Thanksgiving at its best

Well I got to go shopping with my 3 grand kids today, yes all together at the same time,

didn’t heed any of the warnings. Did not go in with any preformed ideas of pending disaster

irregardless of what my daughter and son-in-law kept saying.

Those kids were great and we had a great time gathering everything we needed for what

Ava calls the “feast day”. So JJ and Cory are into super walmart and one stop shopping.

It’s fine but it doesn’t have what I call the “finishing touches”. So a few of the things that

were not available JJ an I had to do some improvising. Cory likes cornbread stuffing and J

makes it with corn muffins. Oops walmart doesn’t have cornbread muffins, so I say “no

problem we’ll make skillet cornbread and use that” So lets start there.

SKILLET CORNBREAD

2 tbsp solid vegetable shortening

2 cups all purpose flour

2 cups yellow cornmeal

2 tbsp sugar

1 tbsp plus 1 tsp baking powder

1 1/2 tsp salt

2 cups milk

4 large eggs

preheat oven to 425, with rack in center. place shortening in a cast iron or other ovenproof

skillet, transfer to oven to heat.

In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, cornmeal, sugar, baking powder and salt, set aside.

In another bowl whisk together milk and eggs. Pour milk and egg mixture into cornmeal

mixture and stir until just combined. Do not over-mix; batter should be loose.

carefully slide out oven rack and pour batter into hot skillet. Cook until golden brown and

firm to the touch, about 25 minutes. let stand uncovered overnight.

Now you have cornbread for stuffing or serving in big squares with dinner.

THE TURKEY

Well Cory has a new turkey fryer so we need to get the “bird” we weren’t sure what size we

could fit in the fryer but had a pretty good idea we would need at least a 16 pound er, but

got a 14 also just in case. Hey they can fry another bird for Xmas never get to much turkey

in a year.

Well the key to a great deep fried turkey is in the preparation. Any body can read the

directions on a fryer and do a god job with that part. But the “BRINE” it’s all in the

brine. Some people will tell you 4 to 6 hours of brining is all you need. Now let me tell you

how wrong that is. Twenty four, yes, 24 hours is the way to go. Your going to have dinner

at 2 pm on Thursday then get that turkey soaking by 2 – 3 pm on Wednesday. It’s really

pretty simple, take a defrosted cleaned and rinsed 10 to 16 lb turkey and using a stock pot

or the fryer pot you will use to fry the turkey pour in the following; Now even if your going

to oven roast or BBQ the bird brining is still the key.

2 1/2 gal water

1 cup salt

1 cup brown sugar

2 large oranges cut into eighths

2 large lemons cut in quarters

6 sprigs fresh thyme

4 sprigs fresh rosemary

mix until all is dissolved, place cleaned turkey into brine neck cavity up. Make sure liquid

covers entire bird, if not just add a little more water. Another little twist is to throw in about

a quart of apple cider. Soak for 20 to 24 hours. Now y0ur ready to fry. A little trick I

learned is to bring the peanut oil up to about 390 degrees just before you put in the turkey,

please shut off the gas and blow out the flame before putting the turkey in, the reason for

390 is that you want to fry around 340 to 350 and getting the oil to 390 drops it to the right

temp when the bird goes in and your not struggling to get the oil temp back up. 3 1/2

minutes per pound plus 5 minutes and you got a “poifect” booid.

OK says Mrs. W no fried turkey for me, how do you have gravy and I am not buying it in a

can or jar.

NO PROBLEM it’s simple, take the neck giblets etc along with an extra turkey neck or two

and the day before roast them in the oven just like you would the turkey. Then with 4 cups

of chicken broth and 1 cup of dry white wine ( optional) deg lace the pan over a surface

burner with half the broth and the white wine. Pour the “pan” juices into a fat separator and

then into a sauce pan. Bring juices to a boil over medium heat, put 1 cup of hot juice into a

quart jar and add 1/4 cup of flour cover and shake well to combine. When pan drippings

have come to a boil slowly whisk in the chicken broth and flour, bring to simmer. continue

to whisk until gravy thickens season to taste with salt and ground pepper. keep warm until

ready to serve.

