Cooking and Recipes Online

Whether you are looking for some new recipes or having some question concerning cooking or food, the Internet is the right place. There are an uncountable number of websites related to cooking, food and recipes. You find general cooking or recipes websites, you can also find websites specialized in a specific type of food or ingredient, and you still find the cooking forums.

To find these websites is very easy - you just have to do a search at Google, Yahoo, MSN or another search engine that you prefer. By typing in, for instance, 'Italian recipes' you will get a countless number of websites that provide Italian recipes. Not to forget that you can search for a specific type of cuisine ('Chinese', 'German', 'American', etc.) as well as for a specific ingredient ('chicken recipes', 'lobster recipes', 'rosemary recipes', etc.) or cooking method (for instance, 'grilling recipes'). You can see on the right side or on the bottom of the search engine page related terms that you can search for when you type in a more generic term, like 'shrimp recipes'. Another tip is to use quotation marks (" ") if you want to find a precise recipe or information (example: "Brazilian Coconut Shrimp"). Well, once you get the search results you just have to browse and look for the website that provides the recipes or information that you are looking for. And once you find a website that you like very much, don´t forget to bookmark it so you can always go back to it.

Another option is a directory, where you can browse through categories to find cooking and recipe websites. Usually recipes and food related websites can be found under the category Home Cooking - where you usually will find many sub-categories. The best known directory is the Dmoz.org.

Then we have the cooking forums. Cooking forum is a great place to get help with cooking or recipe questions, to discuss cooking methods and techniques, and to exchange food information, recipes, tips, and advice. The great advantage of forums is that they are made by real people with real experiences, interest, doubts, and feelings. You may check the forum Discusscooking.com. Another tip is the food site Grouprecipes.com - there you can create your own food page and organize your recipes, and of course discover new recipes and get in contact with many food and cooking lovers.

Well, as you can see the Internet is a wonderful resource to get recipes, food and cooking information. And the best of all is that it is for free - and if it is not, just search further that you will surely find information for free.

Transform Your Cooking Skills by Serving Famous Restaurant Recipes Every Day

To begin, stop wasting your valuable time and losing your patience on surfing the net for ideas on what to cook. This gets you nowhere fast, except frustrated.

It is important to keep it simple and once you have access to one collection, which consists of hundreds of tried and tested, easy to follow popular recipes, stick with that and begin working your way forward, one recipe at a time. This will save you a lot of money and no more wasted time.

Popular recipes that are everyone's favorites are a safe bet and are guaranteed to please. This will make your effort at cooking them pleasurable too, instead of being a chore, because you will know in advance what you're making is already popular and therefore, is going to be well received and a success.

A collection of popular recipes that offer pictures, plus tips and tricks, is usually the best source, because pictures and tips and tricks means these recipes have already been tried and tested.

Making a popular, favorite recipe at home is also cheap. More often than not, people would rather stay at home instead of spending money on rising fuel costs to go out to dine at a restaurant. By preparing new, popular and taste-tempting recipes at home, not only will you save money, but you can also begin your transformation from how you currently cook into becoming a home chef, when using a reliable collection of famous restaurant recipes to assist you.

Experience counts a lot when it comes to cooking, so relying on recipes that have already become popular in famous restaurants after being tried and tested over and over again on the public means you won't fail when you make them.

Don't forget to try out something different now and then to expand your culinary skills. If the recipes are from a collection of famous restaurants, even though you may not particularly like the taste of something, it may still be worth trying out a recipe with this food or ingredient anyway, because if the recipe is already well-liked by the majority, there will be a reason for it's popularity that you may also uncover. So try it!

A great step in transforming yourself into a good cook where you become appreciated and respected by friends and family members for the scrumptious meals you prepare, is to print the recipes and write notes on them for how you think you might improve upon the recipe the next time you make it. Write down your own personal experiences and try to improve upon the recipe with your own ideas and taste preferences. There is always the chance of improving a recipe as nothing is ever perfect and it is good to constantly expand your recipe base and cooking skills. As they say: "practice makes perfect".

Another tip that so many home cooks forget to do, is if you don't have a family to cook for, don't confuse yourself with trying to divide portions down to just one serve. Still cook the recipe for the number of people the recipe is for, then when the meal is ready, simply divide it into the number of portions stated, enjoy one for yourself and then freeze the other portions for future meals. That makes delicious meals to look forward to in the near future, rather than wasting your money on fast food or restaurant meals for one.

