My Thanksgiving menu is all set!
My family enjoys the same traditional
foods
from year to year,
so this is the menu we came up with
to make everyone happy.
Everything is made from scratch,
including the chicken stock which
I will make tomorrow and that will be
incorporated into the stuffing and
gravy.
Side dishes include maple infused
sweet potatoes
and fluffy, buttery mashed potatoes
which both go through a potato ricer
for the best consistency.
Never use an electric mixer,
because the potatoes will end up gummy
and not fluffy!
My secret to moist turkey is to buy a
fresh organic bird,
not previously frozen.
For years I would spend hours trying
to
thaw out my turkey
and they would always end up being a
little dry.
I simply slather on some butter, salt and pepper.
Inside, I include a fennel bulb, onion
and maybe an apple or orange.
I lay the turkey on rows of celery stalks in the pan,
instead of a rack.
That way, all that yumminess from the
pan,
the drippings and veggies,
go into my turkey soup for the weekend.
All these recipes are in my head.
I don’t follow recipes,
except for the pies,
but timing is so important in cooking
the turkey.
Figure out how many pounds your turkey is
and time it correctly.
For the cranberry relish,
fresh cranberries are cooked in
freshly grated ginger,
a little brown sugar and the juice and
zest of one orange.
The addition of ginger is so good for digestion!
I also use freshly grated ginger (and
nutmeg) in the pies.
Fresh ciabatta bread, mushrooms,
apples, onions, celery, fresh herbs (lots of sage) and more go into the
stuffing.
This year I am going to bake it in
a bundt pan,
as seen on pinterest!
The corn and brussel sprouts are
cooked simply
with butter (for the corn)
and olive oil (for the sprouts) and
salt and pepper.
The pies are also made from scratch.
Sweet potato chiffon, recipe by Emeril
and good old pumpkin pie, of course!
Bon appetit!
ciao! fabiana
