Have you ever experienced flames on Thanksgiving??? I have.
Picture it: Kure Beach, 2006. My
mother and I rented a beach house for the week.
We brought everything necessary for our mini-vacation to the beach
house, including the pots and pans and food for the Thanksgiving feast.
As you will see, this feast takes days to prepare. My mother and I had slaved away preparing the
gravy base and our favorite Thanksgiving dessert, Biltmore bread pudding with
caramel sauce. The turkey was in the
oven, and the cornbread dressing was prepped – ready to be cooked for dinner.
My mom had assembled the cornbread dressing in one of my
cute little red ceramic casseroles. She
placed said casserole on one of the burners of the stove in order to give
herself more counter room to prepare the rest of the Thanksgiving dinner. Both of us then went on the deck to take in
some sunshine. As we’re watching the
waves, trying to spot some dolphins, we hear the beach house fire alarm. I run back into the house and see my little
red casserole, broken on the range, cornbread dressing in flames on the
burner.
My mother is used to gas ranges. She rarely has the occasion to cook on
electric. With a gas burner, you can
clearly see when the burner is on because you see flames under your pot. It isn’t so easy with an electric range. Most of the time you can tell when a burner
is hot because the coil is bright red, but for some reason my mother failed to
notice that the burner was never turned the whole way off. My poor little red casserole was ceramic,
and never intended for direct heat. It
cracked under the heat applied to its bottom, spilling delicious dressing onto
the hot burner. The flames were about a
foot high.
I saved the day by quickly transferring the dish and
stuffing to the sink, stopping the flames and any further damage to the beach
house. My mom cried. I tried not to laugh. I mean, you have to laugh about these
things. That is the year we had StoveTop
stuffing for Thanksgiving.
My mom traditionally comes to me on Thanksgiving, rather
than me coming to the big OC to spend it with the rest of the family. We have collected what we believe to be the
best recipes for the holiday; some of them our own, and some of them from the
experts. On our menu you will find:
Tom Colicchio’s Herb Butter Turkey and Gravy
Bobbly Flay’s Cornbread Chorizo Dressing
Grandma Nancy’s Candied Sweet Potatoes
Corn
Grandma Nancy’s Cranberry Relish
Katie’s Wonderful Whipped Potatoes
Grandma Nancy’s Pumpkin Pie
Biltmore’s Bread Pudding
In order to avoid StoveTop Stuffing on Thanksgiving, make
sure you plan your cooking in advance.
Do your shopping in advance, leaving you precious days to locate the
crap you forgot. In order to make you
less crazy, and to leave the oven for roasting the turkey and finishing the
dressing on Thanksgiving Day, most of these recipes should be done ahead of
time. If you follow these guidelines you
should have a painless Thanksgiving dinner!
As long as the dog doesn’t tackle the turkey and consume it, to your
horror, on the dining room floor (also another true story that happened to my
grandparents).
Three Days Ahead:
-Clean out
your fridge. You’re going to need all
the extra room you can get!
-Do Grocery Shopping. (See shopping list at bottom of post)
-Make Pumpkin Pie & Biltmore Bread Pudding.
Grandma Nancy’s Pumpkin Pie
2 eggs slightly
beaten
1 ¾ cup pumpkin
¾ cup sugar
½ teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon
cinnamon
½ teaspoon ginger
½ teaspoon cloves
1 2/3 cup canned
milk
Combine ingredients. Pour into uncooked pie crust. Bake at 425°
for 15 minutes, reduce heat to 350°
and cook an additional 45 minutes. Store
in the refrigerator.
Biltmore Bread Pudding
FOR
THE PUDDING:
8 cups cubed day old bread
9 eggs
2 1/4 cup milk
1 3/4 cup heavy whipping cream
1 cup sugar
3/4 cup butter, melted
3 tsp vanilla extract
1 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
FOR THE CARAMEL SAUCE:
1 cup sugar
1/4 cup water
1 TBL lemon juice
2 TBL butter
1 cup heavy whipping cream
Place bread cubes in a greased
13x9x2 pan. In a large bowl, whisk the eggs, milk, cream, sugar, butter,
vanilla and cinnamon. Pour evenly over bread.