We recommend you personally try to become a chef in your own comfortable home. Cooking in the comfort and relaxation of your own kitchen is far more satisfying and esteem building than dining in a fast food or take-away outlet, and is a lot more rewarding both in terms of saved money, as well as in the sense of self-achievement than dining in a restaurant. Also, at home you can invite all your friends and dine with those you care about and love, who will reciprocate in appreciation of the effort you have put in to serving up tantalizing and sensational famous restaurant recipes.

Chinese Cooking Recipe - The Secret Of The Delicious Delicacy!

Chinese cooking recipes for the American homes are just an adjusted recipe of the original Chinese recipes. They taste good and marvelous. The original recipes are favorites for many across the world as they taste delicious. For example, let's consider the process of making Chinese recipes. They are seasoned with a combo of sugar and chilies to produce a dish with a real flavor. The addition of few more nice spices and the cooking of the recipe over the flame are the specific characteristics of the Chinese cooking recipe and this has brought fame to it thought America. It is very easy to prepare the recipes and they are generally made in pieces as per the Chinese manner of food preparation.

There are various elements or ingredients in the list of the Chinese manner of food preparation. Chinese soups, noodles and rice are the most popular among them. One can easily point out the Singapore Noodles as the most popular of the Chinese cooking recipe when it comes to talking of the famous recipes across the world. It is prepared by roasting shrimps or pork with noodles. Bean sprouts, noodles, steamed rice, garlic, shredded Napa cabbage and Soy sauce are the important contents of the recipes and they can added with ingredients of their choice. The vegetables and the ingredients are cooked in the flame and the noodles are fried deeply in oil. Then they are both mixed in the end. Chinese food lovers throughout America prefer the Szechwan and Shanghai type of noodles.

A Chinese green fried with shrimps is the other popular recipe that is made by the combination of Chinese mushrooms and greens with marinated shrimps. The preparation of the recipe details the deep frying of the fish along with the vegetables to get the particular flavor. When they are served with rice it can be considered as full meals for two persons. The Manchurian recipe is the other well known of the Chinese cooking recipe. A mixture of chicken, noodles and vegetables constitute the Manchurian. Extra care should be taken in adding the correct quantity of vegetable, sauces, spring onions, and spices for the preparation of the Manchurian. The vegetables and the chicken are well mixed and made rolled into small balls which are then fried deeply in oil to get a crunchy product. The fried balls are provided with gravy to get the exact flavor. Spring onions are decorated alongside to make it colorful.

Making of the dish and adding spices alone does not sum up the Chinese cooking recipe. In truth these recipes are nutritional and healthy too. The recipes involve the cooking of both the vegetarian and the non vegetarian items. These recipes have attracted a lot of food lovers because of the addition of various kinds of spices. These recipes are listed in almost all restaurants. The Chinese culture is very well propagated to the foreigner as well.

Online Recipes - Making Cooking Easier

The number of recipe sites offering free recipes and cooking guides is increasing all the time, meaning more and more of us are attempting extravagant meals.

In the past we would have got out the cookbook that was 20 years old, dusted it off, laughed at some of the outdated faded photos then set about trying to make a dish from it. Nowadays however we can simply access the internet, go to one of the thousands of websites offering free recipes and found a dish that really suits us down to the ground. Getting recipes off the web has great advantages from the old cookbook way of creating a meal.

1. Access to the internet is easy and plentiful. You do not have to wait to be back at home to get your recipes, you could be at work, print out a recipe and head to the shops to get the ingredients. This was you can be back in the house with all the ingredients, the recipe and you are ready to go.

2. The choice is much better on the web. Your old recipe book is likely to have a theme or if it doesn't, will only have a certain number of recipes in it. The internet has literally millions of recipes for you to choose from, so you can always be sure you will be able to find something you are after.

3. You can often find recipes with ingredients you have never heard of. Many recipe sites these days come from foreign shores where fruits and vegetables you may have never heard of could be the main ingredients. It's fun to try new things especially when it comes to food.

