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Turkey day made easy at Trader Joe's Sent Tuesday, November 17, 2009 View as plaintext

Thanksgiving Newsletter

Cooking w/ Trader Joe's

Shopping for turkey day

Trader Joe's is your one stop shop for Thanksgiving. The trick to avoiding stress on Thanksgiving is planning a good shopping list in advance, and taking advantage of great time-saving products at Trader Joe's. Here are our favorite Thanksgiving buys -- and it was tough to keep this list short!

Turkeys: Turkeys are already here! Last year, we tried the brined turkeys and they were juicy and delicious, receiving raves from all our guests. The best part is that the turkeys are always fresh, never frozen. Look for Trader Joe's All Natural Turkeys and Kosher Turkeys. If you're keeping Thanksgiving dinner intimate for just a few guests, consider pre-stuffed Turkey Breast with Cranberry Apple Stuffing (photo and recipe below). Vegetarian? Look no further for Tofurky.

Turkey Gravy: Trader Joe's all-natural boxed turkey gravy is thick, rich and savory, and ultra convenient. Perfect for pouring over juicy turkey and stuffing. Good news for those who have wheat sensitivity - no wheat ingredients used in this gravy.

Cornbread Stuffing Mix: Hearty croutons bursting with savory flavor. Serve as prepared, or add your own selections of cranberries, nuts, mushrooms, or diced sausage. We like to sauté one chopped trimmed leek and one container sliced crimini mushrooms in olive oil, and add them to the prepared stuffing.

Spiced Apple Cider: For the best smelling kitchen in the neighborhood, simmer cider in a pot with cinnamon sticks or your favorite mulling spices. Serve warm.

In the mashed potato department, you're minutes away from fluffy white peaks of buttery potatoes. Try frozen Mashed Potatoes or boxed instant Garlic Mashed Potatoes.

Fried Onion Pieces: Perk up that boring green bean casserole or vegetable gratin with these crispy toppings. If you make a green salad or a soup, top with some fried onion pieces.

Pumpkin Pancake & Waffle Mix: Don't forget breakfast! This delicious mix, perfect for Thanksgiving day, has been getting cheers across the country. Serve with maple syrup and pumpkin butter.

Pumpkin Butter: Use this sweet pumpkin blend to fill little tarts, stir into soups, serve on scones, add to ice cream or yogurt, fold into puff pastry turnovers, or spread on pumpkin pancakes. For an easy side dish, use in Harvest Glazed Carrots (recipe below).

Adorable Vegetables: Who can resist Teeny Tiny Potatoes, Tri Color Pearl Onions, or Organic Baby Sweet Potatoes. Almost too cute to eat.

Pie Crust: These convenient frozen gourmet crusts bake up flakey and delicious. Each package contains 2 crusts and this year they are boxed so that there is no unfolding involved. Fill with your own pumpkin filling using Organic Canned Pumpkin. See below for a no-bake pumpkin chesecake recipe. Or for a zero-fuss ready-made dessert, try Trader Joe's Pumpkin Tart, Honey Pecan Tart, or Baked Apple Pie.

Fill out your recipes withFree Range Chicken Broth, TJ's Whole Kernel Corn in the famous yellow can, Cornbread Mix, Pumpkin Bread and Muffin Mix, Organic Sweetened Condensed Milk, ready-to-use Wild Rice, fresh whole cranberries and pomegranates (Cranberry Pomegranate recipe below).

Easy Thanksgiving Recipes

Stuffed Turkey Breast

If you're cooking for a smaller gathering, pre-stuffed turkey breasts are just perfect. They can easily feed 6 people and make a gorgeous, impressive presentation with cranberry-jeweled stuffing in the center. Grab this turkey, add a side of vegetables, and dinner is done! If you go this route, we demand that you sear the outside first. Do not just toss it in the oven like the package instructions say, or you'll end up with a dried-out hunk of meat. Please follow our simple searing method below.

1 (~3 lb) Turkey Breast with Cranberry Apple Stuffing

1 tsp olive oil

1 tsp butter

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

2. Heat olive oil and butter in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Place turkey breast in skillet (leaving trussing yarn on) and sear each side for 1-2 minutes, until golden brown. Taking this important step will lock juices in the meat.