CRANBERRY GLAZED ROAST TURKEY

OK so now you got the brining covered and you want to roast the turkey, How about a

cranberry glazed turkey. I did this recipe one early spring day just to satisfy a craving for

mid year turkey. Plus I had an extra bird in the freezer from the holidays. Hey you don’t

have to wait for thanksgiving or Xmas to cook a turkey. You would be surprised just start

that bird roasting and open some windows on a Sunday morning and watch the neighbors

show up to see if you forgot to turn the page on your calendar, and then stay for dinner.

You can’t turn them away especially up in the foothills they had to walk a long way.

So lets start with the CRANBERRY GLAZE

1 tbsp unsalted butter

1/2 shallot finely chopped, about 2 tsp

2 fresh sage leaves

1 tsp whole juniper berries ( not mandatory)

1 cup fresh or thawed cranberries

2/3 cup maple sugar

2/3 cup apple cider

1/2 cup red currant jelly

1/4 tsp course salt pinch fresh ground pepper

In a medium saucepan melt butter over medium heat. add shallots and cook until

translucent stirring occasionally about 2 min. Add sage leaves and cook sirring about 1 min.

Add cranberries, maple syrup, apple cider, jelly salt and pepper. raise heat to medium –

high and simmer until berries are soft and start to burst, about 3 min. Transfer to a food

processor and puree. return to stove and simmer gently over medium heat about 10 to 15

min. If glaze is to thick add more cider.

With 30 minutes left in roasting the turkey brush glaze on turkey and cook 10 min, brush on

more glaze cook another 10 mins, brush on more glaze and finish cooking. Don’t forget to

let the bird rest before carving. Any extra glaze can be served on the side.

RUTH’S ALL TIME FAVORITE – CREAMED ONIONS

This is the simplest of recipes but a real tradition and staple at our french family holiday

meals.

First lets either use two cans or jars of boiled white onions or two pounds of small fresh

white boiling onions. If you choose fresh onions you will need to peel them then boil them in

just enough water to cover in a sauce pan until they are easily pierced with a toothpick,

reserve at least 1 cup of the boiling liquid for the sauce.

white sauce for the onions

1 tbsp unsalted butter

1/2 cup heavy cream

1/2 cup onion juice ( from reserved, or from the can or jar)

3 tbsp flour

pinch nutmeg

salt and white pepper

In medium sauce pan melt butter add cream and onion juice simmer on low heat 3 to 4

mins, whisk in flour nutmeg and salt and pepper to taste bring to boil, if to thick add more

onion juice, add in onions and boil for 4 to 5 minutes more, serve hot.

MY FAVORITE OF FAVORITES – BACON BRUSSELS SPROUTS

Yes it is spelled in the plural, “brusselS” sprouts and any time you can add bacon to a dish

you got a winner, at least amongst the folks I hang out with in the foothills. We did not

always have these at Thanksgiving when I was growing up Mom and Dad were more into

root vegetables. Don’t get me wrong I love root veggies and we will do a lot of them this

winter as the weather turns colder and the snow flies. But for now its the sprouts. I think

this really got started with me and holiday dinners as the kids grew up. Yes I love boiled

cabbage too.

BACON BRUSSELS SPROUTS

12 ounces thick sliced bacon cut crosswise into thin strips

1 Spanish onion thinly sliced

8 garlic cloves halved length wise

2 lbs brussels sprouts trimmed and par boiled cooled and halved

course salt and fresh ground pepper

In a deep skillet cook bacon until browned about 8 min. Transfer bacon to paper towels to

drain. Add onions and garlic to pan cook over moderate heat until softened 3 to 4 min,

remove from pan and set aside. Add sprouts to pan in batches and cook stirring occasionally

until browned when sprouts are all browned add bacon onions and garlic back to pan, saute

3 to 5 minutes on medium low heat, season to taste with salt and pepper cook until just

tender.

OK enough for now. We are down to the wire with just a few recipes to go and then deserts.

Comments

[Mike]

I'm having a uerkty with the in-laws on Thursday and my family on Friday. So sorry no gobble gobble for the bee family. :( Is there a way for you to maybe order one? I know some restaurants do that so you can still enjoy one without the work. Or if all else fails maybe a rotisserie chicken? Over here places like Luckys, Safeway, and Costco all offer them.