Online recipes have created chefs out of many of us. There are an endless amount on the web, from the bland to the sensationally weird. Whatever you want to cook , you can be sure to find a recipe for it on the web, somewhere! So next time you are thinking of trying something different in the kitchen, make sure you look up something new and one of the many recipe sites available today on the world wide web.

Cooking for a Crowd? Need Large Quantity Recipes? Why Not Create Your Own?

It is often hard to find just the right large quantity recipe for the theme of your party or for the "culinary experience" you are aspiring to offer your guests. Here are a few tips and suggestions on how to modify your favorite 4-6 serving recipes when you find yourself cooking for a crowd of 20 or more.

What constitutes a crowd? Of course it's all relative (your relatives, not mine). Seriously, if you are accustomed to cooking for one to three, cooking for 20-50 people may seem overwhelming. When cooking for a crowd, there are three important considerations; adequate cookware, sufficient refrigerator space and recipe selection.

Obviously you should seek out recipes geared towards feeding a crowd. It is often easy to find large quantity recipes for basic dishes such as lasagna and mashed potatoes. But what do you do if you have your heart set on using your favorite 4-serving recipe for Corn and Black Bean Polenta for a party of 25?

Even for expert cooks, modifying a recipe for large quantity cooking is not just a matter of endless multiplications. If you expand a recipe too much--you are bound to run into trouble and end up with an off tasting or a poorly flavored dish.

For a basic dish like mashed potatoes, it would be acceptable to multiply all of the ingredients in a 4-serving recipe by two, thus doubling the recipe to serve 8. However, recipes are not indefinitely expandable (or shrinkable for that matter) and enlarging a recipe any more then 2-4 times is not

recommended.

You may also use recipe converters which are easily found online. The converters however, simply "do the math", multiplying each ingredient amount by the increased number of servings you enter into the converter. It does not take into account, for example, the pungency or texture of the ingredients. If a 4-serving recipe calls for 1 tablespoon of finely chopped rosemary and you want to triple the recipe to serve 12; 3 tablespoons of rosemary will probably overwhelm all the other flavors and seasonings in the dish.

It is a good idea to be cautious when multiplying ingredients like salt, flour, cornstarch, eggs, seafood, meats, robust herbs, oils, onions, garlic, celery and peppers. Some ingredients will impart enough flavor, texture or body when only increased a fraction. In addition some of these ingredients can be added a little at a time as you continually check for taste.

What if you want to serve 25 people with a not-so-simple, 4-serving recipe with numerous ingredients? Doubling or tripling more complex recipes could get complicated. One trick is to batch cook. Batch cooking requires planning ahead and cooking in advance. It may also mean freezing prepared dishes. It is also a matter of "doing the math".

To serve 25 with a 4-serving recipe, you can cook 5-6 individual batches of that recipe or, you can expand the recipe (no more then 2-4 times) and cook in batches accordingly. For example, to serve 25 from a 4-serving recipe, double the recipe to 8 and cook three batches or, triple it and cook two batches. To serve 18 with a 6-serving recipe, cook it three times or cook one 6-serving batch and one batch that has been doubled to serve 12. You get the idea.

It is almost impossible to double or triple recipe ingredients for cakes, cookies, pie dough, or breads, without meeting with utter disaster. It's a chemistry thing. Instead, prepare a single batch repeatedly until you have enough food to feed your guests. Again, cooking in advance is the key.

Chances are you can successfully double or triple the ingredients of recipes for individual appetizers, such as stuffed mushrooms or crostini; and for snack mixes, dips, salsas, punches, one serving-size pieces of meat, poultry or fish, tossed salads, pasta salads and vegetables dishes.

If you are cooking for a crowd of 25 or more you will most likely serve buffet style. It is the best way to serve larger crowds. On a buffet of numerous dishes, people will take smaller portions of each in order to sample everything. Also, not everyone will sample every dish. This means that every dish

you prepare need not serve 25. You need only prepare a few large quantity dishes. Look for recipes that serve 8-12 and double them (or not).

With a calculator and a little ingredient know-how you can comfortably convert most of your party food recipes and present a tantalizing menu to your

guests.

Have fun!

Debra Haydel

Debra Haydel is the publisher of http://www.chef-menus.com. This site is packed with information and tips on party menu planning. Not just recipes but coordinated, seasonal menus for all special occasions. Learn more about cooking for a crowd and creating party food with flavor and flare.

