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Brine:
1 gallon water
1/2 ounce ground cloves
1/2 ounce ground ginger
4 ounces cracked black peppercorns
12 bay leaves
1 pound kosher salt
24 ounces honey
24 ounces frozen orange juice
1 (10-pound) whole fresh turkey, giblets and neck removed and reserved for stock
In a large stockpot, bring the water, cloves, ginger, black peppercorn, bay leaves and salt to a boil. Lower to a simmer and stir in the honey and maple syrup until well blended. Turn off heat and allow to cool to room temperature.
Rinse the turkey inside and out with cold tap water. Reserve the neck and specialty meats for pan gravy. Set the turkey in the brine, making sure that the turkey is fully immersed in the brine. Place a weight on top of the turkey to make sure it is always covered with brine. Marinate for at least 4 hours to overnight, in the refrigerator.
Roasting the Turkey
1 stick butter, room temperature
2 teaspoons chopped garlic
1 teaspoon chopped fresh rosemary leaves
2 teaspoons chopped fresh sage leaves
2 apples, quartered and cored
1 onion, peeled and quartered
2 rosemary sprigs
3 sprigs sage
Olive oil, for drizzling
1 cup cubed carrots
1 cup cubed celery
1 cup cubed onions
In a shallow roasting pan, place the carrots, celery and onions. Remove turkey from brine.
Mix together the butter, garlic, chopped rosemary, and sage to make a compound butter. Using your hands, loosen to the skin from the breast by gently inserting your fingers between the skin and the flesh. Rub the compound butter underneath the skin. Insert the apples, onions, and whole rosemary and sage into the cavity of the turkey.
Place the turkey over the vegetables, breast-side up, in the roasting pan. Tuck the wings back and under the turkey. Using kitchen twine, tie the legs together. This will make a compact shape and will create a great presentation. Drizzle the turkey with olive oil and rub it into the skin. Roast the turkey to at least 165 degrees F in the breast, about 2 1/2 hours. If the skin gets too dark during roasting, tent with foil.
Transfer turkey to a platter and allow to cool. Meanwhile, prepare the pan gravy.
Turkey Stock
NOTE: make the stock when the turkey is brining.
Giblets and neck from 1 turkey
2 tablespoons olive oil
1/2 cup port wine
1 cup roughly chopped onions
1/2 cup roughly chopped carrots
1/2 cup roughly chopped celery
2 sprigs rosemary
5 peppercorns
Water, to cover
Heat a saucepan over high heat. When the pan is hot, add the olive oil and heat. Add the neck and giblets and cook until browned all over, about 7 minutes. Remove the pan from the heat and de-glaze with the port. Return the pan to the heat and cook until the port is almost completely evaporated, about 10 minutes.
Add the carrots, onions, celery, rosemary and peppercorns. Cover with cold water by 4-inches. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat to a simmer, and simmer for 2 hours, adding a little more water, if necessary. Skim any scum that rises to the surface of the stock and discard.
Strain the stock. Use immediately, or cool and refrigerate for up to 4 days.
Pumpkin Bread Pudding with Cranberries
4 cups milk
1 cup granulated sugar
8 whole eggs
1/4 teaspoon vanilla
1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground cloves
1 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1 (16-ounce) can pumpkin (not pie filling, if you use pumpkin pie filling omit spices)
Cubed bread Day-old biscuits or croissants are best for this recipe. You will need enough to fill a 9 by 13-inch baking dish.
1 cup fresh cranberries
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
In a mixing bowl, blend all ingredients, except for bread and cranberries. Fill a 9 by 13-inch baking dish with bread cubes. Sprinkle cranberries over bread cubes. Pour custard mixture over bread cubes, making sure that all cubes are submerged (push cubes down if necessary). Bake for about 1 hour, or until pudding is set. Serve warm.
Cranberry Sauce
2 (8-ounce) packages cranberries, fresh or frozen
1 orange, zest cut into strips and juiced
1/2 cup sugar
1 cinnamon stick
Put all the ingredients into a saucepan over medium heat and simmer until the cranberries burst and the sauce thickens, about 15 to 20 minutes. Serve at room temperature or cool and refrigerate. Remove the cinnamon stick before serving.
Onion and Cornbread Stuffing
2 tablespoons butter
2 onions, chopped
6 large cornmeal muffins, cubed
Handful fresh sage leaves, chopped
1 egg
1/4 cup heavy cream
1/4 cup chicken stock
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.
Melt the butter in a medium skillet over medium heat. Add the onions and cook, stirring, for about 10 minutes, or until soft and caramelized. Add sage and scrape into a large mixing bowl.
