MR. FOOD TEST KITCHEN HERB BUTTER ROASTED TURKEY MONDAY 11-20-17
1:35
The trick to having the most flavor-packed and juiciest Turkey is only minutes away. It’ll make your bird the talk of the table.
Thanksgiving is just around the corner, which means you’ll probably be picking up your turkey in the next couple of days. If it’s frozen, here’s some tips on thawing it. When it comes to thawing, there are basically two ways: Either, place it on a rimmed baking sheet and put it in the fridge. (That will take about 1 day for every 4 pounds) Or you can keep it in its original packaging, put it breast side down in the sink and cover it with cold water. You’ll need to change the water every 30 minutes or so. This way the same 12 pound bird will thaw in about 6 hours. It’s about 30 minutes a pound, rather than 3 days in the fridge. When it’s time to cook it, after placing it in a roasting pan, carefully separate the skin from the breast meat and stuff it with seasoned butter. Then stuff the cavity with some onions and celery, and make sure you secure the legs and slather the skin with even more of our seasoned butter before roasting it off. When it’s golden and the internal temperature in the breast is 180 degrees, it’s done. Between all the buttery richness under and over the skin, and all the basting, this promises to be one of the juiciest, and most flavorful birds ever. I do hope you’ll go online and get the recipe for our, “Herb Butter Roasted Turkey,” along with our thawing instructions so you can have a turkey that is truly the star of this year’s feast. I’m Howard in the Mr. Food Test Kitchen, where today we found a “juicer way” for you to say…“OOH IT’S SO GOOD!!â”
MR. FOOD TEST KITCHEN MASHED POTATO CASSEROLE TUESDAY 11-21-17
1:35
Are your mashed potatoes worthy of earning the most-requested side dish award? If not, the ones we’re making today certainly are.
When it comes to Thanksgiving there are certain must-haves. Of course, you got to have turkey. As for the sides, no traditional turkey day feast is complete without mashed potatoes and some sort of stuffing. So, today were focusing on a mashed potato casserole that’s super easy. Plus, since you can make it ahead of time, it’ll help you avoid a lot of last-minute stress. We begin by boiling about 4 pounds of peeled potatoes until they’re fork tender. After draining them, we place them in a large bowl, and beat them with our secret ingredient, some cream cheese. Once they’re smooth, we add some chopped onion, a couple eggs, a bit of flour, and a little salt and pepper. After this gets mixed, it goes into a casserole dish and gets baked off. And to take this over the top, we sprinkle it with crispy fried onions. After this gets passed around the table the first time, don’t be surprised when everyone starts asking for you to pass them around again…and again! Drizzled with gravy or not, these are amazing. The recipe for our “Mashed Potato Casserole” is online now and is one that shouldn’t be missed. I’m Howard, in the Mr. Food Test Kitchen, where today we found a “creamy and comforting way” for you to say…“OOH IT’S SO GOOD!!â”
MR. FOOD TEST KITCHEN CLASSIC PAN GRAVY WEDNESDAY 11-22-17
1:28
Join us for some tips and tricks on how to avoid that dreaded Thanksgiving dinner disaster. We’ll make you look like a pro.
When most of us start planning our Thanksgiving feast, we often envision our table looking like a Norman Rockwell painting. Although it’s nice to aspire to that, it’s not unusual for there to be a few “mishaps” along the way. That’s why we’re sharing some tips and tricks on how to overcome the most common Thanksgiving dinner mistakes. Forgot to thaw your turkey? Rather than panic, place it breast-side down in your sink (with the wrapper still on), and fill your sink with cold water. Change the water every half hour and a 15 pound bird will be thawed in about 7 hours. If your mashed potatoes are lumpy no matter how much you mashed them, it means they weren’t cooked long enough. No problem, place them in a pot, add some milk, and cook them over low heat until the lumps are gone. Now, if your turkey or stuffing is a bit dry, this is when you’ll appreciate having some really good gravy on hand. Think of the gravy as your secret weapon to cover up any mishaps that might happen along the way. Plus, with how flavor-packed it is, it’s hard to imagine Thanksgiving dinner without it. To get our recipe for “Classic Pan Gravy,” along with an entire guide to fixing Thanksgiving dinner mistakes, simply visit our website. I’m Howard, in the Mr. Food Test Kitchen, where today we found a “picture-perfect way” for you to say…“OOH IT’S SO GOOD!!â”
MR. FOOD TEST KITCHEN PUMPKIN PIE TRIFLE THURSDAY 11-23-17
1:34
Happy Thanksgiving! I’ve got an idea to turn your pumpkin pie into a real showstopper. And yes, there’s still plenty of time.
