Chef Jeremy Ford's budget friendly shortcut Thanksgiving recipes
Excited to eat a delicious chef-inspired Thanksgiving dinner, but don't want to spend a fortune on your feast? Michelin-starred chef Jeremy Ford has the perfect menu to plan your meal on a budget.
The "Top Chef" season 13 winner, restaurateur, and farm owner joined "Good Morning America" on Monday equipped with some simple recipes up his chef's coat sleeve to help home cooks upgrade store-bought must-have ingredients.
The chef-owner of Salt + Ash at Hawks Cay shared a menu for all the classics under $50 by "utilizing your pantry."
Check out his full recipes below.
Stuffed Buttery Turkey Breast
Directions
For The Stuffing:
1 box Stove Top Stuffing
1 onion diced
1 carrot diced
2 stalks celery diced
1 bunch fresh thyme, de-stemmed
1/4 cup fresh parsley chopped
1/4 cup butter
Method
In a hot pan, add butter and cook for a few minutes until it starts to lightly brown then add your onion, carrot, celery sauté for three minutes, then follow the rest of the normal stove, top recipe, at the end add your fresh thyme and parsley.
For The Turkey:
2-3 lbs. boneless turkey breast
2 tablespoons favorite seasoning (in your pantry)
1/4 cup room temp butter
1 cup stuffing
1 bunch fresh thyme
Method
With a sharp knife cut in the middle of the turkey breast about 70% through the meat but do not cut it all the way in half this way you’ll be able to stuff the turkey breast.
Rub the room, temperature butter all over the exterior of your turkey breast, then season your turkey breast on both sides then place half cup of the stuffing in each breast and roll it over and wrap with plastic wrap and set in the refrigerator overnight.
Cut two large sheets of tinfoil and also rub with the room temp butter, unwrap your turkey breast out of the plastic wrap, add the fresh bunch of thyme to the outside of the turkey breast and then roll up each turkey breast separately and crimp the edges to make sure they are tight.
In a medium high heat pan cook for about two minutes and then rotate until you have rotated all the way around, which is creating a caramelized turkey breast inside, then put into a 350° oven until you reach an internal temperature of 165 degrees.
Turkey Gravy
Ingredients
1/2 cup butter
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
3 cups turkey stock
ground black pepper to taste
Directions
Heat fat from turkey drippings in a saucepan over medium-low heat until liquefied, 2 to 3 minutes. Whisk flour into turkey fat until golden, about 5 minutes.
Whisk liquid from turkey drippings and turkey stock into fat-flour mixture; increase heat to medium and cook, whisking continuously, until gravy is smooth and desired consistency, 5 to 10 minutes. Season gravy with pepper.
Crunchy Herb Potatoes
Ingredients
2 each Idaho Potatoes
1/4 cup fresh Rosemary
1/4 cup fresh Parsley Leaves
1/4 cup lemon Mayo (mix a little lemon juice, worcestershire and cayenne to taste)4 tablespoons Grated Parmesan
Method
Preheat rational oven to 400 degrees.
Wrap each potato in aluminum foil. Bake in the oven for 1 hour.
Once the potatoes are done baking, immediately remove the aluminum foil.
Slice potato in half and open them up. Take them to the fridge to allow them to air dry and cool.
Once potatoes are cold, remove the skin and portion them to the desire size/shape all by hand.
Store them in the fridge unwrapped to allow the potatoes air dry.
In a pot of oil add the potatoes let them get golden brown and crispy and then right at the end cautiously add your rosemary and parsley. This will pop a little bit so stand back so you don’t get any burns.
Pull them out of the fryer season with salt, put them on a plate and drizzle with the lemon mayonnaise, then parmesan.
Creamy Macaroni Cheese
Ingredients
1 pound dried pasta, elbow macaroni
5 tablespoons unsalted butter
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
5 cups whole milk, warmed
1 pound white cheddar cheese, shredded
4 ounces cream cheese
1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt
1/2 teaspoon fresh ground black pepper
Method
Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil, add the pasta, and then follow package directions, but cook 1 minute less than the package calls for. Drain.
Meanwhile, make the creamy cheese sauce. Melt the butter in a large, high-sided pot or Dutch oven over medium heat.
Sprinkle the flour over the melted butter and whisk it into the butter (it will be thick). Continue to whisk until it smells toasted and looks light brown, 1 to 2 minutes.
While whisking, pour in a third of the warm milk. Whisk until smooth (it will thicken), then whisk in another third until smooth, and finally whisk in the rest.
Continue to cook, constantly whisking until the sauce begins to simmer and thickens. The sauce only thickens after it has reached a simmer.
Turn the heat to low then stir in the cream cheese. When the cream cheese is mostly melted into the sauce, stir in the cheddar a handful at a time, until it melts into the sauce. Season with salt and black pepper.
If the flavor does not pop, add a bit more salt. Stir in the cooked pasta. It will look like there is too much sauce, don’t worry. The pasta absorbs the extra moisture as it sits.
Take the pot off the heat, then cover with a lid. Leave for 5 minutes, stir once more, and then serve.
Coconut Arroz Con Leche
Ingredients
2 1/2 cups water
1 cup long-grain white rice
2 cinnamon sticks
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
4 cups coconut milk
1 cup granulated sugar
Pinch cardamom
Ground cinnamon
Method
Combine the water, rice, cinnamon sticks, and salt in a large pot over medium-high heat. Bring to a boil, reduce heat to low, cover, and cook for 15 minutes.
Stir in the coconut milk and sugar. Bring to a boil, reduce heat to low, and cook for 25-30 minutes, stirring often until thickened.
Refrigerate for 2 hours and serve cold.
Garnish with ground cinnamon.
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