Butterflied Bounty

Our Moroccan-Spiced Turkey and Roasted Vegetables Thanksgiving meal was absolutely delicious.  Removing the backbone from the turkey saved cooking time and produced a very juicy breast.  We watched Katie Lee do this on TV last weekend.  Bob with his garden shears and I with my scrapbooking scissors were able to cut out the bone and unfold the turkey flat onto a rack.  (My only problem was not having a big enough baking pan but we improvised there too).  Here's the turkey going into the oven:

The marinade was from Food and Wine Magazine, from an article titled "Harlem Thanksgiving".

Moroccan-Spiced Turkey

1 head of Garlic
Cut in half.  Wrap in foil and roast at 400 F. for 1 hour.  Squeeze out juice and paste.
Add to:
2/3 cup Fresh Squeezed Grapefruit Juice
1/2 cup Fresh Squeezed Orange Juice
1/4 cup Fresh Squeezed Lemon Juice
1/4 cup Fresh Squeezed Lime Juice  
3 Anise Stars
1 Tablespoon Fresh Ginger, grated
Pour some of marinade over turkey.  Roast on bottom rack of oven for 30 minutes at 400 F.  Baste and move to the top rack.  Turn oven to 325 F. and baste every 30 minutes until internal temperature of turkey reaches 165 degrees.  This took about 2 hours.

The turkey was so moist:

 
I cut up an assortment of fresh vegetables, colorful carrots from the winter farmers market, local potatoes, parsnip, onion, fennel, celery, pepper, zucchini and yellow squash. I poured half the morocccan marinade over the vegetables and roasted in the same oven as the turkey for 90 minutes.

The Mac and Cheese is a recipe from the American Institute for Cancer Research, one of my favorite resource centers.

Pumpkin Mac and Cheese
(Serves 6)

1/2 cup Bread Crumbs (I made mine with 1 slice of New Day Bakery 7 Grain Bread)
2 Tablespoon Parmesan Cheese, grated
1 Tablespoon Canola Oil
Process in food processor and sit aside.

1 cup Skim Milk
Steam in microwave.

4 cups Whole Wheat Rotini
Bring a large pan of water to a boil.  Add pasta and cook on high for 10 minutes.  Drain.

While the pasta is cooking, make the sauce:
1 Tablespoon Earth Balance Buttery Spread
Melt on stove top.  Whisk in:
1 Tablespoon Flour
Cook and whisk for 1 minute.  Remove from heat.
Add:
Steamed Milk
Cook and whisk for 3 minutes.  
Stir in:
4 Sharp Cheddar Cheese Sticks, grated
1/4 cup Parmesan Cheese, grated
1 cup Pumpkin
1/2 teaspoon Mustard Powder
1/4 teaspoon Black Pepper
Stir until cheese melts.
Pour over pasta.
Place in baking dish sprayed with Pam.
Top with bread crumbs.
Sprinkle with
Fresh Grated Nutmeg

Bake at 375 F. for 15-20 minutes.

I made the baked goods yesterday.  The Focaccia with Roasted Squash and the Pear Sharlotka recipes are in the previous post.

 Now to go out for coffee!