Turkey Brine

November days

Ingredients

12-20 lb thawed or fresh turkey (remove neck and livers,etc)

1 gallon sweet cider

1 cup apple cider vinegar

1 cup sugar

2/3 cup kosher or sea salt

1 yellow onion, sliced

1 lemon, quartered
1 orange, quartered
10 cloves
4 cloves garlic, smashed
6 bay leaves
1 tablespoon thyme
2 sticks cinnamon
1 quart ice water

Preparation

Put all ingredients EXCEPT ice water in a large (8 quart pot).  Simmer until all sugar and salt dissolve (about 5 minutes).  Add ice water.  When the brine is room temperature, place the turkey in breast side down. Cover and refrigerate turkey and brine.  Ideally, brine turkey on each side for 12 hours.

Drain brine and discard.  Pat turkey dry, rub with sage butter, inside and outside of turkey.  Make several small slits in turkey breast skin and rub some sage butter in between the skin and the meat. Add chicken broth to roasting pan (according to the size of the turkey) I use about 6-8 cups of chicken broth.  Roast with lid on pan according to weight of turkey.   Remove the lid of the pan for the last 20 minutes.

Cranberry Sauce

For Thanksgiving, just add cranberries!

Ingredients

1 lb cranberries
2 cups sugar

Preparation

Wash and remove over-ripe berries.  Drain throughly, and put in saucepan.  Water adhering to the berries is all that is needed.  Add sugar and cook over low flame.  Cook 8 minutes after boiling begins.  Cover and remove from fire.  Do not remove cover for at least 20 minutes.  Cool and refrigerate.

Notes from Liz
Since I work in cranberry country, Carver, MA,  I get all of my berries directly from the growers. (So do you, via Ocean Spray!) Most of the Carver bogs sell to Ocean Spray.  Originally the pilgrims were introduced to the berries by the native american and they were called "Crane Berries) due to the long curving stem on each berry. (As legend says....).  There are two ways to harvest the berries, wet or dry.  Wet harvesting involves flooding the bogs and floating the berries for picking.  Picking can be done mechanically in the wet harvest.  The berries are loaded into very large plastic bins with huge hooks.  Helicopters pick up the bins and load them on trucks.  Wet harvest berries are used for "product"...cranberry juice, sauces, etc.  Dry harvest is picked by hand and it can also be loaded by helicopters or by the workers. Dry harvest berries are sold whole.  This is cranberry trivia.

Turkey Gravy for Roast Turkey Dinner

The Feast

Ingredients

Reserved liquid from roasting pan

4 cups chicken stock

Giblets from Turkey

1/3 cup all purpose flour

2/3 cup milk

salt and pepper to taste

Preparation

Drain and strain liquid from roasting pan into 3-4 quart pan.

Heat over medium heat until bubbling

Boil giblets in 4 cups chicken stock, finely chop giblets, reserve broth and add to liquid from roasting pan

Put 2/3 cup milk in small deep bowl.

Add 1/3 cup flour on top of milk and whisk until flour is blended well into milk

Slowly whisk milk/flour mixture into hot liquid from roasting pan.  Continue to whisk until gravy mixture begins to thicken slightly.  (You can add more milk/flour if it does not thicken.  Always put flour on top of milk or it will form sticky lumps) Heat thoroughly but do not boil.   Add finely chopped giblets and season with salt and pepper to taste.  Serve hot

Makes about 6-7 cups.

Notes from Liz

This is a southern milk gravy.  It is very easy to make if you stir and whisk frequently until it is finished.  Keep it warm without boiling. I always make extra for left overs (it is VERY good on the Southern Stuffing Balls).

Roasted Turkey

Ingredients

A different species of Turkey!

Fresh Turkey              
Kosher Salt
Water
2 Onions
3 Carrots
4 Fresh sage leaves

Preparation

Twenty-four hours before cooking, remove neck and giblets from cavities of fresh turkey. Thoroughly rinse the turkey.  Rub turkey with kosher salt, on skin and cavities.  Place in large pan or bowl and add water to half full.  Cover and place in the refrigerator for at least 6 hours.  Turn turkey in bowl or pan so that the other half soaks in the water until time to roast.

Preheat oven to 325 degrees.                                                                                                                                           Peel onions and Carrots and chop into large pieces and stuff largest cavity of Turkey with the chopped vegetables.  Add 4 fresh sage leaves.  Tuck legs under skin to close cavity.  Place Turkey in roasting pan, breast side up. Insert meat thermometer.  Add 4 cups of low sodium chicken broth.  Place lid on roasting pan and place in oven.  Roast for 1/2 of roasting time and remove lid.  Continue to roast turkey and baste every 20 to 30 minutes.  The turkey will be done when the thermometer reads 185 degrees.

