The first and foremost thing to plan for Thanksgiving is the number of people attending and what food allergies/intolerance you will be dealing with. I send out invites to my friends and relatives with an RSVP stating to send notice of any dietary restrictions. There are many people that have been diagnosed with Celiac Disease that also have lactose intolerance, allergies to corn or soy products, and/or have sensitivities to other foods in conjunction with the gluten free diet. It is best to come up with recipes for your dinner gathering that comprises mostly of whole nutritious foods. We had a small gathering of individuals this year, but the recipes can be doubled, tripled, etc. to fit your party's size. Our menu this year is centered around the traditional Thanksgiving dishes.
We wanted a turkey for our dinner, and finally found a 5 pound Gluten Free Turkey Breast from Buckley Farms at our local Coborns grocery store. Make sure to find a turkey that does not contain saline injections or is listed as pre-basted. If you cannot find a Gluten Free turkey, try the next best thing such as ham or chicken. We found a chicken raised and processed by the Amish on a grain free diet. The whole chicken was free of any kind of injections found in many poultry products. Back to the turkey: even though it is not pre-basted we figured our bird would cook up nicely in the 7 quart slow cooker, leaving room for other holiday side dishes, rolls, and pies.
Other items on our menu included:
Dressing
Potatoes w/Gravy
Escalloped Corn
Dinner Rolls
Parmesan Cheese Cup Lettuce Salad w/Vinaigrette Salad Dressing
Pumpkin Pie w/Whipped Cream
Apple Strudel Pie w/Vanilla Ice Cream
Sounds delicious doesn't it? So, let's get on with the recipes to make all these delectable homemade dishes.
Appetizer: Parmesan Cheese Cup Lettuce Salad w/Vinaigrette Salad Dressing
You can make these cups the weekend before Thanksgiving and store them until the big dinner. Just add the salad and dressing before serving them to your guests.
All you need to make the cups is 2 cup of Parmesan cheese, a cookie sheet, cooking spray, and a muffin pan (Yields 8 cups.)
Preheat oven to 325°F. Spray a cookie sheet with the cooking spray. Place your muffin-pan upside down and spray it with cooking spray, too.
Spread out 1/4 cup cheese onto cookie sheet into 4-5 inch circles. The circles should be approximately 1/4 inch thick. Put in oven and allow the cheese to brown for about 7-10 minutes. Do not walk away from the oven as these can burn easily. Remove cheese from pan with a spatula and lay on top of a flipped-over muffin tin. Gently place a paper towel over the cooked Parmesan and lightly press on it to soak up the excess oil. Let the cups cool about 5 minutes before removing from muffin tin. Place bowls in an air tight container and store at room temperature.
On Thanksgiving morning, fill cups with mixed green salad, a cherry tomato, and grated carrots. Place in fridge before serving. Just before you serve, top with the Vinaigrette Dressing.
The Vinaigrette Dressing should be made the night before Thanksgiving.
Ingredients: (Yields about 1 1/4 cups)
3/4 cup Olive Oil
1/4 cup White Wine Vinegar
1/8 cup Lemon Juice (If this is to potent, you can substitute water.)
1/2 tsp. Salt
1/4 tsp. Paprika
1/2 tsp. Dried Mustard
1/2 tsp. Black Pepper
1 pressed Garlic Clove
Combine all ingredients in a sealed jar or Tupperware container and shake mixture until it is combined. Refrigerate until next morning. Shake again before drizzling on salad cups. You may keep this salad dressing for a few days in the fridge.
Main Course: Turkey
Being we had a small turkey breast, we opted to cook ours in a slow-cooker because it cuts down on prep work and oven usage as well as keeps the meat moist. Make sure you keep the bird in the freezer up until the time of defrosting. Defrost the bird 24 hours for every 5 pounds in the refrigerator as this is the safest way to do it according to the USDA. But, do not fret as you can still cook a frozen bird in the crockpot on the morning of your big meal (You will just need more cooking time). Here are the directions for cooking a small turkey breast.
Directions:
On the morning of Thanksgiving, slice one whole onion into 1 inch rings. Separate the rings and layer them on the bottom of the crock pot. Make sure to remove giblets, neck, and cut off any extra skin (leave the skin covering the meat) before placing the turkey breast into the slow cooker. Add seasonings as desired; we used salt and pepper. Add about a cup of water or gluten free stock to the slow cooker. (Do not add any liquid to the crock pot if your bird is frozen). Cover and cook on high for a couple of hours and then reduce the heat to low cooking for an additional 4 to 6 hours. (Longer if your bird was frozen) Temperature of a cooked bird should be 180 degrees (Some people say that 165 and up is safe too, but I like to make sure my meat is cooked). You may leave the turkey in the "keep warm" setting up to an hour before meal time. And, make sure to refrigerate your leftovers within an hour after your meal. Leftovers will keep in the refrigerator for three to four days.