Bake, uncovered, at 350 for 40-45 minutes or until knife inserted in center
comes out clean. Let stand for 5 minutes before cutting.
Meanwhile, in a small saucepan, bring the sugar, water and lemon juice to a
boil. Reduce heat to medium; cook until sugar is dissolved and mixture turns a
golden amber color. Stir in butter until melted. Add cream. Remove from heat.
Serve with bread pudding.
Two Days Ahead:
-Make Cornbread. Allow to dry out.
Cornbread
1 ¼ cups yellow cornmeal
¾ cup AP flour
2 ½ teaspoons baking powder
1 tablespoon sugar
1 teaspoon salt
2 large eggs
3 tablespoons unsalted butter,
melted
1 cup milk
Preheat oven to 425 degrees F. Brush 8-inch pan
with butter or oil and place in the oven for 10 minutes.
Stir together cornmeal, flour, baking powder,
sugar and salt in a bowl. In a separate bowl, whisk together eggs, melted
butter and milk. Add the wet ingredients to the dry and mix until just
combined. Don’t overmix. Scrape batter into the hot pan and bake for 15-18
minutes, or until lightly golden brown and baked through. Let cool in pan for
10 minutes. Remove from pan and let sit out overnight if using for
stuffing/dressing.
-Make Gravy Base.
Gravy Base
2
tablespoons (1/4 stick) butter
2
pounds turkey necks and/or wings
2
cups diced onions
1
cup diced peeled carrots
1
cup diced celery
6
cups (or more) low sodium chicken broth
Melt butter in heavy large deep
skillet over high heat. Add turkey necks
and/or wings and sauté
until deep brown, about 15
minutes. Add onions, carrots, and celery
and sauté until vegetables are deep brown, about 15 minutes. Add 6 cups chicken broth and bring to
boil. Reduce heat to medium-low and
simmer uncovered 45 minutes, stirring occasionally.
Pour gravy base through strainer
set over 4-cup measuring cup, pressing on solids to extract
liquid. If necessary, add enough chicken broth to
gravy base to measure 4 cups. Cool
slightly. Refrigerate uncovered until
cooled, then cover and keep chilled.
Rewarm before using.
-Make Sweet Potatoes. (These actually benefit from a few days in
the fridge)
Grandma Nancy’s Candied Sweet Potatoes
4-6 yams
1 cup – 1 ½ cup brown sugar
½ cup orange juice
1 stick butter
½ teaspoon salt
Wash and cut off woody portion. Do not pare.
Boil till tender. Then remove
skins. Cut into wedges.
Mix remaining ingredients together in cast-iron
skillet. Bring to a boil, then pour over
tender yams in oven proof baking dish.
Bake 30 minutes at 350°. Rewarm
before serving (can be microwaved).
One Day Ahead:
-Make Cranberry Relish
Grandma Nancy’s
Cranberry Relish
1
package cranberries, ground
2 oranges, seeds removed and ground
2 cups sugar
Add sugar to ground cranberries and oranges. Store in refrigerator several hours before
serving. Serves 6-8.
-Make Dressing.
Cornbread
Dressing
3 tablespoons unsalted butter
½ pound diced chorizo or Italian hot sausage,
casings removed
1 large Spanish onion, finely diced
1 large stalk celery, finely diced
1 medium carrot, finely diced
Cornbread, broken into small pieces
2-4 cups homemade chicken stock or low sodium
chicken broth
1 tablespoon chopped fresh thyme
2 tablespoons chopped fresh sage
3 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro or flat leaf
parsley
Salt and pepper
1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.
2. Heat butter in large pan over medium high heat.
Add the chorizo and cook until golden brown. Remove with slotted spoon to a
plate lined with paper towels. Add the onion, celery and carrots and cook until
soft. Add the cornbread and 2 cups of the stock and stir to combine. The
mixture should be quite wet, if it appears too dry, begin adding the remaining
stock, a half cup at a time. Stir in the sage, thyme and cilantro and season
with salt and pepper to taste.
