An Old Tale

We are in Christmas stretch now so Thanksgiving is certainly old news. I want to leave my usual TG note here especially since it is quite useful as a reference. Molu had gone off to college for the first time this year and Kannan has started higher studies. Thankfully both Universities are not too far from us and it was nice to have us all together for more than the usual weekend. Went for the full bird this time and was rewarded with a good gravy. This has become easier over the years and the TG 101 posts have made it even more so. Turkey was a 10-12 pounder organic one pre-ordered from Whole Foods as always. Alton Brown is still the king when it comes to turkey roasting and gravy making although I skipped the apple onion step inside the turkey while baking and it still turned out moist and yummy. As we head towards Christmas, I want to wish a very Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to all readers. Leaving you a plate stuffed with items from this year's TG table.

THANKSGIVING 101 : Part 3/3 The Feast

The TG-day is here but good news is, you can afford to wake up a bit late since you are a prepared cook this time around. Today we are preparing all the things that make the thanksgiving table what it is. A family feast!

Thursday : (Start around 10AM)

First thing to do is to set out 2 sticks of butter and one 8oz pack of cream cheese to bring those to room temperature. 

Slice 7oz of mushrooms, chop 1tsp each of parsley, sage, thyme, rosemary and set aside. Then crush and chop 3 garlic cloves. This is also the time to chop 2 onions, 2-3 celery sticks and some parsley if you are not using pre cut (~24oz) mix from the store.

Take out all shelves from the oven except one. Keep it in the middle for all cooking except for the turkey when it should be in the last slot.

Bring out the roasting pan and fat separator. Prepare some fresh sprigs of sage, rosemary and thyme for the turkey.

Corn Bread

Since we want the oven to be free for the turkey, most of today's activities are with this in mind. Make corn bread from the box following instructions. Krusteaz is my new favorite brand for corn bread. Soft and delicious every time. 

Mashed Potatoes & Stuffing

While corn bread is in the oven, start boiling the pot of water from yesterday. And start peeling the potatoes. Cut each into 2 or 3 pieces, add to the boiling water after adding enough salt. Cook uncovered  on medium heat, set timer for first 20 min and go on to the next step.

While potatoes are cooking, brown 1lb. of sausage in a large pan on medium heat for ~7 min and set aside in a plate. Melt 3 tbsp of butter and add 24 oz. of onion-celery-parsley mix and cook uncovered for 10-12 min. 

If the first 20 minutes of potatoes are done, then cover and cook for another 15 min or longer until you are able to come back to it. Keep an eye on the corn bread timer.

Add garlic-sage-thyme-rosemary and sliced mushrooms to the stuffing and cook uncovered for another 12 min. Add about 2 tsp each of salt and pepper to taste. Grease a large baking pan with 1 tbsp of butter and set aside for stuffing.

Add 1/4 cup sherry or chardonnay, roasted chestnuts and mix well together. Add back in the sausage, and 10-16oz stuffing mix and mix together with 500-600ml of chicken broth. Add to the greased pan, cover with foil and set aside. We'll come back to it after the turkey is roasted.

Remove corn bread from the oven once done and set the temp to 425F for roasting beans/asparagus.

Drain the potatoes and add back to the same pot, mash on low heat if too moist for 6-8 min and turn off heat. Add 1 1/2 sticks of butter, 8oz cream cheese, 1/2 cup half and half and mash together. Add 1/2 tsp seasoned salt, enough pepper and fresh herbs if any, mix together and set aside in serving dish. Mashed potatoes are done!

Roasted Beans/Asparagus

Cut off the edges of beans, lop off an inch or two of the asparagus, wash, drain and dry on paper towels. Toss with olive oil, salt and pepper, place in single layer on a foil lined cookie sheet and cook at 425 for 3-5 min on each side. Keep covered in foil and set aside in an oven safe serving dish. Set oven temp to 500F which shouldn't take long since the oven was in full use up till now.

Turkey

The breast meat weighed about 7 lbs this year. First combine the herb mix that came in the brine pack with some canola oil and set aside. Microwave apple or pomegranate halves, 1/2 red onion and a cinnamon stick in 1 cup of water. Now it is time to take out the brining turkey, clean and pat dry it with paper towels. Rub generously with the oil mix and tack on as many sage, rosemary sprigs as possible. Stuff in the microwaved items too at this time. Cover with foil triangle to get the breast shape in for later stage and remove foil. 

Roast as usual at 500F for 25 min uncovered with 1 cup water in the pan.  Breast area should be golden brown. 

Bring oven down to 350F, add another 1/4 cup of chicken broth and insert thermometer so that the temp is measured at the lowest point in the meat (~50-60).  Insert the temp probe parallel to breast bone into the middle of the meatiest part. Inserting halfway is okay if that works.

Cover with the shaped foil and roast again for 1 hour 45 min or till the thermometer reads 145.  The 1/4 cups of broth added to the pan helped retain moisture and also helped to create some semblance of drippings at the end. I think I will take it out around the 1.5 hour mark next time when the thermometer showed 142 and it can continue to cook outside the oven to retain moisture. 

During this time when turkey is roasting in the oven you can quickly clean the kitchen, take that much needed shower and even start to set the table.  If the breast area was not browned enough at the 500 degrees step, then remove the foil around 110 or 120 degrees.

Once turkey is done, place the rack with turkey on cutting board and place the pan on the stovetop. Keep turkey covered with a kitchen towel or foil and let rest. While turkey is resting, add the stuffing pan to the oven and set to bake for 20 min. Start the gravy step at this time.

