This wasn't always the case; before the divorce and even the year after, Thanksgiving seemed extravagant to me: we drove to Phoenix and went to my grandparent's house, or my uncle's, and we dressed up and had namecards and a kiddie table and all kinds of forced bonding that really did go a long way in cementing the relationships you make when you're a kid.
Now, it'd been about twenty years since all four kids were together on Thanksgiving weekend, with my mom. It'd been about six years since all four kids were with my mom and my stepdad, and it'd been three years since the four of us gathered in one place. So my brother David decided it was time-- and he hauled his girlfriend, my younger brother Ben and Ben's daughter, Isabel all the way out from Utah to my mom's house.
Traveling on Thanksgiving kind of sucks, and with a three-almost-four year old, it wasn't exactly an easy drive, I'm sure. But they made it and on Friday morning, we started cooking. David has a great way with food, and since the oven at my mom's house is STILL broken (seriously!) we cooked the majority of stuff at my house and brought it to my mom's. (Dinner couldn't really happen at my place because of my cats, and allergies, and besides-- it doesn't count unless we eat at Mom's!)
Here was the menu:
Roast Turkey & gravy
Mashed Potatoes
Stuffin' Muffins
Bourbon Sweet Potatoes
Green Beans with Bacon, Shallots & Vermouth
Peach & Mango cobbler
My sister Sarah handled the dessert, and my mom took over the mashed potatoes (easy for those who are oven-impaired) and David and I wrangled the rest.
I took the lead on the turkey, and used Alton Brown's Roasted Turkey recipe from the food network. This was my very first turkey ever (I'd helped a few times with a friend-thanksgiving when we lived on Athol, but never on my own) and I was super duper nervous. I defrosted that sucker, brined it, stuffed some aromatics in it's excavated cavity, rubbed it down with canola oil and then stuck it in the oven at 500 for a half hour, then 350 for about two hours (after covering the breast with Alton's famed "Foil Turkey Triangle").
I had to use an ice bath to defrost it.
Turkey is a funny thing-- you really don't have a chance to stop and wash your hands and take pictures and resume... it's really just... get it done.
Anyway, I followed his recipe to a T with no changes.
Not-Thanksgiving Ingredients
Stuffin Muffins
Tools: 12-cup non-stick muffin tin, 12-inch skillet, measuring utensils & cups, cutting board, knives, ice cream scoop
Ingredients: 2 tbsp olive oil (about two turns of the pan), 1/2 cup butter, softened, 1 fresh bay leaf (or dried), 4 ribs celery & chopped greens from the heart, 1 medium chopped yellow or sweet onion, 3 chopped red apples, 2 tbsp poultry seasoning, 1/4 cup fresh chopped parsley, 8 cups unseasoned cubed stuffing mix, 2-3 cups chicken stock
Pre-heat a large skillet over medium high heat. Add the olive oil and 1/2 the butter. As the butter melts, drop in the bay leaf. As you chop the vegetables, add them: celery, onions, then apple. Sprinkle the vegetables and apples with salt, pepper and poultry seasoning. Cook for about five minutes or until everything begins to soften.
Add the parsley, and slowly add the stuffing mix as you combine. Once everything is combined, moisten the stuffing with the chicken broth, a little at a time, until it's soft but not soggy. Butter the muffin tins, and then use an ice cream scoop to mound the stuffing into muffin shapes in the tin. Remove the bay leaf as you scoop the stuffing. Pop those bad boys in the oven for about 15-20 minutes until the stuffing sets and the tops are nice and crispy brown.
Bourbon Sweet Potatoes
Tools: large pot for boiling, 13 x 9 glass pan, spoons, colander, masher, knives, cutting board, peeler, measuring utensils & spoons
Ingredients: 3 medium peeled sweet potatoes, cut into chunks; 3 tbsp butter, cut into small pieces; 1/2 cup chopped pecans; 3 tbsp brown sugar; 2 oz bourbon; 1/4 cup to 1/2 cup orange juice, 1/2 tsp grnd nutmeg, salt & pepper
Preheat oven to 350.
