmer for two minutes or until thickened.

Old-Fashioned Horseradish Sauce

3 tablespoons butter2 tablespoon all-purpose flour1/2 tablespoon prepared mustard2 tablespoons prepared horseradish sauce1 dash pepper1/8 teaspoon nutmeg1 teaspoon salt1 cup milk

Melt the butter in a saucepan. Mix in the remaining ingredients except for the milk. Usinga whisk, stir in the milk. Bring to a simmer and let simmer for two minutes or untilthickened.

Honey Barbecue Glaze

1/4 cup catsup1/4 cup honey1/2 tablespoon vinegar1/2 teaspoon chili powder

Mix the ingredients thoroughly. Simmer in a saucepan for ten minutes. Brush on the hamduring the last thirty minutes of baking.

Cranberry Spice Sauce

1/2 cup brown sugar1 tablespoon cornstarch1 cup apple juice1/2 cup craisins (dried cranberries)

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1 dash cloves1/2 teaspoon cinnamon1 tablespoon butter or margarine

In a small saucepan, combine the brown sugar, cornstarch, and apple juice. Cook,stirring constantly, until the mixture is clear and thickened. Add the craisins and spicesand cook for about ten minutes. Stir in the butter.

Jelly Glaze

Jellies make a very nice touch for your ham. Red currant jelly is the traditional favoritefollowed by pineapple jelly. Pomegranate jelly which is bright and clear and sweet is ourfavorite. All three are available at The Prepared Pantry.

1 cup jelly

Spread over the ham during the last half hour of baking.

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How to Make Great Dinner Rolls

Nothing makes a dinner special quitelike dinner rolls. You can make dinnerrolls from your favorite bread mix or recipethough rolls are usually a bit sweeter andricher with more butter and milk products.

There is probably no bread product thatallows you to be more creative than dinnerrolls. You can make them plain or fancy,and if fancy, into a multitude of shapes.You can wash them to give them anattractive glaze or you can top them withseeds or grains. Here we'll show you how to make several of these shapes.

You can use any mix or recipe of your choosing. We have several dinner and sandwichroll mixes. (Click here to see your choices.)

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Round Rolls

Let's begin with a simple round shape. After the dough has risen, use a sharp knife(rather than tearing) to divide the dough into the chosen number of pieces. A piece thesize of a golf ball or small egg will make a nice-sized roll. If you are using a scale, about1.5 ounces makes a popular-sized roll.

To form round rolls, some people simply roll the dough pieces between their palms. Weprefer to pull the skin around the center and pinch the seams together on the bottom toform a taut skin.

Place the rolls about 1 1/2 inches apart on a greased pan, cover, and let them rise againuntil doubled. When the dough has risen fully, a finger pressed softly into dough shouldleave an indentation.

Cloverleaf rolls are made by rolling threeequally-sized rolls in butter and thenplacing them in a muffin tin.

Parker House Rolls

Traditionally, parker house rolls weremade this same way only with a richdough. Parker house rolls are also madein a folded shape as follows: Roll balls ofdough as in round rolls. Press them flatinto 1/4-inch thick disks then brush thetops with butter. Fold them in half asshown in the picture and let them rise until doubled. (To see our Classic Parker HouseRoll Mixes, click here.)

Kaiser Rolls

Now let's look at making Kaiser rolls ordinner rolls in a rosette shape. Kaiser rollsare a New York favorite, typically madelarger than dinner rolls and used forsandwiches, but you can use the rosetteshape to make fancy dinner rolls.

Detailed, illustrated directions are foundbelow.

More about Rolls

In addition to the shapes shown here, youcan make twists, overhand knots, or any other shape that you desire.

Often, you will want to glaze the tops of your rolls for a glossy finish. For a bronze glaze,use an egg yolk. For a clear glaze, use only the white. For something in between, usethe entire egg. To make the glaze, whisk up to one tablespoon of water with the egg.Brush the tops of the rolls with the glaze just before baking. If you would like, you can

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sprinkle the tops with sesame seeds, poppy seeds, or rolled oats after glazing. Tip thepan from side to side to sprinkle seeds on the sides. The egg will hold the seeds inplace.

If you do not glaze your rolls, consider brushing them with melted butter just after theycome from the oven. The result will be a soft, buttery crust.

Soft dinner rolls freeze well. Simply put the extras in a plastic bag and freeze for up totwo months.

Our choice? We must confess: we usually make round rolls—though for guests, weoften make fancy rolls. We also make a lot of hamburger buns. We much preferhamburgers on homemade buns and we use the extras for sandwich rolls. (If youwould like to know how to make hamburger buns or buy mixes designed for hamburgerbuns, click here.)

One final note—dinner rolls make a great project with the kids. They love to get theirhands in the dough and make their very own shapes.

How to Make Kaiser Rolls

Want to impress your family and friends at the next gathering? Serve sandwiches onKaiser Rolls. They’ll look so professional--like they came from the bakery. You don’thave to tell them how easy they were. If you can make dinner rolls, you can make KaiserRolls.

You can make Kaiser Rolls out of any lean bread dough but if you would like to makeyour rolls from a mix, we suggest using our Sunday Dinner Rolls. Simply leave the butterout and add another half-tablespoon of water.

A Kaiser Roll is merely a lean roll, specially shaped, and bakedin a steamy oven to make it crusty. Choose a recipe or mix for alean bread dough—or leave the butter or oil out of the recipe.Make per the directions for rolls including letting the dough risethe first time.

Here’s how to shape the rolls:

Step 1: Cut a piece of dough off about twice what you would usefor a dinner roll. (We scale the dough at 3.5 ounces for oursandwich rolls.) Roll the dough out into a rope about eight incheslong.

Step 2: Form a simple over-hand knot in the center of thedough. Leave the knot loose; do not try to draw it tight. You willhave two protruding ends a couple inches long.

Step 3: Take one of the ends and continue it around the ropeand push it down through the center hole. It should look like thepicture to the right.

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Step 4: Take the other end of the dough, go around the rope,and push the end up through the center hole. The finished rollshould look like the one to the right.

It’s more complicated to try to describe the forming process thanit is to form the rolls. After the first couple, you’ll breeze rightthrough without even thinking.

Now let the formed rolls rise covered on a baking sheet. When they are ready to bake,brush them with a whisked egg and one tablespoon water, then sprinkle them withsesame or poppy seeds. You can bake them as you would dinner rolls but if you wouldlike crusty roll like true Kaiser Rolls, follow the direction for baking breads in a steamyoven.

To form the thick, chewy crust that is typical of artisan breads, follow these instructions:Place a large, shallow, metal pan in the oven on the lowest shelf. You will pour hot waterin this pan to create steam in the oven. High heat is hard on pans so don’t use one ofyour better pans. An old sheet pan is ideal. Fill a spray bottle with water. You will usethis to spray water into the oven to create more steam.

Preheat the oven to 450 degrees. When the oven is hot and the bread is fully risen andis soft and puffy--being very careful not to burn yourself with the rising steam and with amitted hand--pour about two cups of very hot water in the pan in the oven. Quickly closethe oven door to capture the steam. With spray bottle in hand, open the door and quicklyspray the oven walls and close the door.

Immediately put the bread in the steamy oven. After a few moments, open the door andspray the walls again to recharge the steam. Do this twice more during the first tenminutes of baking. This steamy environment will create the chewy crust prized in artisanbreads.

