Thanksgiving--Oh Yeah, It's That One!

Although there are a lot of people out there who like to call the upcoming holiday "Turkey Day", I still like to call it Thanksgiving. I am always thankful for those who are coming together, the ability to entertain and give back to my loved ones, good food, and a husband who is really good at doing the cleaning part! I like to cook, and I like to cook BIG for this holiday. Thankfully, Josh doesn't mind cleaning big.

This will be a smaller celebration, the two of us and three friends, but the spirit will be the same, and the food won't be much different from the last few years. We won't be serving it in the backyard here in Colorado this year, but we will relax, enjoy good friendship (and more football than I want to, I am sure) and eat our little hearts out.

For someone who used to dread most of the food at Thanksgiving (I didn't like turkey, green beans, sweet potatoes--yuk!), I have come a long way, and really enjoy making all the classic Thanksgiving foods with a twist. This would have been the fourth year of the Turducken, but I am changing course slightly. I can take-or-leave the chicken in a Tur-Du-cken, so this year I am replacing it with a Pheasant. That's right folks, I am making a Tur-Ph-uck. A turkey stuffed with a pheasant, a duck, and two kinds of stuffing. No bones--all succulent, mouth watering bird and stuffing.

Alongside the birds, I serve Sweet Potato Balls, garlic-mashed potatoes, gravy, cranberry relish, green beans, salad, Stuffin' Muffins, and the Rice and Sausage dressing that doesn't make it into the birds. I think I am leaving off the salad this year--with all the other food, no one ever really wants salad. I usually put out some kind of appetizers, but I am leaving those off this year also, opting for passing out Cranberry-Orange-Lime Finger Jello squares instead. I will make a pumpkin pie and an apple pie to finish, and my friend Melanie is bringing a Pumpkin Roll for dessert as well.

I think the only traditional, family recipe I make is the Rice and Sausage dressing. But, the truth is, this family can't pass it up. It is, absolutely, the best dressing ever. And my mom makes it the best--no doubt!

Cranberry-Orange-Lime Finger Jello squares (for grown ups)

Make cranberry finger jello according to manufacturer's instructions, substituting vodka for half of the water. Pour into 9x9 pan and put in fridge to set. When set, make orange finger jello, pour over top of set cranberry, and put in fridge to set. Repeat with lime and put in fridge until ready to serve.

Fill sink 2" with hot water. Hold bottom of pan in water for 15-30 seconds, until you can easily invert mold onto a plate. Cut into 16 squares and serve.

Cranberry Relish

1 can whole cranberries
zest of one orange
juice from one orange
3-4 slices fresh ginger
1/2 c water

Put all ingredients in a small saucepan and simmer on low for 30 minutes. Remove ginger and pour into bowl to serve. Any citrus works nicely with this--use your own taste preference.

Tur-du-cken (Tur-ph-uck)

1-18 lb turkey
1-4 lb duck
1-5 lb chicken

1 recipe Sausage and Rice dressing (see past blog post)
1 recipe Bread dressing (recipe follows)

Salt
Pepper
Garlic powder

4 tbls butter softened
8-10 slices of bacon

4-5 needles pre-threaded with upholstery thread, button thread, or Hymark
4 pieces butcher's twine cut to 30" lengths

Bird preparations: Duck and chicken--remove wings, split back, remove all bones from body, thighs and legs. Remove skin and excess fat from chicken. DON'T remove the fat from the duck--trust me! Save the wings that you cut off, and toss the bones, etc.
Turkey--Split breast and remove bones from body and thighs only. Leave wings attached and leave bones in the drumsticks. Do not remove skin.
Note: This takes hours, even if you have done it more than once. Either buy fresh birds early, remove bones and freeze until needed, or plan your defrosting to be done by the night before Thanksgiving. Don't try to do this Thanksgiving morning, or you will need to be up at 3 in the morning.

Dressing/stuffing--make the day before and refrigerate it so you are ready to go in the morning.

Turducken prep!!!

Mix salt, pepper, and garlic powder in a small bowl--enough to season each bird completely. By mixing it in the bowl, you don't have to put your foul (fowl) hands all over the salt and pepper mills--eeeeewwww!!! Mix more than you think you will need, you can toss the rest when you are finished.
Lay out butcher's twine, each piece a few inches from the other. Lay turkey, skin side down on top of twine. Sprinkle seasoning liberally over expose flesh side. Spread a thin layer of rice and sausage dressing over turkey, making sure you cram it into the thigh where you removed the bones. Lay the chicken down on top of dressing and sprinkle liberally with seasoning. Spread a thin layer of bread dressing onto chicken, carefully shoving it into the thigh and drumsticks where the bones were removed. Lay the duck down on top of the chicken--What! Your duck is in a bunch of pieces and not like a whole duck!?! Yeah, that happens. Just lay down the pieces, season it, and layer the rice and sausage dressing on top of it.

