What Did You Make For Thanksgiving?

What did you make for Thanksgiving?  I made four pies the weekend before, so I was pied-out by the time Thanksgiving rolled around.  Is a pie-less Thanksgiving a crime?  I am not for sure, but I think the Salted-Caramel Six-Layer Chocolate Cake (Martha Stewart, duh) I baked made the cut.  After years of making the same turkey, we decided since it was a smaller Thanksgiving, we would try new recipe.  Here is what was on our menu:

-Salted-Caramel Six-Layer Chocolate Cake - Took three days to make, a little time each night, but was totally worth it.  It was so rich and decadent.
-Tuscan-Style Turkey Alla Porchetta - Whole Foods refused to bone the wings and legs of the bird, so I had to do that myself, which was a little hard, especially because I don't have a boning knife, but once that was over, it was so quick and easy to roast.
-Giblet Gravy - Whole Foods also forgot to include the neck and giblets with the bird, so we just made wing gravy, which was just alright.
-Simple Stuffing - This is so easy, and we make it every year.
-Creamed Corn with Parmesan - This was the surprise winner of the night.  Who knew?
-Sauteed Brussel Sprouts with Sriracha and Cashews - So easy and yummy.
-Mashed Potatoes - My favorite side.
-Spicy Squash Salad with Lentils and Goat Cheese - Love, love, love this recipe, and you can make most of it ahead of time.
-Raw and Cooked Cranberry Relishes
-Zweiback
-Deviled Eggs
-Rosemary Jones - The perfect Thanksgiving cocktail, or anytime cocktail for that matter.

Hope you had a wonderful Thanksgiving!  Hopefully I can get back to posting more often.

Thanksgiving Invitations

Sorry I have been MIA.  I have been pretty busy, but I thought I would quickly share my Thanksgiving invitations for this year.  Much more simple and modern than past years (here and here).

Thinking of going to an apple orchard before it becomes winter?  Click here and here to read about my trips.

Roast Turkey

Here is a quick post for a roast turkey from Martha Stewart Living.  This is my second time using this recipe, and both times the turkey turns a dark golden color and is very juicy.

Ingredients for Martha Stewart Living's Roast Turkey:
-One 20-21 pound fresh turkey, giblets and neck removed from cavity and reserve (a slightly smaller turkey is fine, it will just cook faster)
-1 1/2 cups unsalted butter (3 sticks), melted, plus more for rubbing the turkey
-1 bottle dry white wine
-2 teaspoons salt
-2 teaspoons freshly ground pepper
-Stuffing

Rinse the turkey with cool water and dry with paper towels.  Let stand for 2 hours at room temperature.

Warm the butter and white wine together and soak a large piece of cheese cloth in it.  Meanwhile, rub the bird with butter and season with salt and pepper.

Place rack on the lowest level in the oven and preheat to 425 degrees F.

Place the bird breast-side up on a roasting rack in the roasting pan.  A roasting rack will prevent the bird from sticking to the bottom of the pan.  Remove the pop-up thermometer if there is one.  Use an instant read thermometer for a more accurate indicator of doneness.

Insert the stuffing just before the turkey goes into the oven, and do not pack too tightly.  I place the stuffing into a cheesecloth bag, before going into the bird, so it is easy to remove.  Do not forget to pack the neck cavity.  Secure the neck flap by pulling the flap of skin at the neck down and use toothpicks to fasten it.

Pull the legs together loosely and tie them with kitchen string.  A bow will easily untie later.

Cover the turkey with cheesecloth that has been soaking in the butter and wine.  It should cover the breast and part of the leg areas.  Place the turkey in the oven and roast for 30 minutes, then take out and brush the cheesecloth and the exposed turkey parts with the butter and wine mixture.  Reduce the temperature to 350 degrees F.  Beware that the cheesecloth might burn if it is drooping too much off the bird.  My smoke detectors were going crazy.

Every 30 minutes, use a pastry brush to baste the cheesecloth and exposed turkey parts with butter and wine mixture.  Watch the pan juices, if your pan is shallow.  Spoon them out if they are overflowing and reserve for gravy.

After the second hour of cooking, carefully remove and discard cheesecloth.  I brush the butter and wine mixture on spots that are sticking to the bird, to prevent the skin from tearing.  The turkey will be quite brown.  If the legs and wings are getting too brown, wrap them in foil to slow down the browning.  Brush the turkey with the pan juices and return to the oven.

After another 30 minutes of cooking, insert an instant read thermometer into the thickest part of the thigh, avoiding the bone.  When the temperature reaches 165 degrees F, the bird is ready.  This will take an hour or two more (start taking temperature after 2 1/2 hours cooking time total).

Transfer the turkey to a serving platter, remove stuffing, and let rest for 30 minutes.  You can tent with foil to keep the heat in.  Meanwhile, make your gravy.  Then carve and serve.