Gravy

 Will need two burners in parallel on medium-low heat. Whisk the drippings and add 8 oz red wine and 24 oz chicken broth at the same time to the pan. Continue whisking for 2-3 min and transfer to a sauce pan. Turn off the heat. Strain into a 4cup fat separator with stopper inserted. Discard any extra liquid. Wait 10 min for the fat to settle on the top. 

Check on stuffing and if the 20 min are done, remove the foil and bake uncovered for another 20 min. Add the beans/asparagus pan to the oven towards the last 5 min to warm it up. Even the mashed potatoes can be warmed up here if it is in an oven proof dish.

Back to the gravy. Once the fat is settled, skim 3-4 tbsp of fat from the top into the sauce pan. At medium to low heat, add 1/3 cup all-purpose flour in steps and whisk vigorously. Remove the stopper and add the bottom fat-free liquid in small amounts and continue to whisk until blended well. Stop and discard the remaining fatty liquid. Do this for 5-6 min, add salt and pepper to taste and herbs if any for flavor. Remove from heat and pour into serving container.

Remove temp probe quickly once the turkey has rested to keep juices from rushing out. Remove turkey from the rack and place on serving container lined with herbs for pictures as needed. Place turkey back on cutting board for carving.

Crescendo!

Remove all the items from the oven, carve the turkey and finish setting the table. You are ready to enjoy the most delicious meal ever!

THANKSGIVING 101 : Part2/3 The Preparations

                            

I went with the turkey breast again this year instead of the full bird. The absence of the roasted bird was felt on the table when the cooked breast looked more like ham than turkey. But with enough white meat for all and comparatively less effort to clean and brine, this will be the go to from now on. 

Preparations

OK, now that our shopping is all done, let us start with the preparations that one can do before the actual day of cooking and dining. The best part about organizing this is the fact that Thanksgiving (TG) is always on a Thursday. So we can start with that in mind. Starting from Sunday here are the various steps you can do to prepare ahead.

Sunday

Buy the Turkey 

Pickup or buy the whole turkey or turkey breast on the Sunday before TG. If you are ordering online, do that a week or two before so that you can pickup on the day of your choice. Bring it home and keep refrigerated. 

Buy TG groceries 

Make sure to have enough space in the fridge before you go shopping. Make use of the shopping list from my previous post. Take a list with you when you go to get the turkey. The list must include a brine mix because you will need that first.

Monday

Relax.

That is right. This is a step free day. Unless you want to switch today with Sunday.

Tuesday

Prepare the Brine 

Dissolve the brine mix into 1.5 gallon of water, boil for a few minutes and set to cool. You can add some orange peel for extra flavor while boiling. Keep refrigerated once cooled. Make sure you have at least 2 trays of ice in the freezer and tell the family not to deplete it before Wednesday.

Wednesday : (Start around 6 or 7 PM)

Make Creme Brûlée for dessert (optional)

  

Since we are not big pie fans, we opt for various desserts like creme brûlée, snicker doodle cookies or pound cake. This one is rather easy to make if you have 8 ramekins and a butane torch.  Preheat oven to 325F. Heat some water in a large pan/kettle. Now bring 1 quart heavy cream with one vanilla bean and its pulp to a boil on medium high heat and set to cool for 15 min while you whisk together 6 egg yolks and 1 cup sugar. Add the cream mix gently while stirring, pour into ramekins and place in a larger pan with hot water poured to reach half the height of ramekins. Bake at 325 for 40-45 min, take out while the middle is jiggling and set to cool in the fridge. Layer with sugar and torch the top when ready to eat.

Make Cranberry Sauce 

This is the right time to make cranberry sauce if you are planning to have it homemade. Wash & drain the cranberries, boil once with 1 cup sugar dissolved in 1 cup of water. Add orange peel & 1-2 crushed cardamom. Keep it on medium heat and stir occasionally until jelly like consistency is reached. You can do the next step while this is going on.

Roast Chestnuts

My stuffing requires chestnuts so I roast 8-9 chestnuts in the air fryer after making an X on the flat side with a knife. Add these to the air fryer at 390 or oven at 425 and roast for 20 min. While chestnuts are roasting, go on to the next step.

Brine the Turkey

Line a bucket or large container with a brining bag, add half of the cold brine and some ice cubes. Then add the washed and cleaned turkey without giblets etc. and pour over the remaining brine and ice cubes, tightly close the brining bag and keep refrigerated or in the garage if it is cold enough. Make sure turkey is fully immersed with a weight on top if necessary. Keep breast meat in the net that it came in.

Finishing Up

If the chestnuts are done, keep them wrapped in aluminum foil for 5 min while you attend to the cranberry on the stove.

Remove cranberry from heat, discard orange peel if any and refrigerate in serving container once cooled. 

Wear food grade gloves and peel the chestnuts while hot because that is the easiest way to get it out. Halve the chestnuts and keep them wrapped in the foil for Thursday. No need to refrigerate.

Take a large pan, add enough water and keep on the stove for Thursday's mashed potatoes.

Make sure you have 5 lbs. of potatoes ready. Place dry sherry and red wine bottles within easy reach for stuffing and gravy needs. Keep stuffing mix (10-16oz) and chicken broth (2 boxes of 32oz) also within reach. Set hot sausage to thaw in fridge if frozen and go to sleep.    

THANKSGIVING 101 : Part 1/3 The Shopping List

Not to cut to the chase, but it takes quite a few steps over a day or two for this delectable plate to be possible. For this year's Thanksgiving (TG) post, I wanted to add those steps here in chronological order. As you can see, it has three parts and starts with the shopping list. This will help you to create that special TG Feast for your loved ones with less stress and more joy.

