Thanksgiving 2013

Our Thanksgiving meal this year was shared with Phil's parents and Ron & Tricia.

Turkey
We did a 17.5lb roast herbed turkey which was a combination of America's Test Kitchen, Alton Brown and my brother's recipe.

• Dry Brine: We used Morton's kosher salt for the dry brine. Using fingers or handle of wooden spoon, separate turkey skin from meat on breast, legs, thighs, and back; avoid breaking skin. Rub 1 tablespoon salt evenly inside cavity of turkey, 1 1/2 teaspoons salt under skin of each breast, and 1 1/2 teaspoons salt under skin of each leg. Let air dry in the fridge for about 24 hours. Recipe for roast salted turkey
• Roasting: We used Alton Brown's aromatics for stuffing the bird and used some herbed butter (fresh chopped sage and thyme) to rub under and on the skin. We roasted at 500°F for 30 minutes, then reduced temp to 350°F and roasted with a foil breast shield. We completely overcooked the bird because I misread the amount of time. The roasting time at the lower temperature should be about 2 hours for the 17lb bird. Recipe from Alton Brown
• Aromatics:
• 1 red apple, sliced
• 1/2 onion, sliced
• 1 cinnamon stick
• 1 cup water
• Note: Don't cut the skin off of the neck! 

Turkey Gravy

Can't fail with the Cook's Illustrated Best Turkey Gravy. Cooked on the day of but ended up with a whole bunch of extra drippings.

Vegetarian Mushroom Gravy

Used Martha Stewart's recipe with the addition of a little bit of Marmite for oomph. A little on the salty side. Phil made this the day before and we reheated before serving.

Sausage Stuffing

We used this recipe but I thought there was an error in the amount of liquid so I just modified it. We also doubled it so we made one batch regular and the other vegetarian. Ended up putting too much liquid in the vegetarian version so it came out really soggy. Need to bake for longer.

Ingredients

1/2lb Italian sausage, raw (omit for vegetarian version)

4 tablespoons butter

2 cups diced onion

1 cup diced celery

2 leeks, well washed and sliced (white and light green parts only)

12 cups cubed, dried artisan bread

2 tablespoons fresh sage

2 tablespoons fresh thyme

salt and pepper to taste

1 quart chicken stock (or vegetable)

Directions

1. Heat a large skillet over medium heat. Add the sausage, breaking it apart with a wooden spoon, and cook, stirring occasionally, until no longer pink. Remove from pan with a slotted spoon and place in a large mixing bowl.
2. To the rendered fat add the butter then the onion and celery, and sauté, adjusting the temperature if necessary so they don't brown. Cook for about 15 minutes, or until soft and translucent.
3. Add the leeks and cook for five minutes more. Set aside to cool.
4. When onion mixture has cooled, pour it out, with all the accumulated fat, into the large bowl with the sausage. Add the bread cubes and herbs. Season with salt and pepper. Toss gently and taste for seasonings. Place in a large, buttered (3-3 1/2 quart) casserole dish, cover and cool completely. This stuffing can be assembled and refrigerated one day ahead.
5. Preheat the oven to 325 degrees. Bring stuffing to room temperature. Pour over turkey stock and toss gently to coat. Cover and bake for 20 minutes, uncover and bake for 10 minutes more.

Cranberry Sauce

Phil made this the day before and just cooked down the following:

Ingredients

12oz bag of whole cranberries

1c. orange juice

2/3c. sugar

Campbell's Green Bean Casserole

The classic recipe with some additional sliced cremini mushrooms added in for more mushroom flavor.

Butternut Squash

Repeat performer of the dish from Real Simple. Still excellent and we were able to make this a day in advance so it was easy to prepare.

Ingredients

3 butternut squash (2 pounds each)

1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt

1/2 teaspoon black pepper

6 small shallots, halved

4 tablespoons honey

6 sprigs fresh thyme

6 tablespoons unsalted butter

Directions

1. Heat oven to 400° F. Trim the ends from the squash, then halve lengthwise, discarding the seeds. Transfer the squash, cut-side up, to a rimmed baking sheet lined with parchment or foil. Season with the salt and pepper and top with the shallots, honey, thyme, and butter.
2. Cover the squash with foil. Roast until softened, 45 to 60 minutes. Uncover and set aside until cool enough to handle. Working in batches, scoop some of the softened squash and shallots from the peels into a food processor.
3. Puree the squash mixture until smooth. Transfer to a serving bowl. Repeat with the remaining squash and shallots. Serve warm. 

Kale Salad

Phil's creation based on other recipes we've made before.

Directions

1. De-stem 2 bunches of kale.
2. Add juice of one meyer lemon.
3. About 3 tablespoons of olive oil.
4. Salt to taste.
5. Massage kale to make it tender.
6. Sprinkle with toasted pumpkin seeds for texture.

Rolls

Again used my standard recipe. Made a double recipe of dough in the bread machine and shaped the night before, using a refrigerator rise for the second rise. They didn't look like they rose much in the cold, so left out a few hours to allow rise to finish. Came out perfect.

Apple Pie and Pumpkin Pie - Ron and Tricia brought excellent pies. And the pumpkin was from a sugar pie pumpkin (not Libby's). Served with Haagen-Dazs vanilla ice cream and homemade whipped cream (a couple tablespoons of granulated sugar and half-tablespoon of Penzey's Mexican vanilla). I believe they used the Test Kitchen's Best Recipe cookbook.