Have a happy Thanksgiving!

How To Brine A Turkey

In these past few years it seems that brining a turkey has become a popular way to prepare the big bird on Thanksgiving Day.  Maybe I am just imagining it, since I have only really been in charge of my own turkey since moving to New York three years ago, but seriously every magazine I pick up or cooking show I watch, brining the bird seems to be an essential part of the process.  What is brining?  It is a salt-water solution mixed with other aromatics that the bird soaks in over night, to ensure even moisture content throughout the bird.  The result is a juicy, tender turkey.  Although, I am a vegetarian, I have been assured that this turkey is very delicious, but honestly I have never tried it.  I trust my carnivore friends though.

Just some tips to mention before you start your brining.  Make sure your turkey is fresh or thawed out completely if frozen.  Also, you can either set the turkey in a large 5-gallon container, or a brining bag, which you can find at Whole Foods.  You can also get them on Amazon here.  Brining bags are like a huge ziplock bag, and are actually really sturdy.  It does help if you have a friend help you hold the bag while you place the ingredients in.  I also like that you can smush it into the refrigerator.  The last tip, is make sure you get your bird early enough.  You need to start brining your bird the morning before you plan to eat the turkey (at least for this recipe).  So have your bird thawed and ready on Tuesday night, brine on Wednesday, and cook on Thursday.

Ingredients for Riesling Brine from Martha Stewart Living, November 2008:

-7 quarts water (28 cups)

-1 1/2 cups kosher salt

-6 bay leaves

-2 tablespoons whole coriander seeds

-1 tablespoon dried juniper berries

-2 tablespoons whole black peppercorns

-1 tablespoon fennel seeds

-1 teaspoon black or brown mustard seeds

-1 fresh whole turkey (18-20 pounds) patted dry, neck and giblets reserved for stock, liver for stuffing

-1 bottle dry Riesling

-2 medium onions, thinly sliced

-6 garlic cloves, crushed

-1 bunch fresh thyme

Bring 1 quart water, salt, bay leaves, and spices to a simmer, stirring until salt has dissolved.  Let cool for 5 minutes.

Meanwhile, slice onions and garlic.  Place onions, garlic, and thyme in the bag or container.  Place turkey on top and pour in Riesling.  I like to pour in about half the remaining water (3 quarts), then the spice mixture, then the rest of the water (3 quarts), so everything gets mixed well, and the warm spice mixture doesn't directly hit the bird.

If the turkey is not submerged, weigh it down with a plate.  Refrigerate for 24 hours, flipping the turkey breast side down once in the middle of brining.

Thanksgiving Invitations

I am having Thanksgiving a little early this year, in fact it's this weekend.  Here are my invitations I sent out.  Gotta run, I am in the middle of making cinnamon ice cream.


Click here to see last year's.

Thanksgiving Retrospective

Last Thursday, I had Thanksgiving at my house. It was fun, but it is a HUGE sigh of relief that it is over with. After literally a month of planning, recipe hunting, several trips to the Green Market and the grocery store, Thanksgiving finally happened. Thankfully, I had two friends who were huge helps in the kitchen as well as overall preparation.

Starting the weekend before, I made cinnamon ice cream (which I will post about later) and pate brisee. On Tuesday I made the scarlet-carrot soup and my friend made the cranberry relishes. On Wednesday morning, we brined the turkey, and I picked up some beautiful flowers in the Flower District.

Brining the 21 pound turkey. Photo taken by AWD.

Later I skipped out of work a little early and headed to Big Nick's for some greasy pizza and one tall Heineken.
One crowded walk home due to the loads of people watching the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade balloons getting blown up (why do people care about this? I am still trying to figure it out), I made my way to my apartment to begin making the pies - apple, pecan, and pumpkin. Unfortunately, my oven was on the fritz - accurate at one temperature - one hundred degrees off on another. This led to some slightly burnt crusts, that really just ruined the appearance, but thankfully not the taste. On top of that, I had accidentally put corn flour instead of corn starch in the pumpkin pie filling. One of my friends was so sweet to go out at 1:00 in the morning to get more ingredients so I could start over.

Photo taken by Clark, J. Petty Officer 2nd Class, USN.

While I was making the pies, my friends set up the tables. They covered the tables with craft paper and used crayons to make place settings. We left the crayons loose on the table so people could doodle and stake their claim. One of my friends also made lentils with mushrooms, as well as the turkey stock for the gravy the next day.

Broken plastic chair thanks to Clark, J.Photo taken by Clark, J. Petty Officer 2nd Class, USN.Photo taken by Clark, J. Petty Officer 2nd Class, USN.

Early next morning, we got up and got the turkey in the oven. In the meantime we made stuffing, zwieback rolls, and put finishing touches on the soup. I also made the menu to pin up on the wall.

Photo taken by AWD.Photo taken by Clark, J. Petty Officer 2nd Class, USN.Photo taken by Clark, J. Petty Officer 2nd Class, USN.