Top 10 Thanksgiving Turkey Recipes for Holiday Cooking

The holidays always mean family and FOOD! The turkey recipe is key to a good meal. Here are 10 of the top turkey recipes for your holiday meal. These recipes range from traditional to unique and there is even a beginner turkey recipe!

Recipe #1

Traditional Oven Turkey

Kraft Foods© Recipe

1 frozen turkey (12 lb.), thawed

3 Tbsp. oil

1/2 tsp. salt

1/2 tsp. pepper

2 Tbsp. fresh or 2 tsp. dried herbs, such as thyme, sage or rosemary

3 cups water

Thaw turkey completely before grilling. To thaw, place turkey on tray in refrigerator. Refrigerate until thawed, allowing 24 hours of thawing time for every 4 pounds of turkey.

PREHEAT grill to medium-high heat. Remove neck and giblets from turkey. Rinse outside of turkey as well as inside the cavity; pat dry with paper towels. Tuck the wings under the back. Place turkey, breast side up, on roasting rack in large disposable aluminum foil pan.

RUB outside of turkey with oil. Season with salt and pepper. Sprinkle with herbs. Place pan on grate of grill. Add water to pan, then close the lid of the grill.

GRILL turkey 2 to 2-1/2 hours or until meat thermometer registers 180°F when inserted in the thickest part of the thigh and 170°F when inserted in the thickest part of the breast, adding additional water to the pan as needed to prevent the drippings from burning and to have enough liquid remaining in the pan after turkey is cooked for use in making gravy. Remove turkey from grill; let stand 15 to 20 minutes before carving. Meanwhile, use pan drippings to make gravy, if desired.

For extra flavor, stuff the turkey cavity with a peeled onion, celery stalks, lemon slices and/or fresh herb bundles before grilling.

Recipe #2

Turducken

Foster Farms© Recipe

This is a turkey stuffed with a duck, stuffed with a chicken layered with dressing.

INGREDIENTS

3 pounds Foster Farms Whole Young Chicken

salt and pepper to taste

Creole seasoning to taste

1 (4 pound) duck, boned

16 pounds Foster Farms Fresh Whole Turkey, boned

DIRECTIONS

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). Lay the boned chicken skin-side down on a platter and season liberally with salt, pepper and Creole seasoning. Lay the boned duck skin-side down on top of the chicken and season liberally with salt, pepper and Creole seasoning. Cover and refrigerate.

2. Lay the boned turkey skin-side down on a flat surface. Cover with a layer of cold Sausage and Oyster Dressing and push the dressing into the leg and wing cavities so they will look as if they still have bones in them.

3. Lay the duck on top of the turkey skin-side down and cover it with a layer of cold dressing. Lay the chicken on top of the duck skin-side down and cover it with a layer of cold dressing.

4. With the help of an assistant, bring the edges of the turkey skin up and fasten them together with toothpicks. Use the kitchen string to lace around the toothpicks to help hold the stuffed turkey together. Carefully place the turducken, breast up in a large roasting pan.

5. Roast covered for 4 hours or until the turducken is golden brown. Continue to roast uncovered for 1 hour or until a meat thermometer inserted through the thigh registers 180 degrees F. and a thermometer inserted through the stuffing registers 165 degrees F. Check the turducken every few hours to baste and remove excess liquid. There will be enough pan juices for a gallon of gravy. Carve and serve.

Recipe #3

Holiday Champagne Turkey

Foster Farms© Recipe

Summary

A bottle of champagne is the secret to this moist turkey stuffed with apples and baked in an oven bag.

INGREDIENTS

1 (12 pound) Foster Farms Fresh Whole Turkey, neck and giblets removed

1/2 cup butter, cubed

2 apples, cored and halved

1 tablespoon garlic powder

salt and pepper to taste

2/3 (750 milliliter) bottle champagne

DIRECTIONS

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).

2. Rinse turkey, and pat dry. Gently loosen turkey breast skin, and insert pieces of butter between the skin and breast. Place apples inside the turkey's cavity. Sprinkle with garlic powder, salt, and pepper. Place turkey in a roasting bag, and pour champagne over the inside and outside of the bird. Close bag, and place turkey in a roasting pan.