Note: This is also a great time to make stock for soups, gravy, broth, etc. Just place the bones from your breast back into the crock pot, and in addition to the onions from our recipe, add in chopped carrots, celery, a small leek, a garlic clove, a bay leaf, parsley, and any other ingredients you wish to flavor your stock with. Add as much boiling water as you can to fill the rest of your slow cooker up. I could fit about six cups of boiling water in my pot. Make sure the heat setting is on Low and cook for 12 or up to 24 hours. Strain, cool, and skim the fat from your stock. You can use it as is or freeze it in one to two cup quantities for later use.
Side Dish #1: Dressing
Dressing (also known as Stuffing when it is "stuffed" inside a turkey) can be made entirely from scratch. This is a two-step recipe as I made my own bread for the bread crumbs and then made the stuffing. Make sure to bake the bread the day before Thanksgiving as you need day old bread for the dressing recipe. Here is how to make the bread using a bread machine:
White Bread
Ingredients:
2 cups white rice flour
1/2 cup potato starch
1/2 cup tapioca four
2 1/2 tsps. xanthan gum (you can also use guar gum)
2/3 cup powdered milk
1 1/2 tsps. salt
3 tbsp. sugar
1 2/3 cups lukewarm water
1 1/2 tbsp. dry yeast
4 tbsp. butter
1 tsp. vinegar
3 eggs, beaten
Please consult your bread maker's manual for ingredient order placement in the bread pan. (Some place dry ingredients on bottom and liquids on top and others suggest the opposite.) I have a gluten free setting on my bread maker; otherwise, you can use the white bread setting. Just make sure it is a 3-4 hour setting. Cut 6 cups worth of bread cubes from your loaf (this should be about 1/2 pound of your bread). You can freeze any of the remaining bread or use however you desire. Dry the cubes uncovered overnight on a wire rack; or, you can bake them at 200 degrees in the oven for about 20 minutes until dry but not browned.
Dressing (Yields 6 servings)
Ingredients:
1/2 cup butter
1 cup chopped onion
1 cup chopped celery
1/8 cup chopped parsley
1 (8 oz.) cans sliced mushrooms, drained
6 cups day old bread cubes
3/4 tsp. dried sage leaves
1/2 tsp. dried thyme leaves
1/8 tsp. pepper
1/2 tsp. salt
1/8 tsp. garlic powder
1 3/4 cups chicken or turkey broth
1 egg, lightly beaten
Melt butter over low heat in a large skillet. Add onions, celery, parsley, and mushrooms. Saute for about 3 minutes while stirring to prevent scorching.
Place bread cubes in a large bowl. Add cooked mixture and seasonings to bread. Toss well. Pour about 1/4 cup of broth at a time into the bowl, stirring gently to moisten bread crumbs. Continue adding the broth until the ingredients are moist but not soggy. Add eggs and stir with a large spatula until well blended. Spoon dressing into a 5-6 quart slow cooker and cook covered on low for 6 hours. Make sure to check the dressing periodically. If dressing appears to be drying out, drizzle it with more broth.
Side Dish #2: Potatoes w/Gravy
This dish is pretty simple. We took a medium sized potato for each individual and peeled and sliced them. Boiled them over a stove in a pot of water until a fork could pierce them easily. And, then we riced them for easier consumption.
The gravy was made from a chicken gravy gluten free packet I have on hand. You can make gravy from the turkey drippings if desired. Just pour the drippings through a strainer and skim off the grease. Add to a pot on the stove with boiling water and cornstarch. Season with salt and pepper and cook for a few minutes until gravy starts to thicken.
Side Dish #3 Escalloped Corn
This is a dish I used to eat before I went on the gluten free diet and incorporated a few gluten free ingredients to get it right. This dish will be baked in your oven.
Ingredients:
1 egg
1 cup milk
18 crushed gluten free table crackers (I used Schar GF Table Crackers from Amazon)
1 can cream style corn
1/2 cup crushed Corn Chex
3 tbsp butter
In a 2 quart casserole dish beat the egg. Stir in the milk, crackers, and corn. Once all ingredients are mixed together, layer the top of the casserole with the crushed corn chex. Thinly slice the butter on top of the entire dish. Bake at 350 degrees for about 45 minutes to an hour. The casserole should be lightly browned on top.
