Warm up to wonderful this Fall with cozy-cooking and gracious gifts from Rafter Eleven.

By Dawn Wasowicz, owner, Rafter Eleven

Typically, most of us jump into October anticipating the beginning of Fall. This seems to be the psychological nudge we gladly welcome to kick off the next two months of overindulging as we eat and celebrate.

What if we try something new this year?

Bring in your holiday recipes and we will personally help you re-create healthy versions of your family favorites! Just stop by during business hours.

When you come in … 

Taste naturally sweet, barrel-aged balsamic vinegar from Modena, Italy and first-cold-pressed olive oils from Tunisia, Portugal, Spain, Australia, and Argentina.

Natural balsamic vinegar, aged over time from Modena, Italy, not only add gorgeous flavors to holiday cooking but also are packed with nutrition. Rafter Eleven’s balsamic vinegar lowers cholesterol, is great for insulin sensitivity, increases metabolic rate, and helps with arthritis over time.  Due to the aging process, no sugars or syrups are added to our vinegars, which have only ten calories per tablespoon and are nothing short of amazing!

We bottle only 100 percent, extra-virgin, first-pressed olive oil with the highest antioxidant levels and incredible nutritional profiles. It’s heart-healthy and dynamite for your skin.

And don’t forget: every meal needs a bottle of wine.

Come in anytime and we will help you select the perfect wine for your Holiday meal.

Rafter Eleven is here to take the stress out of the Holidays. 

When you come in, bring your Christmas list.  We will make you a cup of coffee or pour you a glass of wine and do the shopping for you! From gift baskets to cooking classes to gift certificates, you can give the gourmet gift of health.

Also, here’s a holiday menu from our kitchen to yours (see our website or YouTube channel for step-by-step recipes):

  • Roasted Turkey basted in Wild Mushroom Sage Olive Oil, Velvety Fig Balsamic and “Limitless,” a Chardonnay created just for Rafter Eleven.
  • Melt-in-your-Mouth Butternut Squash draped with Wild Rosemary Olive Oil and Decadent Maple Balsamic.
  • Crunchy, Sweet and Savory, Harvest Salad with roasted pecans and goat cheese and finished with a Blood Orange and Cherry Balsamic dressing.
  • And for Dessert: a Cranberry-Blueberry Cobbler simmered in Apricot Balsamic and a touch of Cream!

Rafter Eleven: where quality, caring and community connect.

Rafter Eleven is located at 2985 Centre Ct., Suite B, in Prescott Valley’s Entertainment District. For more information, including hours of operation, menus, and special events (including cooking classes), visit www.raftereleven.com or call 928.227.2050.

Recipes

Wild Mushroom Sage and Fig Roasted Turkey

First, make a seasoning rub with a mortar and pestle or in a food processor:

6 garlic cloves

1 T. sea salt

2 tsp. black peppercorns

4 T. fresh rosemary, thyme and oregano

4 T. Wild Mushroom and Sage olive oil

4 T. Fig Balsamic

Next, prepare the turkey:

Wash the turkey, remove the giblets, and pat dry. With your hand, separate the skin from the turkey without tearing it. Rub 2 T. of black sea salt all over the turkey. Massage the rub under the skin, inside the cavity and all over the outside of the turkey. Fill the cavity with a whole lemon and onion, 1 garlic clove, and parsley.

Put the turkey on a roasting pan. Pre-heat your oven to 325 degrees. Cook a 17-pound turkey for five hours, basting with the juices every 30 minutes. Turn oven up to 375 degrees for the last 30 minutes of roasting. Turkey is “done” when its internal temperature 165 degrees. 

Let the turkey rest for 15 minutes before serving, and it will turn out moist, succulent, and mouth-watering.

Hassel-Back Sweet Potatoes

Ingredients:

8 potatoes

½ cup Wild Rosemary olive oil

¼ cup Maple Balsamic

1 tsp. Garlic sea salt

Thyme to taste

Preheat your oven to 400 degrees. Wash your sweet potatoes and bake them for 40 minutes in the preheated oven. Cool. Peel off the skin, and slice three-quarters of the way through each potato. Baste with Rafter Eleven’s Wild Rosemary olive oil and Maple Balsamic, sea salt, and fresh thyme. Bake for another 10 minutes. Baste the potatoes and then bake them for 10 more minutes. Finish with a final drizzle of olive oil and thyme and every bite will be wonderfully flavored and seasoned.

 

Harvest Salad

Salad Ingredients:

Fresh greens (choose your favorites—spinach, red-leaf spinach, kale)

Purple Cabbage

Dried cherries

Roasted pecans or nuts

Goat cheese

Black pepper

 

Dressing Ingredients:

½ cup Blood Orange olive oil

½ cup Black Cherry balsamic vinegar

 

Wash, clean and chop all salad ingredients, and put into a bowl. Shake the dressing ingredients in a mason jar and then pour over the salad and toss. You’ll want to have this salad every night! It’s that good.

Cranberry and Blueberry Cobbler

Filling Ingredients:

2 cups each fresh blueberries and fresh cranberries

1 cup sugar

1 tsp. cinnamon

½ tsp. allspice

Topping Ingredients:

1 cup flour

1 cup sugar

1 tsp. baking powder

½ tsp. salt

1/3 cup melted butter

½ cup milk

1 egg

Simmer the berries, sugar, cinnamon, and allspice over the stove for four minutes. Preheat the oven to 325 degrees. Pour the berry mixture into a well-greased baking pan. Then, make the topping. Whisk together and set aside the dry ingredients (flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt). Whisk together the wet ingredients and stir that mixture into the dry ingredients. Pour the topping mixture over the berries. Bake for 55 minutes, then serve warm with whipped cream. This cobbler is great the next morning, too, with a hot cup of Rafter Eleven coffee.