3. Scrape into a large buttered baking pan or
large cast iron pan and refrigerate until time to bake.
-Ensure
Turkey is thawed, if using a frozen bird.
Thanksgiving Day:
-Prepare Turkey
Tom Colicchio’s Herb Butter Turkey
1
cup (2 sticks) butter, room temperature, divided
2
teaspoons minced fresh thyme plus 15 fresh thyme sprigs
2
teaspoons minced fresh tarragon plus 5 large fresh tarragon sprigs
2
teaspoons minced fresh rosemary plus 5 fresh rosemary sprigs
2
teaspoons minced fresh sage plus 4 fresh sage sprigs
1
fourteen to sixteen pound turkey
4
cups chicken broth
¼
cup all-purpose flour
Mix ½ cup butter and all minced
herbs in small bowl; season herb butter with salt and pepper. Transfer 2 generous tablespoons to another
small bowl and reserve for gravy; let stand at room temperature.
Set rack at lowest position in
oven and preheat to 425°F. Rinse turkey inside and out and pat dry. Starting at neck end, slide hand between skin
and breast meat to loosen skin. Rub 4
tablespoons herb butter over breast meat under skin. Place turkey on rack set in large roasting
pan. Sprinkle main cavity generously
with salt and pepper. Place 4
tablespoons plain butter and all fresh herb sprigs in main cavity. Tuck wing tips under. Tie legs together loosely. Rub remaining herb butter over outside of
turkey. Sprinkle generously with salt
and pepper.
Place turkey in oven and roast 20
minutes. Reduce oven temperature to 350°F. Roast turkey 30 minutes; pour 1 cup broth
over and add 1 tablespoon plain butter to roasting pan. Roast turkey 30 minutes; baste with pan
juices, then pour 1 cup broth over and add 1 tablespoon butter to pan. Cover turkey loosely with foil. Roast turkey until thermometer inserted into
thickest part of thigh registers 175°F,
basting with pan juices and adding 1 cup broth and 1 tablespoon butter to pan
every 45 minutes, about 1 hour 45 minutes longer. Transfer turkey to platter, let stand 30
minutes (internal temperature will rise 5-10 degrees).
Stir pan juices into bowl; whisk
in gravy base. Melt reserved 2
tablespoons herb butter in heavy large saucepan over medium heat; add flour and
whisk constantly until roux is golden brown, about 6 minutes. Gradually add pan juice-gravy base mixture;
increase heat and whisk constantly until gravy thickens, boils, and is
smooth. Reduce heat to medium; boil
gently until gravy is reduced to 4 ½ cups, whisking often, about 10
minutes. Season gravy with salt and
pepper.
-Prepare whipped potatoes.
Katie’s Wonderful Whipped Potatoes
4 large russet potatoes, washed
and peeled
½ stick of butter
½ cup heavy whipping cream
2 tablespoons Duke’s or Hellman’s
Mayonnaise
Salt & White Pepper, to taste
Boil potatoes until soft, about 20
minutes. Drain potatoes, add butter and
whip with an electric mixer until smooth. Slowly add heavy whipping cream until the
potatoes reach desired creaminess. Add
mayonnaise, salt and pepper; whip until incorporated. NOTE:
Taste along the way to make sure your potatoes are seasoned to your
liking.
-Cook Dressing (recipe above) Bake in the oven until firm and the top is golden brown,
20-30 minutes.
-Heat sweet potatoes. I
microwave them, but if you have room in the oven you can heat them up there,
for about 20 minutes. Watch so that they don’t get too brown.
-Cook corn. We
always used the frozen stuff for the holidays.
Add a teaspoon or so of sugar to make them especially
delicious.
-Serve Cranberry Relish
-Heat bread pudding & sauce. Again, not too good
for the microwave! Heat up the pudding
in individual bowls. Serve the sauce on the side.
Serve! Enjoy!!!
Shopping List:
Produce