Side Dish #4 Dinner Rolls
Prepare the dinner rolls about 2 to 3 hours in advance of dinner. The pans should be ready to go into the oven when the corn is finished cooking so they will be fresh and warm to serve at your table.
Ingredients:
2 tbsp active dry yeast
1 cup plus 2 tbsp warm water (110 degrees)
1/3 cup vegetable oil
1/4 cup sugar
1 egg
1 tsp salt
2 1/2 tbsp xanthan gum
1 1/4 cup white rice flour
1 cup brown rice flour
3/4 cup potato starch
1/3 cup tapioca starch
I used an electric mixer with dough hooks for this recipe. In the mixer bowl, dissolve yeast in warm water. Add sugar and let sit for about 5 minutes. Add the rest of the ingredients with the xanthan gum being last. Mix dough with hooks for about 5 minutes. Make sure to scrape the sides of the bowl so all ingredients are incorporated. Use a spoon or a large ice cream scoop to place dough balls on greased cookie sheets. Cover loosely and let rise for about 1 1/2 hours. Bake at 425 degrees for 8-10 minutes or until golden brown.
Dessert: Pies w/Whipped Topping and Ice Cream
I had two kinds of pie to choose from for our holiday get together with two kinds of toppings. The vanilla ice cream I made in our electric ice cream maker a day or so in advance. The whipped topping was made from heavy whipping cream I made the morning of Thanksgiving. The pumpkin pie was baked the day before and stored in the refrigerator. The apple pie was baked the morning of Thanksgiving and cooled while dinner was served.
Pumpkin Pie:
Crust Ingredients (Yields 2 - 8" crusts or 1 - 12" crust.)
2 cups gluten free flour blend
1 tbsp sugar
1/4 tsp salt
1 tbsp ice water
1 egg, beaten
12 tbsp cold, cubed butter
Place dry ingredients in bowl. Cut in cubed butter until mixture resembles course crumbs. Pour egg into mixture and mix with hands until thoroughly blended. Add ice water and use hands to combine. Shape dough into large ball. Divide dough into two smaller balls and wrap in waxed paper. Refrigerate 1 hour. Take one dough ball out of fridge and let stand on counter for 20-30 minutes. When pliable, roll between 2 sheets of waxed paper. Make sure to roll from center outward. Place crust in pie plate and prepare filling.
Pumpkin Pie Filling (Prepare as directed on can of pumpkin. I used Libby's.)
3/4 cup sugar
1/2 tsp. salt
1 tsp. ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp. ground ginger
1/4 tsp. ground cloves
2 eggs, beaten
1 can Libby's pumpkin
1 can (12 fl. oz.) evaporated milk
Combine all ingredients and pour into pie shell. Bake at 425 degrees for 15 minutes. Reduce heat to 350 degrees and continue baking for 40-50 minutes or until knife inserted at center of pie comes out clean. Cool 2 hours before refrigerating.
Apple Streusel Pie
9" Pie Crust Ingredients
1 1/3 cups Bisquick Gluten Free Mix
1/3 cup butter, melted
1/2 cup water
Mix crust ingredients with fork until combined. Gather dough with hands into a ball. Place in glass pie plate and press firmly against bottom and edges to form pie crust. Flute edges.
Apple Filling Ingredients:
3 cups peeled, sliced, cored Gala Apples (or any other baking apple)
2 tbsp lemon juice
1/3 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
1/3 cup white granulated sugar
2-3 tbsp brown rice flour
1 tsp cinnamon
Mix all ingredients together and pour into unbaked pie crust. Spread evenly.
Streusel Topping Ingredients:
1 cup Bisquick Gluten Free Mix
1/2 cup packed light brown sugar
1/3 cup cold, cubed butter
Combine sugar and Bisquick mix in bowl. Cut in butter until mixture is crumbly. Sprinkle mixture over filling.
Bake pie at 375 degrees for 15 minutes. Cover top of pie with foil and continue baking for 10-15 minutes or until golden brown. Cool 2-3 hours before serving.
The last step to a Thanksgiving dinner is Enjoying! I sure hope you liked the recipes and tips I shared to make your holiday meal easy, delicious, and gluten free. Please share your thoughts, comments, and stories of how your dishes turned out in the comments section below. I would love to hear any other traditional recipes you were able to incorporate in your gluten free celebration as well as the ratings and reviews from those of you who tried out a few of my recipes.
Until then, please stay tuned for a Christmas Goodie Recipe section...
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