Total roasting time:
6-8 lbs         = 2 to 2 1/2 hours
8-12 lbs       = 2 1/2 to 3 hours
12-16 lbs     = 3 to 3 3/4 hours
16 to 20 lbs = 3 3/4 to 4 1/2 hours
20 to 24 lbs = 4 1/2 to 5 1/2 hours

Plan to have the turkey done 20 to 30 minutes before serving time.  Remove Turkey from Oven and let "rest" for 20 to 30 minutes before carving. (See Turkey Gravy Recipe).  Carve and enjoy.

Notes from Liz
Traveling Turkey:  For the past 15 years or more, I have prepared the turkey and then packed it up and traveled to the Whiman's house.  Here is the method.  Cook the turkey as directed above but take it out of the oven 45 minutes before the recommended cooking time. Remove all but 2 inches of broth and cooking juices.  Reserve the broth for gravy.  Put the lid on the roasting pan and put the whole pan into a prepare large plastic storage bin that has a tight sealing lid.  Line the bin with multiple layers of newspaper. Put the whole roasting pan in the bin and cover with more layers of newspaper and then put the tight sealing lid on the bin.  The turkey will stay hot and continue to cook.  It can be served up to six hours later and be perfectly cooked and remain hot as long as you do not remove the lid.

Southern Stuffing Balls

Another tradition, Thanksgiving with at the Whimans!

Ingredients

4 cups crumbled corn bread

(you can use the corn bread stuffing in

a bag or you can make your own!)

4 cups crumbled bread

(you can use the bread stuffing in a bag.

I prefer unseasoned)

1 stick melted butter

3 T dried sage

2 tsp black pepper

2 onions, minced fine

5 stalks celery, chopped fine

6-8 cups chicken broth

Preparation

Boil the onion and celery in the chicken broth until onions and celery are tender.  Set aside to cool thoroughly.  Melt the butter.  Put cornbread and bread stuffing into large bowl, add sage and black pepper, and butter.  Strain the onions and celery out of the chicken broth, reserve broth.  Add the onions and celery to stuffing mix.  Mix with your clean hands until mixed well.  Add chicken broth until the stuffing mixture easily makes a two-three inch ball.  Roll stuffing into balls and put on greased baking sheet. They do not expand, so you can fit many stuffing balls on one sheet. (These can be made a day ahead and cooked on Thanksgiving day.)  Cook at 400 degrees for 35-45 minutes-until lightly browned and "crispy".  Serve with turkey gravy.

Notes from Liz

Stuffing balls are a southern Thanksgiving tradition.  Each family has a recipe.  This is my grandmother, "Granny"  Lucy Berry's recipe.  When I serve stuffing balls, I usually stuff the turkey with large cut pieces of onion, celery, and carrots-seasoned with poultry seasoning and salt.  I don't serve these vegetables but they flavor the turkey and the broth for the gravy.    Make extra because they are wonderful with left over turkey!

Lucy Berry's Corn Pudding

Liesel, Adam, Denis, and Matthew Enjoy T-Day Corn Pudding

Ingredients

6 ears fresh corn
1 scant cup sugar
3 TBS Corn starch
1 tsp baking powder
pinch of salt
1/2 stick of butter (sliced thin)
3 whole eggs
milk (see Preparation)

Preparation

Make three cuttings of corn from the cob, then scrape the cob to get the milky substance. (frozen or canned corn will not get the same taste or consistency) Mix sugar and corn starch, salt and baking powder in a medium bowl.  Add corn and mix thoroughly.  Beat eggs, slightly, and add to the mixture. Put mixture into a baking dish.  Cover mixture with milk.  Stir the milk into mixture until it covers the mixture.  Put thin slices of butter into the mixture and mix through.  Bake at 350 degrees for 45-60 minutes.  After cooking pudding for about 30 minutes, stir well, so the cornstarch will not won't settle to the bottom.  You will know when the pudding is done when a knife inserted in the center comes out clean.

Serves 10

Notes from Liz


My Granny gave me this recipe in 1969.  She made this for every Thanksgiving and Christmas.  She always made it from memory.  When I asked her to write down the recipe, she made it and measured as she prepared the dish.  On the recipe card she gave me, she wrote:  Good Luck Liz.  I hope it will turn out OK.  I have been making this recipe for 41 years...every Thanksgiving...and dinners in between.  It is the favorite memorable dish for Thanksgiving.  It used to be difficult to find corn on the cob in November, now all the grocery stores have fresh corn in the produce section for Thanksgiving.  I am sure that Lucy Berry would be amazed that her recipe survived at least two generations!  I spent many years watching her cook from memory.  I asked her to write down, record, recipes that I could not replicate from merely watching her cook.  I am happy to share her recipes with you.