1 pound lean ground beef
    1 egg
    2 tablespoons water
    1/2 cup bread crumbs
    3 tablespoons minced onion
    
    1 (8 ounce) can jellied cranberry sauce
    3/4 cup chili sauce
    1 tablespoon brown sugar
    1 1/2 teaspoons lemon juice

Directions:

    Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
    In a large bowl, mix together the ground beef, egg, water, bread crumbs, and minced onion. Roll into small meatballs.
    Bake in preheated oven for 20 to 25 minutes, turning once.
    In a slow cooker or large saucepan over low heat, blend the cranberry sauce, chili sauce, brown sugar, and lemon juice. Add meatballs, and simmer for 1 hour before serving.

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Blue Bacon Stuffed Mushrooms

Mushrooms stuffed with blue cheese, bacon, caramelized onions and garlic make a delicious appetizer!

Ingredients

    3 strips bacon
    6 large mushrooms
    1 tablespoon butter
    1/2 onion, diced
    1 clove garlic, sliced
    3 ounces cream cheese
    3 ounces blue cheese
    1/3 cup bread crumbs

Directions

    Cook bacon strips in a large skillet over medium heat until crispy; drain on paper towels. While the bacon is cooking, remove stems from mushrooms. Set caps aside, and chop stems.
    Add butter to skillet with bacon grease. When melted, stir in mushroom stems, onion, and garlic. Cook, stirring frequently until the onions caramelize, 15 to 20 minutes.
    Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Spray a small baking dish with cooking spray.
    Once the onion mixture has reached a deep, rich brown color, place into a blender along with bacon, cream cheese, blue cheese, and bread crumbs. Blend on low until ingredients are roughly chopped and evenly combined. Stuff cheese mixture into mushroom caps and place into prepared baking dish.
    Bake in preheated oven until bubbly and lightly browned, 10 to 15 minutes.

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Glazed Ham

Consider this for your main course: A raw ham is slow roasted, then seasoned with a sweet smoky sauce during the last hour to make a memorable meal with little actual work involved.

Yields 12 servings
 
Ingredients

    1 (8 pound) bone-in shank ham
    4 cups water, or as needed
    1/2 cup honey
    1/2 cup brown sugar
    2 tablespoons liquid smoke flavoring
    2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
    1 pinch ground cloves

Directions

    Preheat the oven to 275 degrees F (135 degrees C). Place ham in a roasting pan. Pour in water to a 2 inch depth. Cover with a tight fitting lid.
    Bake for 6 to 8 hours in the preheated oven (all day or all night). Remove from the oven, pour off drippings and reserve. Debone ham, removing any excess fat as well, and return to the roasting pan.
    Skim fat from the top of the drippings, and discard. In a small bowl, mix one cup of the drippings with honey, brown sugar, liquid smoke, Worcestershire sauce and cloves. Pour this over the ham, cover and return to the oven. Remaining drippings may be discarded or reserved for other uses.
    Bake for another 30 to 40 minutes in the preheated oven. Let stand for 10 minutes before serving.

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Brining is like a marinade, as it keeps food moist and tender. Brining or salting is a way of increasing the moisture holding capacity of meat resulting in a moister product when it is cooked. Salt changes the structure of the muscle tissue in the meat which allows it to swell and absorb water and flavorings which results in a tender turkey or chicken once cooked. Give it a try! Sonoma Market offers prepackaged brining kits. If you wish to create your own brine, we also sell specially made bags that hold 2 gallons of brine and one large turkey.


What is a brine?  One of the great things about brining is that there are so few rules. Most brines start with water and salt — traditionally, 3/4 pound of salt per gallon of water, but since we’re not concerned with the brine as a preservative, you can cut back on the salt. The amount of brining time is likewise not set in stone. Even a little brining is better than none.

What flavorings to add to brine: You can add flavor in all sorts of forms such as herbs and spices. Use brown sugar, honey, or molasses in place of the sugar (some sweetness tends to offset a saltiness the brine might otherwise impart). You can also use apple juice, cider, orange juice, beer, wine, rice wine vinegar, apple cider vinegar, stock, tea, or other liquids to replace some or all of the water. You can also put together decidedly Oriental flavorings with soy sauce or the Japanese rice wine mirin. In other words, be creative if you wish!


Refrigerator:
 
If storing the poultry in the refrigerator during brining, check to make sure that the container will fit in your refrigerator first! A container large enough to hold a whole turkey might be too big for your refrigerator.

Picnic Cooler:

First, choose a cooler that is large enough to keep the turkey completely submerged during the brining process. It is important to thoroughly clean and sanitize the cooler before and after use.

You must keep the poultry and brine cold without diluting the mixture when using a cooler. Put the meat and brine directly in the cooler, then place Ziploc bags filled with ice or reusable gel packs into the brine solution.

Another approach is to put the turkey and brine into a turkey oven roasting bag inside the cooler, and then pack ice or gel packs around the bag.

Monitor the temperature of the cooler to make sure it stays below 40 degrees F. at all times.


When purchasing a turkey for brining, choose a natural turkey (not a self-basted bird that's been injected with a solution of salt and other flavorings). Look for the words "natural" or "no additives added."

Choose a 12- to 20-pound turkey. If the turkey is frozen, thaw according to the package directions before brining.

Remove and discard any leg restraints from the purchased turkey. Remove the giblets from the neck cavity and the neck from the body cavity (save in the refrigerator or freezer for making Perfect Turkey Gravy). Trim away any large areas of fat or excess skin around the body cavity, and cut off the tail.

Rinse thoroughly, inside and out, and pat dry with paper towels.

Choose a container large enough to hold your turkey and brine mixture, plus it must be able to fit either in your refrigerator or a large cooler.