Happy Thanksgiving 2008!

Happy Thanksgiving 2008!

We hope everyone is enjoying their day today! We were planning on going down to the farm, but as you heard Gus had a trip to the vet yesterday and we thought we should just have a quiet day around here. Gus is still kind of tired, but he is keeping an eagle eye on the giant turkey!

So, let's get to the food!

One of the side dishes that Jeff just can't keep his paws off of is those soft Roasted Garlic and Fresh Rosemary Cloverleaf Rolls that I've been making for the past few Thanksgivings. Homemade fresh bread, studded with flecks of fresh fragrant rosemary, oozing with roasted garlic and brushed with melted butter... these tender rolls never last long and I always end up making another batch later in the day just so we have some for leftovers.

We made a big 'ol batch of mashed taters too - we riced them last year, but we went rustic this time and just smashed up a mess of buttery Yukon Golds and creamy red potatoes. Warmed milk, a few pats of butter and generous amount of fresh ground black pepper later, we had a mile-high mountain of carb heaven!

Stuffing? I tried to push a new recipe, but Jeff wouldn't have it - he pleaded to have that Sausage, Apple, and Fennel Corn Bread Dressing we've made for the last two years. While a new recipe would have been nice, I'm really not complaining as it was quite tasty - especially made as individual muffins!

On to the turkey... we usually do a smaller version like a whole turkey breast or whatnot, but this year we went all out and prepared our first very large 13 pound whole turkey! Maybe crazy since it is just us two (and well, you know, the pups will be having a small share), but we love leftovers and I've already got plenty of ideas to use up the extra meat. We wanted something a bit different, so we opted to make this Spice-Brined Turkey with Cider Pan Gravy.

I loved how the swift brine pushed such an sweet aromatic fragrance throughout the kitchen while we were preparing it. Other than water and salt, the brine is infused with slices of fresh ginger, cloves, cardamom, allspice and cracked black peppercorns. Brought to a boil to dissolve the salt, you'll need to let it cool completely before dunking the turkey in and letting it sit for a day.

You'll want to pull the turkey out of the brine, let it drain and pat away the excess liquid about an hour before you want to roast it. To prevent any of the drippings that come off from burning during the first roasting period, a cup of broth is added to the bottom of the pan. You'll want to turn on the light and peek through the door to make sure that there is a slight layer on the bottom while it cooks - if it ever looks too dry, just add a bit more broth.

When the turkey was golden and cooked through, we set it aside to let the juices flow back into the meat. This gave us enough time to work on the cider gravy! The crusty bits on the bottom of the roasting pan were scraped up, with a bit of the leftover fat from the cooked turkey being added in, along with a sprinkling of flour. The drippings, sans fat, were poured in with a bit more broth and the tangy apple cider. After just a couple minutes of bubbling, it thickened up well and all that was needed were a few grains of black pepper. A little sweet, but quite savory and rich, Jeff kept himself busy "taste-testing" it just to make sure it was good... he was quite happy with the results! Score 1 for delicious smooth gravy!

After what felt like forever for the turkey to rest, we anxiously sliced into the bird to see what was hiding underneath. I hastily peeled off a piece of the white meat (which came off without effort) to see how well we did. We found it to be extraordinarily juicy, tender and very well-seasoned! Jeff admitted he was a little worried it might end up being too salty, but after his bite, he couldn't believe the magic the brine did! Instead of being inundated with the strong spices that the turkey bathed in overnight, they left behind a simply pleasant, faint and sweet character that lifted up the meat's natural flavor. I probably nibbled on more than I would usually put on my plate before I even started getting it filled up!

And as we are sweet fiends, we of course did not forget about dessert. However, I haven't had a chance (so full!) to dig into it yet. Here's a little sneak peek for now and we will talk about what exactly this pumpkin treat was tomorrow!

Recipes
Roasted Garlic and Fresh Rosemary Cloverleaf Rolls
Sausage, Apple, and Fennel Corn Bread Dressing

Spice-Brined Turkey with Cider Pan Gravy