Bring a pot of water to poiling, add the sweet potatoes and boil until very tender, about 12-15 minutes. Drain those suckers in a colander.
Return the pan to medium heat and add the butter. When it melts, add the nuts and toast for 2 minutes. Add the sugar and let it bubble. Add the bourbon (don't inhale the bourbon fumes!) and cook out the alcohol for about a minute. Add the orange juice (to taste) and the sweet potatoes. Mash 'em and season with nutmeg & salt and pepper.
Transfer the sweet potatoes to the 13 x 9 pan and stick in the oven for about 15-18 minutes or until slightly browned on top.
And in the meantime, I made some gravy.
Tools: whisk, measuring cups & utensils, strainer, medium saucepan, plate for dredging
Ingredients: drippings from turkey; 4 tbsp flour; 14 oz chicken stock; 1/2 cup white wine; bay leaf; 6 tbsp butter; giblets; salt & pepper to taste
I deglazed the bottom of the roasting pan over a high flame with a little bit of the wine. Then I strained all of the drippings into a large measuring cup and let it settle. I skimmed about 3/4 of the fat. I dredged the giblets in flour, tossed 2 tbsp of butter into a hot pan and added the giblets and bay leaf, cooking for about 5 minutes. I removed the giblets. I melted the remaing butter until it was bubbly, then added the flour, whisking and whisking and whisking and whisking.
When the roux was nice and golden I added the drippings, still whisking, and then 1/2 the stock, whisking until smooth. I slowly added the rest of the stock, and when it thickened, I added the wine and let simmer for 2-3 minutes. Then it was taste test time and I added salt and pepper to my liking.
Then we loaded up the food into David's car, packed ourselves into ours, and headed to my mom's house.
At my mom's, I made the green beans.
Green Beans with Bacon, Shallots & Vermouth
I adapted this recipe from The America's Test Kitchen cookbook.
Tools: Cookie sheet, wire rack, measuring cups and spoons, colander, 2 12-inch skillets, bowl of ice water; large boiling pot; knive, cutting board
Ingredients:
1.5 lbs green beans, stem ends snapped, 1 tbsp salt; 2.5 quarts water; 6 thinly sliced shallots; 4 tbsp unsalted butter; 6 strips bacon; 3 tbsp dry vermouth; salt and pepper to taste
I blanched the green beans and cooked the bacon the day before. Bring the water to a boil in a large pot, and then salt, then add the green beans. Return to a boil and cool until they are bright green, about 3 minutes. Drain the beans in a colander, then transfer immediately to an icewater bath. When they aren't warm anymore, drain them again and dry them.
Put the wire-rack in the cookie sheet, then lay the bacon out. Put in the oven and heat to 400 degrees. After the oven comes to temperature, it'll be about 5-8 minutes for the bacon to finish crisping-- this really is dependent on your own personal oven so you'll want to keep an eye out.
Let the bacon fat drain, remove from wire rack and set aside until cool. Slice the bacon and set aside until needed.
Heat two tablespoons of butter in one skillet until foaming. Toss in the shallots and stir frequently, cooking until it smells super good, you start to see some crisping at the edges and the majority of the shallots are turning a nice golden brown. Set aside and warm the green beans in the other skillet with 1/4 cup of water. Once they're warmed through, put the shallots back onto a high heat and stir in the vermouth until it comes to a simmer. Whisk the remaining butter and stir in the bacon. Add the green beans and toss. Season with salt and pepper to taste, put in a serving dish and serve ASAP.
David carved the turkey. It turned out very pretty & juicy!
The turkey was good, and I always love my mom's mashed potatoes, but I have to say-- the green beans and the sweet potatoes stole the show!
We topped it off with a mango-papaya crumble dish my sister made-- it was such a hit I barely was able to snap a picture. I'm definitely getting the recipe for this.
It was really fun to cook with my brother, and I had a great time with my family. Though we didn't recreate the magic of Thanksgivings of yore, I think we made our own new magic and hopefully we'll continue this tradition. Next year I think we all need to head to the place in Arizona for a Mexican-inspired Not-Thanksgiving!
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