A Yummy Thanksgiving

So. My wonderful and very patient husband got tired of me being tired of cooking, so he decided to look up a recipe idea on the internet. ( I guess my 500+ cookbooks weren't good enough for him! ) Anyway, one recipe lead to another and now he is a better cook than me, damn it!

We thought it would be fun to share the recipes with our family and friends and include a little story too. Since most of our (his) cooking adventures have a story to tell! Many of his recipes have come from blogs just like this so we will be sure to include credit where credit is due.

We hope that you enjoy our blog and most importantly, try the recipes!

Our Thanksgiving Menu:

Spiced Pecans & Glittering Walnuts

Brined and Herb Roasted Turkey

Mom's San Francisco Style Dressing

Classic Mashed Potatoes & Turkey Gravy

Cornocopia

Green Beans with Bacon

Roasted & Candied Sweet Potatoes

Grandma's Raspberry Layered Jello

Pumpkin Pie

Jack Daniels Chocolate Pecan Pie

Vanilla Whipped Cream

First things first, the bird.

We combined a couple of different recipes to make the brine, but we follwed Alton Brown's cooking technique to roast him.

For the brine:

3 cups apple juice or cider

2 gallons water

1 head garlic, sliced in half crosswise

1 cup kosher salt

2 cups brown sugar

3 Tablespoons whole peppercorns

5 whole bay leaves

2 sprigs of fresh rosemary

3 sprigs of fresh thyme

the peels of 3 oranges

1 lemon sliced

Combine all ingredients except water in a pot over medium heat and stir until salt and sugar dissolve. Let cool completely then add water and pour over cleaned and defrosted turkey and refrigerate for 24 hours. Isn't the brine pretty? It's my favorite picture right now.

When you are ready to cook the turkey, remove from the brine and rinse thoroughly with cold water to remove excess salt. You can even soak it in fresh water for 15 minutes or so. Dry the turkey completely with paper towels before roasting it.

Roasting Instructions:

Once the turkey is completely dried, rub the outside with canola oil, olive oil, or butter. Put something in the cavity of the bird for flavor. We steeped one apple; a sliced orange; a head of garlic, sliced; and a whole onion, quartered in some water in the microwave for 5 minutes then added that into the cavity. We have also done lemons, garlic and onion. Something aromatic to continue to flavor the meat while it cooks.

Set your oven to 500 degrees. I know, I know. Trust me, this really works. Make a little foil party hat for the breast portion of the bird. It is a nice touch to make a little handle to pull it off and on. Set this party hat aside for later. It will keep your white meat moist and juicy. Truss your bird up making sure the wings are tucked and the legs are nice and tight to the body. Put him in a roasting pan with a rack to keep him off the bottom of the pan. Toss him into the oven for 30 minutes. He will be nice and brown. Cover with your foil party hat and reduce heat to 350 degrees. A 14-16 pound turkey will take approximately 2- 2 1/2 hours to reach temperature. We had a 21 pounder and he was done in about 3 1/2 hours. Be sure to use a thermometer to check temps. We love this digital probe one from Taylor. We have used one like this for our turkey every year. Now, no peeking, no basting, just close the door and leave it alone until your temperature reaches 160. At that time remove from the oven and let rest for at least 30 minutes to one hour. Enjoy!

David & Susan