holidays

Free Turkey + $10 off ButcherBox!

This is always my favorite time of the year to be in the kitchen. Not only do we get to start focusing on soups and stews to break that oncoming winter chill, but it’s roasting season.

Every year my friends at ButcherBox run a one-day promotion where they offer a free turkey plus $10 off any new signups with their program. The turkey is 10-14lbs, all-natural, and animal welfare certified — and will ship right to your home in time for Thanksgiving.

We’ve been using ButcherBox for several years now. They ship monthly curated boxes of 100% grass-fed beef, free-range organic chicken, heritage breed pork, and wild-caught seafood. You can customize the box for specific types of meat (like an all-beef box), or even customize which cuts you want to receive. Each box ranges from 9-14 lbs, which is enough to feed my family of four for at least a week (but often more). I like the program because we can decide whether to be surprised with new cuts of meat that challenge us to come up with new creations, or fall back on our favorite cuts — all conveniently shipped to our door.  They’ve also recently expanded their wild-caught seafood selection, which now includes Alaskan sockeye salmon, Alaskan cod, sea scallops, haddock, and cold-cracked Maine lobster.

Click here to sign up, and be sure to enter the code “TURKEY10” to get an additional $10 off. The turkey deal will be available until November 15th, but the $10 off code will only work today (November 6th).

Wondering what to do with the turkey when it arrives? I have you covered with my Simple Roast Turkey recipe (also featured in The Heritage Cookbook).

Looking for accompaniments? Check these out:
Berry Preserves
Basic Mashed Potatoes
Crispy Roast Potatoes
Devilish Eggs
Gluten-free Stuffing
New Brunswick-style Potato Stuffing

Please note that if you sign up for their service, I may receive a portion of their proceeds at no additional cost to you. Enjoy!

Smoked Standing Rib Roast

Around the holidays, there are three dishes I like to prepare on certain days: turkey (smoked or roasted) for Thanksgiving, ham (citrus and honey glazed) for Christmas, and a rib roast for New Years Day. My traditional rib roast recipe is featured in The Heritage Cookbook, but last weekend I wanted to try out a smoked version of this classic dish, which I’m sharing today.

I tested this recipe on my new pellet smoker (full review here), but it would work well on a charcoal or gas smoker setup, too, which I detail at the bottom of this post. Don’t have a smoker? No worries, this is the exact method I make for an oven roast, and I simply put it in the oven at 180F for Step #2. It comes out great that way, too.

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Gluten-Free Stuffing

This week is a big cooking week for most Americans, so you’ll be getting two recipes from me — this one for gluten-free stuffing, and another surprise tomorrow.

We’re headed to our friends Matt and Stacy’s house for Thanksgiving this week and so I used this past weekend as an opportunity to test and photograph this stuffing recipe ahead of the big day. (Also, I wanted to try out my new blue carbon steel roaster from Made In Cookware.)

This stuffing (technically a “bread dressing” since it’s not going inside a turkey) is pure classic style; think of it like a supersized version of that boxed stuffing you may or may not have grown up eating. One trick to this recipe is to chop up celery leaves to go with your traditional herbs of sage and parsley; they add a bit of zing. Looking for something a little more unconventional? Try this New Brunswick-style potato stuffing.

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Chicken & Broccoli Bites

I’m going to keep this week’s recipe intro a bit short, because to be honest I’m a little distracted – we welcomed our second child into the world yesterday! His name is Elliott and I’m sure plenty of pics will soon be coming to my various social media platforms.

I recently asked my readers what recipes they’d like me to tackle next, and an overwhelming majority asked for pressure-cooker meals; for those folks, I have something special in store for next week. Meanwhile, a vocal minority asked for appetizers to bring to holiday parties, so I put together this recipe as a fun way to enjoy a classic Chinese takeout dish: Chicken & Broccoli. While not as celebrated as its big brother, Beef & Broccoli, I like the contrast of crisp chicken with a dark sauce. Enjoy!

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Stew for You (or Two)

Recently, I’ve been thinking about living a simpler life. The idea started when I visited Mickey Trescott’s new home in the Willamette Valley over the summer, but it really solidified when we moved all of our things from Maryland to Florida last month – over 14,000 lbs worth of belongings. As we started unpacking boxes, I couldn’t help but think that I just didn’t need so much stuff. The worst part about it? We’re still unpacking.

So for the holidays this year, we’re trying to not buy any objects for each other. Instead, we’re gifting experiences. So this week’s recipe is going to be a little different from your usual Tuesday post; I’m going to walk you through how to make gifts to hand out to people that aren’t stuff. A couple years back I made a few gallons of my barbecue sauce and gave it away as gifts. While I had a lot of fun with that idea, I wanted to do something more immediate and useful – wouldn’t it be better to just gift someone a fully-cooked delicious meal? And thus my idea of Stew for You (or Two) was born. The concept is simple: make a large batch of delicious stew, vacuum-seal it, and give it away as gifts.

I’m particularly in love with my Beef à la Mode recipe from earlier this year, yet I’m sure that its 3.5-hour cook time deters readers from making it often enough. Instead, imagine reheating a vacuum-sealed homemade meal directly in gently simmering water, offering an unbeatable experience in just 20-30 minutes. If you don’t have a vacuum sealer, a resealable mylar bag or Wrap ‘n Boil bag would work well, or even something like this IndieGoGo project would be great.

So read on for the stew recipe and sealing instructions, plus other gift suggestions. Let’s make Stew for You (or Two) go viral.

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I’m in People Magazine!

Just wanted to share some cool news: my Honey and Citrus Glazed Ham recipe is featured in this year’s People Magazine Holiday Entertaining issue! Definitely one of the highlights of my cooking/blogging career so far.

If you get a chance to grab a copy, let me know what you think. I pared down the recipe slightly to appeal to a broader audience, but it still definitely carries my personal touch to it. It’s awesome to see a Paleo recipe in such a widely-circulated magazine! And I must admit, it’s pretty surreal to be able to go into any supermarket right now and grab a picture of yours truly.

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Honey and Citrus Glazed Ham

Ham seems like a simple hunk of meat. All you have to do is buy a cured, pre-sliced ham and warm it up in the oven. Unfortunately, while this is the easiest (and most common) way to get some ham in your belly, it’s not the healthiest option. Your everyday pre-cooked ham is loaded with sugar and nitrates.

I’ve been meaning to tackle an uncured ham for a while, so imagine my delight when US Wellness Meats asked me to write up a recipe for their petite ham. This smoked ham is both sugar and nitrate free, using compassionate certified pork. Its size is also perfect for our family of three – 2.5 lbs of porcine goodness. There was plenty for us to eat, and a good amount of leftovers to boot. For those of you using a cured and/or a spiral-cut ham, don’t worry – this recipe works just fine for them as well.

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