Add the cornbread pieces, season well with salt and pepper, and give it a good toss until it's well combined. In a separate bowl, whisk together the egg, cream, and stock, and pour that over the cornbread. Stir the stuffing together and stuff the cavity of the turkey. You could also spoon it into a buttered baking dish and put it in the oven along with the turkey. Bake until hot and crusty on top, about 30 minutes.
String Bean Casserole with Homemade Fried Onions
Personal chef Amy's recipe
2 cans of cut string beans
1 can of cream of mushroom soup
1 large onion (sliced as thin as possible)
1 cup Flour
Oil (in a large pot to hold one quart of oil)
Salt (to taste)
Heat oil on medium/high heat (do not walk away from the pan) until a piece of onion fries and floats to the top. Coat the thinly cut onions in flour. Place carefully in oil with tongs, the oil will bubble up, pick up the pan off the heat to keep the oil from bubbling over. Bubbling will stop after a minute or two. Place back on stove to finish cooking to a dark (but not burnt) brown.
Drain on paper towels and sprinkle with salt to taste.
Heat oven to 350 degrees, mix string beans and soup in casserole dish, bake for 30 minutes, sprinkle the fried onions on top and place back into the oven for 5 minutes to heat the onions.
Candied Oranges
Orange peels from navel oranges (include white pith)
Water to fill large pot
1 ½ cups Water
4 ½ cups sugar
1 cup of sugar
Candy thermometer
Slice orange peels into long thing slices. Place peels in a pot and cover with water. Bring to a boil, strain out the water and replace twice more with cold water and boil again.
On the forth time use only 1 ½ cups of water and 4 ½ cups sugar. Do not add the peels to the pot yet. Bring to a simmer on medium heat until a candy thermometer reads 240 degrees (soft ball stage), add the orange peels and do not stir. If you need to you can press down on the peels to coat with the sugar mixture. Simmer for about 15 minutes. Drain the sugar mixture into a bowl (save to use to sweeten ice tea, kool aid, or other drinks). Place peels into a large bowl with one cup of sugar and mix to coat. Place peels on baking sheets to dry. The longer they dry the better the taste. Bag in zip locks and keep in a cool dry place. Will last of a few weeks.
Victoria’s Best Apple Turnovers with Apricot Glaze
Personal Chef Amy’s Recipe
1 can of croissants
½ jar of apricots (heated in microwave for a minute)
1 can of apple pie filling
½ pound of Havarti cheese (or your favorite cheese) sliced thin
Chopped pecans or your favorite nut (not toasted)
Take the croissants out of the tube and spread two of them together to make a large triangle. At the widest end place 1 to 2 tablespoons (one large sliced apple) of the apple pie filling leaving ¼ space at the end. Place a slice of cheese on top and roll as you would for dinner croissants making the half moon shape. Using a pastry brush, brush the top of the croissants with the apricot glaze and sprinkle with the chopped nuts. Heat oven to 425 degrees and cook for 10 to 15 minutes until the croissants are brown on top and cooked though.
Turkey Gravy
Drippings from the turkey
4 tablespoons of flour
1 cup Port wine
4 cups of broth (more if needed)
Heat the turkey drippings in pan on medium heat and add the port wine to deglaze the bottom of the pan. Add the flour and mix well until no lumps remain. Continue to mix and add the broth and bring to a boil, turn heat to low and cook until thickened.
Tips to make your thanksgiving a success
* If your gravy has lumps, strain the gravy in a strainer to remove any lumps.
* Gravy is to thin, mix hot water with flour to form a paste, Wisk in to the gravy on high heat and cook for 5 minutes to get rid of the raw flour taste.
* Gravy is to thick, mix in more stock (broth), water or wine to thin it out.
* Turkey is not brown, take butter and any heavily sugared item (brown sugar, maple syrup, light corn syrup, honey, jelly or preserves) and mix together into a glaze, baste the turkey at 350 degrees until brown. About once every 5 minutes about 3 times.
* Turkey is over cooked or dry. Place the cut pieces in broth to re-hydrate and cover with gravy if you want.
* Need a quick dessert? Take a store bought pie (apple, pumpkin) and heat as per directions. Melt chocolate or caramel in microwave until melted and drizzle on top of the pie.
* You forgot to take the neck and other parts out of the turkey? It is o.k. Just remove them. The paper they come in is FDA approved not to cause health problems and will not affect the taste of the turkey. Just tell the people at the table you thought it would add extra flavor!
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