The menu was:
Turkey (15.5 lbs)
Bread stuffing
Roasted sweet potato fries
Brussel sprouts sautéed with bacon (posted here previously)
Cranberry sauce
Turkey gravy
Cornbread
Turkey
Bought a frozen turkey and thawed for 3.5 days in the refrigerator. Still, when I rinsed it out, there was some ice on the inside. Washed turkey; did not find giblets bag until after it was cooked! (tucked under skin at front of cavity). Placed a few small, whole carrots, celery, fresh thyme and bay leaves in the cavity. Rubbed the skin with olive oil and sprinkled with salt, white pepper, rosemary and bay leaves.
Poured 4-5 cups of water into bottom of roasting pan. Tented with foil and baked at 350-degrees for ~1 hour; decreased temp to 325-degrees and continued to cook, about 4(?) hours longer. During the last ~1 hour, removed the foil and let turkey brown.
My biggest problem last year was not having enough water in the bottom of the roasting pan, to prevent the drippings from burning as the turkey baked for 5 hours. This year, I thought 4-5 cups would be excessive, but in fact it pretty much boiled all away, and I had to add more in the end. Luckily, the turkey cooked for the right amount of time. It was not underdone, but still tasted moist.
Bread Stuffing with Apple
This dish has no recipe, just made it from memory.
1 and 1/4 loaves of soft wheat bread (20 - 24 oz) -- tear into small pieces on the night before, and set out to harden (dry bread absorbs the moisture better).
Sauté: 1 large onion (chopped), 3 stalks celery (diced), 3 large carrots (grated)
Add 1 large green bell pepper (diced)
Peel and dice 2 apples.
Combine bread, vegetables, apple, 1.25 - 1.5 cups of chicken broth, 1 beaten egg in a very large bowl. Season with white pepper, fresh thyme, dry rosemary (sage would be good too, if we had it).
Spread into a 9x13" glass dish and bake for 45-60 minutes, till done.
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| Baked stuffing |
Roasted sweet potato fries
Peel 5 sweet potatoes and dice into French-fry-shaped wedges. Toss with olive oil, salt, pepper, and rosemary. Spread on a baking sheet coated with olive oil. Bake at 425-degrees for 30 minutes or longer (till tender/roasted). Recipe guidance from 'Roasted Root Vegetables' in Mark Bittman's How to Make Everything.
Turkey Gravy (from Mark Bittman)
After turkey is removed, add water or broth to the roasting pan, then pour the pan drippings into a fat-separating measuring cup. After fat settles, pour off the gravy liquid, and discard the fat. In a sauce pan, combine gravy drippings and broth as needed. Heat over medium. Combine 1/4 cup cornstarch with 1/2 cup cold water, whisking until smooth. Pour cornstarch mixture into pan and stir. Cook until bubbling and thickened.
Cranberry Sauce
Combine 1 bag of cranberries 12 oz, 1 cup orange juice, 3/4 cup sugar, and a shake of cinnamon and allspice. Cook over medium heat until berries burst and sauce thickens.
Cornbread (from Joy of Cooking)
The biggest flaw of all of my past cornbread attempts has been following recipes that use only 1, maybe 2 Tablespoons of sugar. To me, the unsweet bread tastes too earthy, with a taste of buttermilk, and is not pleasant. So in following this recipe, I used a little over 1/4 cup sugar, and it was sweet and delicious.
1 1/4 cups stone-ground cornmeal
3/4 cup all-purpose flour
4 Tbsp (1/4 cup) sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 large eggs
2/3 cup milk
2/3 cup buttermilk (can do more buttermilk and less skim milk)
2 Tbsp vegetable oil
Preheat to 425-degrees. Grease a 9x9-inch square pan.
Whisk cornmeal, flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a bowl. In another bowl, whisk eggs, milk, buttermilk. Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients, and stir until just moistened. Add oil and fold in.
Scrape batter into pan and bake 20-25 minutes, until done.
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| Cornbread, front and center |
Holiday dinner pictures
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| Hubby's plate |
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| Clonie's plate, or so she wishes ;-) |
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| Clonie, me, and baby @ 21 weeks GA |
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