You can use this baking procedure for crusty hearth breads also. For rolls, bake for tenminutes at 450 degrees then lower the temperature to 350 degrees until done. How longyou will bake them will depend on how quickly your oven loses heat but it will probablybe about ten additional minutes (a total of 20 minutes). As for all hearth breads, theinternal temperature of your crusty rolls should be about 210 degrees. (If crusty rolls arenot well baked, the internal moisture will migrate to the crust and make it soft.)

You can make Kaiser Rolls out of any lean bread dough but if you would like to makeyour rolls from a mix, we suggest using our Sunday Dinner Rolls. Simply leave the butterout and add another half-tablespoon of water. To make it even easier, try our SundayDinner Rolls.

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How to Make Great Mashed Potatoes

For Thanksgiving and other traditional events at ourhouse, we whip up a big pot of mashed potatoes.Often we load them with butter and cream cheese, adda little milk, and whip them into a light and fluffy mass.

There are three ways to make mashed potatoes: Youcan mash then by hand with a hand potato masher,whip them with an electric mixer, and rice them with apotato ricer. What’s the best way?

We love the texture created by a potato ricer or a foodmill. They both work on the same principle: they forcemashed potatoes through a metal plate with smallholes. A hand potato masher leaves a bit of texture tothe potatoes with an occasional lump. The quickestway to mash potatoes is with an electric mixer. Anelectric mixer whips potatoes into a smooth, light, fluffyconsistency. The rap on using an electric mixer is that it makes for gooey, gluey,mashed potatoes. Entraining air into mashed potatoes does make them a little gooeybut we don’t find them offensive even though we prefer riced potatoes. We often resortto the electric mixer because it is the quickest way to process a tub full of boiledpotatoes.

How to Mash Potatoes

Making basic mashed potatoes is simple. Start with good quality potatoes, potatoes thatare fresh and free from bruises. Choose a heavy pot that will disperse heat well and thatis large enough to hold your potatoes with ample water so that it will not boil over. Yourpotatoes will cook quicker if you place a lid on the pot.

Unless you are making skin-on mashed potatoes with red potatoes, peel your potatoes,cut them into chunks, and place them in the pot of water. If you leave your potatoesexposed to air, they will change color. Add salt to the water, about one teaspoon pergallon of water and potatoes.

Boil your potatoes until they are tender when poked with a fork. Two pounds of potatoesboiled on medium-high heat will take about 15 minutes after boiling starts, to cook butwill vary depending on the pot, the quantity of water, size of the cut potatoes, and thestove. Drain the potatoes, then put them back into the pot over VERY low heat toevaporate any excess liquid. This will dry the potatoes.

Mash your potatoes immediately. You can use a hand masher, a hand-held electricmixer, your stand-type mixer, or a potato ricer. For creamy mashed potatoes, add milkas you beat or use one of the recipes below. A good rule of thumb is to use about 2/3cup milk for every 2 to 3 pounds of potatoes. You can use a mixture of cream and milk, ifdesired. Add butter or margarine to the hot, dry potatoes, keeping them over very lowheat. Mash with your preferred method—by hand, with an electric mixer, or with a ricer--until the butter is melted and the potatoes are very smooth.

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Many recipes call for heating the milk and melting the butter before adding to thepotatoes. You can easily do so in the microwave and it will help to keep your potatoeshot. We usually don’t bother if we are beating the potatoes immediately after cooking.

Place your mashed potatoes in a serving bowl and cover with plastic wrap until ready toserve. The plastic wrap will keep them warm. After dinner, immediately refrigerate yourpotatoes. They will keep covered in the refrigerator for three to five days.

A Guide to 15 Different Kinds of Mashed Potatoes

Mashed potatoes don’t have to be bland, something to pile gravy on. They can beadventuresome—anything from garlic mashed potatoes to cream cheese mashedpotatoes. Here we will give you two recipes plus directions to make thirteen other kindsof mashed potatoes.

Garlic Mashed Potatoes

2 pounds potatoes1/2 cup butter, softened1 cup grated Romano cheese1 tablespoon oregano4 cloves garlic, mincedsalt and pepper

Wash potatoes and boil until tender and soft. Mash them using the method that youprefer adding the butter, cheese, oregano, and garlic as you mash. Salt and pepper totaste.

Sunday Dinner Potatoes

1/2 c. chopped onions2 pounds potatoes1/2 cup butter, softened1 cup grated cheddar cheese1/2 cup sour creamsalt and pepper

Cook the chopped onions in the microwave until they are translucent and tender. Setaside.Wash potatoes and boil until tender and soft. Mash them using the method that youprefer adding the butter, cheese, and sour cream as you mash. Salt and pepper totaste.

Bacon and Cheese Mashed Potatoes

Fry bacon slices or cook them in the microwave. Use kitchen shears to snip the baconinto 1/4-inch bits. Add 3/4 cup grated cheddar cheese, five slices of bacon, and 1/2 cupmilk or cream for each two pounds of potatoes. If you like, you can sprinkle additionalshredded cheese over the top of the potatoes in the serving dish.

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Cream Cheese Mashed Potatoes

Make mashed potatoes as directed above. Beat in 4 ounces of cream cheese, twotablespoons butter, and 1/4 cup milk for each two pounds of potatoes or to taste.

Garlic and Cheddar Cheese Mashed Potatoes

Make mashed potatoes as directed above. Beat in two cloves garlic, sautéed or roastedplus 1/2 cup milk, 2/3 cup grated cheddar cheese, and 2 tablespoons butter for each twopounds of potatoes.

Skins-on Mashed Potatoes

Make mashed potatoes as directed above but use thin-skinned red potatoes. Beat intwo cloves garlic, sautéed or roasted plus 1/2 cup milk and 3 tablespoons butter for eachtwo pounds of potatoes.

Mashed Potatoes with Horseradish

Make mashed potatoes as directed above. Beat in 1/4 cup horseradish and 3/4 cupcream for every two pounds of potatoes or to taste.

This ratio of horseradish to potatoes will provide some “kick”. Our son, Nathan, workedat an upscale restaurant and he brought this recipe home.

Buttermilk Mashed Potatoes

We like the tang of buttermilk in our potatoes married with fresh creamery butter. Useabout 3/4 cup buttermilk and three tablespoons butter for each two pounds of potatoesor to taste. You will need a balance of butter to buttermilk in this recipe.

Mashed Potatoes with Shallots

Make mashed potatoes as directed above. Thinly slice shallots and sauté the onion inbutter. Add two small shallots, 3/4 cup cream or milk, and three tablespoons butter foreach two pounds of potatoes.

Onion Mashed Potatoes

Make mashed potatoes as directed above. Finely chop a sweet onion such asVandalia. Sauté the onion in butter in a skillet or microwave it until tender. Add aboutone-half of a medium onion, 3/4 cup cream or milk, and three tablespoons butter foreach two pounds of potatoes.

Mashed Potatoes with Chives

Make mashed potatoes as directed above. Add 1/4 cup chopped fresh chives or twotablespoons dried chives, 3/4 cup cream or milk, and three tablespoons butter for eachtwo pounds of potatoes.

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French Onion Mashed Potatoes

Make mashed potatoes as directed above. Add 1/2 cup French onion dip, 1/2 cup milkor cream, and 3/4 cup grated cheddar cheese or mozzarella cheese for each twopounds of potatoes.

Mashed Potatoes with Green Onions

Make mashed potatoes as directed above. Add 1/3 cup thinly sliced green onions, 3/4cup cream or milk, and three tablespoons butter for each two pounds of potatoes.

Cheddar Mashed Potatoes

Make mashed potatoes as directed above. Add 3/4 cup grated cheddar cheese, twotablespoons butter, and 1/2 cup milk or cream for each two pounds of potatoes. If youlike, you can sprinkle additional shredded cheese over the top of the potatoes in theserving dish.

Sour Cream Mashed Potatoes

Make mashed potatoes as directed above. Beat in 3/4 cup sour cream and twotablespoons butter for each two pounds of raw potatoes or to taste.

Make Great Pies!

Five Essential Tools for the Pie Maker

I’ve always been the pie maker in the family. If company was coming or for a holiday,my assignment was the pies. I made lots of pies. I loved to experiment with differentfillings—say adding blueberries to a peach pie or a layer of ganache beneath my pecanpie filling. So I would line up my pie pans and make lots of crusts. I would like to thinkthat my family and friends enjoyed the resulting array of pies as much as I enjoyedmaking them.

I still do lots of experimenting with pies but now most of it in our test kitchen at work.Last year I spent several days experimenting with pumpkin and sweet potato pies. Fromthat came several memorable recipes including Sweet Potato Pie with Pecan Streusel, apumpkin pie made in a gingersnap crust and with a pecan toffee topping.

One thing has changed though: Most of the time I reach for our just-add-waterprofessional pie crust mix. It’s quick and easy, it helps me make pies en masse, and if Idon’t overwork the pie dough, they’ll turn out as good as from scratch.

Five Essential Tools

Every pie maker worth his crusts will have five essential tools in his or her kitchen. Here,you’ll learn about these tools and their functions and how to use them. We’ve added acouple tools at the end that we rely on but that are not essential.

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A Pastry Knife

A pastry knife is also known as a pastry blender. It’s used tocut the butter or shortening into the flour.

The fat--butter or shortening--has to be distributed through theflour prior to making the dough. Once mixed and rolled, this fatcreates small, flat pockets of fat in the formed crust. In the heatof the oven, these melt—and in the case of butter—createpockets of steam. This delaminates the dough and makes thecrust flakey.

Pastry knives are constructed with a series of parallel blades to cut through the butterand flour and which are attached to a handle. Since the blades are forced through thebutter with some pressure, we recommend a pastry knife of sturdy construction. Ourpersonal preference is for pastry knives with sure-grip handles as we tend to grip andtwist the knife as we drive the blades through the butter.

See our pastry knives >>

A Rolling Pin

A rolling pin is used to roll the dough to a thin layer, 1/8 inchthick or a little thicker.

Look for a rolling pin that is rigid, sturdy and has a slick surfaceso the dough does not adhere to the rolling pin. Werecommend one with a ball bearing chassis for smooth, easy,non-slip rolling.

We carry three rolling pins: a nonstick rolling pin, a marble rolling pin, and a stainlesssteel rolling pin and have used all three. The stainless rolling pin is a big, heavy chunkof steel. (The weight of the rolling pin means that you do not need to press as hardsince the weight is creating some of the pressure.) The marble rolling in is turned fromsolid marble. The nonstick on is constructed of a nonstick Teflon® surface bonded to awooden roller.

We like all three. The nonstick rolling pin gets the most use; we reach for that for mostlight work and when rolling soft, light rolls. When we are making cinnamon rolls or rollingpastry doughs, we usually reach for the stainless pin.

In doughs using butter, it is critical that the dough be kept cool so that the butter doesnot melt. If the butter turns to a liquid, the dough is ruined and must be discarded. Theadvantage of steel and marble is that rolling pins made with either can be chilled in therefrigerator or freezer. These chunky bocks of steel and marble can chill the dough andextend the time that you can work with the dough before the butter becomes soft andturns to a liquid. This feature is a real advantage.

See our rolling pins >>

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Pie Pans

In our opinion, every pie maker should have three types of pansat a minimum: Professional grade, heavy duty, dark colored,nonstick pans; deep-dish, dark metal pans; and stainless pans.

The professional grade nonstick pans will be used for most ofyour work. They are sized for most recipes. Because they areheavy and dark, they will absorb heat, bake the crust evenly, and reduce the chances ofan underbaked, soggy crust. We do not recommend glass or ceramic pans.

The surface should be so slick that you can slide the cooled pie from the pan to a platteror plate for serving. You can then cut the pie into neat slices without having to dig slicesfrom the pan and since you are not cutting in the pan, you will not mar the nonsticksurface of the pan.

The deep dish metal pans will be used for deep dish pie recipes. Again the dark metalwill bake the crust thoroughly.

The stainless pans are perfect for crumb crusts, either unbaked pies or baked pies madewith crumb crusts. Since the crumbs are cooked, you don’t need to further bake thecrumbs and the shiny surface reflects rather than absorbs heat protecting the ratherfragile crumbs.

You may also wish to invest in mini-pie pans. Four mini pie pans are the equivalent ofone standard pie pan. They will require more dough than a standard recipe but thesame filling.

See our rolling pins >>

Pie Weights

Pie weights are essential for unbaked pie crusts. They are laidacross the bottom of the pie crust before baking to avoidbubbles and upheavals in the crust while baking.

Pie weights can be purchased in two types: ceramic beads andpie weight chains. Both work satisfactorily.

See our pie weights >>

Pie Shields

Pie shields are essential for fruit and custard pies includingpumpkin pies. (Pumpkin pies are custard pies as are manyother egg-based pies.)

In the long heat of the oven necessary to bake a fruit or custardpie, the rim of the pie crust—exposed to heat from above andbelow—is over baked. A pie crust shield protects the edge ofthe crust from above, reflecting the heat. Unless you want to use strips of aluminum foil,

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which are an aggravating nuisance, pie crust shields are essential. Simply slip them onthe pies before they go in the oven.

Pie shields come in aluminum and silicone. We’ve used aluminum. Silicone shieldscollapse and are easier to store.

See our pie shields >>

Other Tools

We use a flour shaker every time we make dough on thecounter. We dust the counter, dust the rolling pin, andsometimes dust our hands. They are not expensive and are agood investment.

A bench scraper is one of the most used tools in our kitchen.We use it to scrape dough clear of the counter, to lift pie doughto place it in pie pans, and to cut the excess dough from around the rims of our piepans. It seconds as a straightedge and as a ruler with inch and fractional measuresetched in the metal blade.

Making the Crust

You have three choices for a crust: buy a ready-made crust, use a mix, or make onefrom scratch. We don’t use a ready made crust anymore; we don’t think they are verygood. And we rarely make one from scratch anymore; our just-add-water pie crust mixis too easy and makes an excellent crust. But if you make your pie crusts from scratch .. .

There are tricks to making perfect pie crusts. The first is maintaining the correct balanceof ingredients and the second is temperature.

Pie crusts are a mixture of flour, fat, and water. The best recipes seem to have acommon ratio of these ingredients: 1/4 cup water to 1/2 cup fat to 2 1/2 cups flour. (Theflour should be measured by spooning the flour into the measure, not scooping it.Scooping packs the flour and overloads the formula.) Add a teaspoon of salt and youhave a recipe for a double crust.

For the fat, you can use either butter or shortening or a combination. (Butter is 15%water so cut back slightly on the water when using butter—though the ratio is forgivingenough that you probably won't notice the difference.) If you are making more than onepie, just change the amounts but keep the same proportions.

