THANKSGIVING
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Recipe Introduction
In all the hustle and bustle of the planning & cooking for the
Holidays, I often forget there are newbies out there who don't know how to make
the basics and may want to, so I thought I would help out a little bit.
You want to make a menu, that's the first step. My motto is K.I.S.S. --
Keep It Simple, Stupid! Don't get fancy, after all, the first
Thanksgiving wasn't about the "fancy", it was about sharing.
1) Don't be afraid to serve canned or frozen veggies, IF they are less
expensive. Don't worry about fancy green bean casseroles or scalloped
corn. If Aunt Bessie is coming to dinner and wants the "traditional"
green bean casserole, politely ask HER to bring it! LOL! While it's not
polite to ASK guests to bring things to the Thanksgiving table, it isn't
all that polite to COMPLAIN about what the host is making either!
2) If guests ask "what can I bring?", by all means, take them up on the
offer! Don't go overboard and tell them to bring the turkey, LOL, but
ask them what they would like to bring or make. Some people LOVE to bake
and would LOVE to bring the pies, so LET THEM! If they don't cook, ask
them if they could bring a nice bottle of inexpensive wine and/or
sparkling cider or grape juice to share. Or, just ASK them what they would
like to bring. Tell them they don't have to bring ANYTHING, but you
would be honored if they brought something they want to bring. One thing I
ALWAYS ask for is a bag of ice. It's not expensive, and I never seem to
have enough ice on the holidays.
3) Make as much of your own homemade goodies as you can! Stuffing isn't
complicated, really! Neither is cranberry sauce (water, sugar, fresh
cranberries, VOILA!). People LOVE homemade mashed potatoes, and this time
of year you can seem to find potatoes at a good price. Fresh potatoes a
little on the expensive side? Use generic potato flakes, but jazz 'em
up a little bit! Cook in chicken broth instead of water, and stir in
half a container (4 ounces) of sour cream. YUMMY!
4) Overwhelmed? Don't be!!! Thanksgiving is about GIVING THANKS, not
STRESSING OUT!
5) Clueless as to what to make? Don't be!!! Have a "basic" Thanksgiving
- just like the first! Some ideas (feel free to mix 'n match):
Turkey
Gravy
Mashed Potatoes
Bread Stuffing
Corn
Green Beans
Sweet Potatoes or Yams
Cranberry Sauce
Apple and/or Pumpkin Pie
Okay - now you need recipes, right? NAH! K.I.S.S.!!!
THE TURKEY:
1) DEFROST the turkey (if using a frozen turkey). It will take about 3
to 4 days in the fridge.
2) Get up a little on the early side on Thanksgiving morn (I get up at
3am). Take the turkey out of the fridge, remove the netting & shrink
wrap. Remove the giblet package & neck. You may find these in one of two
places. The neck will probably be in the front cavity (between the
legs), the giblet package may be there also, but it also may be in the back
cavity (its butt! LOL!), so make sure to check both. In some turkeys
the giblet package may even be nicely wrapped up in parchment or wax
paper. Set aside the neck & giblet package.
3) Rinse the turkey in cold water & pat dry with paper towels. This is
VERY important, because you want to rinse off any gross "stuff" so no
one gets samonella poisioning (just like with chicken).
4) Put your rack inside your roasting pan. No rack? Hmmmmm....just ball
up some large aluminum foil pieces and put them in the bottom of the
pan.
For best results, I like to rub the turkey all over with a little
canola or vegetable oil, then sprinkle with Kosher salt (you can use regular
ole salt).
Add a little water (about 1/4 cup) to the bottom of the roasting pan.
Spray roasting pan with nonstick cooking spray.
5) Preheat the oven, according to directions (most directions will say
20 to 30 minutes per pound, and the temperature should be either 325*F
or 350*F (just a NOTE from me - I roast mine at 300*F for 30 to 40
minutes per pound). If your turkey has one of those little red popup
"thermometers", pretty much ignore it, just use it as a guide. I have found
that the turkey can vary in "doneness" by a half hour before or after
the timer pops up.
6) place the bird upside down in the roasting pan (breast side down)
OR
make an aluminum foil "helmet" for the breast. Take a big ole piece of
aluminum foil and shape it into a triangle and fit it over the breast
and place in roasting pan. Using one of these 2 methods will insure a
very moist turkey breast.
7) Cover with roasting pan cover. No roasting pan cover? NO worry!!!
