Thanksgiving

I am thankful this year that my family is together and that we can share a meal together. This year was one of the most relaxed thanksgiving preparations I can remember for the past 10 years. With the cranberries, stuffing, apple sauce, and pie already finished, there wasn't too much left to do - just the turkey, green beans, corn, brussels sprouts, mashed potatoes, gravy, and whipped cream. We also bought a can of cranberry jelly, as well as the corn bread. Recipes below.

Turkey
Not unlike the stuffing, Mom and I also try out a different technique with the turkey every year. We start 2 days in advance by brining the turkey in a solution of 1 gallon water, 1 cup salt, and 1 cup sugar for about 6 hours. We dry the turkey and leave it in the fridge for a day to dry the skin out. This is supposed to help crisp the skin while cooking. This year, we decided to butterfly the turkey and cook the legs and breasts in separate pans in order to get the cooking temperatures just right: 160 for breast (light) meat, 175 for leg (dark) meat. We do this because, through trial and error, we've discovered that you just can't get a whole turkey cooked perfectly, ever. And who cares, really? Once it's on the plate, it's all the same. We line the pan with chopped onions, carrots, celery, mushrooms, sage, parsley, thyme, cinnamon stick, and lemon zest (peeled whole, not grated). The cavities are filled with stuffing, the skin is covered in butter and pepper, and the turkey is placed on top of the vegetables and placed in a 500 degree oven for 20 minutes to crisp the skin. The pans are pulled out and filled to 3/4 full with chicken broth and white wine. We then cover the turkey with parchment paper and then cover the whole thing with foil, and turn down the temp to 350 for 40 minutes. After 40 minutes, we start checking the internal temperature of the meat with a thermometer, adjusting cooking times as necessary. This year, the legs were pulled after an hour total, and the breast required 1 hour 25 minutes total.

Green Beans
I'm not sure where my mom found this recipe, or when, but I'm going to assume circa 1996 based on an advertisement for Johnathan Taylor Thomas' Pinocchio on the back. Ohh, JTT.. :) Ok, recipe, right.

2 bags frozen green beans
1 can cream of mushroom soup
1/2 c milk
1 t soy sauce
dash pepper

Mix all ingredients in a casserole dish and bake at 350 F for 25 minutes. Boom. Done.

Corn
Corn for thanksgiving is also pretty easy: 2 bags of frozen corn heated in the microwave for 5-10 minutes, then stirred with butter and salt.

Brussels Sprouts
This was a last minute addition to the table. Every year, we try to add one "variable" dish. This year it's this one. Mom and Dad made this over the summer with fresh figs (when they were in season) and it came out so well, we decided to make it again, but with dried black figs instead. It ended up rounding out the table perfectly :)

Mashed Potatoes
Mom is in charge of this one, since I can't make a potato to save my life. Basically, peel and boil potatoes, strain and mash. Add butter, milk, sour cream, and salt to taste. As a variety, my parents had made jalapeno juice and frozen it a few weeks ago; we added a small cube to half the potatoes for a kick.

Gravy
Gravy is a traditional pan gravy. After the turkey comes out, the vegetables and herbs are strained to leave stock, which is put over medium heat in a separate pot. Butter and teaspoon of potato starch (diluted in cold water and tempered) are then added to thicken the gravy.

Whipped Cream
Finally, to close out the night, we also make our own whipped cream. It's pretty simple: take a cup of heavy whipping cream, pour in a shot of bourbon and a half teaspoon of brown sugar, and beat until you get stiff peaks. Be careful not to overbeat the cream; I did this one year.. the cream started to separate into a solid and liquid and I kept beating, thinking that it would come back together. It did not. What I actually had made was butter, and the liquid was buttermilk. In any case, a touch of bourbon and sugar in the whipped cream rounds out the flavors of the pie quite nicely :)

And that's it! Thanksgiving 2014 has come to a close and everyone is passed out either on the couch or in front of the fire place :)