Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy Thanksgiving to everyone!

I am going to make this an open-ended blog today. By that I mean I invite anyone and everyone to share their favorite Thanksgiving recipe, story, tradition, etc. Whatever you like, we want to hear about it.

This year I assisted my mother in making our family's Thanksgiving meal. While she took the helm when it came to sides and desserts, I took over the turkey task.

This year I decided to try brining with the turkey. Brine is simply a salt and water solution that the turkey sits in for a period of time. In this case it was a 12 hour time period. We soaked the turkey after defrosting it in a 2 cups of salt mixed with enough water to cover the bird in a cooler. After 12 hours, I rinsed off the turkey and stuffed it with chopped carrots, celery, 1 chopped onion, a sprig of time and 1 bay leaf. The extra chopped onion and carrots went into the bottom of the pan to flavor the drippings. We laid the big in the roasting pan cradle breast side down and plopped it in the oven at 350 (F) for 3.5-5 hours. 2/3 of the way through we removed the turkey from the oven, carefully flipped it on its back so the juices baste the bird naturally, added the neck and giblets to the pan and stuck it in to finish.

Mean while back at the ranch... we started whipping up the country mashed potatoes, sweet potato crisp, and stuffed celery (along with the rest of our munchies smorgasbord).

To really kick up the mashed potatoes, my mom boiled the chopped potatoes in cream and milk with 12 diced cloves of garlic! This really gave them fantastic flavor. And rather than the potatoes absorbing all the water you normally boil them in, the milk penetrated and help give them flavor. When they were soft, she mashed them up and gave them a dash of salt. Easy and incredible!

For the sweet potato crisp (which turns out to be a favorite of my sister), I took 1 large can of sweet potatoes, or about 3 whole baked sweet potatoes, mashed them up, and whipped in some Neufchatel cheese (1/3 the fat of regular cream cheese). To this you add 1 tsp cinnamon and 2 tbs. brown sugar. Cover the top with a crumb mixture of honey nut cereal, 1 tbs. brown sugar, dried cranberries, chopped pecans, and dot it with butter. Place in the oven at 350 (F) for 35 minutes and there you have it.

Once we removed the turkey from the oven, we allowed it to rest for 30 minutes so the juices could come back into the meat. Meanwhile, I took about 2 tbs. on turkey fat from the pan and mixed it with 2 tbs. flour to make a roux for the gravy. I deglazed the roasting pan with a dry white wine and added that to the roux. I then began to add some chicken stock I made the previous day with browned chicken bones and vegetables. After a bit of reducing, the gravy was dark and thick and delicious! Really there is no secret to making good gravy. It is actually one of the easiest things to make in the kitchen. A little practice certainly helps, but there is nothing to be afraid of.

Ok, folks, here is you opportunity to throw in some of you own advice, tips, recipes, etc. Don't be bashful. Have fun.

Thank for reading and wishing you best eating,
Bon Appétit!