Thanksgiving Stuffing and Turkey

I love Thanksgiving! The cooking and smells are relaxing to me. I always make a turkey and stuffing a certain way. Both of these are done the day before, so that on the big day I just have to turn on the oven.

The turkey is soaked in a mixture of salt and sugar, flavoring it and giving it a moist texture. The stuffing complements the turkey beautifully. I made some changes to it, but the original recipe came from America's Test Kitchen.  

I start the turkey brine no later than 8 am the day before Thanksgiving. That way the turkey does not have to cut into your bed time when it is ready to be taken out in 12 hours. 

Roast Turkey

12-14 pounds turkey

Step 1: Brining

1/2 cup kosher salt or 1/4 cup table salt
1/2 cup sugar
8 cups cool water

If your fridge does not have room for turkey to brine, use need to use a cooler and have a lot of icepacks on hand  (you need the temperature to be below 40 F during the entire brining time).

Dissolve salt, sugar and water in a large cooler or another large container. Be sure that all of the sugar and salt get dissolved. Slide the bird into the container.

You may need to increase the brining ingredients depending on the size of your brining container (keep the proportions the same). You need enough brine to just cover the bird.

Leave the chest on the counter or place the container on the bottom self of the refrigerator for 12 hours.

After 12 hours, remove the turkey from the brine and rinse it well under cool water (do not skip this, otherwise the sugar on the turkey will burn).

Place on a baking sheet lined with a kitchen towel. Truss the bird with butcher's twine to help it keep its shape and cook evenly. The Internet has nice videos and pictures on how to do this.

Stuff the cavity with quartered onions and roughly chopped celery and return it to the refrigerator uncovered for 8 to 12 hours. At the end of the 'drying process' the bird will not look like it did when you put it in the fridge. It will have an unappealing bruised look.

Step 2: Roasting

Move the oven rack to the bottom of the oven and remove the rest of the racks (the bird needs a lot of room).

Preheat oven to 400 F. Put a roasting rack on a baking sheet or a big baking dish. Place the bird breast side down and brush with unsalted butter. Bake for 30 minutes. Flip the bird on its side, brush with butter and bake another 15 minutes. Flip on the other side, brush with butter and bake another 15 minutes. Brush the bird with butter and finish the roast with 45 minutes to hour breast side up. The turkey is done when thigh is 160 F.

 

Remove the bird from the oven when you did all the flips and let it rest for 30 minutes at room temperature.

Note: the butter may start to burn on the baking sheet and smoke. I add a cup or so of water to the baking sheet to keep it from smoking. When I take the bird out, to keep water from splashing around, I use a turkey baster to suck up the excess liquid.

Stuffing with Sausage, Apricots and Pecans

To prepare the bread cubes, start with a sturdy, rustic bread (I use whole wheat). Cut the crusts off and cube the bread. Spread it on the baking sheet and leave it to dry for 24 hours or bake them in 250 F oven until dry.

1 pound sweet Italian sausage, removed from casing and broken up

5 tablespoons olive oil

1 1/2 cups finely chopped onion

1 1/2 cups finely chopped celery

1/2 teaspoon dried sage, thyme, marjoram (each), crushed with fingers

1/2 cup finely chopped fresh parsley

2 cups pecans, toasted and roughly chopped
1 cup dried apricots, roughly chopped and soaked overnight in white wine
12 cups dried bread cubes

1 cup chicken stock

3 large eggs

Place the bread cubes in a bowl, big enough for tossing with the rest of ingredients.

Cook the sausage over low heat in a 12 inch skillet until cooked. Transfer to the bowl with bread. Add the oil to the skillet, onion and celery. Cook over medium-low heat for about 10 minutes. Add the dried herbs and cook for another couple of minutes. Transfer to the bowl with bread and sausage.

Add the parsley, pecans and apricots to the bowl and toss to combined. In another bowl, whisk the eggs together and add the chicken stock. Pour over the mixture of bread crumbs and toss to combine. Place into a baking dish, cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate until the next day.

On the day of Thanksgiving, remove the wrap, and cover with foil. Bake at 400 F for 20 minutes. Remove the foil and bake for another 15 minutes.

Hot Cocoa Mix

I really love hot cocoa, but usually are to lazy to make it. This cocoa is easy to make and you can make a cup when ever you like. The chocolate in the mix melts and you get a nice layer of chocolate goo on the bottom of the cup.

I topped mine with some homemade marshmallows.

The recipe makes about 5 2/3 cups, which is enough for 17 servings.

Hot Cocoa Mix
3 cups powdered milk
1 1/2 cups confectioner sugar
1 1/2 cups cocoa powder, natural or Dutch processed
1 1/2 cup bittersweet chocolate chips
mini marshmallows, optional

Combine chocolate and sugar in a food processor and run until the chocolate is finely chopped. Combine with the rest of ingredients and transfer to an airtight container. Store at room temperature for up to 3 months.

To make a cup of cocoa, heat up 1 cup of milk until very hot and then add 1/3 cup mix. Stir well and top with small marshmallows or whipped cream.

Cranberry Galette

I went to the store today and cranberries are finally here. Yeha! I love cranberries and made some canned cranberry sauce and this galette. I think that galette and crostata are the same thing, just depends on if you are French or Italian. I thought that galette sounds more fancy. Anyways this turned out really tasty and I made it with whole wheat flour.

Use an extra 1/4 cup of sugar if you like you tart on the sweeter side. My tart (with 1/2 cup) turned out tart but still sweet. I like it like that.

Cranberry Galette

Crust

1 cup whole wheat flour

¼ cup cake flour

1 tablespoon sugar

½ teaspoon baking powder
¼ teaspoon sea salt
3 tablespoon cold butter, cut into ½ inch cubes
2 tablespoons olive oil
3 tablespoons water, ice cold
1 tablespoon vodka

Filling

3 cups fresh or frozen cranberries (if frozen, do not thaw)

1/4 cup water

1/2 cup sugar, add another 1/4 cup if you like it sweet

handful raw walnuts, chopped coarse

To make the crust, pulse the dry ingredients in a food processor. Add the butter and pulse a 5 times. Add the oil, water and vodka and pulse until the dough forms little pebbles. Dump onto work surface and press the pebbles together. Refrigerate while you make the filling.

To make the filling, combine cranberries, sugar and water in a saucepan and bring to a boil. Simmer for about 10 minutes and cool to room temperature. You can transfer it to a dish, refrigerate and finish the pie in the next two days.

To assemble, place the crust dough on parchment paper (or silpat, but not wax paper) and sprinkle with flour. Roll to about 9 inch circle. Spoon the filling in the center and leave 1 1/2 inch border empty. Fold the dough over the filling using the parchment paper to help you. Sprinkle the walnuts on top. Brush the sides with milk or heavy cream and sprinkle with coarse or plain sugar.

Bake galette in the center of the oven at 400 F for about 20-30 minutes or until the crust is golden brown. Remove and cool to room temperature.

Cut into 8 slices with a serrated knife. It is best to cut the galette by firmly pressing on the knife across the whole galette. Cutting in sawing motion will cause it to crumble.