Temperature may be even more important than balance—especially if you are usingbutter. The trick is to keep the butter and the dough cold enough that the butter piecesremain intact. If it gets too warm, it melts and saturates the flour. (The same thinghappens with shortening but the melting temperature of shortening is higher.) It's thelittle pieces of butter that makes the crust flaky. As the butter heats in baking, littlepockets of steam are formed from the butter nodules.

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To keep your dough cold, use only the coldest butter and water. Then refrigerate thedough for an hour before forming the pie. If making multiple pies, take only enoughdough from the refrigerator for one pie keeping the rest cold until you are ready to for it.

Five Easy Keys to a Great Pie!

Don’t let pies intimidate you! With theseeasy keys, you’ll make great pies everytime.

Key 1: Use a pie crust mix. I figured apie crust mix would be okay for those whoare not comfortable making crusts butwould offer little for experienced piemakers. I was wrong. I can't make a bettercrust. In fact, it consistently makes a betterpie than many of my carefully craftedcrusts. And it saves a bunch of time. Itmakes a nice, flaky, soft crust with hardlyany work--just add water and mix. Give it atry.

Try this pie crust mix! >>

Key 2: Use the right pan. If you are making a fruit pie, you must use a dark heavymetal pan. Dark metal pans absorb heat to cook your crust to crisp and avoid “soggybottoms.” If you are making a crumb crust, use a silver pan to reflect the heat away fromyour tender graham or other crumbs.

Get the right pans here—including very hard to find deep-dish dark metalpans. >>

Key 3: Use a premade filling. Yes, nothing beats fresh but when you're in a hurry, youcan make a very good pie with a premade filling.

Try these premade fillings >>

Key 4: Consider a streusel topping. It’s easier and faster than a pastry topping—justmix, sprinkle, and bake.

Try this easy streusel topping recipe >>

Key 5: Bake your crust completely but don’t burn it. It takes a little patience to cookthat bottom crust thoroughly and avoid the soggy bottoms. In the meantime, the top rimburns. But that’s easy to solve—just use a pie crust shield.

Avoid burning the edges of your pie >>

There you have it: five keys to a great pie.

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The Best Pumpkin Pies

We set about to find out what made thebest pumpkin pie. In our test kitchen, wekept making pies, changing ingredientsand experimenting. We fed pumpkin pie toour staff until they would have no more.We handed out slices topped with dollopsof whipped cream to customers in ourstore.

We soon discovered that people preferreda more flavorful pie. They did not likebland pies and when we handed out themore flavorful versions, even those thatsaid they didn’t like pumpkin pie, tended to like these.

So how do you make a more flavorful pumpkin pie? We took two approaches: changingthe spices and altering the filling materials.

Along the way, we found that more eggs made for a lighter filling. We started with fourlarge eggs in a standard nine inch pie along with 2 cups of pumpkin and one twelve-ounce can of evaporated milk. (We definitely preferred pies made with evaporated milkto those made with fresh milk or cream.) The result was a very light pie. While warm, itreminded us a bit of a pumpkin chiffon pie. When it cooled, it became a little denser but itwas still a light pie. Many of our testers preferred this pie. The recipe follows:

Four Egg Extra Light Pumpkin Pie

2 cups canned pumpkin4 large eggs3/4 cup granulated sugar1 12-ounce can evaporated milk1/2 teaspoon salt1 teaspoon cinnamon1/2 teaspoon ground ginger1/2 teaspoon ground cloves1/2 teaspoon allspice

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.

1. Form the pie shell. You may use our pie crust mix or your favorite recipe. Make abuilt up crust as shown below if you are using a standard nine-inch pie pan. Ifnot, use a deep dish pie pan. A dark pan works best.

2. Mix all the ingredients together with your stand-type mixer or an electric beateruntil smooth. Some fibers may stick to the beaters; remove and discard them.

3. Place the pie shell on a rack in the center of the oven. Immediately pour the fillinginto the pie shell.

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4. Bake for 15 minutes at 400 degrees. Reduce the heat to 350 degrees, cover thecrust with a pie shield, and bake for another 40 minutes or until done. A knifeinserted near the center should come out clean when done.

5. Cool in a pan on a rack. When cool, slip the pie out of the pan to a serving platefor cutting and serving.

Adding Yams or Dry Pumpkin

When I lived in the South, I found many versions of sweet potato and yam pies—someof which were close cousins to pumpkin pies. But pumpkin has an earthier flavor thanyams. So we made pies with all pumpkin and yams and with mixtures of the two.

Yams give the pie a brighter orange color that is attractive and a very light, mellowflavor. Many of us really liked the all-yam version. In the end, we settled on about a 50-50 version, about half yam.

As a variation to the all pumpkin version, we added 1/4 cup dry pumpkin powder. Itintensified the flavor, not dramatically but noticeably. It also turned the pie muchdarker—not unattractive but darker. When we served that to testers, some really likedthe pie and remarked that it had more flavor.

About the Spices

The Libby’s® recipe found on the back of their pumpkin cans seems to be the standardin pumpkin pies. We, and most of our testers, found it a little too bland. It calls for oneteaspoon of cinnamon, a half-teaspoon of ginger, and 1/4 teaspoon of cloves. With alittle experimenting, we settled on one teaspoon of cinnamon, a half-teaspoon of ginger,1/2 teaspoon of cloves, and 1/2 teaspoon of allspice. That is, we had twice as muchground cloves and an addition of allspice—enough to make the pie noticeably spicier.Repeatedly, testers said that this was better than other pumpkin pies that they hadmade.

Our Best Pumpkin Pie

The recipe that we concluded was the best, the most popular, has three eggs, anapproximate 50% addition of yam, and a spice mixture including allspice. The recipefollows.

1 1/4 cup canned pumpkin1 cup cooked yam3 large eggs3/4 cup granulated sugar1 12-ounce can evaporated milk1/2 teaspoon salt1 teaspoon cinnamon1/2 teaspoon ground ginger1/2 teaspoon ground cloves1/2 teaspoon allspice

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.

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1. Form the pie shell. You may use our pie crust mix or your favorite recipe. Make abuilt up crust as shown if you are using a standard nine-inch pie pan. If not, use adeep dish pie pan. A dark pan works best.

2. Mix all the ingredients together with your stand-type mixer or an electric beateruntil smooth. Some fibers may stick to the beaters; remove and discard them.

3. Place the pie shell on a rack in the center of the oven. Immediately pour the fillinginto the pie shell.

4. Bake for 15 minutes at 400 degrees. Reduce the heat to 350 degrees, cover thecrust with a pie shield, and bake for another 40 minutes or until done. A knifeinserted near the center should come out clean when done.

5. Cool in a pan on a rack. When cool, slip the pie out of the pan to a serving platefor cutting and serving.

Mom’s Favorite Pumpkin Pie

We like this smooth, deep-dish pumpkinpie made with brown sugar. The brownsugar gives it just a hint of caramel. Trythis for the holidays.

Ingredients

3/4 cup brown sugar3 large eggs1/2 teaspoon salt1 teaspoon cinnamon1/2 teaspoon ginger1/4 teaspoon allspice1 15-ounce can pumpkin puree (about 2cups)1 12-ounce can evaporated milk

1 9-inch deep-dish pie shell

Directions

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.

1. Mix the sugar, eggs, salt, and spices together. Add the pumpkin and evaporatedmilk. Mix well.

2. Pour into the unbaked pie shell. Bake for 15 minutes at 400 degrees. Bake foranother 45 to 50 minutes at 350 degrees or until done. The pie will be done whena knife inserted near the center of the pie comes out clean. Cool on a wire rack.