3. Bake turkey 3 to 3 1/2 hours in the preheated oven, or until the internal temperature is 180 degrees F (85 degrees C) when measured in the meatiest part of the thigh. Remove turkey from bag, and let stand for at least 20 minutes before carving.

Recipe #4

Perfect Turkey

Summary

This is a perfect recipe for a moist, flavorful holiday bird! Plan the time to brine the bird overnight - it's worth the extra effort!

INGREDIENTS

1 (18 pound) Foster Farms Fresh Whole Turkey, neck and giblets removed

2 cups kosher salt

1/2 cup butter, melted

2 large onions, peeled and chopped

4 carrots, peeled and chopped

4 stalks celery, chopped

2 sprigs fresh thyme

1 bay leaf

1 cup dry white wine

DIRECTIONS

1. Rub the turkey inside and out with the kosher salt. Place the bird in a large stock pot, and cover with cold water. Place in the refrigerator, and allow the turkey to soak in the salt and water mixture 12 hours, or overnight.

2. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Thoroughly rinse the turkey, and discard the brine mixture.

3. Brush the turkey with 1/2 the melted butter. Place breast side down on a roasting rack in a shallow roasting pan. Stuff the turkey cavity with 1 onion, 1/2 the carrots, 1/2 the celery, 1 sprig of thyme, and the bay leaf. Scatter the remaining vegetables and thyme around the bottom of the roasting pan, and cover with the white wine.

4. Roast uncovered 3 1/2 to 4 hours in the preheated oven, until the internal temperature of the thigh reaches 180 degrees F (85 degrees C). Carefully turn the turkey breast side up about 2/3 through the roasting time, and brush with the remaining butter. Allow the bird to stand about 30 minutes before carving.

Recipe #5

Latino Lime Glazed Turkey with Chipotle Gravy

Recipe by: Chef/GM Chris Ottens of Novell, a Bon Appetit Management Co.

Citrus Glaze

3/4 Cup unsalted butter

1/2 Cup honey

4 Tablespoons orange zest

4 Tablespoons lime zest

2 Tablespoons fresh thyme, chopped

4 Teaspoons canned chipotle chilies, chopped

1 Tablespoon ground cumin

1 Teaspoon salt

Over medium heat, melt butter in heavy saucepan. Remove pan from heat and stir in honey, orange and lime zests, thyme, chilies, cumin and salt.

Measure 1/2 cup glaze and reserve for gravy. Cover and chill remaining liquid in freezer for about 30 minutes or until liquid begins to turn firm but is still spreadable.

Vegetables

2 Tablespoons unsalted butter

4-1/2 Cups chopped sweet onions

1 Packet giblets (turkey neck, gizzard and heart)

2 Cups coarsely chopped peeled carrots

2 Cups coarsely chopped celery (with leaves)

1-1/2 Cups chopped plum tomatoes

Over medium-high heat, melt butter in large nonstick pan. Add onions and reserved turkey parts.

Sauté until onions are deep brown. Add carrots, celery and tomatoes to skillet and toss to blend.

Glazed Turkey

22 to 24-pound WHOLE TURKEY, fresh or frozen (thawed)

9 Cups TURKEY STOCK

Set a small rack in a large shallow roasting pan and place cooked vegetables with turkey parts around rack.

Blot turkey dry with paper towels. At the neck end, gently loosen skin from the turkey breast without totally detaching the skin. Rub 1/2-cup citrus glaze under skin. Replace the skin.

Fold neck skin and fasten to the back with skewers. Fold the wings under the back of the turkey. Return legs to tucked position.

Place turkey, breast side up, on the rack. Brush an additional 1/3-cup citrus glaze over top and sides of turkey. Reserve any remaining glaze. Sprinkle turkey with salt and pepper.

Loosely tent the turkey and roast turkey in a preheated 400 degree F oven for 30 minutes.

Add 1-cup poultry broth to pan and reduce oven temperature to 350 degrees F.

Secure foil snugly around turkey and continue to roast for 1-1/4 hours. The foil will prevent the honey-coated turkey from excessive browning.

Add 1-cup poultry broth to pan every 30 minutes until turkey reaches an internal temperature of 180 degrees F in the thigh. Remove the foil during the last 15-20 minutes to brown the turkey.

Remove turkey from the oven and allow it to stand for 20 minutes before carving.

