Gobble Gobble

This year for Thanksgiving we went up to Sheboygan, WI to spend the time with my in-laws. It's always so interesting to compare other's Holidays to your own. Growing up, Thanksgiving was small for us. Just my immediate family. It was always a challenge for my mother since I had one brother that was fully vegetarian and another that would only eat poultry. We would basically watch the Macy's parade, snack on cheese and such and then eat around 5p. Now B's Thanksgiving is quite different. First off, they are huge. He has two celebrations, one for each side of his family, and they both have about 15 people. Also football is the main event, which is fine by me because I love watching it. With so many people and 2 full dinners, it makes it easier and more fun to do something different. I decided this year to introduce some of my favorite dishes into their family.

This salad is easy to please everyone. Reading there recipe, it may seem a little strange but it comes together well.

FALL SALAD

Salad Greens:
1 head red lettuce
1 cup chopper celery
2 green onions with tops, chopped

Dressing:
1/2 tsp salt
Dash pepper
2 tsp sugar
2 tsp vinegar
1/4 cup canola oil
1 Tbsp snipped parsley
Dash Tabasco

Topping:
1/4 cup sliced almonds
1 Tbsp plus 1 tsp sugar

Other:
1 can Mandarin oranges

Prepare salad dressing and refrigerate.

Cook almond sliced in sugar over low heat until sugar melts and coats the nuts. Place on waxed paper and cool. Break apart.

Combine all salad greens and refrigerate overnight.

Before serving, combine salad greens, salad dressing and Mandarin oranges. Toss. Sprinkle with sugared almonds before serving.




I love my mom's stuffing. It's not some recipe that has been passed down for generations or anything like that. But after not having it one Thanksgiving I realized it is what defines the holiday for me. Waking up that morning I always remember the smell of the onions, celery and sausage cooking.  We halve this recipe and stick it in the oven in a dutch oven instead of the the bird.

CORN BREAD STUFFING

2 pkgs (10-12 oz size) cornbread mix
1 lb sausage meat
4 cups chopped celery
3 cups chopped onion
3/4 cup chopped parsley
1 1/2 tsp rubbed savory
1 1/2 tsp dried sage
1 1/2 tsp dried thyme
1 Tbsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
1 can (13 3/4 oz) chicken broth, undiluted
3 eggs, slightly beaten

Make cornbread mix as package label describes. Cool.
In large skillet, saute sausage meat, stirring, until lightly browned.  Lift out with slotted spoon.  In drippings in skillet saute celery, onion, and parsley until tender, 8-10 minutes.
Meanwhile, crumble cooled cornbread into large bowl.  Add sausage, vegetables, herbs, salt and pepper.  Gradually add broth and eggs, tossing lightly with a fork. 
Baked covered at 350 degrees for 30 -40 minutes or until warm.  Remove cover and bake 10 more minutes.




After raving about turnips to everyone, I decided I needed to bring my signature dish. Here is the recipe again.

TURNIP GRATIN from Epicurious

2 tablespoons unsalted butter

2 1/2 pounds medium turnips, trimmed and left unpeeled

1 tablespoon chopped thyme

1/2 tablespoon chopped savory

1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt

Rounded 1/8 teaspoon cayenne

1 cup heavy cream

1 cup grated Parmigiano-Reggiano (use a Microplane)

Preheat oven to 450°F with rack in middle.

Melt butter in an ovenproof 12-inch heavy skillet, then cool.

Slice turnips paper-thin with slicer, then arrange one third of slices, overlapping tightly, in skillet, keeping remaining slices covered with dampened paper towels. Sprinkle with about a third of thyme, savory, kosher salt, and cayenne. Make 2 more layers.

Cook, covered, over medium heat until underside is browned, about 10 minutes. Add cream and cook, covered, until center is tender, 20 to 25 minutes.

Sprinkle evenly with cheese, then bake, uncovered, until golden and bubbling, 10 to 15 minutes. Let stand 5 minutes before serving.

Now in to the main event...DEEP FRIED TURKEY!!! Over and over again we have heard how delicious it is. And since we had two meals, B and I wanted to try it at one of them. Luckily we knew someone that had the fryer and I had to buy an obnoxious amount of peanut oil. We started with brining the turkeys in large tubs of water, brown sugar and salt. We let them sit overnight.

Turkey taking a bath in sugar and salt

Around 3p we were ready to start our first turkey. I let the boys be in charge. They heated up the oil and VERY slowly lowered the turkey in. The oil was not very happy about it. Almost instantly the turkey smelled and looked delicious.

Heating up the oil -- FAR away from the house

Lowering the thawed, dried off turkey

The oil was angry

Already it looks delicious



We fried the turkey for close to 40 mi and it came out beautifully! Super juicy on the inside. Crisp and brown on the outside. Now I don't love turkey. It's fine but its not something I usually want to eat often. But this turkey.... THIS turkey I could eat all day. So moist! So flavorful! Salty and sweet. And the skin! It was like bacon. I have now become one of those people who rants and raves about deep fried turkey.  I highly recommend it but please please PLEASE be careful and read all the instructions to make sure you don't start a fire.

Here are the instructions and recipe we used.

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/alton-brown/deep-fried-turkey-recipe/index.html

Out of the fryer!

Finally, I brought some delicious pumpkin cookies to snack on all weekend.  Reading the recipe I thought they sounded good, but they were so much better!  Almost like little cakes, they were great to get your fix of something sweet without eating a whole piece of pie.

http://www.marthastewart.com/318741/pumpkin-cookies-with-brown-butter-icing

Well, I know this post is late but I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving!  And you all aren't freaking out too much about Christmas being 13 days away!