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Sweet Potato Pie with Pecan Streusel in a Gingersnap Crust

I’m more of a baker than a cook so I don’t use a lot offresh ginger. But the ginger in this recipe, along withthe butter rum flavor, just makes a wonderful pie. Ofcourse, the pecan streusel certainly helps.

This is an outstanding pie. While it certainly works forholiday dinners as an alternative to pumpkin pies, thisshould not be relegated to holidays. We think this willbe one of your favorite pies, something to turn towhenever fresh fruit is not in season.

For the crust

1 1/2 tablespoon freshly ground ginger1/2 teaspoon cinnamon3 tablespoons sugar1 1/2 cup just-add-water pie crust mix2 to 3 tablespoons cold water

1. Mix the ginger, sugar, and cinnamon with one-fourth cup of the pie crust mix. Stirwell to distribute the ginger. (The key to this crust is getting the fresh gingerevenly distributed in the crust.) Stir this mixture into the remaining pie crust mixuntil it is well distributed. (You may also use a food processor to mix theingredients.)

2. Add the water. Stir with a fork to form a dough ball.3. Roll out the dough and form the crust in a deep dish pie pan. Form a decorate

edge that also acts as a dam to reduce spills. (See picture for a recommendededge.)

For the filling

2 cups cooked and mashed sweet potatoes3 large eggs3/4 cup sugar1 cup heavy cream1/2 teaspoon salt1 teaspoon fresh ginger1 teaspoon cinnamon2 teaspoons butter rum flavor

In your stand-type mixer with the whip attachment, beat the sweet potatoes until wellmashed. Add the other filling ingredients and mix until combined.

For the streusel

3/4 cup pecan pieces1/2 cup all purpose flour1/2 cup brown sugar1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

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1/3 cup butter

In a medium bowl, combine the pecan pieces, flour, brown sugar, and cinnamon. With apastry knife, cut in the butter until the pieces are no larger than peas. Set aside.

To assemble and bake the pie.

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.

1. Pour the filling into the unbaked pie shell. Spoon the streusel over the top.2. Place a pie shield over the edges of the crust or form a shield from strips of

aluminum foil.3. Bake for 15 minutes at 400 degrees. Reduce the heat and continue baking at

350 degrees for another 40 minutes or until done. Baking times will varydepending on the oven. As it bakes, streusel top will look wet and soft. Whendone, all but the very center will be set and the interior of the pie will register 170degrees with an insta-read thermometer when done. Remove from the oven andcool on a wire rack.

Serve with whipped cream.

Pumpkin Cream Cheese Pie Recipe

This pie is worth a little extra work. A layer of pumpkinpie filling hides a cream cheese filling. It’s topped with apecan praline-type mix.

The trick with this pie is to not dislodge the creamcheese pie filling when topping it with pumpkin piefilling. If dislodged, the cream cheese filling will float tothe surface. We tried two approaches: refrigerating thecream cheese filling for 45 minutes before adding thepumpkin and partially baking the cream cheese fillingbefore adding the pumpkin. We settled on refrigerationbut it matters how you add the pumpkin filling. If youpour the pumpkin onto the cream cheese filling, it tendsto upset the cream cheese. If you carefully spoon thepumpkin onto the cream cheese, treating it as if it werefragile, it works just fine.

This pie is designed for a deep dish.

Ingredients

1 single crust pie pastry

1 8-ounce package of cream cheese1 large egg1/4 cup granulated sugar1 teaspoon vanilla

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1 3/4 cups pumpkin puree1 1/2 cup evaporated milk3 large eggs1/2 cup granulated sugar1/4 cup brown sugar1/2 tablespoon cinnamon1/4 teaspoon nutmeg1/4 teaspoon salt

2/3 cup pecan pieces2 tablespoons brown sugar2 tablespoons all-purpose flour1 tablespoon butter

Directions

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.

For the cream cheese filling:

1. Prepare the pie crust. Line a nine-inch deep dish pie pan. Set aside.

2. In a medium bowl, beat the cream cheese, one egg, 1/4 cup sugar, and vanillauntil smooth. Spread the filling in the pan and set the pan in the refrigerator tochill for 45 minutes.

For the pumpkin filling:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

1. In a medium bowl, whisk the pumpkin, 3 eggs, 1/2 cup granulated sugar, the 1/4cup brown sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, and salt together until smooth. Carefullyspoon the pumpkin filling over the cream cheese filling.

2. Bake the pie for 20 minutes then cover the pie crust with a pie crust shield oraluminum foil. Bake for another 30 minutes.

For the streusel topping:

1. While the pie is baking, make the streusel topping. Combine the pecans, 2tablespoons brown sugar, flour, and 1 tablespoon butter in a small bowl.Sprinkle the topping over the partially baked pie.

2. Return the pie to the oven and bake for another ten minutes or until a knifeinserted in the center of the pie comes out clean. Cool on a wire rack. As soonas the pie is cool, store it in the refrigerator.

Baker’s note: As with all custard pies, this one should be stored in the refrigerator. Itshould not be left on the counter for over an hour.

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No-Bake Turtle Pumpkin Pie

This recipe was contributed by DessaBailey of Idaho Falls, Idaho. We found itvery easy to put together. We served it tocustomers in our store and attendees at aclass to rave reviews.

Ingredients

1 1/2 cups graham cracker crumbs1/4 cup granulated sugar1/3 cup butter, melted1/4 cup caramel ice cream topping1/2 cup pecan pieces2 packages (3.4 oz each) vanilla flavor instant pudding1 cup cold milk1 cup canned pumpkin1 teaspoon ground cinnamon1/2 teaspoon ground allspice or nutmeg1 1/2 cups Cool Whip® topping, thawed and divided

For the crust

1. In a medium bowl, mix the graham cracker crumbs and sugar together. Add themelted butter and stir. Heat the ice cream topping and add to the crumbmixture. Press the crumb mixture across the bottom of a nine-inch pie pan andup the sides to form the crust. Sprinkle with the pecans and press them into thecrust. Set aside.

For the filling

1. Whisk the dry pudding mixes, milk, pumpkin, and spices until well blended. Stir inthe Cool Whip. Spoon the filling into crust.

2. Refrigerate for at least an hour. Top with remaining Cool Whip®, carameltopping and pecans just before serving.

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Pumpkin Pie Squares

We’ve made this for many years. Theoriginal recipe hails back to an old FarmHome Journal cookbook that is well-tattered and stained. It’s been modifiedover the years but has always been awinner—and it’s easier than making pies.

This recipe is designed for a small, amedium or a large batch. Use an 8 x 8-inch baking pan for the small, an 8 1/2 x13-inch pan for the medium, and a 10 x 15-inch pan for the large.

Ingredients

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.

1. For the crust, cut the butter into the sugar, oats, and flour until crumbly. Pressthe ingredients into an ungreased baking pan, across the bottom and up thesides. Bake the crust for 15 minutes.

2. For the topping, cut the butter into the nuts, flour, and brown sugar. Set aside.3. For the filling, combine all ingredients in and whisk until smooth and all

ingredients are evenly distributed. Pour into the baked crust. Bake for twentyminutes and remove from the oven. Immediately, spoon the topping over thefilling and bake for another 15 to 20 minutes or until a knife stuck in the centercomes out almost clean. Cool on a wire rack. Garnish with whipped cream.

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The Best Apple Pies

Fifteen Minute Apple Pie

The first time I made this pie, it took me 14minutes. Now, I already had all theingredients staged—sitting on thecounter. If you familiarize yourself with therecipe before, don’t dawdle, and haveeverything sitting on the counter ready tomeasure, you really can make a 15 minuteapple pie.