Chipotle Gravy

1/2 Cup flour

1 Cup TURKEY STOCK

Strain pan drippings, pressing vegetables to extract liquid. Discard solids in strainer.

Spoon fat from top of juices and discard fat. Add enough broth to pan juices to equal 6 cups.

Stir reserved 1/2-cup citrus glaze in heavy large saucepan over medium heat until melted.

Gradually add flour and whisk 1 minute, allowing flour to slightly brown. Gradually whisk in pan juices. Bring to gentle boil, whisking until smooth.

Reduce heat to medium; simmer until sauce thickens slightly, about 5 minutes. Season gravy with salt and pepper.

Recipe #6

Holiday Turkey with Sage and Sherried Cider Gravy

Recipe provided by Volk Enterprises, Inc.

Ingredients 2 12-Pound WHOLE TURKEYS, fresh or frozen (thawed)

As needed salt and freshly ground black pepper

1 Large lemon, cut in quarters

14 Large fresh sage leaves

4 Slices multi-grain bread

1 Large Granny Smith apple, wedged

1 Large sweet onion, wedged

1 Cup unsalted butter, softened

1 Pint water

1 Pint dry sherry

1 Pint sparkling apple cider

2/3 Cup flour

1++ Quart TURKEY BROTH As needed assorted fresh sage leaves Roasted Turkeys

1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees F.

2. Rinse and pat turkeys dry, inside and out. Season turkeys inside and out with salt and pepper.

3. Place 1 lemon wedge, 1 sage leaf and 1 bread slice into each neck cavity. Fold neck skin under body and fasten with a skewer.

4. Fill each body cavity with apples and onions, 3 sage leaves and remaining lemon wedge and bread slice. Truss turkeys.

5. Rub turkeys with remaining sage. Spread turkeys with butter and arrange on rack in roasting pans.

6. Roast turkeys in middle of preheated 425 degree F oven 30 minutes. Reduce temperature to 325 degrees F and baste turkeys with pan juices. Add water to roasting pan and continue roasting, basting every 20 minutes. Continue to roast 2-1/2 to 3 hours more, or until the internal temperature reaches 180 degrees F in the thigh.

7. Transfer turkeys to carving board, reserving juices in roasting pan; discard string. Keep turkeys warm, covered loosely with foil.

Sherried Cider Gravy

1. Skim fat from pan juices, reserving 1/2 cup fat.

2. On range top, deglaze pan with sherry over moderately high heat, scraping up brown bits. Stir in cider.

3. Bring sherry mixture to a boil and remove pan from heat.

4. In a heavy saucepan, whisk together reserved fat and flour and cook roux over moderately low heat. Whisk together for about 3 minutes.

5. Add sherry mixture and stock in a stream, whisking to prevent lumping. Simmer, whisking occasionally for about 10 minutes.

6. Whisk in additional stock to thin gravy if desired.

7. Season gravy with salt and pepper.

8. Discard the cavity ingredients before serving. Garnish turkey with sage.

9. NOTE: Provides 32-34 servings at 6 ounces per portion.

Recipe #7

CAJUN DEEP-FRIED WILD TURKEY

Recipe from John Maynard (Courtesy of NWTF)

1 (10-15 lb.) unstuffed turkey

5 gallons peanut oil

2 tbsp. Cajun seasoning

1 stick butter or margarine

1/2 tsp. garlic powder

1/2 tsp. cayenne pepper (optional)

Pour peanut oil into a 10 gallon pot. Put pot on propane cooker and heat oil to 375 degrees. Have turkey completely thawed and dry turkey thoroughly. Tie two cotton strings around the carcass so bird can be easily lifted out of oil. Carefully submerge turkey in oil. Deep fry for 3 1/2 to 4 1/2 minutes per pound and cook until turkey floats to the top. Remove bird from oil, and immediately dust heavily with cajun seasoning. Melt butter or margarine, and add to it garlic powder and cayenne, if desired. Brush turkey with butter mixture. Allow to cool 20 to 30 minutes before carving. Yield 12 to 16 servings.

Recipe #8

Honey Smoked Turkey

Sweet and light, this is the easiest way to cook a big bird! It will be the best turkey you have ever had. The breast is moist and juicy, and the honey makes a great thin sauce. I hope you enjoy it as much as my friends and family do when I make it. I never have any leftovers! Enjoy!