Happy Thanksgiving! By now, you probably have most of your feast underway. The turkey is in the oven, the sides are all set, and the rolls just need to be warmed. But what about dessert? If you’re thinking about serving a plain-old, store-bought, pumpkin pie, let me show you a quick last-minute way to turn it into a show-stopping trifle. If your pie needs to be baked, go ahead and bake it. After it cools or if you’re starting with one from the bakery, cut it into one inch chunks. Now we set those aside while we mix together some whipped topping or real whipped cream with a bit of maple syrup. The hard part here is not eating the whole bowl before assembling this. We start by lining the bottom of a serving bowl with some of the whipped cream. On top of that goes about half the pie. Then, another layer of whipped cream and that gets topped with more pie. We finish it off with dollops of the whipped cream and sprinkle on some chopped walnuts. Look how fun and festive this is. Only we know that this started with a store-bought pumpkin pie. It will only take one bite before you’re hooked on the combo of pumpkin and maple. And yes, you still have time to throw this together. Just go to our website and type in “Pumpkin Pie Trifle.” I’m Howard, in the Mr. Food Test Kitchen, where today we found a “tasty last-minute way” for you to say…“OOH IT’S SO GOOD!!â”
MR. FOOD TEST KITCHEN TURKEY DAY LEFTOVER SLIDERS FRIDAY 11-24-17 1:26
If your fridge is as stuffed today as your belly was yesterday, I’m guessing you’re going to be eating lots of leftovers. So, let me show you how to jazz them up.
I hope you had a great Thanksgiving. If your fridge is as stuffed today, as your belly was yesterday, then I’m guessing leftovers are on the menu at your house for the next couple of days. And rather than serving them as-is, I’ve got an idea that I think everyone’s going to love. The first thing we do is split a package of either sweet Hawaiian rolls or heat and serve rolls in half like this. Then, we slather them with some mayo that we’ve mixed with some leftover cranberry sauce. Now, pile on some turkey. That can be leftover breast that we slice or dark meat that we pulled off the bone. Next goes a layer of leftover stuffing. You want to sort of crumble it as you’re putting it on. And since the cranberry mayo is so good, we’ll slather that over the top cut-side as well and bake it covered. It’s the perfect treat after a day of Black Friday shopping. Just imagine serving this with some leftover gravy for dunking. With each bite of our “Turkey Day Leftover Sliders” you get all the heartiness of a Thanksgiving feast with the ease of a grab and go slider. And yes, the recipe’s online now. I’m Howard, with Kelly, in the Mr. Food Test Kitchen, where today we found a “leftover-licious way” for you to say…“OOH IT’S SO GOOD!!â”
MR. FOOD TEST KITCHEN HAMBURGER SOUP MONDAY 11-27-17 1:24
It’s Cyber Monday and we have a recipe that’s so darn easy, you can spend all day finding the best deals online and still have plenty of time to put a tasty dinner on the table.
It’s Cyber Monday, which means there’s all sorts of deals online so we can save big without ever leaving our house. And to help maximize our time online, we have a quick throw-together hamburger soup that’s made with ingredients we probably have on hand. We start by browning ground beef and some chopped onions in a soup pot for a few minutes. After draining off the liquid, we add some beef broth, a bit of tomato paste, a can of diced tomatoes, and a package of frozen peas and carrots. And to give this lots of taste, we toss in a bit of dry mustard, garlic powder, and salt and black pepper.
We give this a good stir and let it simmer for about 20 minutes, until all the flavors come together.
It’s that easy! And whether you dig into it as-is or you top it with some shredded cheddar … boy, are you in for a burger-licious treat. So, while you’re online snatching up all the deals, make sure you visit our website and print out a copy of what we call “Hamburger Soup.” I’m Howard, in the Mr. Food Test Kitchen, where today we found a “time and money saving way” for you to say…
“OOH IT’S SO GOOD!!â”
MR. FOOD TEST KITCHEN RED VELVET PANCAKES TUESDAY 11-28-17 1:35
It’s the Monday after Thanksgiving and we’re seeing red everywhere, including our pancakes.