That includes making the pie crust (from amix) and peeling, coring, and slicing theapples (with an Apple Master).

And this is no stripped down version of a pie. The filling is made with brown sugar andcinnamon. We added a scalloped edge and sprinkled the top with turbinado sugar.

All in less than 15 minutes.

just-add-water pie mix for a nine-inch, double crust piewater for the pie crust6 cups peeled and sliced apples3/4 cup brown sugar1/4 cup all-purpose flour1/2 tablespoon cinnamon1/2 cup sour creamturbinado or cinnamon sugar for sprinkle on the pie

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

1. Place the pie crust mix and the water in the bowl of your stand-type mixer withpaddle attached. Beat for about a minute or until the dough comes to a smoothconsistency. Do not over beat.

2. Roll the dough to nearly 1/8-inch thickness. Place the dough in the pan and formthe bottom crust. Trim the excess. Roll out the rest of the dough for the top crust.

3. Use an Apple Master to peel, slice, and core six cups of apples—about sixmedium apples. Place the apple slices into a large bowl.

4. Add the brown sugar, flour, cinnamon, and sour cream. Stir with a spatula untilthe slices are coated with filling and the dry ingredients are mixed in.

5. Place the apple filling in the pie pan. Brush water on the edge of the bottomcrust with your fingers or a pastry brush. Lay the top crust over the top and pressaround the rim of the pie pan. Trim the excess crust and seal and form theedge.

6. Brush water on the top of the pie and sprinkle with cinnamon and sugar mixtureor turbinado sugar. With a knife, slice about a dozen 3/4-inch “V” slots to allowthe steam to escape. Place a pie crust shield over the top of the pie to protectthe edges from over-browning.

7. Bake in a preheated oven at 350 degrees for 35 to 40 minutes or until the toppingis browned and the apples are tender. Cool in the pan on a wire rack.

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Serve with ice cream or whipped cream.

My Favorite Apple Pie

When the warm summer nights turn crispand clear, I find myself in an apple piemood. And it can’t be just any apple pie; ithas to be my favorite apple pie--a greatmound of a pie crusted with cinnamon andsugar. Under that buttery crust will besweet-tart apples infused with the richnessof sour cream and quality cinnamon.

The apples have to be good apples, freshand crisp and sweet. I like them on the tartside, maybe some pippins or jonathans. Ilove cranberries and so I’ll throw in agenerous handful to become rubies in my sea of apples. At Thanksgiving time, I’ll usefresh cranberries but dried ones will do.

I’ll serve that pie hot to family and friends and of course, save a too-large slice formyself. I’ll crown each slice with a scoop of vanilla ice cream drizzled with a littlecaramel. That’s the way fall is supposed to be. The autumn baking season has arrived.

Here’s the recipe for Simple Caramel Sauce.

To make apple pies easier, check out this apple peeler, corer, and slicer.

My Favorite Apple Pie Recipe

We prefer a buttery crust for this pie but use your favorite pastry crust. If you use butter,be sure and keep the dough cold so that you have solid butter bits in the dough. If thedough gets too warm, the butter will melt and your crust will be soggy. Since you arebaking a high-mounded, deep dish pie, you will need about 1 1/2 to two times a normaldouble crust recipe. You will also need a nine-inch, deep-dish pie pan for this recipe.

Ingredients

For the crust:

9-inch double crust

For the filling:

3/4 cup brown sugar1/4 cup all-purpose flour2/3 cup sour cream1 tablespoon lemon juice1 teaspoon ground cinnamon1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg1/4 teaspoon ginger9 to 10 cups apples, peeled, cored, and sliced

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1 cup dried, frozen, or fresh cranberries (optional)4 tablespoons butter

For the topping:

1 large egg white1 tablespoon water1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon2 to 3 tablespoons turbinado sugar

Use quality apples and other ingredients for this pie. You can purchase supercranberries, quality cinnamon, and turbinado sugar from The Prepared Pantry.

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.

1. Prepare and press the pie crust into a deep-dish pie pan setting aside the dough forthe top crust. Trim the crust. Do not bake the crust.2. In a large bowl, mix the sugar, flour, sour cream, lemon juice, and spices together intoa smooth paste. Add the apples and cranberries and mix until coated with the sourcream mixture. Scrape the apple mixture into the unbaked pie shell.3. Roll out the top crust. Brush the top edge of the bottom crust around the rim withwater to help the two crusts seal. Place the top crust over the pie. Trim the crust andseal the two crusts with the tines of a fork.4. Mix the egg white, water and 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon together. Brush the mixture overthe top of the pie. Sprinkle the top with turbinado sugar.5. Cover the edges of the pie with aluminum foil to keep it from burning. Bake for 25minutes and then remove the foil. Bake for another 35 to 45 minutes or until the pie isbubbly and the crust is golden. Cool before serving.

Dutch Apple Pie

There's a reason why this is called deluxe.It's loaded with sweet apples and brownsugar and then accented with sour cream.(We like to spike it up with cranberries orwalnuts but those are optional.) Then ofcourse, it's topped with a streusel topping.(And of course, a streusel topping makesfor an easier pie.)

8 cups peeled and sliced apples2/3 cup dried cranberries (optional)2/3 cup chopped walnuts (optional)1/2 cup sugar1/2 cup brown sugar1/4 cup all-purpose flour1/4 teaspoon nutmeg1 teaspoon cinnamon1/2 cup sour cream

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Deep dish pie shell for a nine-inch pie

Brown Sugar and Cinnamon Streusel

1 cup all-purpose flour1/2 cup brown sugar1/2 tablespoon cinnamon1/3 cup cold butter cut into small pieces

Directions

1. Mix the sugars, flour, and spices in a large bowl. Add the apples, optionalcranberries, optional nuts, and sour cream. Toss the fruit through the mixturewith a spatula to coat.

2. Spoon the fruit mixture into the pie shell.3. For the streusel, mix the all ingredients in a deep bowl. With a pastry knife, cut

the butter through the mixture until it becomes coarse and granular. Spoon thestreusel over the pie.

4. Bake in a preheated oven at 375 degrees for 40 minutes or until the topping isbrowned and the pie is bubbly.

5. Cool in the pan on a wire rack.

Serve with ice cream or whipped cream.

Bavarian Apple Pie

Bavarian cream is a filling used for donuts and other pastries. It makes a finecomplement for tart apple slices. This recipe has plenty of cream filling, about two-thirdsapples and one-third cream filling.

This is a simple apple pie to make. The cream filling doesn’t have to be cooked beforebaking. It is made with packaged Bavarian cream and brown sugar. Lemon is added fortartness and to help keep the apples from turning brown.

4 1/2 to 5 cups 1/4–inch thick sliced apples (4 or 5 medium whole apples)6 tablespoons Original Clearjel1 cup brown sugar1 teaspoon cinnamon1 1/2 cups Bavarian cream2 tablespoons lemon juicepie crust mix or recipe to make a double crust1 tablespoon melted butter1 tablespoon turbinado sugar

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.

1. In a large bowl, mix the brown sugar, cinnamon, and the Clearjel. Add theBavarian cream and the lemon and mix well. Add the apple slices and stir tocoat.

2. Form the pie shell. Add the filling to the pie shell. Add the top and crimp theedges or make a lattice top. Brush the butter over the crust and sprinkle with the

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turbinado sugar. Unless you are using a lattice top, cut slits in the crust to allowthe steam to escape.