TG List

• turkey                      : 7-12 lbs (breast/bird)
• hot Italian sausage : 1 lbs (no casing)
• eggs                        : 6
• half & half              : 1/2 cup
• heavy cream            : 1 qt
• butter                      : 2 sticks (1 cup/16 tbsp)
• cream cheese          : 8oz
• rosemary                 : 2 or 3 bunches
• sage                        : 1 bunch
• thyme                     : 1 bunch
• parsley                    : 1 bunch
• garlic                      : 3 cloves
• white mushrooms  : 7 oz
• 1)yellow onions     : 2
• 2)celery                  : 2 or 3 sticks
• 3)parsley                : 1 tbsp
• (can sub 1)2)3) with ~24oz pre-cut mix if available) 
• chestnuts              : 1/2 cup
• oranges                 : 2
• cranberries            : 12oz pkg
• potatoes                : 5 lbs (Russet potatoes)
• beans                    : 1/2 lbs
• asparagus             : 1 bunch
• low sodium chicken broth : 2 boxes (32oz. each)
• Hawaiian bread rolls or any dinner roll
• brine mix with brining bag & herb rub
• stuffing mix         : 10-16 oz  
• corn bread mix    : 1 box  
• all purpose flour : 1/3 cup  
• vanilla bean        : 1
• dry sherry            : 1/4 cup   
• red wine             : 8 oz.
• cardamom          : 2 or 3
• sugar                  : 2 cups
• canola oil    
• olive oil
• salt
• seasoned salt
• kosher salt
• ground pepper

The last few items are sure to be in your pantry but it doesn't hurt to have it spelled out here. So when you are ready to go shopping, just print this out and take it with you. Next post is all about preparations and dishes you can make ahead.

Thanksgiving Dinner

My son loves Thanksgiving Dinner at home since it means he can have leftovers forever. My daughter is all for it too since this means her meals are more American than Indian.  So regardless of where we dine on thanksgiving day, we always have a turkey dinner at home the next day. Nearby family like H's cousin and family or my nephew may join us sometimes. This year too was not different. After a great time with friends, we regrouped to have our own little TG dinner on Friday. Dinner table was populated with the usual suspects from my tried and tested thanksgiving recipes with some timely adjustments geared towards making the process less complex.

Since dark meat is unpopular at home, I went for a simple turkey breast this time instead of the whole bird.  This was great on many fronts. There was no heavy lifting required to place the turkey in and out of the brine or for cleaning before and after the brine.  As my body is not getting any younger, it appreciated this change the most.  I also realized that any store bought brine mix will do just fine as the main character is salt anyways. On the carving side, H appreciated not having to wrestle with the bird on the cutting board and he carved away like a pro. All in all a win-win with all white meat for the kiddos, easy carving for H and less weight lifting for yours truly.

I didn't make stuffing this time which made the labor of love that much more enjoyable. Conveniently lifted off some leftovers from the friends place. Thought I'll make a list of TG items that I constantly go to for easy reference. Molu or Kannan, I hope you guys are reading this 😍

1. Brine
Store bought brine mix yielded almost similar results to the one made from scratch.

2. Turkey or Turkey breast
Whole turkey is mostly done per Alton Brown's instructions.

Turkey breast:
Used a boneless breast from WholeFoods weighing about 6lbs. Yielded more than enough with leftovers. Brined the same way as the whole turkey. Washed and rinsed and tucked with some fresh herbs like oregano and rosemary after rubbing with canola oil and the rub that came with the brine mix. First cooked at 500 for 25 min for skin color and then cooked covered with foil on top at 350 till inner temp reached 160F. This step took about an hour and a half of additional time. Added a few tbsp of water to the pan before the start of 500C and 350C steps to keep things moist. Keep covered in foil and let rest for 10-15 min before carving.

3. Gravy
Only caveat of having a turkey breast instead of whole turkey was the lack of drippings for a full fledged gravy. Still came out decent with Alton Brown's sure fire recipe that I follow almost to the letter.

4. Stuffing
I didn't make this stuffing this year but I have yet to find a stuffing that is better than this recipe we found on a Williams & Sonoma flyer many years back.

5. Mashed potato
 This mashed potato adapted from PW's has stayed true and delicious every time.

6. Cranberry Sauce
Made from scratch with organic cranberries. Simple and tasty.

7. Corn bread - Marie Callender's organic cornbread mix came out as good as ever.

8. Beans and Asparagus - Toss a bunch of each with olive oil, salt and pepper.  Air fry in 2 to 3 batches for about 3-4 minutes on each side. Done!

9. Hawaiian bread rolls are the favored dinner roll around here.

10. Pie and ice cream make for an ideal dessert on the thanksgiving table. But I think I am the only one who likes to eat the traditional pumpkin pie we can get from Trader Joe's or Boston Market. Hagendaz ice cream on the other hand had a few more takers.

Enjoy!

Happy Belated TG.

Roasting a turkey for thanksgiving has become like reading books. No matter what is currently going on in our lives, this new tradition is not dropped. It started off with just the four of us, then 2 or 3 families were added and now we do the full roaster of the 9-10 families that usually meet on special occasions. Some may not be around, and some will be busy with other activities planned for this rare long weekend, but most make it to pay homage to the turkey. Besides the bird, I usually make the gravy, stuffing, cranberry sauce and mashed potatoes. Mashed p is so popular that a friend is roped in to make a batch and bring it along with her usual item of sweet rolls. H made some yummy salad with beans and corn this year, a fitting addition to this feast. Corn bread, roasted veggies, appetizers and desserts are outsourced to the hapless friends on the promise of a dinner. They are game and we had a very noisy and fulfilling dinner this year too.