Just cover the pan with foil.
8) Place your bird in the oven. Set the timer for 1-1/2 hours. Check
when timer goes off and baste. Don't know how to baste? It's easy! If you
have a turkey baster, just "suck" up the juices in the bottom of the
pan and squirt over the turkey. No turkey baster? That's fine, just use a
large spoon to spoon juices over the turkey. Recover turkey, reset the
timer for another 2 hours. Oh, close the oven door! LOL!
9) Repeat step 8.
10) You're probably coming to the last half hour of cooking or so,
depending on the size of your bird. The last 30 minutes, take the cover off
the roasting pan, flip the bird over (LOL!) or remove the foil helmet
so the breast can brown.
11) Once your turkey is done, remove from oven, let sit for about 10
minutes before carving. This gives your bird a chance to rest and for the
juices to settle into it.
Meanwhile, make your gravy and get out your nicest serving platter.
12) You can either carve the turkey in the kitchen and bring out the
slices & such on the platter, but what fun is THAT? Put that BEAUTIFUL
bird on the platter and bring to the center of the table. Let Dad or
Grandad or Hubby do the carving honors.
List of Ingredients
THE GRAVY (This is really easier than you might think):
1) Take the giblets & neck and put them in a medium size saucepan. Add
a couple of ribs of celery, a carrot and half an onion, coarsely
chopped.
2) Cover with water (about 3 cups), add a little salt to the water.
Bring to a boil, reduce heat to medium-high and simmer about 30 minutes.
Add more water, if necessary, throughout cooking.
3) Reduce heat to medium-low and continue cooking until meat starts
falling off neck bone (about 1 to 1-1/2 hours total).
4) Remove pan from heat. Remove giblets, neckbones & veggies from pot
with slotted spoon. Cool broth & skim off fat (I usually do all this the
night before, refrigerate the broth & then remove the layer of solid
fat the next day).
5) If you don't like giblet gravy, give the giblets to the dog. If you
DO like giblet gravy, finely chop the giblets (I use only the heat &
kidneys and feed the liver to the dogs). Remove meat from neck & finely
chop. Discard the neckbone. Puree veggies in blender or chopper.
6) Add pan drippings to sauce pan of broth. Bring to a boil; reduce
heat to medium-low & thicken. I like to use cornstarch or Wondra flour,
but if all you have is all purpose flour, mix flour with broth or water &
add to sauce pot. Add pureed veggies, chopped giblets (if using) and
meat. Whisk well to blend.
7) You can skip this step, if you like, but I like to do it to give the
gravy a nice brown color.
Pour mixture into roasting pan. Set roasting pan on TWO burners of the
stove, turn both burners on medium high and whisk until the gravy comes
to a rolling simmer; season with salt & pepper to taste and whisk gravy
well. When gravy reaches desired color; (think of the canned or jarred
gravy you usually buy), turn off and set aside in gravy boat.
THE MASHED POTATOES:
I personally am not all that good at making mashed potatoes from
scratch, because I never seem to buy the right potatoes. When I DO make them,
I use Yukon Gold.
1) Figure about 1/2 pound of potatoes per person. I like to peel my
potatoes before I boil them. I cut them into quarters or eighths,
depending on how big the potatoes are.
2) Use a large 8 to 10 quart stockpot & fill it about two-thirds full
with water and bring to a boil on the stove. Add the potatoes & cover
with more water, about 1 inch from top. Add more water throughout
cooking, if needed.
3) Boil for about 1 to 2 hours, until potatoes are super, super soft.
It makes them easier to mash. When finished, drain potatoes. Add milk,
butter & salt to stockpot. On medium heat, bring to a rolling bubble and
then reduce heat. I can't really tell you how much milk, butter & salt
to add, it depends on how much mashed potatoes you are making & what
consistancy you would like. Your best bet, if you are making 5 pounds of
potatoes, use 1 cup of milk, 1/2 stick of butter and 1/2 tsp. salt.
4) Add potatoes back to hot milk mixture and mash with potato masher
until desired consistancy (my family likes a few "lumps"). Add more milk,
butter and salt, if needed.
5) Meanwhile, get out a nice big serving bowl (make sure it's
oven/microwave safe!)
6) Scoop mashed potatoes into serving bowl & cover to keep warm. You
can always put them in the oven to keep warm, or nuke 'em a bit before
serving.
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