3. Place a pie shield over the crust edges to avoid over-cooking the edges of thepie crust. Bake for 45 to 50 minutes or until the crust is lightly browned.

Maple Apple Pie

We served this pie at a class in our store. Some of the attendees thought this was thebest apple pie they had ever tasted. It is very good. Maple and apple does make a finecombination. We served this warm with ice cream and with whipped cream.

This pie is made with maple syrup with Clearjel to thicken it. This filling is cooked on thestovetop. With this ratio of ingredients, your filling will be firm enough for clean cuts witha nice presentation.

We used maple syrup from the store; maple flavored not the real thing. You could usethis same technique with other fruit or water based syrups.

4 1/2 to 5 cups 1/4–inch thick sliced apples (4 or 5 medium whole apples)1/2 cup Original Clearjel1/2 cup brown sugar3/4 cup maple syrup1/2 teaspoon maple flavor2 tablespoons lemon juice4 tablespoons melted butterpie crust mix or recipe to make a double crust1 tablespoon melted butter1 tablespoon turbinado sugar

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.

1. Combine the brown sugar and Clearjel in a medium saucepan. Mix well. Addthe water, maple flavor, melted butter, and lemon juice. Cook over medium heat,stirring constantly with a whisk, until it thickens and just begins to bubble. Take itoff the heat immediately. Do not overcook. The slurry will thicken more whenbaking. Add the apple slices and flavor and stir.

2. Form the pie shell. Add the filling to the pie shell. Add the top and crimp theedges or make a lattice top. Brush the butter over the crust and sprinkle with theturbinado sugar. Unless you are using a lattice top, cut slits in the crust to allowthe steam to escape.

3. Place a pie shield over the crust edges to avoid over-cooking the edges of thepie crust. Bake for 45 to 50 minutes or until the crust is lightly browned.

Caramel Apple Pie

Caramel is made with cream and brown sugar. We approximated that with brown sugar,milk, and butter and then strengthened it with a little caramel flavor. There is enoughcaramel to coat every apple piece.

This is a great pie. Serve it with whipped cream or ice cream.

4 1/2 to 5 cups 1/4–inch thick sliced apples (4 or 5 medium whole apples)

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1 cup brown sugar1 teaspoon cinnamon1/2 cup Original Clearjel2/3 cup milk2 tablespoons lemon juice4 tablespoons butter1 teaspoon caramel flavor (optional)pie crust mix or recipe to make a double crust1 tablespoon melted butter1 tablespoon turbinado sugar

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.

1. Combine the brown sugar, cinnamon, and Clearjel in a medium saucepan. Mixwell. Add the water and lemon juice. Cook over medium heat, stirring constantlywith a whisk, until it thickens and just begins to bubble. Take it off the heatimmediately. Do not overcook. The slurry will thicken more when baking. Addthe apple slices and flavor and stir.

2. Form the pie shell. Add the filling to the pie shell. Add the top and crimp theedges or make a lattice top. Brush the butter over the crust and sprinkle with theturbinado sugar. Unless you are using a lattice top, cut slits in the crust to allowthe steam to escape.

3. Place a pie shield over the crust edges to avoid over-cooking the edges of thepie crust. Bake for 45 to 50 minutes or until the crust is lightly browned.

Other Recipes for the Holidays

We’re partial to cheesecakes during the holidays. They are rich, elegant, and easy tomake. And one cheesecake makes a lot of slices. In this section, we have includedthree recipes for pumpkin cheesecakes and a recipe for a white chocolate cheesecake.The white chocolate cheesecake is our “go to” recipe that we use over and over. We’vealso included a fun apple pastry recipe.

For a particularly noteworthy cheesecakes, consider using a square cheesecake pan. Asilicone cheesecake pan cleans up nicely and easily releases the dessert.

We most often use glass based springform pans. You can slip the cake on the glassbottom onto a serving palter for easy cutting and serving. A glass base avoids themetallic taste that sometimes comes from metal bottoms.

Serve your cheesecake plain or with a topping. Our favorite topping is a simple saucemade with berries. We use these recipes often. They can be made with fresh or frozenfruit.

Raspberry Sauce >> Strawberry Sauce >>

You can also use a pastry filling. A pastry filling, because it has to balance with theamount of pastry such as in a donut, is more flavorful. We recommend a raspberry,blueberry, or cherry pastry filling. Professional pastry fillings in 2-pound bags are veryeconomical.

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Pumpkin Cheesecake in a Gingersnap Crust

Looking for something different for theholidays? This pumpkin cheesecake isabsolutely phenomenal. It has a pumpkincheesecake filling with a vanillacheesecake top layer. The crust is madewith gingersnaps which compliments thespicy pumpkin filling perfectly. If you are notin love with gingersnaps, substitute vanillawafers for the crumbs.

Interested in a pie recipe with a vanillawafer crust? See our Easy StrawberryCream Pie.

Pumpkin Cheesecake in a GingersnapCrust

This scrumptious cheesecake is best made the night before so that it can thoroughly chillin the refrigerator. (Of course, that is one less thing you have to do on the day of thedinner.)

You will need a nine or ten-inch springform pan for this recipe. (The nine-inch size isperfect.) The cake pictured was baked and served in a nine-inch glass-base springformpan.

For the crust

1 1/2 cups crushed gingersnaps1/2 cup finely chopped nuts1/4 cup brown sugar4 tablespoons butter, melted

For the filling

4 8-ounce packages of cream cheese4 large eggs1 1/4 cup granulated sugar1 teaspoon vanilla

1 1/3 cup pumpkin puree1/2 teaspoon ginger2 teaspoons cinnamon

Directions

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees.

1. Crush the gingersnaps. Mix the crumbs with the nuts, brown sugar, and meltedbutter in a nine or ten-inch springform pan. Press the mixture into a crust across

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the bottom of the pan and up the sides. Put the crust in the refrigerator to set upwhile you prepare the filling.

2. Mix the cream cheese, eggs, granulated sugar, salt, and vanilla together withyour stand-type mixer using the whisk attachment. Beat until smooth and fluffy,six to eight minutes. Set about 1 1/2 cups of the mixture aside for the topping.

3. To the remaining filling, add the pumpkin, whipping cream or yogurt, and spices.Beat until well-mixed. Pour the filling into the prepared crust. Carefully spoon theset-aside topping over the top of the pumpkin-cheesecake filling.

4. Bake for 70 to 80 minutes or until the top starts to brown and the center of thecake is just barely jiggly or until the center of the cheesecake reads 160 degreeswith a thermometer.

5. Let the cake cool in the pan on a wire rack for ten minutes. Run a knife aroundthe edge of the pan to loosen. Remove the ring and let the cheesecake coolcompletely. Refrigerate for several hours before serving.

No Bake Pumpkin Cheesecake Recipe

We do love pumpkin cheesecakes. (Pumpkin PieCheesecake in Gingersnap Crust is a favoritecheesecake. We have included the recipe.) Cannedpumpkin is cooked in the canning process. Surely, wethought, we can use canned pumpkin in a no-bakecheesecake as long as there are no uncooked eggs. Sowe converted our pumpkin pie recipe to a no-baker.

For the crust

1 1/2 cups crushed gingersnaps (or graham crackercrumbs if you prefer)1/4 cup brown sugar2/3 cup butter, melted

Mix the gingersnap or graham cracker crumbs with thenuts, brown sugar, and melted butter in a nine inch springform pan. Press the mixtureinto a crust across the bottom of the pan and up the sides. Put the crust in therefrigerator to set up while you prepare the filling.