I find that my own notes here are helping me. So here I go. We had a 23. 4 pounder bird this time.  I got a brine mix from World Market  which coincidentally had all the ingredients that I normally use. We set the turkey to brine in the garage instead of the refrigerator and turned the turkey in the brine once after 12 hours. This year's turkey was perfectly moist and evenly browned.  I am beginning to realize that Alton Brown's recipe needs slight modifications for the organic, never frozen turkey that we roast.

Maybe 30 min at 500 degrees is good for a 23 pounder but 20 min might be enough for 12-18 pounders. After 30 min, the inner temperature this time was 64 and it took an additional 2 hours for the temp to get to 162. I think 64-70 is a good temp to start the 350 step instead of 100. This means the rest of the turkey cooks slowly to prevent over browning. The temp probe should be taken out as soon as the bird is out of the oven and set to rest on a platter covered in foil for 10-15 minutes before carving. Herbs are as good a liner for the serving platters as lettuce or cabbage. I also liked adding finely chopped rosemary and lemon thyme from my garden to canola butter for the turkey rub. Pouring about 1/2 cup water in the pan before placing the roasting pan in the oven each time it went in helped to reduce the oven smoke and kept the pan less burnt for gravy making.

For stuffing, the store cut onion celery mix ended up being better than fennel bulb and onions cut at home. Curly parsley is a flavorful addition to stuffing or gravy or roasted red potatoes.

Happy TG

Had about ten families over for thanksgiving this year. Stressed a little but despite the sharp, cold weather, things went well. To hedge my bet on a single 20lbs turkey I also cooked a 6 lbs turkey breast roast in my 4.5 quartz slow cooker this year. Came out good too and this will be an easy go to dish for a quick TG dinner another time. Recipe to come later. Here are the before and after snaps of the main dish.

I brined the turkey for 24 hours. Following Alton Brown's turkey recipe, it only took a total of 1 hour and 45 minutes to cook the 20 pounder! I wasn't sure if I should take the turkey out when the thermometer alarmed at 161 because the time seemed so short. Took it out anyways since I didn't want the bird to dry out. It was cooked perfectly. Could be that organic brined turkeys may not need a long time to cook? I tented the turkey while resting out of the oven just to help the cooking along.

We had stuffing, cranberry sauce, gravy and mashed potatoes. I'll need a larger fat separator next time for the amount of liquid specified in AB's gravy recipe. Guests brought more yummy sides and a good time was had by all. With leftover turkey and mashed potatoes in the fridge, my son is in TG heaven. The only down side is molu and I are a little under the weather. Having 2 more days to recover is just great. Used cornbread for stuffing this year inspired by the TG lunch we had at work. It came out decent but not as good as the inspiration. Something to try and get right next time. There is something about thanksgiving that makes people happy regardless of how the food comes out. It must be the feeling of togetherness, savoring of warm food and the conversation with everyone in a holiday mood. Our homemade wine was well received with the authentic labeling and nostalgia inducing taste. Through all this I think I just miss my mom. Food is so indelibly connected to mom, that it is difficult not to...

Thanksgiving Menu Board

If I wait for a more convenient time to write something to go along with the picture, it will be too late since Christmas spirit is taking over the nation as winter is progressing along with pervading cold. By the way, it's been raining cats and dogs the last few days. There was even a thunderstorm not too far from us. Californians are taking it all in their stride thinking of snow piling up on the Sierra snow packs and the leveling of groundwater to get out of the draught. Apparently 4-5 days of rain will not cut it. We need more of the same for a month or two to set us up for next summer's water needs. Let us hope it remains so. Umbrellas are coming out the woodworks and getting damaged left and right. They were built for the slow drizzling rain and mild winds that this region is used to. We need those ultra resilient St. George umbrellas that can battle the might of monsoons let alone what we call "thunderstorms" here in Cali.

So my girl made this board before the Thanksgiving party to put up our menu. H built this board for the kitchen but the surface is too rough to use it on a daily basis. I do bug him on it on a daily basis too:-) But we found some nice bright pens that can conquer the roughest of them and while erasing is still a pain we can at least do some fun stuff like this once in a while. She tried a few things on the board and finally settled on a menu. Us along with many of the guests thought it looked neat. We had of course all those items and some. Ok we are done with TH till next year. 

Guest Post:Mashed Potatoes

When I sat down to start this post, my son wanted to add his two cents on the thanksgiving food, especially the potatoes. So I'll just let him have his say instead of writing a full post today. Here it is:

In all my experience dealing with the fluffy goodness known as mashed potatoes, none compare to what was prepared in my household this fiscal year. Now, I do not know what tomfoolery my mother did to create such a delectable taste, but something went right, and I'm very happy to eat these potatoes. IN FACT, they were so good, we had to make another batch just to last out the thanksgiving leftovers, as the originals were gobbled down by us and the rest of the guests. If I were to describe the taste, it would seem to be quite smooth. But what really made the potatoes pop was the gravy, and boy, this year it turned out better than expected.
-my son, the high school freshman and food network enthusiast

He has gone off happily, having finished what he set out to do. I don't have any mashed potato pictures, but I am adding a one of the roasted bird here.

It was a 22 lbs bird and took about 4 hours to roast including the half hour at 500F step from Alton Brown.

