Roast Turkey with Sage Butter Recipe

Sage Butter:

8 slices bacon
1 C. butter - room temperature
3 t. dried sage

Turkey:

16 lbs. turkey - or large chicken
3 C. chopped leeks - white & pale green
8 sprigs fresh sage
3 bay leaves - crumbled
4 1/2 C. chicken broth - low sodium

To Prepare Butter:
Cook bacon in heavy large skillet over medium heat until brown and crisp. Transfer bacon to paper towels and drain. Crumble bacon finely.

Mix butter, sage and bacon in medium bowl. Season lightly with salt and pepper. Can be made 2 days ahead. Cover and chill. (Bring to room temperature before using.)

To Prepare Turkey and Gravy:
Pat turkey dry with paper towels. Season cavity with salt and pepper. Place leeks, 8 sage sprigs and bay leaves in cavity.

Slide hand under skin of turkey breast to loosen skin. Spread 1/3 cup sage butter over breast meat under skin. Place turkey on rack set in large roasting pan. Rub 2 tablespoons sage butter over outside of turkey.

Set aside 1/3 cup butter for gravy; reserve remainder for basting. (Can be made 1 day ahead. Cover, chill. let stand at room temperature 1 hour before continuing.) Position rack in bottom third of oven and preheat to 350° F. Pour 1/3 cup broth over turkey. Roast turkey until thermometer inserted into thickest part of inner thigh registers 180° F. basting every 30 minutes with 1/3 cup broth and occasionally brushing with sage butter, about 3 hours.

Transfer turkey to platter; tent with foil. Let stand 30 minutes. Remove rack from pan. Pour pan juices into large glass measuring cup. Spoon off fat; discard. Pour juices back into pan. Set pan over 2 burners set on high heat. Add 2 cups broth. Boil until liquid is reduced to 2 cups, scraping up browned bits, about 10 minutes. Whisk in reserved 1/3 cup sage butter. Season with pepper. (If desired stir in about 1/4 cup cream)

Transfer gravy to bowl. Uncover platter. Garnish with sage and parsley. Serve turkey with gravy.

Faux-tatoes

Ingredients:
2 10oz pkgs frozen cauliflower (or fresh 3/4 head)
1 tsp chicken boullion granules
1/4 tsp white pepper
1 tsp minced onion flakes (optional)
2 Tbsp butter
2 Tbsp heavy cream

Preheat oven to 375°F. Cook cauliflower in microwave or on stovetop until it is VERY done - fall-apart fork tender. Drain well and mix cauliflower with all other ingredients except cream in food processor or with a powerful mixer (hand or stand). Mixing with mixer will give "lumpier" results than a food processor, but some people feel the lumps make it seem even more like mashed potatoes. Add cream slowly and mix again. (You must be careful adding liquid. If you add too much, you are in for trouble. Your dish may take a tiny bit more or less than the called for amount of cream.)

Spray an ovenproof dish with cooking spray and put mixture in. Add pats of extra butter or margarine on top if you like an extra buttery potato, and a bit of paprika sprinkled on top adds nice color as well. Bake 15 - 20 minutes until hot.

For those of you who think they would not like this dish because they are not fans of cauliflower, I implore you to try it - you'll be hard pressed to tell it from mashed potatoes - it does not taste like cauliflower at this point. Really.

Makes 4-6 Servings.   5-7 net grams of carbohydrate per serving.

ALTERNATE VARIATIONS: Instead of using cauliflower, you can also use Turnips! For this method, peel and dice turnips to very small squares and boil till extremely tender (just short of mush!). Use the method above, or skip the oven step if you prefer since they hold their shape better than cauliflower. They have a very potato taste also - you would not guess these started their lives as turnips! For a REALLY rich Mock Mashed Potato, add 2 oz Philadelphia Cream Cheese (softened) before adding to the mixer/food processor. Adjust carbs accordingly. Turnips have slightly LESS carbs than cauliflower (and more fiber) so there's no worry of over-carbing.

 Broccoli Crunch Salad

Ingredients:

3 lbs broccoli florets (raw)
1/2 cup hot-sweet sunflower seeds
1/2 cup raisins
1 cup red onion, julienne
1/2 cup bacon, large dice

Dressing:
3 cups mayonnaise
1/8 cup splenda, or to taste
1/2 cup apple cider vinegar

Mix dressing together and add to other ingredients.

Ham Gaze

2.5 cups splenda
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 cup lemonade

Reduce and pour over ham