Thanksgiving Dinner 2011

I decided to do the entire Thanksgiving dinner all on my own this year. My sister is getting married in a few months, so this was our last time having her and my mom all to ourselves. It was time to pull out all the stops. And I had to try to redeem the turkey that I attempted at Christmas last year and failed due to a power outage. So I got another fresh turkey from Wolff's, and I got myself organized. I put together a menu that I thought would flow well in terms of scheduling everything, that would satisfy everyone's tastes, etc.

And then...

Everything worked! The electricity stayed on. And I was able to get everything ready pretty much around the same time. It was a crazy few days of preparation, but I was proud of the work I'd done.

Although... I'm not sure I actually like roasted turkey anymore. It smelled fabulous while it was roasting, but after all that preparation, it just didn't taste that good to me. I brined it using Alton Brown's brine recipe, which had been good when I tried it before (though I also used his roasting recipe before, so that may have been the difference?). The injected sage butter seemed totally useless since it didn't really infuse the turkey but rather just kind of made pockets of oddly-colored turkey. I just don't think it was worth all that fuss. Especially since I ended up throwing away a lot of the turkey due to most of it being so fatty I could barely get to the meat from all the fat. Plus, really, I love the turkey leg meat more than pretty much anything else, so I'm thinking maybe next time I do Thanksgiving, I'll just get turkey legs and cook those in some kick-ass way.

Oh, and what magical spell am I missing that makes gravy thicken properly? Because I've never been able to do that. And it's annoying. The gravy tasted good though, even if I did forget to add the balsamic vinegar at the end.

As for the side dishes, everyone loved the Brussels sprouts. And the green bean casserole was lovely. The only thing I did differently with that is that I didn't steam the green beans during the preparation process. It made for some crunchy green beans, but I prefer them crunchy rather than mushy, so that's why I went that way.

The dressing (called that because I didn't stuff it into anything) was just okay. It tasted good, but it just wasn't that exciting. I didn't use sausage in the dressing because I wanted to use pancetta in the Brussels sprouts, but I think it really could have used it.

I made the cranberry sauce that I made at Christmas last year, which is super good. I'm going to make biscuits tomorrow since we discovered last year that it works especially well as a kind of jam on a bread product.

As for dessert, I made the cinnamon-streusel pumpkin pie that I made back in September, which was yummy. But then I also made a chocolate-hazelnut tart, which was a giant hit with the whole crew. It was basically a hazelnut cookie topped with Nutella pudding. I'm not sure how that couldn't go over well.

So overall, the meal was pretty good. The turkey disappointment was a big one because it was the most labor-intensive part of the meal, but oh well. Everyone was here, seemed pleased, and went to bed tonight with full bellies. So I'm very thankful for that.

Roast Turkey with Garlic, Sage and Fennel
Courtesy of Food Network Magazine

1 20-pound turkey
Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper
2 heads garlic
1 small onion, cut into 6 wedges
2 cooking apples, quartered
1 large bunch fresh sage
1 small bulb fennel, cut into 6 wedges
1 small carrot, cut into 3-inch pieces
4 sticks unsalted butter
8 cups low-sodium chicken or turkey broth
4 bay leaves
1/4 cup instant flour (such as Wondra)
1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar

Bring the turkey to room temperature 1 hour before roasting. Place a rack in the lowest position of the oven and remove the other racks; preheat to 350°F. Remove the neck and giblets from the turkey; discard the liver and reserve the neck and the rest of the giblets. Dry the turkey inside and out with paper towels and season the cavity with salt and pepper. Halve 1 head garlic crosswise and stuff into the cavity along with 3 onion wedges, the apples and 1/2 bunch sage.

Place the remaining 3 onion wedges, the fennel and carrot in the center of a large roasting pan with 1 cup water. Set a rack above the vegetables and place the turkey breast-side up on the rack. Season all over with salt and pepper. Chop 3 tablespoons sage, then melt 3 sticks butter with the sage and salt and pepper to taste in a saucepan over medium heat. Fill a meat syringe with the sage butter and inject it into the breasts, legs and thighs; continue until you have used about half of the sage butter. Brush the bird with the rest of the butter and tie the legs together with twine.

Roast the turkey, uncovered, about 1 hour 30 minutes. Rotate the pan and continue roasting until a thermometer inserted into the thigh registers 165°F, 1 hour 30 minutes to 1 hour 45 minutes. Turn off the oven but leave the turkey inside until the thermometer registers 170°F, 15 to 20 more minutes.

While the turkey roasts, make the gravy: Melt the remaining 1 stick butter in a saucepan over medium heat. Add the reserved neck and giblets, season with salt and pepper and cook, stirring occasionally, until brown, about 10 minutes. Peel and smash the remaining head of garlic, add it to the pan and cook until golden, about 2 minutes. Add the broth and bay leaves, cover and simmer over medium-low heat, about 2 hours. Discard the bay leaves, neck and giblets.

Transfer the turkey to a cutting board and let rest 20 to 30 minutes before carving. Transfer the vegetables to a blender. Pour the drippings into a liquid measuring cup and skim off the fat. Add 1 cup drippings and the flour to the blender and puree until smooth. Whisk the remaining drippings and pureed vegetables into the broth mixture. Bring to a boil, then simmer until the gravy is smooth, about 10 minutes. Stir in the balsamic vinegar; season with salt and pepper.

