812-Lancuttr Farming, Saturday, November 19.1988 Whether you’re planning a big family gathering with a huge oven-roasted turkey, or inviting a few friends for an elegant Cornish hen meal, you’ll probably choose your own favorite dressing to serve. To make your day easier, plan now to microwave the dressing. Combine seasoning vegetables or fruits like chopped onions and celery or apples and cranber ries with herbs, other season ings and butter in a microwave safe casserole or measure. Cover with casserole lid, waxed paper or plastic wrap. If you like a little mote texture in the seasonings, coarsely chop them and cover with waxed paper during cooking. Microwave on High until tender, allowing about one to two minutes per cup of seasonings. Add, or pour mixture over, bread cubes or crumbs and stir gently with a fork. Stir in liquid, adding Slightly less than for conventional cooking. Moistened stuffing does not keep well and can be die source of food poisoning, so it’s very impor tant to combine liquid and bread right before the final cooking. Stuff the bird right before cooking too. Final cooking can be in the oven-roasted or micro-baked bird, in a covered casserole in a 350 degree F oven for one hour or in a covered casserole in your micro wave for less than 10 minutes. The latter way, of course, is the easiest and fastest. If micro-cooking is the final step, cooking time varies with the amount of stuffing, but is very short Ten to 12 servings heat in about five minutes. Microwave stuffing in a covered casserole on High, stirring once. I’ve found that texture of the final micro-cooked dressing can be varied. For a softer texture, use soft bread crumbs or day-old bread cubes and cover tightly with a casserole lid or plastic wrap, for a firmer texture, use store-bought stuffing croutons or home-dried bread cubes and cover with waxed paper. And, here’s some more good news. You already know the dan gers of making dressing ahead or stuffing the bird ahead, but for easy and fast last-minute cooking, you can prepare the ingredients a day ahead. Microwave the vege tables or fruits and seasonings; add liquid, then refrigerate. Have bread cubes measured and ready. Before final cooking, microwave the vegetable (or fruit) seasoning mixture, covered, until hot; toss with bread and cook as you wish. If you don’t have a favorite dressing recipe to adapt, try one of the following to make your cook ing fast and easy on Thanksgiving and any day. Festive Bread Stuffing 'A cup butter or magarine 1 cup chopped onions 1 cup chopped celery with leaves 2 teaspoons poultry seasoning 1/4 teaspoons dried sage leaves 'A -1 teaspoon salt (optional) teaspoon pepper MICROWAVE MINUTES py JOYCE RATTCHER 1 can (8 ounces) (1 cup) oysters, drained and chopped* 12 cups stuffing croutons 1 cup water or broth Place butter,. onions, celery, poultry seasoning, sage, salt and pepper in large microwave-safe casserole. Cover and microwave (High) 3 to 4 minutes or until vegetables are tender, stirring once. Stir in oysters; then stir in croutons, add water and toss. To use: Cover and microwave (High) 5 to 6 minutes or until hot, stirring once. Or stuff a 10 to 12-pound turkey and cook as desired. Makes 10 to 12 servings. Each serving 1/12th of recipe: 168 calories, 5g protein, 9g fat, 17g carbohydrate, 357 mg sodium, 34mg cholesterol. Note: For safety, leftover stuf fing of any kind must be removed from bird immediately after cook ing. Cover and refrigerate right after serving. Keep leftovers refrigerated and use within three days. Reheat just enough stuffing for one meal. * You may substitute cooked chopped giblets or 'A pound cooked sausage, ground pork or ground beef for oysters. Apple Cranberry Stuffing 2 cups chopped unpeeled tart apples 2 cups raw cranberries, chopped A cup sliced celery 2 tablespoons