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(This got long, so I broke it into two posts. Part 2 coming tomorrow.)
Do you cook your own Thanksgiving meal? Or do you have a tradition that includes someone else doing the cooking?
If you do the cooking, do you remember the first time you had to cook the Thanksgiving meal?
I remember my first time. We were living in Barcelona, Spain. Our team was cooking mashed potatoes, cranberry sauce, green bean casserole, stuffing and pumpkin pies for - get this - 100 people! We used the American Thanksgiving tradition as a way to introduce the Gospel to our Spanish friends. Lucky for us, a local restaurant cooked all the turkeys. But I was even more nervous that first Thanksgiving-on-our-own to cook the smaller meal with our American friends. I gathered all my mom's best recipes, grabbed a friend with some turkey experience, and we turned out a great meal!
If this is your first time cooking for Thankgiving, or if you need to make improvements on certain elements of the meal, I can help you. Let me share with you some of our family's favorite Thanksgiving recipes.
The Menu:
Turkey
Gravy
Mashed Potatoes
Stuffing (really, Dressing, for you etymologists)
Green Bean Casserole
Sweet Potatoes
Cranberry Sauce
Orange Rolls
And for dessert, Traditional Pumpkin Pie
Recipes and Tips:
The Turkey
There are a LOT of recipes out there, and it can get a little overwhelming. I understand the stress, though. After all, this is the star of the show! But let me break it down a little for you. First of all, you need several days to thaw a frozen turkey, so if you procrastinate you'll have to buy a fresh turkey. You'll spend a lot more money, but your turkey will taste GREAT. For a simple, great-tasting turkey (if not the fanciest thing on the block), use Reynolds oven bags found near the aluminum foil in the store. Take out the neck, etc., from the body cavity. Rub the turkey all over with salt and pepper and softened butter; fill the cavity with onion quarters and lemon quarters, and a couple sprigs of rosemary, if you want. Shake 1 tbsp. flour in the oven bag. Put the turkey in the oven bag, and then in a roasting pan (you can use an aluminum one). Pour in a little champagne or white wine, or chicken broth. Tie up the bag and roast your turkey according to the directions on the roasting bag. Let the turkey rest for about 30 minutes before carving.
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The Gravy
Pour the turkey drippings into a large bowl. Let rest for 10 minutes. Skim the fat off the top, and reserve it. Measure the remaining drippings. For every 2 cups of drippings you have (if you don't have 2 cups, add chicken broth to equal 2 cups), combine 1/4 cup flour with 1/4 cup reserved fat. Throw the rest of the fat out (in a container in the trash - not in your garbage disposal or sink!). Cook and stir fat and flour in a saucepan over medium heat for about 5 minutes to cook the flour. Add drippings slowly, whisking constantly, until boiling. Cook and stir for 1 minute more until thickened. If you have lumps, just pass the gravy through a strainer. Taste the gravy. Add garlic salt, salt and/or pepper, a little bit at a time, to achieve the flavor you're looking for.
The easy way: Make up a packet of McCormick's Turkey Gravy Mix.
Mashed Potatoes
We like our potatoes simple. We peel and quarter russet potatoes and boil them in salted water until they break when we pierce them with a fork. In the microwave, heat butter and milk. (Use more milk than butter, in a ratio of about 2:1) Mash the potatoes with a potato masher or fork. Pour in a little of the milk/butter mixture. Using a hand mixer, mix the potatoes, adding more milk and butter until creamy.
The easy way: Ore Ida's Steam N Mash potatoes are great! You just microwave them in the bag and follow the directions on the bag to add milk and butter.
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Stuffing (ahem, Dressing)
We cook stuffing separate from the turkey because it can be unsafe to cook it in the turkey. Here's my recipe:
1 1/2 cup celery, chopped
3/4 cup onion, chopped
3/4 cup butter
1 1/2 tsp. sage
3/4 tsp. thyme
1 can (8 oz) sliced mushrooms, drained (I think I'll use real ones this year)
1/4 cup peanuts, optional, but I like them!
12 cups dried bread cubes (appx. 24 slices)
1 1/4-1 1/2 cups chicken broth
(Serves 8-10)
Cook onion and celery in butter until tender, but not brown. Add sage, thyme, mushrooms and peanuts. Toss with bread cubes in a large bowl. Add enough broth to moisten. Dump it into a greased casserole dish (I use a Corningware dish.) Bake, covered, at 325 for 40-45 minutes, or at 375 for 20-30 minutes.
The easy way: Stovetop Stuffing! It only takes 5 minutes on the stovetop, or you can bake it in the oven for more authenticity.
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TO BE CONTINUED...
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