Here is where you need another set of hands. Have your helper fold the sides of the turkey together, and tie each string around it to hold it together. (Okay, in 3 Turduckens, I have never used the twine, but I am thins year because I know it will be WAY easier!) Take a needle and begin stitching your turkey back together using a whip stitch or the kind of stitching used on a baseball. Make sure you go through the meat of the bird when you can, not just the skin.
Lay bird, stitching side down on rack in roasting pan. Rub softened butter over entire bird and sprinkle with more of the seasoning. Lay the strips of bacon across the bird and put into a 225 degree oven and roast for 9-10 hours. Your meat thermometer, inserted all the way in so it gets to the duck, needs to read 165 degrees. Baste your bird every hour, and at about 4 hours in, remove the bacon. If he starts to get too brown too soon, tent foil over the top and remove for the last 15 minutes to crisp up.

Let bird sit for 15-20 minutes--if you can stand it!--before cutting in.

Note: It doesn't matter what size your duck and chicken are (or pheasant), just put them into turkey in descending order of size.

Bread Dressing

3 tbls butter
1 onion chopped
1 stalk celery chopped
1 small apple, cored and chopped, skin on
1/2 cup chopped walnuts
1/2 cup craisins or golden raisins
1 tsp dried sage
1 1/2 tsp dried thyme
1 1/2 tsp dried tarragon
4 cups dried or day old bread cubed
1/3 c apple juice 1/2-
1 c vegetable stock

Melt butter in large pot or skillet and saute onion and celery for a few minutes, just until they are translucent. Add apple, nuts, craisins and herbs and toss together, cooking for another 2 minutes. Remove from heat, add bread cubes and toss with apple juice and enough stock to make moist. I like quite a bit of moisture in mine, as I like to cook what doesn't go into a bird in a hot oven and make the top super crispy!! If it is going into a bird, less moisture is needed, since it will draw it from the bird. If it is not being cooked in a bird, spoon into a pan and bake at 400 degrees for 15-20 minutes. My favorite way to do it--spoon it into a cupcake pan and make individual "stuffin' muffins". I got that idea from Rachel Ray, and we love it. Everyone gets there own crunchy part!

Sweet Potato Balls (I know! I didn't know they had them either!)

2 sweet potatos
2 yams
3 tbls butter
1 tsp cinnamon
1tsp ginger
1/4 tsp nutmeg
dash of salt
8 large marshmallows
1 1/2 cups shredded coconut
3 tbls sugar
3 tsp cinnamon

Peel potatos and yams, cut into chunks and boil until tender. You could also roast them in an oven until tender, split the skin, and scoop the flesh out, but that is messy and takes MUCH longer. Just boil them.

Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees. Mash potatos with butter, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg and salt. On a medium sized plate, mix coconut with cinnamon and sugar. Using your hands, form into 8 equal size balls, carefully stuffing a marshmallow into the center of each and sealing it in. Roll balls in coconut mixture and place on baking sheet. Bake 15-20 minutes, until coconut is golden brown and crunchy.

**For a savory option, mix coconut with 3-4 tsp yellow curry powder and a tsp of powdered ginger, leaving off the sugar.

These are fun to make with your kids--even if they are in their 20s. Just ask Belinda!

Green Beans with Bacon

1/8 pound slab bacon, diced
1 tbls olive oil
1/2 onion, minced
1 pound green beans, trimmed
1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes
Salt
1/2 cup boiling water
1 tablespoon butter, softened
1 1/2 tablespoons Balsamic vinegar
Freshly ground pepper

In a large deep skillet, cook the bacon over moderate heat, stirring, until golden. Transfer the bacon with a slotted spoon to a plate. Clean skillet and add olive oil and the onion to the skillet and cook, stirring, until softened. Add the beans, pepper flakes, and salt and saute over moderately high heat, stirring, for 2 minutes.
Add the boiling water and cover the skillet immediately. Steam the beans, shaking the skillet occasionally, for 15 minutes, or until just tender. Add the butter, vinegar, and salt and pepper and toss until combined. Sprinkle with the bacon.

Pumpkin Pie

I make the recipe off the back of the Libby's pumpkin can. I just put loads of cinnamon, cloves and ginger in, with just a little nutmeg. That's how we like it.

What a great day of GREAT food! Oh right, if you have vegetarian friends coming over, all of the sides, except the Sausage and Rice Dressing, are made without meat. When I make the green beans, the bacon can be sprinkled on top of the individual servings rather than over the whole dish.