We’re just getting rid of the last of our Thanksgiving leftovers and like magic…everywhere we look, all we see is the red and the green, and the sparkle of Christmas. And with Christmas less than a month away I thought I’d share an idea that you may want to try out in the next week or so that would be perfect for Christmas morning. It’s a spin-off on my favorite, Red Velvet cake. We start out by mixing a few dry ingredients together; some pancake mix, cocoa powder, and a bit of sugar. To that we add some milk, a couple of eggs, vanilla and a splash of red food color. After we mix that up and the batter is nice and smooth, we pour it onto a hot griddle, or skillet, and make them like we would any other pancake. And if you have little ones at home, maybe make a few silver dollar size just for them. And since you’ll need to make these in batches, you’ll want to keep them warm on a cookie sheet in the oven. Now rather than serving these with syrup, these are even better when we top them with an outrageous homemade cream cheese icing. I hope you’ll go online and get the recipe for our, “Red Velvet Pancakes.” And since you’ll have the recipe early enough, it’ll give you plenty of time to try these out before Christmas morning. I’m Howard, with Kelly, in the Mr. Food Test Kitchen, where today we found a “festive way” for you to say…“OOH IT’S SO GOOD!!â”
MR. FOOD TEST KITCHEN SPAGHETTI CARBONARA WEDNESDAY 11-29-17 1:35
I hope you’re hungry because today’s recipe is one that you’ll definitely want seconds of…maybe even thirds!
Pretty much everyone loves spaghetti, but sometimes wouldn’t it be nice to top it with something other than a traditional red sauce? Well, today, we’re doing that by making what is known as Spaghetti Carbonara. And once you taste the creamy-bacony sauce that makes this come to life, there’s a pretty good chance you’re not going to rush back to your bottled red sauce. We start by cooking a package of spaghetti. Once it’s tender, we drain it really well. While that’s draining, we sauté some bacon, chopped onions, and garlic in a skillet, until the bacon is crisp and the onions start to caramelize. Now, in the pasta pot, we whisk together some half-n-half, Parmesan cheese, an egg, and a bit of salt and pepper. Once the sauce starts to thicken up, we add our cooked pasta and the bacon mixture. A quick toss and it’s ready to serve. That’s all there is to it. Maybe top it with more grated Parm and some chopped parsley, and it’s time to ring the dinner bell. Whether you serve this as a main dish or as a side, it’s sure to be the talk of the table. To get the recipe for our “Spaghetti Carbonara” all you have to do is visit our website. I’m Howard, with Kelly, in the Mr. Food Test Kitchen, where today we found a “fork twirling-good” way for you to say…“OOH IT’S SO GOOD!!â”
MR. FOOD TEST KITCHEN CREAMY CHICKEN AND RICE THURSDAY 11-30-17
1:35
If you have so much to do with so little time to do it, then put your slow cooker to work. And the results are a gift.
Right about now, if you look at your to-do list it’s pretty easy to freak out. I mean, with the holidays just around the corner, there seems to be so much to do and so little time to do it. So let me share with you a dinner favorite that’s super easy and fill-you-up good where your slow cooker does all the work. All we do is coat a couple pounds of chicken drumsticks with … get this … the seasoning that comes in a box of long grain and wild rice mix. After they’re coated, we brown them in a hot skillet until they’re golden. Now we dump the box of rice and the rest of the seasoning mix in a slow cooker along with a good amount of water, a can of cream of chicken soup, a splash of white wine, or chicken broth, and a bit of salt and pepper. After giving that a quick mix, we put the chicken on top, cover it and set it to low. That’ll give you plenty of time to run a few errands, wrap some gifts or maybe bake a batch of Christmas cookies. Come dinner time, everyone will come running because this smells so darn good. And although it’s simple, it’s one of those meals that you’ll want to add to your weekly dinner routine. So go online and get the recipe for our, “Creamy Chicken and Rice,” which is not only comfort perfect, it will allow you the time to check a few things off your to-do list. I’m Howard in the Mr. Food Test Kitchen, where today we found a “tasty time-saving way” for you to say…“OOH IT’S SO GOOD!!â”
MR. FOOD TEST KITCHEN MRS. CLAUS’ HOLIDAY COOKIE CUPS FRIDAY 12-01-17