INGREDIENTS

1 (12 pound) Fresh Whole Turkey

2 tablespoons chopped fresh sage

2 tablespoons ground black pepper

2 tablespoons celery salt

2 tablespoons chopped fresh basil

2 tablespoons vegetable oil

1 (12 ounce) jar honey

1/2 pound mesquite wood chips

DIRECTIONS

1. Preheat grill for high heat. If you are using a charcoal grill, use about twice the normal amount of charcoal. Soak wood chips in a pan of water, and set next to the grill.

2. Remove neck and giblets from turkey. Rinse the bird and pat dry. Place in a large disposable roasting pan.

3. In a medium bowl, mix together sage, ground black pepper, celery salt, basil, and vegetable oil. Pour mixture evenly over the turkey. Turn the turkey breast side down in the pan, and tent loosely with aluminum foil.

4. Place the roasting pan on the preheated grill. Throw a handful of the wood chips onto the coals. Close the lid, and cook for 1 hour.

5. Throw about 2 more handfuls of soaked wood chips on the fire. Drizzle 1/2 the honey over the bird, and replace the foil. Close the lid of the grill, and continue cooking 1 1/2 to 2 hours, or until internal temperature reaches 180 degrees F (80 degrees C) in the thickest part of the thigh.

6. Uncover turkey, and carefully turn it breast side up in the roasting pan. Baste with remaining honey. Leave the turkey uncovered, and cook 15 minutes. The cooked honey will be very dark.

Recipe # 9

Maple Roast Turkey and Gravy

A New England style turkey with maple syrup. It makes for a mellow Thanksgiving dinner. Try stuffing it with Cranberry, Sausage and Apple Stuffing. If fresh marjoram is unavailable, 2 teaspoons of dried marjoram may be substituted.

INGREDIENTS

Turkey

14 pounds Fresh Whole Turkey, neck and giblets reserved

2 cups chopped onion

1 cup chopped celery

1 cup coarsely chopped carrots

Maple Butter Mixutre

2 cups apple cider

1/3 cup real maple syrup

2 tablespoons chopped fresh thyme

2 tablespoons chopped fresh marjoram

2 1/2 teaspoons grated lemon zest

3/4 cup butter

alt and ground black pepper to taste

Gravy

2 cups chicken stock

3 tablespoons all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon chopped fresh thyme

1 bay leaf

2 tablespoons apple brandy (optional)

DIRECTIONS

1. Boil apple cider and maple syrup in a heavy saucepan over medium-high heat until reduced to 1/2 cup (about 20 minutes). Remove from heat and mix in 1/2 of the thyme and marjoram and all of the lemon zest. Add the butter, and whisk until melted. Add salt and ground pepper to taste. Cover and refrigerate until cold (syrup can be made up to 2 days ahead).

2. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). Place oven rack in the lowest third of oven.

3. Wash and dry turkey, and place in a large roasting pan. Slide hand under skin of the breast to loosen. Rub 1/2 cup of the maple butter mix under the breast skin. If planning on stuffing turkey, do so now. Rub 1/4 cup of the maple butter mixture over the outside of the turkey. With kitchen string, tie legs of turkey together loosely.

4. Arrange the chopped onion, chopped celery, and chopped carrot around the turkey in the roasting pan. If desired, the neck and giblets may be added to the vegetables. Sprinkle the remaining thyme and marjoram over the vegetables, and pour the chicken stock into the pan.

5. Roast turkey 30 minutes in the preheated oven. Reduce oven temperature to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C), and cover turkey loosely with foil. Continue to roast, about 3 to 4 hours unstuffed or 4 to 5 hours stuffed, until the internal temperature of the thigh reaches 180 degrees F (80 degrees C) and stuffing reaches 165 degrees F (75 degrees C). Transfer turkey to a platter, and cover with foil. Reserve pan mixture for gravy. Allow turkey to sit about 25 minutes before removing stuffing and carving.

6. To Make Gravy: Strain pan juices into a measuring cup. Spoon fat from juices. Add enough chicken stock to make 3 cups. Transfer liquid to a heavy saucepan and bring to a boil. In a small bowl, mix reserved maple butter mixture with flour to form a paste, and whisk into the broth. Stir in thyme, bay leaf, and apple brandy. Boil until reduced and slightly thickened. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

Recipe #10

Easy Beginner's Turkey with Stuffing

This easy to make turkey is great for beginners, but experts will find it equally delicious. Adjust the cooking time for different sized birds.