I used PW's brine and substituted the vegetable stock with apple juice since I didn't have enough veggie stock. I added 1 more quartz of water and a quarter cup more of salt and brown sugar for the heavier turkey. It is important that the turkey is fully immersed in the brine. Canola oil worked out fine after all. Just used enough to cover the turkey once. Too much can cause more smoke at the 500 degree step. All went smooth this time especially with close to 30 people over and I am really happy and relieved.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy Thanksgiving everyone! Hope those of you who are celebrating had their birds and getting ready for the busiest shopping day of the year. Though I had to login to work today, I managed to do some preparations for the one day late Thanksgiving lunch at our home tomorrow. Will add pictures once I have them. These are the berries I saw on a tree on one of my walks at work. Picked some out for the Thanksgiving decorations. Hope the tree and the owners didn't mind. They looked so awesome and colorful that I just couldn't resist...

Turkey Stir Fry!

Time to bring up the bird again. It is not gone until the fat turkey sings:-) We ate leftover turkey the next day but then it was time to change the format a little. This stir fry came out really well!!

In The Mix

leftover turkey - 3 cups sliced to small pieces
big red onion - 1/2 medium size,  sliced thin
curry leaves - a sprig or 2

garlic - 2 cloves crushed and minced
turmeric - 1/4 tsp
chili powder - 1/4 tsp (optional)
pepper powder - 1/4 tsp

dry red chili - 8 - 10 pieces or more

olive oil - 1/2 tbsp
mustard 1/4 tsp

No additional salt is needed for the brined turkey

How To Do

Heat oil and fry mustard. Add curry leaves and onion and saute till onion turns light brown. Add in garlic, sprinkle the turmeric, chili, pepper powders and mix together for some time. Now add the dry red chilies torn in the middle. Saute well together and add turkey pieces. Stir until pieces are well coated. Cover and cook for 2 min or so for all aromas blend. Remove from heat and serve over hot rice or fresh bread. Good!

After Thanksgiving

Hope everyone had a good dinner, turkey or not. I was just going to chill out this four day weekend but decided to go the turkey route on a whim. My son's wistful questioning of whether we will be having turkey was the catalyst. This time we went with a fresh turkey (diestel heidi) from Whole Foods. Whether it is the 'natural' part or PW's brine, the meat was much flavorful and tasted almost like chicken this time! Almost is the word. Another family brought their turkey and my son proved the point by going for seconds on ours:-))) Their gravy was way better than mine though...I am not going to write the whole turkey process again here but will add some notes. I see these notes are helping me to repeat the good results.

Basted the turkey with canola oil instead of butter and kept the windows open so going to 500F did not activate the smoke alarm. Next time I will bast a little more conservatively or use canola butter as the skin got a little more charred than desired. Inserting the thermometer after the 500 F step and poking until I found a reading in the breast area which was closer to 100F helped. I think another meter for the thighs may be needed for a larger turkey. It was a thirteen pounder this time. Alton Brown's video is good as always. I'll note down PW's brine recipe here with small changes I made since it was a last minute decision to go with it. I also used a new gravy recipe which, while better than my last one is still not there yet. It is not the recipe's fault methinks. I just need to try small adjustments until we find our own taste because the better gravy from our friends followed similar steps as my last try. They also added chilies while cooking and removed after wards. Having a fat separator for next time may be a good idea.

One thing about the meat thermometer you can do if you don't use it more than once or twice a year  is to take the battery out when you store it so it will not get damaged. We had loved the stuffing from last year and it came through again. Bought some sliced brioche loaves which went amazingly well with the turkey dinner! PW's mashed potato is as awesome as it was last time.  Our cranberry sauce came out as good as last time as well. A colleague talked about a tandoori turkey recipe that they used which came out good. I might try that next time (need not be next year) and will let you know if I do. Everyone got busy eating and so didn't get much time to take more pictures. The split Turk was all I could manage:-)

Turkey Brine (from PW)
In The Mix
turkey - 1 washed, pat dried and emptied of neck and giblets (13 lbs is what we had this time)
kosher salt - 1 1/2 cups
brown sugar - 2 cups
vegetable stock - 2 quartz
water - 2 quartz
fresh squeezed orange juice - from 1 orange
garlic - 1 cloves, crushed and minced
dried bay leaves -4 to 5
rosemary - 2 to 3 sprigs
orange peel - from 2 tangerines ( this is an awesome ingredient for the brine)

ice - 30 cubes
water - 1 gallon

How To Do
Boil all ingredients except the 1 gallon of water and ice in a large pan and completely cool down.  Pour into brining bag placed in a 5 gal. bucket. Add the 1 gallon of water and half the ice. Put the turkey breast-first into the brine and add the rest of the ice. Zip up the brining bag and place all in the refrigerator. Add weights if the bird floats up. Take out and completely wash in cold water after about 16 hours.

This Year's Gravy (from food.com)
In The Mix
vegetable oil - 1 tbsp
turkey necks - 2 cut into 2-3 pieces ( got an extra neck from the meat dept. as there were no wings)
red onion - 1 large diced
carrots - 2 large, cut into 4 pieces
celery - 2 stalks, cut into 4 pieces
garlic - 2 cloves sliced in half
dry white wine - 1/2 cup
chicken broth - 4 1/2 cups ( my gravy got too thick and so i added more)
dried thyme - 1/4 tsp
all purpose flour - 1/2 cup
water - 3 cups

How To Do
In a stir fry pan, heat oil and shallow fry the turkey pieces for 10-15 minutes until they turn color.
Add onions, carrots, celery, garlic and cook for another 10 minutes till veggies and turkey get browned. Move all to a large bowl.

Add wine to the pan, stir to loosen brown bits, and put turkey and veggies back. Add water, thyme, broth and boil over high heat. Reduce heat to medium low and simmer uncovered for 45 minutes. The stock is extremely tasty at this point. I wanted to give up the gravy idea and just wanted to keep it as a soup instead!