Four and half hours later we got the turkey out of the oven and let it rest and then the insanity began. Sweet potato and cranberry casserole, spicy brussels sprouts, extra stuffing, and the zweiback rolls were all placed in the oven. On the stove we got the gravy going, mashed potatoes, and fried green beans. I am never doing the fried green beans again - or least putting an intoxicated person in charge of them.

Intoxicated Navy Officer/Fry Cook. Photo taken by Clark, J. Petty Officer 2nd Class, USN.

Guests arrived in the midst of everything, and they happily doodled, drank wine and beer, and ate olives, pickles, and cheese while they waited for us to finish things up.

Photo taken by Clark, J. Petty Officer 2nd Class, USN.

Finally the meal was complete, and people lined up to serve themselves. I was so tired I wasn't even hungry - I barely touched my plate. People's favorite dishes were the brussels sprouts (which had kimchee in the dish) and the sweet potato casserole.

Two Ivy Leaguers and an Officer.

A few hours later, after our stomachs settled, we brought out the desserts. A pumpkin pie throwdown ensued and I happily won. My crust had the edge!

Lovely sister judges.

Moment of victory video!

The rest of the night was filled with music, drinks, and chatter.

Redi-Whip Enthusiast.Photo taken by AWD.Sweet Mugpa and Dana.

The next day I awoke to a huge mess - tons of empty cans and bottles, a filthy floor, and too many dishes to clean. Thank goodness I had help :)

Thanksgiving Invitations

Now that Halloween has passed, and my time is not consumed with creating my costume, I finally sat down last week and created my Thanksgiving invitations. For the past two years, my friends and other New York stragglers (who end up becoming friends) have gotten together and created our own family for the day.

Here are my invitations I designed and sent out yesterday.

Montreal Food Guide -Part Deux

On our third day in Montreal, we were invited to a friend of a friend's Canadian Thanksgiving. Julia and Carlo were so sweet to let us join their family for the festivities. Overall, Canadian Thanksgiving is more of a low-key event compared to the American holiday. We had turkey with a foil bikini - which I unfortunately don't have any pictures of, but found a picture off of the internet below. We also had some delicious butternut squash soup with drizzled avocado oil, as well as mashed potatoes and gravy, and pumpkin pie for dessert. It was really so kind of Julia and her family to have us over - they even spoke English just for us!

Image taken from www.ehow.com

Later that night, after we went back to the hotel and took a nap, we took the metro over to Mile End and watched Carlo perform in a play. It was very interesting, because the play was in a loft where the audience could walk into whatever scene they wanted and watch. It felt like a mystery because you were trying to put together pieces of what was going on in each storyline.

Afterwards to celebrate, Carlo and Julia took us to Fairmount Bagel which is open 24 hours.
Over Thanksgiving dinner, there was a debate about who had better bagels - New York or Montreal, so we had to go find out for ourselves. I am not really a bagel connoisseur, and in fact have never even been to H & H Bagel in New York. I have only eaten them whenever a friend has brought one over for me. That said, the bagel debate was something I couldn't really get passionate about, but I was all for just going to get warm bagels at 11 at night. According to my guide book, the main difference between an American bagel and a Canadian bagel is that the Canadian bagel is less doughy and slightly sweeter. Carlo wanted us to get the ultimate Montreal bagel experience so he went and bought bagels from the rival bagel shop St-Viateur Bagel, while Julia took the rest of us to Fairmount.

Photo taken by AWD.

Inside is a small space with a counter and a couple large refrigerators to the right filled with various spreads such as cream cheese and lox. Behind the counter you can see the ovens baking the bagels and the employees cutting and hand rolling the dough. I had to get the sesame bagel and cinnamon raisin (my two favorites) and I also tried the small sweet bagels which were crunchy and slightly sweet but actually a disappointment. Both the sesame and cinnamon raisin bagel were delicious, as we had waited for them to come straight out of the oven.

Photos taken by AWD.

Once Carlo returned, we had a sesame bagel throwdown between Fairmount and St-Viateur. Four out of five preferred Fairmount (I think the odd man out was just trying to be cool).

Winning Fairmount Sesame Bagel on right!Photos taken by AWD.

After our bagel taste-testing was complete, I thought our night was over. I thought wrong! Julia and Carlo decided to take us for some traditional, greasy Canadian food called poutine. Although poutine comes in many varieties, the standard is French fries covered in beef gravy and topped with fresh cheese curds. Needless to say, I did not try it, but I did get just some French fries. We ate at the very crowded La Banqiuse Resto, which is also open 24 hours and to me seems equivalent to going to Perkins after a late night out. You pay at your table before you get your meal, and usually people wash the grease down with a cold beer.
The next day we got up early and rode the train back down to New York - thank goodness I had bought a couple more bagels for the journey home :)