INGREDIENTS

12 pounds Fresh Whole Turkey

2 tablespoons vegetable oil

Stuffing Mix

1 (6 ounce) package dry bread stuffing mix

1 cup water

1 tablespoon butter

1 cup chopped celery

1/4 cup chopped onion

4 slices toasted white bread, torn into small pieces

salt and pepper to taste

DIRECTIONS

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Rinse turkey, remove giblets and place in a shallow roasting pan.

2. Prepare stuffing according to package directions. Mix in water.

3. Melt butter in a medium saucepan over medium heat, and slowly cook and stir the celery and onion until tender.

4. Mix celery, onion, and toasted bread pieces into the stuffing, and season with salt and pepper. Loosely scoop stuffing into the turkey body cavity and neck cavity. Rub the exterior of the turkey with vegetable oil.

5. Loosely cover turkey with aluminum foil, and roast 3 1/2 to 4 hours in the preheated oven, until the thickest part of the thigh reaches 180 degrees F (85 degrees C) and the interior of the stuffing reaches 165 degrees F (70 degrees C). Remove foil during the last half hour of cooking to brown the bird.

Nicole Anderson offer Free information and FREE RECIPES at Food-recipes.com [http://www.diabetic-food-recipes.com/Thanksgivingrecipes.html]. Download free recipes and get great cooking tips!

Thanksgiving Vegetarian Cooking

Don't panic! There's plenty of time before thanksgiving, seven days to be exact. It's just a dinner for, you know the whole lot: parents, grand parents, in-laws, picky toddlers and the teenagers who live on French-fries and insist that they do eat vegetables. I brought this upon myself.

You know how it is yearly, during the holidays when the table is divided into categories and sub-categories? Oh no. I'm not talking about appetizer, soup and the main course. I'm talking about the likes of: no dairy for such and such, no sugar for the diabetics, no vegetables for the teenage punks, no gluten for the allergic and no meat for us, the vegetarians. You see, throughout the year during family get-togethers we're all sitting on the same table but eating something completely different from each other. So I said, "Okay. I'm hosting Thanksgiving dinner this year and I'm going to make sure we all eat the same thing."

I'm determined to take on this task with an upbeat optimism. Oh Google show me some love!

It really isn't hard to prepare healthy dinners or vegetarian meals. The World Wide Web is full of answers. Thanksgiving vegetarian recipes are available. The beauty of preparing a vegetarian menu is that it caters to the allergic (think wheat allergy), to the diabetic (sugar free sweet potato pie, oh yeah it's possible with coconut sugar!) These healthy recipes will surprise you because they do measure up with standard recipes. They taste as sweet and flavorful and the texture won't give it away that what you're eating is the healthy version.

Pumpkins, potatoes, sweet potatoes abound during this month thus the pilgrims also prepared dishes out of these. Of course, nothing beats a dish that is made from fresh and organic vegetables! Choose recipes with simple steps and easy to follow instructions so that you will not be distracted, going to and fro YouTube and Google as to how exactly it is done (chiffonade anyone?). I am happy to share quick and easy recipes in case you fall out of time with the other dishes, I can whip something up to help fill up the menu. Try to stay away from canned vegetables. After all, Thanksgiving is a celebration of bountiful fresh produce from Mother Earth.

In looking for these thanksgiving vegetarian recipes, I've kept in mind the aging loved ones, low-cholesterol dishes. I've also included a high protein healthy meal for the general crowd, finger foods that can be healthy snacks for kids and vegan pumpkin pies for everyone and no one has to know. Sssshhh!

I'm going to make sure that this healthy dinner will be a memorable family Thanksgiving. Bring the goodness of Mother Earth to your table with your Thanksgiving vegetarian dishes and let this be a beginning of a new tradition. Making tradition out of healthy eating.

Happy Thanksgiving to you all! (and to the Turkey that won't be sitting on my table).

Cooking has been my passion since I was a little kid. Thanks to Google and the almighty internet for giving me the opportunity to share my passion with rest of the world.

Thanksgiving and other healthy vegetarian meal ideas at http://www.highprotein-vegetarian.com/