Transfer the turkey to a platter and garnish with any remaining sage. Carve the turkey and serve with the gravy.

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Classic Dressing
A variation on this recipe from Food Network Magazine



16 cups white bread, cubed
1 stick unsalted butter
2 cups onions, diced
2 cups celery, diced
1 tablespoon sage, minced
1 tablespoon thyme, minced
Salt and pepper
3 cups turkey or chicken broth
1/4 cup parsley, chopped

Preheat oven to 350°F. Place bread cubes on cookie sheets and toast in oven for 15 minutes, tossing halfway through. Set aside.

Increase oven temperature to 375°F. Melt butter in a large skillet over medium heat. Add onions, celery, sage and thyme; add salt and pepper and cook 5 minutes. Add 3 cups broth and bring to a simmer. Put parsley in a large bowl; add toasted bread, then pour in the vegetable-broth mixture and toss. Transfer to a buttered baking dish and dot with butter. Cover and bake for 30 minutes; uncover and bake until golden, 30 more minutes.

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Roasted Brussels Sprouts with Pancetta

2 1/2 pounds Brussels sprouts, trimmed and quartered
1 shallot, diced
2 ounces pancetta, chopped
Olive oil
Salt and pepper

Preheat oven to 450°F. Toss all ingredients together and place in a baking dish coated with cooking spray. Bake for 25-30 minutes, tossing every 10 minutes.

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Green Bean Casserole with Crispy Shallots
A variation on this recipe from Ellie Krieger



1/4 cup olive oil
6 medium shallots, sliced into rings (about 1 cup)
1 1/2 pounds thin fresh string beans or haricots verts, trimmed
1 pound button mushrooms, sliced
6 large cloves garlic, minced
1 tablespoon chopped fresh thyme
3 cups low-fat (1%) milk
3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1/3 cup plus 2 tablespoons freshly grated Parmesan cheese
1/2 cup finely chopped fresh parsley
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
Salt and freshly ground pepper
Olive oil cooking spray

Preheat the oven to 375°F. Heat the olive oil in a small skillet over medium-high heat until very hot but not smoking. Add 1/4 cup shallots and cook, stirring, until golden brown and crisp, about 2 minutes. Transfer with a slotted spoon to paper towels to drain. Repeat with the remaining shallots, cooking 1/4 cup at a time. Reserve the oil in the skillet.

Add the mushrooms to the skillet and cook, stirring occasionally, until the mushroom liquid is evaporated and they begin to brown, about 12 minutes. Add the garlic and thyme and cook, stirring, 1 minute. Transfer the mushroom mixture to a bowl.

Whisk together the milk and flour until the flour is dissolved. Add the mixture to the skillet and, whisking constantly, bring to a simmer. Reduce the heat to medium low, whisking occasionally, until thickened, 10 to 15 minutes. Remove the pan from the heat and stir in the green beans, mushroom mixture, 1/3 cup Parmesan cheese, the parsley, nutmeg, 3/4 teaspoon salt and 1/2 teaspoon pepper.

Coat a 2-quart baking dish with cooking spray. Spoon the green bean mixture into the prepared dish and sprinkle the top with the crispy shallots and the remaining 2 tablespoons cheese. Bake until golden on top and bubbling, about 20 minutes.

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Chocolate-Hazelnut Tart
Courtesy of Food Network Magazine



For the Crust:
1/2 cup blanched hazelnuts
1 cup all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting
2 tablespoons sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
6 tablespoons cold unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
1 large egg, beaten
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

For the Filling:
2 tablespoons cornstarch
2 cups heavy cream
3/4 cup chocolate-hazelnut spread
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/8 teaspoon salt

Make the crust: Toast the hazelnuts in a skillet over medium heat until golden, about 8 minutes. Let cool. Transfer 1/3 cup nuts to a food processor. Add the flour, sugar and salt; pulse until the nuts are finely ground. Add the butter and pulse until the mixture looks like coarse meal. Drizzle in the egg and vanilla; pulse until the dough starts to come together.

Turn the dough out onto a sheet of plastic wrap and pat into a disk. Wrap and refrigerate until firm, at least 1 hour. Coarsely chop the remaining hazelnuts and reserve.

Roll out the dough on a lightly floured surface into a 12-inch round. Press into the bottom and sides of a 9-inch tart pan with a removable bottom, then trim the excess dough. Prick the bottom all over with a fork. Refrigerate until firm, about 30 minutes.

Preheat the oven to 350°F. Line the crust with foil, then fill with pie weights or dried beans. Bake until the edges are golden, about 20 minutes. Remove the foil and weights and continue baking until golden brown all over, 15 to 20 minutes. Cool completely on a rack.

Meanwhile, make the filling: Whisk the cornstarch into 1/4 cup cream in a bowl. Combine the remaining 1 3/4 cups cream, the chocolate-hazelnut spread, vanilla and salt in a small saucepan. Whisk in the cornstarch mixture and bring to a boil over medium heat, stirring and scraping the sides of the pan with a rubber spatula. Once the mixture starts to boil, stir constantly until thickened, about 2 minutes. Pour into the crust and swirl the top. Refrigerate until set, about 1 hour. Top with the reserved hazelnuts.