Things didn't go as smooth once I added the flour because the meat I had didn't have enough fat. I added the flour without thinking about it which made clumps and took a few sieves to clean-up. I am just getting the hang of it. With two gravy experiences under my belt I might be luckier next time making it more tasty...
Anyway once done simmering, strain into a fat separator or measuring cup and let the liquid sit for a few minutes. Once fat gathers at the top, skim it to get a 1/4 cup and discard remaining fat if any. Add this to the pan and add the flour slowly. Maybe a fresh pan may not have clumped the mixture. Fry the flour mix till golden brown and add the strained gravy. Mix well, let boil and reduce to gravy consistency. Once cooled it is ready to go with the meal or into the refrigerator to be heated when needed.  I had to add more broth when I took it our for reheating since it had gotten too thick.

Once all got done, the house was cleaned up and we got  time to rest a little and enjoy the view before guests arrived. Just forgot to click more pictures at this time..... Baking the bird is lots of fun and I love how the house feels when all of this is going on along with H and the kiddos. Until next time then and no, I didn't go shopping today. I am waiting until those shoes I want go on sale. I'll take a pair in the dark brown please:-)

Thanksgiving - Cranberry Sauce

When it first dawned on me that cranberry sauce is one of the sides on the Thanksgiving table and that I would need to see to it, I wasn't very enthusiastic. Especially after visualizing that store bought can of cranberry sauce. Finally we picked up a good looking fresh sauce at Trader Joe's and that was that.

When I invited one of our relatives - a distant cousin - staying nearby for the Thanksgiving dinner, she generously offered to make the cranberry sauce. Didn't give it much thought as it was sort of taken care of by then and didn't want her to dwell more on this unfamiliar sauce. As luck would have it, my eyes fell on a fresh bag of cranberries while shopping and I picked it up just in case.

Well, the turkey was done and while the mashed potatoes were heating up and the gravy was cooking I decided to bring out the sauce. At the mention of cranberry our cousin's eyes lit up and she again offered to make the dish. When I said that I have some fresh cranberries, her enthusiasm knew no bounds. Gave her complete freedom and she was busy looking for things. I heard pan, sugar, water etc and the next thing I know there she is, standing next to a shimmering mix of dark pink on the stove. One of the kids had tagged on as a temporary associate. My daughter is a constant companion in all cooking activities but this time it was my son. The color was irresistible and in the white dish it literally sparkled! Only when I tasted it along with the turkey and all the sides that I understood its purpose. The tangy taste is a perfect accompaniment with all the food. And very easy to make.

I asked for the recipe which she generously recited. It is reproduced here.

In The Mix

Fresh cranberries - 1 bag ( 12 oz.)
water - 1 cup
sugar - 1 cup (do not heap)
orange rind - 1 tbsp or less. (peeled thin)
cardamom - 1 or 2 pods crushed (optional )

How To Do

Wash the cranberries and remove remaining stems etc. Dissolve sugar with water in a sauce pan and start heating. Add the cranberries and boil. Also add the orange rinds and cardamom if you are adding those at this time. After a while the cranberries will start popping. This is a contained activity so no worries there. Stir once in a while and add more sugar if preferred. Can cover and cook or leave it uncovered which is what she did.

Remove from heat, cool to room temp and refrigerate if time permits. Remember to remove the orange rinds and the cardamoms too if you can find them. We were a little rushed and so I cooled it down by holding afloat in a larger bowl full of water and stirring. The first spoonful made all of us say aha!. A permanent addition to our Thanksgiving table has been born. She apparently makes it all the time for her mom who loves to snack on it, Thanksgiving or not!

We tasted the Trader Joe version afterward and as the cousin had stated, it is a good substitute if you are pressed for time.

Missing Dessert

Didn't make any dessert this time and we had ice cream and an Indian sweet. Made this pound cake from a Box next day to compensate:-).


When we were having leftovers the next day - 'leftover feast' according to my girl - I realized I didn't make fresh dinner rolls like I had wanted to. The guests didn't seem to mind. It was great fun planning the dinner together with my husband and pulling it off -thanks mainly to word wide web resources - with fairly minor mishaps. Our thanks to all resources. I hope to repeat this in the coming years and add new sides that we discover....

It gives a good feeling to have finished off the TG dinner chronicling while it is still fresh in our memories. I can hear my girl waking up. Time to press the post button. Holiday season is always one of joy and I wish all my readers a wonderful time ahead.

Updated Nov28, 2014:
The kids tried to make the cranberry sauce today and thought some of the steps could be more detailed. Isn't this cute that they tried it? So I have updated the recipe based on their questions.

Thanksgiving - Corn Bread

Corn Bread is a favorite of yours truly and it was with pleasure that I started the process. An arduous process that included a trip to the store, buying a box with instructions and following it. Seriously, it turned out to be a little longer than I intended simply because I didn't follow the last step of adding only two cups instead of the entire bag of corn bread mix. I should have known this would be the case because it was a different brand and I wasn't familiar with "the" ways. Mixing it thoroughly like for appam batter also probably didn't help:-)

Sooooo, the next time around I brought home with me two familiar brands. The always dependable - our sole pound cake source - Betty Crocker and that worthy maker of delicious pies, Marie Callender's. Betty Crocker had good instructions and Marie Callender just needed to add water. The key in both cases was to contain the number of strokes while combining the mix with the liquid. Too much and the resulting bread will be flat.