3. Bake in oven for 20-25 minutes per pound (total cooking time will depend on the size of the turkey breast).

4. Let meat rest under a sheet of foil for 10+ minutes before you slice it.

Prep time: 5 minutes

Hands-off cooking time: 60-90 minutes (varies)

Serves 6-8

Harvest Glazed Carrots

This tasty carrot dish is full of wonderful autumn and Thanksgiving flavors of pumpkin and spices mingling with sweet tender carrots. Raisins and pecans add texture and color. Make this an easy addition to your holiday meals. Pumpkin butter goes great with other harvest vegetables such as butternut squash or sweet potato.

3 cups coined carrots (cut into disks) or 1 bag baby carrots

2 Tbsp Pumpkin Butter

¼ cup raisins

¼ cup whole pecans

1. Steam carrots until crisp-tender.

2. Stir in pumpkin butter, raisins and pecans.

Prep and cooking time: 10-15 minutes

Serves 4

Cranberry Pomegranate Fresca

This raw relish is a tasty contrast to traditional cooked cranberry sauce. It's great with a turkey feast or spooned onto a grilled chicken breast. The pomegranate is the perfect sweet "crunch" in every bite. We love it. If you like it sweeter, sprinkle a little extra sugar. Don't add more lemon curd or it will get too gooey.

1 (12-oz) pkg whole cranberries

3 Tbsp Lemon Curd (or substitute 1/3 cup sugar + 1 Tbsp lemon juice)

1/2 cup fresh pomegranate seeds (seeds from half a pomegranate)

1. Chop cranberries in a food processor or a blender (be careful to pulse and only chop roughly).

2. Add lemon curd (or sugar and lemon), stirring to distribute evenly.

3. Stir in pomegranate seeds.

4. If using sugar, let it sit for an hour before serving.

Prep time: 10 minutes

Serves 8

No-Bake Pumpkin Cheesecake

Gingersnap cookies meet creamy pumpkin in this no-bake and light version of pumpkin cheesecake. It's an easy and delicious option for people who don't have multiple ovens to use on Thanksgiving day. Just prepare the crust in advance as it does need to be baked for a few minutes, and then the rest is a cinch! Or use a store-bought graham cracker crust for a truly no-bake option.

Filling:

1 jar Pumpkin Butter

1 (8-oz) block cream cheese, softened at room temp

1 cup pumpkin puree

1 cup sour cream

Crust:

1 1/2 cups finely crushed gingersnap cookies or graham crackers (crush cookies in a bag with a rolling pin, or use a blender to pulverize)

6 Tbsp butter, melted

Optional topping:

Whipped cream

Extra gingersnaps/graham crackers or pecans

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees (this is just for the crust).

2. Mix crushed cookies and butter to make crust. Press into a 9" pie pan, pressing up the sides to form a crust. If you don't have enough crust mixture, add more crushed cookies.

3. Bake for 10 minutes. Remove from oven and turn oven off, as the rest of the pie isn't baked.

4. Mix pumpkin butter, cream cheese, pumpkin puree, and sour cream until well combined. Pour into pie crust.

5. Chill for at least 2 hours or overnight. If desired, top with whipped cream and extra crushed gingersnap cookies or candied pecans. For an even more luscious topping, make maple whipped cream by whipping 1 cup heavy cream + 1/4 cup maple syrup.

Prep time: 15 minutes

Cooking time: 10 minutes

Serves 8

Winner of our Recipe Usage Survey

Many thanks to the thousands of you who took the time to answer our recipe usage survey. We were floored by all the responses! Lucky winner Donna B. of Wilsonville, OR, was chosen at random and will receive autographed copies of both our cookbooks and a gourmet Calphalon pan. Enjoy, Donna!

We value your input and are hard at work building a recipe website that has all the features you requested. We also hear that you want more cookbooks, so we're planning more titles. Stay tuned!

Our cookbooks make great gifts

Our new book is here! Handy, portable size slips into a purse or pocket. Perfect stocking-sfuffer!