For the filling

2 8-ounce packages of cream cheese1/2 cup granulated sugar1 cup cooked pumpkin puree1 1/2 cups Bavarian cream1 teaspoon vanilla extract3/4 teaspoon allspice2 teaspoons cinnamon

Mix the cream cheese and granulated sugar together with your stand-type mixer usingthe paddle attachment. Beat until smooth and fluffy, six to eight minutes. Add thepumpkin, Bavarian cream, vanilla, and spices. Beat until well-mixed. Spread the filling inthe prepared crust. Refrigerate before serving.

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Pumpkin Cheesecake Recipe with a Chocolate Swirl

Again we paired chocolate with pumpkinfor a really nifty-looking, scrumptiousdessert. This makes a great holiday orseasonal dessert but since cannedpumpkin is available anytime, you canindulge year around.

This is an easy cheesecake to make. Thechocolate requires an extra step butotherwise, this is as easy as most othercheesecakes.

Ingredients

1 2/3 cups graham cracker crumbs3 tablespoons granulated sugar6 tablespoons butter, melted

3 8-ounce packages cream cheese1/4 teaspoon salt1 cup granulated sugar1 16-ounce can pumpkin (about 1 3/4 cups)4 large eggs1/2 cup whipping cream3 tablespoons cornstarch1 teaspoon cinnamon1 pinch nutmeg

1 cup pure dark (semisweet) chocolate chips

Directions

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees.

1. For the crust, combine graham cracker crumbs, sugar, and butter. Press ontobottom of a ten-inch springform pan.

2. For the cheesecake, in the bowl of your stand-type mixer, beat the creamcheese, salt, and granulated sugar together. Beat in the pumpkin, eggs, cream,cornstarch, cinnamon, and nutmeg.

3. Heat the chocolate chips until melted, either in the microwave or on the stovetop.Add one cup of the pumpkin batter and stir it into the melted chocolate.

4. Pour the pumpkin batter into the prepared crust. Spoon the chocolate batter ontop. Use a straightedge spatula and vertically cut through the batters to create achocolate swirl in the cheesecake.

5. Bake for 60 minutes or until the cheesecake tests done. Cool completely andthen chill in the refrigerator before serving.

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White Chocolate Cheesecake

This is a great cheesecake recipe. Thewhite chocolate makes this cakeparticularly rich. We have served thisrepeatedly in our test kitchen and inclasses and it is always a favorite.

Ingredients

For the crust:

1 2/3 cup graham cracker crumbs1/2 cup butter, melted2 tablespoons granulated sugar

For the filling:

4 8-ounce packages of cream cheese1 1/3 cups granulated sugar4 large eggs1 teaspoon vanilla extract1 1/3 cups white chocolate wafers or 8 ounces of white chocolate baking bars

Notes about the ingredients.

Use good quality white chocolate wafers with a high cocoa butter content. Wafers havea finer grind and are richer and smoother than chips. Some white chocolate chips donot melt properly.

Purchasing graham cracker crumbs will save you time and cleanup and usually cost lessthan crackers. If you use crackers, the easiest way to process them into crumbs is witha food processor.

Directions

Preheat the oven 325 degrees.

1. In a springform pan (see notes), mix the graham cracker crumbs, melted butter,and sugar together. Press the mixture across the bottom of the pan and up thesides to form the crust. Put the crust in refrigerator while you mix the filling.

2. With the paddle attachment of your stand-type mixer, beat the cream cheese andsugar together. Add the eggs and vanilla and beat until smooth. Melt thechocolate. Drizzle in the melted chocolate while it is still warm and while thebeaters are running. Pour into the crust.

3. Bake for 50 minutes or until the cake is done. Let cool on a wire rack. After tenminutes, loosen the sides with a spatula and remove the ring. Refrigerate thecheesecake to cool completely.

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New England Apple Pie Pastry

We had a lot of fun with this. It’s not reallya pie or a pastry but it is scrumptious. It’smade with a rich cream cheese pastry ontop and bottom with an apple cinnamonfilling tucked in. It’s a little more work thanan apple pie but it’s not hard and it isworth the extra time.

Check out the unusual topping. It’s easy. Itis made by freezing the pastry dough andthen shredding it as you would shredcheese. We used an electric shredderattachment for our stand-type mixer andmade quick work of the task though a boxgrater works too.

We used a ten-inch springform pan for this dessert. You could also use a nine-inchsquare springform pan.

Ingredients for the dough

1 8-ounce package of cream cheese1 cup cold butter1 teaspoon vanilla extract1 1/4 cups granulated sugar

3 1/4 cups all purpose flour1/2 teaspoon salt1/2 tablespoon baking powder

1/3 cup whipping cream

Ingredients for the filling

5-6 medium baking apples1/2 teaspoon cinnamon3/4 cup granulated sugar1 tablespoon lemon juice3 tablespoons flour2/3 cup dried cranberries (optional)1/2 cup chopped walnuts

1/2 to 2/3 of an 8-ounce jar of red currant jelly or other red jam or jelly

Directions

1. Cream the cream cheese and butter together. Add the vanilla and granulatedsugar and continue creaming.

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2. In another bowl, mix the flour, salt, and bakingpowder together. Add half the flour mixture tothe creamed mixture and beat until justcombined. Add the whipping cream and beatagain. Add the rest of the flour mixture andbeat until just combined. You should have asoft dough. Add more cream or flour ifnecessary to get the right consistency.

3. Divide the dough in half. Put one half in therefrigerator and the other in freezer. Allow thedough in the refrigerator to freeze rock hard,at least several hours.

4. For the filling, peel and core the apples thencoarsely grate them. Add the cinnamon,sugar, lemon juice, flour, optional cranberries,and nuts. Stir to combine. Refrigerate untilready to bake.

5. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Take thehalf of the dough that was in the refrigeratorand roll it out as you would pie dough. Place itin a ten-inch springform pan and mold thedough across the bottom and 2/3’s up thesides. (See picture.) You may cut and patchthe dough as required.

6. Spread the jelly across the bottom of thedough. Spoon the filling into the pastry shell.(See picture.)

7. Take the frozen dough from the freezer.Coarsely grate it as you would cheese using abox grater or electric grater. Spread the grateddough across the top of the pastry.

8. Bake for 45 minutes or until the top is lightly browned and the apples are oozingjuice. Cool on a wire rack for five minutes and then remove the outer ring. Cooluntil just warm and serve plain, with whipped cream, or ice cream.

Baker’s note: Both the jelly and cranberries add color to the dessert making it moreattractive. Do not cut while it is piping hot.

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Appendix

Video Cooking and Baking Lessons

How to Roast Flavorful, Moist Chicken or Turkeyo See four video clips with four different methods for flavoring your turkey or

chicken.

How to Make Aebleskivero Aebleskiver or Danish Puff Pastries are holiday classics. They are easy

once you see them done. Fill them with fruit or cream fillings.

How to Make Dessert Pizzaso A dessert pizza will be the hit of your holiday party. They are gorgeous

and scrumptious. Made with a cookie dough crust, a layer of Bavarian orother cream, and an arrangement of cut fruit.

How to Make Crème Bruleeo Crème brulee is not reserved for only upscale restaurants. Once you see

how, you can make them for your next holiday dinner.

How to Easy Huckleberry Fudgeo Now you can make holiday fudge—huckleberry or another flavor—even if

you are not a candy maker. This is the easy way.