Welcome to Our Kitchen

 

Cooking and baking is a big part of our lives. This website has been created to share what we like to make with you. Our aim is to simplify recipes that we find online, or we have learned from a family member or friend, share our baking classes with you, and telling you a bit about us. 

Finding recipes is easy; simply visit our recipes page here. To find out about learning how to bake, visit the baking classes page here. Learn more about us by visiting the about us page here. From desserts to pizza, chutney to french toast, Upcountry Recipes is good food. 

Eggnog

Two cups dark rum

The holiday seasons have come and we have decided to try out a 4 week recipe for eggnog. Traditional eggnog calls for milk, sugar, raw eggs, and spices. Since eggnog calls for raw eggs there appears to be an inherent health concern. However, over a year ago we learned from Science Friday that through the scientific method there is a safe way to make eggnog with completely steralized raw eggs. Dr. Rebecca Lancfield's Eggnog Recipe has been tried and tested for over 40 Years.
Click here to view the original recipe.  We decided to make a half batch with a few minor adjustments to the recipe.

We opted to do a half recipe the first time around, so know that you can double this for the full recipe:

•  6 raw eggs
• 2 quarts heavy whipped cream
• 1 cup sugar
• 2 quarts milk
• 2 cups dark rum
• 1 cup burbon

First we beat the eggs together and added the rum and bourbon. Mix well. In a seperate bowl we whipped the heavy cream in the mixer for about 5-7 minutes or until the cream peaks. Next we mixed the milk and the sugar together until the sugar was disloved. Finally we added the egg/rum/bourbon with the milk/sugar mix and then added the whipped cream. We mixed until the mixture was silky smooth. The instructions call to leave the eggnog ajar at least overnight in the refrigerator. Our plan is to have this for Christmas and maybe even New Years.

Will be ready for Christmas!

Turkey, and Cranberries with Roasted Potatoes, and Carrots

Turkey with mashed potatoes, and cranberries for lunch? Yes please.

We cooked our 20 pound turkey with 4 cut up red potatoes, along with carrots, and fresh herbs. We basted the turkey every 30 minutes for nearly 4 hours at 350 degrees, with a Barefoot Cabernet.

After putting the turkey in we did a variation of this excellent recipe by Alton Brown from the Food Network to make the cranberries:
http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/alton-brown/cranberry-sauce-recipe2/index.html

Cranberries:
1/2 cup orange and lilikoi juice
1/8 cup cabernet
3/4 cup sugar
Bring this mixture to a boil on medium high heat, then reduce to medium low to reduce for 5 minutes. Then add:
4 cups cranberries
Cook the cranberries for 15 minutes, or until the cranberries have popped to make the sauce thicker. Reduce the heat a bit more, and cover for 10 more minutes. Remove from heat and let cool.

After removing the turkey from the cooking tray to rest, Matt took the potatoes and most of the carrots out of the pan for the mashed potatoes:
4 quartered red potatoes
cheese
Then let the cheese melt into the potatoes.

We then sived the pan to get around 30 oz of turkey, and veggie stock to make the gravy right there in the pan:
24-30 oz turkey stock
3/4 c - 1 cup flour
This recipe was based on Alton Brown's Best Gravy Ever
We turned the burners on to medium high heat and brought the stock to a boil. We slowly added the flower a bit at a time whisking constantly. After the mixture is visibly more thick, we added around 8 oz of the same red wine we had been basting the turkey with. Continue to whisk until you reach your desired thickness.

Best lunch ever.