Verdict: Betty Crocker's looked and tasted like the traditional version and are shown sliced inside the glass pan in the pic above. Marie Callendar's was more moist, ate like a cake and is in the first pic as well as the at the end. Both were good but I guess for corn bread it will be MC from now on.


For leftover cornbread:
If you like 'avalose podi' a Kerala snack (made of fried powdered rice/coconut) with honey, then trains cannot stop you from enjoying cornbread with a generous drizzle of pure golden honey. But then, what can you expect from a honey lover?

Last Up : Cranberry Sauce and the Missing Dessert

Thanksgiving - Mashed Potatoes

I had always loved mashed potatoes. From Boston Market and KFC, I mean. Never knew how to make them although I have mashed quite a few for our regular dishes. This mashing seemed different. And so it was! It also has turned from a healthy side selection to a guilty pleasure once I found out the ingredients.

The recipe came straight from pioneerwoman and I would like to reproduce it here for reference and notes. Thanks PW for this delicious recipe!

In The Mix
potatoes - 5 lbs (Use only Russet or Yukon Gold for the fluffy texture. I used Russet)
butter - 3/4 cup (keep at room temp)
cream cheese - 8 oz. (1 package, keep at room temp)
half and half milk - 1/2 cup
seasoned salt - 1/2 tsp
freshly ground black pepper - 1/2 tsp or more
regular salt - 1/2 tsp
fresh chives - 1 tbsp minced

How To Do
Peel and halve potatoes before cooking. I always cooked potatoes with skin on. So it was liberating and easy to do this. No messy stuff remaining while trying to peel hot potatoes! Boil water in a large pot and add potatoes. Cook for about 35 minutes while boiling. I covered with a lid just for the last 5-10 minutes. Make sure the potatoes don't fall apart but are pretty close to it.

Drain the cooked potatoes and put back into the same pot. Mash over low heat. This step from PW is just great as it helps to make the mashed potatoes not too ....mushy. Do this for about 6-8 minutes. Occasionally getting distracted with other things is allowed.


Turn off the stove but keep the pot there depending on your moisture confidence. Add 1 1/2 sticks of butter, the cream cheese and milk (1/2 & 1/2) and mash well to mix through. Now add the seasoned salt and ground pepper. I kept adding more black pepper since the husband favors pepper. Then I added 1/2 tsp of regular salt and that was the end of the salty road for us.


Mix all together and keep in a baking dish. I made it the previous day as suggested and this helped a lot with the time. Sprinkle in some herbs and serve hot or cover with foil in the refrigerator to heat up the next day.

The next day right after the Turk came out I lowered the temp to 350C and baked the potatoes covered for about 45 minutes. Had kept at room temp for about 3-4 hours before that. Sprinkle chives on top and use a new foil to cover before baking. Add 2-3 slices of butter spread along the top to complete the experience. The potatoes were so unbelievably fluffy when mashed that both us found it hard to keep our hands off of it. The reheated version was good but next time I'll serve it fresh made which just melts in your mouth!


Coming Up: Corn Bread

Thanksgiving - The Stuffing

Traditionally, stuffing used to be stuffed inside the Roasting Turk. Lately it is baked apart from the poultry and me thinks this is a good change. AB of course has specific reasons not to put the stuffing inside. Read here for further enlightenment. We were planning on having it baked separate anyway and this went well with our humble plans. I liked many stuffing ideas but the one that appealed most was found on a Williams-Sonoma leaflet/holiday guide that my husband picked up when he went there to get the brining bag. It is named sausage, chestnut and mushroom dressing in the leaflet.

I didn't use the brandname La Brea stuffing which the recipe was centered around and just used a regular bag. Also made variations based on availability and personal taste. Let me tell you... it came out splendid! The accurate and organized timings/steps in the recipe helped big time in the crazy rush to finish dishes on time without burning things.

In The Mix


butter - 4 tbsp
hot Italian sausage - 1 lbs (casings removed)
regular white mushrooms - 7 oz. (half of a regular packaged box)
stuffing - 1 lbs (any herbalized or regular mixed croutons package will do)
low sodium free range chicken stock/broth - ~750ml (warmed)
cooked turkey giblets - from 1 turkey bag (minced, not in org recipe)


garlic cloves - 3 (crushed and minced)
yellow onions - 2 diced
celery - 4-5 sticks diced (org recipe used a fennel bulb instead)
fresh Italian parsley - 1 tbsp minced
fresh thyme - 1 tsp minced
fresh sage - 1 tsp minced
fresh rosemary - 1 tsp minced (not in org recipe)
kosher salt - 2 tsp
freshly ground pepper - to taste
dry sherry - 1/4 cup

chestnuts - 1/2 cup (roasted, peeled and halved)
fresh curly parsley - 1 tbsp minced (not in org recipe)

How To Do

Preheat oven first to 425C to roast the chestnuts.

Grease a baking pan with 1 tbsp of the butter.

Rinse and slice the mushrooms to include the stem at the center.

Cook the Italian sausage in a pan over medium heat. Remove lumps by stirring well. Set this aside once fully cooked. About 7 minutes.


Melt remaining butter in the same pan. Mix onions, celery and Italian parsley together and saute well. Do not brown the onion mix. 10-12 minutes seem about right. Now add the garlic, mushrooms, thyme, sage, rosemary, salt, pepper and cook again for about 12 minutes. I did all the cooking uncovered.


