Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday. My family hosts the big meal which means I get to be the chef :). I have been making the Thanksgiving meal for the last four years and continue to tweak and attempt to perfect each dish. I love getting in a morning workout and then spending the rest of the day cooking away and listening to music until the guests arrive.
The
turkey of course has to be the star of the show. For that I have been using a
recipe from Giada the last few years in which you stuff the bird with citrus (orange and lemons) and onions. In addition you massage the turkey with a mixture of melted butter and herbes de provence which keeps the skin moist and gives it great flavor. I simplify the recipe a bit (see below) to keep the ingredients simple and cost-effective. These amounts are estimated based on the 21 lb turkey we had this year.
Recipe(Adapted from Giada De Laurentiis)
3 oranges (cut into wedges)
3 lemons (cut into wedges
1 large red onion
8 Tbsp. butter
2-3 Tbsp herbes de provence
Directions:
After cleaning the turkey (see directions on Food Network for more), I stuffed it with the citrus and onion. In addition I put leftover citrus and onion wedges in the bottom of the roasting pan. I then roasted the turkey for 350 degrees for almost 6 hours (depending on the size of the turkey) and throughout that time I poured chicken broth in the bottom of the roasting pan and continously basted the turkey throughout. I kept a piece of foil over the breast of the turkey for most of the cooking time so that it did not burn.
Rather than make mashed potatoes I make
scalloped potatoes based on a Rachel Ray Magazine
recipe. I followed this one pretty closely, but rather than using *gruyere cheese I used a simple colby jack that we had on hand.
Recipe
(Adapted from Rachel Ray Magazine)
2 cups milk
3 cloves garlic, smashed and peeled
Salt
3 pounds baking potatoes, preferably Idaho, peeled and sliced 1/4 inch thick
3 ounces Gruyère cheese, coarsely grated (about 3/4 cup) *see above
Pinch cayenne pepper
Black pepper
1 cup heavy cream
Directions: Place a rack in the top half of the oven and preheat to 375°. In a large saucepan, combine 2 cups water with the milk, garlic and 1/2 teaspoon salt. Add the potatoes and bring to a boil over medium-high heat, stirring occasionally to prevent the potatoes from sticking to the bottom of the pan. Reduce the heat to medium and simmer until the potatoes are tender but still slightly firm, about 8 minutes. Remove the saucepan from the heat and, using a slotted spoon, transfer half the potatoes to a buttered 9-by-13-inch baking dish; arrange the potatoes in an even layer.
Sprinkle with half the cheese and the cayenne; season with salt and pepper to taste. Repeat with the remaining potatoes and sprinkle with the remaining cheese. Pour the heavy cream evenly over the top. Bake the scalloped potatoes until golden and crisp on top, 40 to 45 minutes. Let stand for 5 minutes before serving.
Stuffing: I kind of threw together stuffing loosely based on a recipe that I had which includes italian sausage, apples, onions, fresh rosemary, and packaged stuffing. If you want more info on that let me know and I can figure out the amounts!
Cranberry Salad: My mom has a great cranberry salad recipe that we have each year that is very basic but fresh and delicious. Here's a quick run through:
Chop fresh cranberries (1 package) roughly in a food processor. Then mix those with about the same amount of crushed walnuts (crush by putting them in a large baggie and smash using a rolling pin). From there you want to make strawberry jello on the stove top with a cup of sugar. Put all of those ingredients in the dish you want the jello served in and as a last step mix in a large can of crushed pineapple (with the juice). Cover and let refrigerate until set.
Green beans: I tried out a roasted green bean recipe with garlic and shallots but didn't love it. If you have a recipe you like please share!
The meal:
