Persian Thanksgiving
Recipes for each one of the items on the table will come soon, with special thanks to our good friend B. A. 
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Dec 04
Oct 11
This is a favorite Persian recipe in Iran. Its made usually using Bulgur, which is a type of quick forming wheat and can be purchased in Middle Eastern grocery stores. I have used something else as my quick forming wheat in this recipe, which is easy to find in grocery stores. I also used turkey breast and turkey leg (two separate pots) when I recently made this. Its probably much easier to use turkey breast, since separating the meat off the turkey leg can be difficult. I will explain the ingredients for making just 1 large pot of Haleem below. Also, many people use different forms of meat (lamb, beef, or even chicken breast) to form their Haleem.
Haleem (Halim)
Ingredients:
1 lb - Quick 1 minute Quaker Oatmeal — make sure you buy the 1 minute oatmeal
1 lb Turkey Breast or Turkey Leg
1 onion
Cinnamon
Melted Butter — at the end to pour over Haleem
sugar
salt
Directions:
In a pot place your turkey breast, a cut up onion, salt, and cinnamon. Allow the turkey breast to cook fully, then allow it to cool after it is cooked. Once the turkey breast is cooled shred it up by throwing it in a food processor. I used skinless and boneless turkey breast … I actually bought turkey breast cutlets cause thats all they had at the store.
In a very large pot I poured the instant 1 minute oatmeal (Quaker Oats brand) and then covered it with water. I put the stove top heat on medium and allowed the contents to boil. I kept adding water as needed, especially to make sure the contents weren’t too hard to stir and dried up. After the initial boil I brought the stove top temperature to a medium-low and allowed the contents to cook for at least 45 minutes before adding my turkey breast. Remember to stir occasionally so the contents don’t stick to the bottom of the pot.
After an additional 30 minutes I used my blender to puree the contents even further. If you don’t have a blender, or would prefer to use your food processor, you can do that instead. Either way you will want to pour the Haleem into the blender or food processor in batches and then pour the contents from the blender to a different pot or bowl. If you want to return the contents to the same pot you may want to wash the pot after you have emptied everything. This also means you have to pour the Haleem from the blender into another bowl or pot then leave it in the new pot to continue cooking, or return it to the previously used pot after cleaning it. In the blender I used the puree option to grind everything up into a more liquid form. Thats the way Haleem should look
I then allowed the Haleem to cook for an additional 2-3 hours to fully be thickened and prepared…or as Persians say “ja beofte”. You want to serve the Haleem hot, so heat it up before serving if you are serving at a later time. I also melt butter to pour over the Haleem (typically you pour it over the contents of the large bowl you are serving it in). I also leave some melted butter for anyone who wants to add more to their Haleem. I add cinnamon and sugar in additional to the melted butter over the bowl. Many people like to add sugar and cinnamon to their Haleem, some even like salt. So I usually leave sugar, cinnamon, and salt on the table for anyone to add to their Haleem. At times I make a sugar/cinnamon mix in a small bowl that can be added to the Haleem.
Note: You can add some cinnamon and salt to your Haleem when it is cooking as well. Again the way it is eaten is a personal choice, and some people add sugar, cinnamon, or salt to satisfy their tastebuds 
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Aug 31
I have a little over 1 lb of Ground Turkey Breast that I think its time to cook. So since I like chicken nuggets, I thought I would give Turkey nuggets a try. Besides supposedly they are more nutritious than chicken nuggets! To keep it even healthier I will be baking the nuggets in the oven, instead of frying them in oil.
This is not a Persian Recipe, but then again its pretty simple and good for a quick fix type of meal.
Turkey Nuggets
Ingredients:
Ground Turkey breast - I am using approximately 1.25 lbs
Salt/Pepper (to taste)
Parsley (optional)
Oil
Flour
Bread crumbs
1 or 2 eggs (may need more if making more nuggets)
Directions:
In a bowl I mixed my ground turkey breast with salt, pepper, and some parsley. Basically, you can add any spices you wish to the mixture.
Then I greased a baking dish (or you can use a baking sheet) with some oil (vegetable oil in my case). Set the oven temperature to 350°F.
In a small bowl I put some white flour, then in another bowl I put some bread crumbs, and in a third bowl I whisked together the two eggs. I made small round balls out of the ground turkey breast mixture and dipped each piece into the flour, then the whisked eggs, and finally into the bread crumbs. After dipping each piece into the three separate ingredients I placed the round balls on the baking sheet, then I used a fork to shape the pieces and slightly flatten them into nugget shapes. I ended up with approximately 16 nuggets based on the size of nuggets I made.
Once all nuggets were coated, I placed the baking dish into the oven and let it cook for approximately 10 minutes, then took the dish out to flip the nuggets over and place it into the oven for an additional 10 minutes. Once finished they are ready to eat with any dipping sauce you prefer. Of course I had to make some home style french fries to go with my nuggets…can’t have my nuggets without the fries!!
Note: The cooking time depends on the thickness of the nugget pieces. Check on the nuggets while they are cooking to see if they are ready to be removed.
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