Simple Roast Turkey
One 12 to 14 pound turkey
Two tablespoons kosher salt
One tablespoon black pepper
One lemon, quartered
Two large onions, peeled and quartered
Six garlic cloves peeled and mashed
Dry white wine as needed
Olive oil as needed
1. Thaw the turkey in the fridge (two to four days depending on the size of the turkey). One hour before cooking, take the turkey out of the refrigerator. Pat dry with paper towels. Place in a large roasting pan and set aside. Place rack on lower third of oven. Heat oven to 450 degrees.
2. Mix salt and pepper together and rub all over skin and inside cavity of turkey. Stuff with lemon, and one onion. Place remaining onion and the garlic around the turkey in the pan. Pour in wine to about a quarter inch depth in the pan.
3. Put turkey in the oven, uncovered. After a half hour, turn the oven down to 350 degrees. Remove the turkey and place a sheet of foil over the breast, crimping the edges to the side of the roasting pan. Return to the oven.
4. Roast until the meat thermometer reaches 165 degrees, about one and one half to two and one half hours.
5. Let stand one half hour before carving.
Easy Gravy
Please note that you can replace the flour in this recipe with corn starch, using half as much corn starch as flour.
One stick butter
One half cup flour plus three tablespoons flour(one quarter cup corn starch plus one and one half tablespoons corn starch)
One half teaspoon pepper
Pan drippings plus chicken broth enough to make four cups
Melt the butter in a sauce pan. Whisk in the flour/corn starch slowly until fully absorbed.
Whisk in one quarter cup of the broth/drippings. When the broth is heated and fully absorbed, continue whisking in the rest of the broth in quarter cup segments until all the broth is used up and the gravy is smooth.
3. Add the pepper and continue whisking the gravy until it is bubbling hot and thick.
Stuffing
This recipe makes enough stuffing to reserve five cups of stuffing to put inside the turkey and then an additional amount to fill a 9 x 13 inch pan. The recipe could be halved if you aren’t planning to stuff the turkey.
One pound loaf Italian bread, cut into one inch cubes, dried
Two pounds Italian sausage, browned in two tablespoons olive oil
One stick unsalted butter
Three medium onions, chopped
Four large celery ribs, chopped
Five garlic cloves, minced
Four large eggs, lightly beaten
Three quarters cup heavy cream
One half cup chicken broth
One cup grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese
One half cup chopped Italian parsley
Heat oven to 425 degrees. Butter a 9 x 13 baking dish
Heat the butter, then cook the onions, celery, and garlic, seasoned with one half teaspoon each of salt and pepper, stirring until golden, 12 to 15 minutes. Combine the vegetables and sausage with the bread cubes.
Whisk together the eggs, one half cup cream, chicken stock, cheese and parsley. Stir into the sausage mixture and cool. Place the stuffing into the baking dish and drizzle with the remaining one quarter cup heavy cream.
4. Bake the stuffing tightly covered with foil until hot through, about 20 minutes. Remove foil and bake until top is golden and crisp, about fifteen minutes.
Sweet Potato Casserole
Six large sweet potatoes
Six tablespoons brown sugar
Two beaten eggs
One quarter cup orange juice
Two tablespoons unsalted butter
One teaspoon vanilla
One half teaspoon salt
Topping (consider doubling):
Three tablespoons unsalted butter, softened slightly
One half cup brown sugar
Three quarters chopped pecans
Heat oven to 375 degrees. Bake sweet potatoes until tender. Cool then scoop out the flesh and mash. Reduce heat to 350 degrees.
Stir remaining ingredients (not the topping) into the mashed sweet potatoes and place in a casserole dish.
Combine the ingredients for the topping and sprinkle over the sweet potatoes.
4. Bake 30 minutes and serve hot.
Sweet Potato Casserole (new 2016)
- 5 pounds (about 10 medium or 5 large) sweet potatoes, scrubbed
- ⅓ to ½ cup maple syrup
- ¾ cup sour cream or créme fraîche
- 4 teaspoons purée from canned chipotles
- 1 ½ teaspoons ground cinnamon
- Salt to taste
PREPARATION
- 1. Put oven rack in middle position and heat oven to 375 degrees. Place potatoes on large baking sheet and bake until soft, 35 to 40 minutes for medium potatoes, up to 1 hour for large.
- 2. Meanwhile, combine syrup, sour cream or créme fraîche, chipotle purée, cinnamon and salt in a small bowl. Whisk until smooth.
