Impress with less: the super easy Friendsgiving menu

You volunteered to host Friendsgiving this year and now, a few days before the event, you start panicking. Meaning, you start googling at full speed how to create the perfect Friendsgiving seasonal menu with no cooking skills and almost no time.

Don’t worry, we’ve got you covered. We have given our Hisense cooking experts the challenge to create a delicious mouth-watering Friendsgiving menu from starter to dessert. The trick, they cannot use regular kitchen appliances, just the holy-grail trio of kitchen hacks: a microwave oven, a multicooker and a contact grill (ok, we also let a blender slip in, but you get the main idea). It may sound silly, but in the end, we were surprised by the delicious masterpieces we got to taste.

Here you go. Indulge in hearty seasonal dishes and impress your guests with chef-like cooking. No one will be able to tell you did not spend the whole day in the kitchen prepping the delicious feast. P.S. you can also use these recipes for Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Year’s celebrations or even just for a cosy seasonal dinner with friends.

The menu 

Starter: Roasted butternut squash soup >>
Main dish: Maple-glazed turkey breast >>
Side dish: Cranberry-orange rice >>
Dessert: Quick Apple Crisp >>

 

Starter: Roasted butternut squash soup

A warm, comforting soup that tastes like it took hours to make but is ready in just under 30 minutes. How is it possible? Inverter microwave oven. Yes, this soup is mostly cooked in a microwave. Hisense microwave ovens feature inverter technology that ensures faster and more even cooking, giving yummy results without undercooked spots. If you never thought to cook a soup from scratch in the microwave, give it a try. It’s creamy goodness.

 

Ingredients:

• 1 medium butternut squash (peeled, seeded and cubed)
• 1 small onion (chopped)
• 2 cloves garlic (minced)
• ¾ l vegetable broth
• 100 ml heavy cream
• Salt, pepper, thyme to taste

Place the butternut squash, onion, garlic, a sprinkle of thyme and 1 dl of water in a microwave safe dish with a lid. Cover and microwave on high for 10 minutes or until the squash is tender and can be easily pierced with a fork.

Add the broth and blend with an immersion blender until smooth. Stir in heavy cream, season with salt and pepper and return to microwave for another 3 minutes on medium low power to heat through.

Serve the soup in heated bowls. Add a small swirl of heavy cream on top for an impressive presentation.

 

Main dish: Maple-glazed turkey breast

 

The star of the show of course has to be the turkey. You don’t need a whole giant bird to impress your guests, especially if you are not very experienced in the kitchen. Instead, opt for a perfectly grilled turkey breast with sweet maple glaze. It is quick, juicy and has an irresistible char-grilled flavour with indulging maple sweetness.

 

For this recipe we are going to cook the turkey on a Hisense smart contact grill. No need to heat up the oven or a big outdoor grill, this small device is perfect for a quick meat grilling. Besides, the pre-set programmes combined with the integrated meat probe help you achieve perfect juicy results without any culinary knowledge.

Ingredients:

• 1 boneless turkey breast
• 4 tbsp maple syrup
• 2 tbsp mustard
• 1 tbsp apple cider vinegar
• 1 tbsp rosemary (finely chopped)
• salt and pepper to taste

Mix together the maple syrup, mustard, apple cider vinegar, rosemary, salt and pepper. Brush the turkey breast with the maple glaze on both sides.

Place the turkey breast on a preheated Hisense smart contact grill. Use the Steak programme and insert the meat probe to check internal temperature. Close the lid and let the meat cook. It should take about 10 minutes, depending on how thick your meat is. The internal temperature should reach about 74 °C.

Remove the meat from the grill and let rest for about 5 minutes before slicing. If you want a fancy touch, grill some pear slices and add them on the plate for a sweet and savoury garnish.

 

Side dish: Cranberry-orange rice

To complement the indulgent turkey, try this loaded rice side dish. Full of flavour and festive colours, it makes a great celebrative addition to your table. To make your hosting preparations easier, we are going to cook it in the Hisense MultiCooker.

A MultiCooker is a multifunctional phenomenon that makes loads of amazing dishes with minimal effort. Not only it is a rice cooker, but it is also a steamer, Dutch oven, pressure cooker, sous vide machine, slow cooker and more. Perfect if you don’t want appliances to overcrowd your kitchen.

Ingredients:

• 1 cup basmati rice
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 1 small onion (finely chopped)
• 2 cloves garlic (minced)
• a generous handful dried cranberries
• zest of 1 orange
• 2 cups vegetable broth
• salt and pepper to taste

Turn the Hisense MultiCooker to Sauté function and heat the olive oil. Add the onion and cook about 3 minutes, until soft and translucent. Add the garlic, rice, cranberries and orange zest. Toast everything for a minute or two.

Pour in the vegetable broth and switch the Multicooker setting to Rice. Close the lid and let the rice cook. Once the rice is done, fluff it with a fork and season with salt and pepper to taste.

Keep the rice warm until is time to serve with the Keep Warm setting.

Dessert: Quick Apple Crisp

End your Friendsgiving night extravaganza on a sweet note with delicious apple crisp that is ready in minutes. Again, the microwave oven is your hero. By using the Multiphase cooking setting the apples will stay juicy while the topping will come out crispy with the addition of grilling at the end.

Ingredients:

• 3 apples (peeled and sliced)
• 4 tbsp brown sugar
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 40 g rolled oats
• 30 g flour
• 3 tbsp butter (melted)

Mix together the oats, flour, 2 tablespoons of brown sugar and butter. You will get a crumbly topping.

Separately, toss the sliced apples with the remaining sugar and cinnamon. Place them in a microwave safe dish. Sprinkle the oat mix on top and set the Hisense Inverter Microwave Oven to Multiphase cooking. For the first phase set the microwave on high for 8 minutes, then set the grill function in the second phase for 5 minutes, so the topping gets golden and crispy.

Prepare for success: set the whole dish in advance and then, at the time of dessert, just pop it in the microwave oven. With Multiphase cooking you don’t need to manually set phases, so you can hang out with friends and wait for the dessert to be ready.