Add the sherry and mix gently. Set aside.



to roast chestnuts


Use a sharp knife and make X's on the flat side. This allows steam to escape while in the oven and keep from exploding. Arrange chestnuts with flat side up in a cookie sheet. Bake for about 20 min. Cover with foil once out of the oven to keep them warm in case you get distracted with other stuff. This also gives time to cool down a bit before you can start peeling. It will be difficult to peel if you wait too long so get to it as soon as you can. Peel them off and cut in halves. It is completely okay if at anytime here you feel like a song is coming because that is exactly what happened to my husband when he saw the chestnuts roasting on an open fire, er... in the oven :-)


Looks like salted mango pickle 'uppumanga' from Kerala. But looks ARE deceiving. Chestnuts taste more like any steamed dense carbs. I picked them up at the local grocery store and rumor has it that they are readily available in any Asian grocery store. Roasted, peeled version that is. But then, be forewarned that no songs will be forthcoming with that option:-)

Change the oven temp to 375C.

In a large bowl, combine the cooked sausage, prepared mushroom mix, chestnuts and curly parsley. If you had saved the cooked giblets that came inside the turkey, now would be the time to add it after mincing. Then add the store bought stuffing and mix all together.

The time has come to add chicken stock. Since we don't want to end up with a mushy texture for the croutons, extra care need to be taken in adding the stock. I found that about 650ml did the trick for me. The dry bread (croutons) should be moist but not...mushy. Pour this mixture into the baking pan, cover with foil and bake for 20 minutes. Then remove the foil and bake for about 30-32 minutes to get crispy delicious stuffing. Ready to serve after 10-15 minutes.

When dinner was over and conversation kept going around the dinner table, hands continued reaching out to the stuffing for small portions again and again. Yum indeed!

Next Up : Mashed Potatoes

Thanksgiving - The Fresh Herbs

Apart from the Turkey, what got me excited about Thanksgiving cooking was the generous usage of herbs in all the recipes. Having a cabinet full of Indian spices had kept me content for a long time but the chance encounters with fresh herbs here (read thyme, sage etc) had always left me intrigued. Thanksgiving gave me a chance to be acquainted with them on a personal basis. I am a much happier cook for this encounter.

The first thing was to make a list of the things I would need. Many are not in our regular list and I had some bad experiences looking for just one or two of even the dried items in regular grocery chains. Most likely because although the associates tried to help, I just didn't know what I was looking for:-) On your own, you can spend hours and hours looking for that one thing and still not find it. I had been to Wholefoods before for something and was quite enamored of it. there are no Wholefood stores that close to us but there is one next to where my son goes for Piano. So I made a list of all possible things we would need and not have and set off on this journey. Came back quite a satisfied customer with every single item checked off!! The staff was incredibly helpful and you know their customer service policy when you see 3 or 4 associates in each aisle helping people in need. I even saw oven bags there within $4.00. I won't need it to use in the oven since the Turkey is already brined but am planning to check it out as brining bag next time.

All the fresh herbs were together as if waiting for me right next to the entrance. If it were not for the labels I wouldn't know one from the other. Have taken snaps of the ones that I got this time and hope to add to it later on.

Before I forget: If you get a bunch of fresh herbs and won't be using it all at one time, then here is a trick to make them last longer. As soon as you come home, wash the leaves under water and drain in a colander. Then wrap them in paper towels and keep in the refrigerator in a ziplock bag or in a closed paper bag. They will keep fresh for a good while. I always keep curry leaves this way.

Here they are in no particular order:

Tarragon

Thyme

Curly Parsley

Italian Parsley

Bayleaves

Rosemary


Chive


Sage

Of course I will not recognize any of them in the dried form either! Since that can be found in nicely labeled containers, this will not be a problem.

Stuffing/Dressing is next.

Thanksgiving - The Gravy

A good gravy is the life of a Thanksgiving dinner. Of course the bird is the King. I didn't mean to put it down. But with a good gravy you can make up for shortcomings of the meat and the sides. We followed Alton Brown's (who else?) gravy recipe for this.

Remember the roaster with drippings we set aside? This is the gravy starter. So time to bring that around.

In the Mix
Roaster pan with turkey drippings after the turkey is done - 1
low sodium chicken broth - 24oz ( have to use the organic version)
red wine - 8 oz ( used merlot)
all purpose flour - 1/3 cup
fresh herb - 1 tbsp (used tarragon this time)
giblets/neck - from 1 turkey
kosher salt - as needed
freshly ground black pepper - as needed

How To Do
This part can be done while the turkey is resting waiting to be carved. Cook the giblets and neck in water. Don't add salt. Take the solids out once cooked and keep that water handy. Keep the giblet. We will use it in the stuffing.

Turn on two burners and place the roaster on low heat. Add the wine and the chicken broth and whisk to combine. Scrape off everything. Ran out of the organic broth and so used regular canned broth. I have a feeling that the organic version would have added more to the taste. My stuffing used the organic version and it was oh! so yummy!!

Cook for 2-3 minutes and transfer the stuff into a fat separator. (note to self : buy a fat separator next year as it is really handy) In the absence of a fat separator we can just pour the stuff into a large clear measuring cup using a colander. Let sit for a few minutes and separate the fat using a spoon or the spout.

Measure out 2/3 cup of the fat or as much as you have short of this quantity. Place the roaster back on the stove and add the fat. Add flour and whisk at medium to high heat for about 3-4 minutes as the mixture thickens. Add the separated liquid (not the fat) back into the pan in small amounts. Whisk until smooth. Check salt and if too much, add in some of the giblet water. That is what it was for! Cook for 5-6 minutes. The mixture will thicken even more while waiting to be served. Keep this in mind.


Add any herbs you have. Tarragon was not bad but I will try a mix of herbs next year. Season with salt and pepper and transfer to a gravy boat to serve. A picture post on herbs is up next.