minced parsley 'A cup butter or margarine 1 tablespoon poultry seasoning 1 teaspoon salt (optional) 14 teaspoon pepper '/a cup sugar 12 cups soft bread crumbs 14 -14 cup hot water or broth Place apples, cranberries, cel ery, parsley, butter, poultry sea soning, salt and pepper in large microwave-safe casserole; cover with waxed paper. Microwave (High) 4 to 6 minutes or until ten- ALL ABOARD RAIL ROAD PROUDLY AMERICAN FL YER TRAINS AT THEIR FINEST THE GREATEST MODEL TRAIN SHOW ON EARTH SHOW TIME: SATURDAYS & SUNDAYS OF DECEMBER DAILY FROM DEC. 26th THRU & INCLUDING JAN 1. 1989 CLOSED DECEMBER 24 & 25 for XMAS WEEKEND ADULTS: $2.00 * SR. CITIZENS & CHILDREN 12 S UNDER $l.OO REAL PUFFIN SMOKE, CHOO-CHOOO NOISE. FUN FOR BIG & LITTLE GIRLS & BOYS! AN 800 SQ FT MINIATURE STEAM RAIL ROAD ON 3 LEVELS, COMPLETELY SCENICED & LANDSCAPED W/ 20 TRAINS RUNNING CONTINUOUSLY ON 2000 FT, OF TRACK. ACCESSORIES SUCH AS ANIMATED STATION, MAIL PICK-UP. MAGNETIC CRANE, BARREL LOADER. LOG & COAL LOADERS AND OPERATING TURNTABLE ARE OPERATED ON A SCHEDULED BASIS ‘ OUR PROGRAM TAKES ABOUT 50 MINUTES TO RUN THROUGH & INCLUDES A NIGHT SCENE WITH OVER 800 MINIATURE LIGHTS. ‘ OVER 200 AMERICAN FLYER TRAINS ARE DISPLAYED IN CASES FOR YOUR VIEWING PLEASURE ‘ A CHRISTMAS TREET YOUR CHILD WILL CHERISH FOR MANY YEARS! 1/230 BYPASS NEW HOLLAND PIKE der. Add sugar and stir well. Add bread crumbs, mixing gently with a fork. Add enough hot water to moisten to desired degree and mix gently. To use: Cover and microwave (High) 4 to 5 minutes or until hot, stirring once. Or stuff a 10 to 12-pound turkey and cook as desired. Makes 10 to 12 servings. Each serving l/12th of recipe: 135 calories, 0 protein, 8g fat, 17gm carbohydrate, 267 mg sodium, 24mg cholesterol. Hint: For this and all stuffing, allow ’A cup stuffing per pound for a turkey 10 pounds or over. Allow 'A cup for smaller birds. To double recipes: Double ingredient amounts and cooking times. Pour seasonings and liquid over bread in a large bowl and stir. You would have to eat about 32 cups of air-popped popcorn (unbuttered) to get the 840 calories in a cup of peanuts. Another plus for popcorn: only about 3% of its calories come from fat, compared to 76% of the peanuts* calories. And it is high in fiber. 1 to 5 P.M. RT. 23 PROCEEDS FOR ’BART’ BOARD MEMORIAL Fascinating Facts PRESENTS NO ADMITTANCE AFTER 4:30 TRAINS A ACCESSORIES WE SELL AMERICAN FLYER ‘ LIONEL * AMERICAN MODELS ' K- LINE & - S’ SCALE TRAINS & ACCESSORIES (NEW & USED) * A COMPLETE STOCK OF BUILDINGS * LIGHTS * TRACK ‘ SWITCHES * OPERATING EQUIPMENT * GRASS MAT * MTN. PAPER * FIGURES ‘ TRANSFORMERS ‘ ELECTRONIC DETECTION MODULES * VIDEOS ’ RECORDS ■ BOOKS & TRAIN XMAS CARDS "'ALL ABOARD RAIL ROAD" IS LOCATED AT 1952 LANDIS VALLEY RD. - 1/2 MILE EAST OF EDEN, JUST OFF ROUTE 23, THE NEW HOLLAND PIKE, LANCASTER, f?A. 17601 PHONE: (717) 392-1568 FOR MORE INFORMATION BUTTER RO LANDIS VALLEY RD If desired, divide into several cas seroles to heat Questions for Joyce? Do you have a question about microwave cooking? Send it to Microwave Minutes, % Extra Newspaper Features, P.O. Box 61*18, Rochester, MN 55903. Please include a self-addressed, stamped, business-size envelope. Recipes in this column are tested in 600- and 650-watt micro wave ovens. With an oven of dif ferent wattage output, timings may need slight adjustment Joyce Battcher is an indepen dent home economist microwave specialist. She is author of "Microwave Family Favorites” and editor of "A Batch of Ideas” newsletter. Although the average American has cut consumption of table sugar (sucrose) to about 60 pounds a year, per capita intake of all types of caloric sweeteners - including com syrup and all other forms of sugar - is up to about ISO pounds per year. A.A.R.R.
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