- 3. When potatoes are tender, remove from oven and slice in two lengthwise. Scoop hot flesh into a potato ricer or food mill, and purée into bowl with other ingredients. Stir with rubber spatula to combine. Potatoes should be light and fluffy. Taste for seasoning, transfer to warm serving bowl and serve immediately.
Cranberry Sauce
This will make a very tart sauce. If you want it to be less tart, use more sugar and go easy on the orange zest (but, why would you????)
12 ounces fresh cranberries
One half cup sugar
One half cup orange juice
One well packed tablespoon orange zest
Combine all the ingredients in a saucepan. Simmer until the cranberries pop, about ten minutes. Remove from the heat and refrigerate. Use the leftovers for the cranberry coffee cake recipe in the dessert section.
Cranberry Sauce (new 2016)
- 2 (12-ounce) packages fresh cranberries (6 cups)
- 1 ¾ cups dark brown sugar
- 1 cup dry red wine
- 3 tablespoons honey
- 4 (1/4-inch-thick) slices fresh gingerroot, smashed
- Pinch kosher salt
- ½ teaspoon black pepper
- In a medium pot over medium heat, combine the cranberries, sugar, red wine, 1/2 cup water, honey, ginger and salt. Simmer gently until most of the cranberries have popped and the sauce is thick and syrupy, 20 to 30 minutes. Stir in the black pepper. Chill thoroughly before serving.
Sautéed Green Beans (new 2016)
INGREDIENTS
- 4 cups water
- 1 pound very small, firm green beans, cleaned
- 3 tablespoons butter
- 3 tablespoons peeled and chopped shallots
- ¼ teaspoon salt, or to taste
- ¼ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper, or to taste
- 1 teaspoon lemon juice
- Bring the water to a boil. Add the beans and cover the pot. Continue cooking the beans, covered, for 3 to 5 minutes until tender but firm. Drain and rinse under cold water.
- At serving time, heat the butter in a skillet, add the shallots and saute for about 1 minute, until the shallots start to brown.
- Add the beans, salt and pepper, and saute briefly. Sprinkle with lemon juice and serve.
Mashed Potato Casserole
- 14 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened, and more for the pan
- 6 pounds Yukon Gold potatoes, peeled and cut into chunks
- 2 tablespoons plus 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 ½ cups sour cream
- 1 teaspoon black pepper
- 6 tablespoons finely chopped chives
- ⅔ cup bread crumbs
- ⅔ cup grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese
- Lightly grease a 9-inch-by-13-inch baking pan.
- In a large pot, bring the potatoes, 4 quarts water and 2 tablespoons salt to a boil. Boil potatoes until fork tender, about 20 minutes. Drain.
- Mash potatoes with 10 tablespoons butter, sour cream, 1 teaspoon salt, and pepper. Mash in the chives. Taste and adjust seasoning, if necessary. Spread potatoes into the prepared pan. Cover and refrigerate for up to three days.
- In a small bowl, combine the remaining 4 tablespoons butter, bread crumbs and cheese. Mix together until it forms coarse crumbs. Crumbs can be refrigerated for three days.
- Heat the oven to 400 degrees. Sprinkle crumbs over the top of the potato casserole and bake until golden and crisp, 30 to 40 minutes.
Skillet Corn Bread
- 12 tablespoons (1 1/2 sticks)/170 grams unsalted butter
- ½ cup/120 ml maple syrup
- 2 ¼ cups/530 ml buttermilk
- 3 large eggs
- 1 ½ cups/180 grams yellow cornmeal, fine or medium-coarse grind
- ½ cup/65 grams whole wheat flour
- ½ cup/60 grams all-purpose flour
- 1 ½ tablespoons/18 grams baking powder
- 1 ½ teaspoons/9 grams kosher salt
- ½ teaspoon/5 grams baking soda
- 1. Heat oven to 375 degrees. On the stovetop, in a 11- or 12-inch skillet (ovenproof and preferably cast iron), melt the butter over medium heat. Cook, swirling pan to lightly coat sides and bottom, until the foam subsides and the butter turns a deep nut brown. (Watch carefully to see that it does not burn.)
- 2. Pour brown butter into a large bowl. (Do not wipe out the pan.) Whisk the maple syrup into the butter, then whisk in buttermilk. The mixture should be cool to the touch; if not, let cool before whisking in the eggs. Then whisk in the cornmeal, flours, baking powder, salt and baking soda.
- 3. If the skillet is no longer hot (cast iron retains heat longer than other metals), reheat it briefly on the stove for a few minutes. Scrape batter back into it. Bake until the top is golden brown and a toothpick inserted into it emerges clean, 30 to 40 minutes. Cool in the skillet for 10 minutes before slicing.
