Thanksgiving 2010

 

So, a week after my Thanksgiving meal, I finally have the chance to sit down and post the recipes!
 

First up, the Turkey. As mentioned last week, I brined the turkey, using a recipe from Martha Stewart which I posted a link to in my previous post. Once it came out of the extremely strong smelling (due to 2 raw onions), brining liquid, it was dried and and left uncovered in the fridge for a few hours to ensure a crisp skin.

The skin was then brushed over with a flavoured butter I made by melting butter and adding a good pinch of saffron, sage and truffle salt, (which to be honest was a little old and not quite as 'truffly' as it used to be). I had contemplated placing thinly sliced white truffles under the skin, but I think my budget may have been exhausted to the point that that would be all we were eating for the foreseeable future.

The butter was also brushed onto the breast flesh under the skin, along with a bay leaf on each breast. Then I made a glaze with apple cider and sugar reduced down to a syrup and butter added. I used a sweetener, however, and the resulting glaze was so sweet I had to add lots more cider than the recipe stipulated and also some paprika and salt to counteract the sweetness. A halved clementine was judiciously placed into the turkey cavity, along with 4 whole cloves of garlic, a sprig of thyme, sage and a halved red onion. The bird was ready for its 5 hour lie in the oven. I stuck a thermometer into it too, something we rarely do in the UK, depending instead on the juices running clear and the easy pull of the legs. I do prefer the dependability of the thermometer however, especially after some mishaps in the past.

We didn't have any string to tie the legs together, so Neil had the genius idea of using a piece of bacon! It worked really well until the bacon got too dry and crispy and snapped, but we got to eat it. Maybe not such a great idea with undercooked turkey juices, but we survived.

Next up, the rutabaga bake.

I needed something that would be a good substitute for potatoes, although I did roast some for the others. Rutabaga (turnip in UK), seemed a good candidate for a scalloped/ dauphinoise kind of hybrid dish. So take one large rutabaga, peel and thinly slice. Layer in a dish with 1 chopped onion, 1 clove garlic, crushed, a handful of chopped sage and season with salt and pepper. Sprinkle a large handful of grated Gruyere cheese over each layer. You should have about 4 layers. (Try to remove some of the green outer part of the flesh when peeling, as this can reduce the bitterness). When you have your layers ready, pour over about 1/2 cup whipping cream, season again and add another large handful of Gruyere. Bake for about 1 - 1.5 hours at about 350oF.

Typically British, we decided to make some 'chipolatas' and some traditional stuffing to impress our Canadian friends. Chipolatas are basically sausages wrapped in bacon, traditionally cooked alongside the turkey and British stuffing is more sausage meat based with breadcrumbs and sage and onion. So, for the stuffing, I used 6 ordinary sausages, devoid of their skin, 1 red onion, chopped, 1/2 piece celery, chopped, 1/2 Granny Smith apple, chopped, a large handful sage and salt and pepper. I first sauteed the onion, celery, apple and sage in a little butter and oil until soft. This was left to cool slightly before being added to the sausage meat, mixed well and shaped into 4 balls. These was roasted for about 30 minutes alongside the chipolatas in the same 350o oven.

So, finally, gravy and 'greens'.

For the gravy, I had made a turkey and chicken stock the day before, using some frozen raw chicken parts in the freezer (left over from jointing a chicken) and the turkey neck, along with a whole onion, quartered, a piece of celery, halved, 3 garlic cloves, 3 tomatoes, halved, a sprig of thyme, 10 black peppercorns and 2 large bay leaves. I covered all this with 3 cups of water and let it cook in the slow cooker for about 4 hours, after which time I strained and let cool. It was lucky that I made this stock as the juices that the roasted turkey had produced were very salty due to the brine. So, the gravy was made with some of the fat from the juices, (I have a fat separator) about 4 tbsp and 1 tbsp of flour whisked together over low heat and allowed to cook for a minute. Then I added about 1/2 cup of the turkey juices and 1 cup of the stock and 1/4 cup cider. This bubbled for a little while to thicken and then waited, happily, to be poured over the turkey.

I have a slight obsession with the need to eat vegetables, and no meal I prepare is complete without them. Therefore, for our Thanksgiving feast, we had a mixture of kale, chard (appropriately harvested from our own balcony), cabbage, onion and prosciutto with sage. About 1 cup of finely shredded cabbage, 1 cup mixed finely shredded kale and chard and 1/2 red onion, sliced finely, were fried in butter and oil, added after 6 slices of prosciutto had been crisped. When the vegetables were looking soft, about 1/2 cup apple cider was added and allowed to cook until evaporated.

So, the end result. The turkey really was moist and succulent. The salt in the brine definitely added an element of flavour. Even the leftover turkey was still succulent the next day. The rutabaga bake was nice, but certainly not the same as one made with potatoes. Two years ago, I made a bake with sweet and regular potatoes with Gruyere, a recipe which came from Gourmet magazine. It was amazing and perhaps I was nostalgic for this. Overall, though, this was a really nice evening with good friends, good food and lots of alcohol.

We finished with a plain cheesecake served with whipped cream and raspberries. Perfect.