Ingredients and Directions

*Brining the Turkey first is the key to a no fail turkey on Thanksgiving Day. The brining process insures juicy and flavorful meat. Gone will be the days of dried out turkey.

Roast Turkey:

Set oven at 475. Remove the turkey from the brine and rinse well with cold water. Thoroughly dry turkey with a clean dry kitchen towel or paper towels. Discard the brine. Rub the turkey all over with olive oil and sea salt. Place additional sprigs of thyme and sage into the cavity of the bird. Place in a roasting pan, breast side up, on lowest oven rack. Make sure to tie legs together with kitchen string and tuck the wings in. Roast the turkey for 30min uncovered, rotating the pan 1/2 way through. Remove from oven add 2 cups hot water to the roasting pan and cover with 2 layers aluminum foil. Bake until internal temp read 165ʼ, approximately 1.5 hours for a 14 pound turkey. remove foil for last 20min of cooking to allow turkey to brown. Once done remove from oven and loosely recover with aluminum foil, allow turkey to rest at least 20min before carving.

In order to make corn bread stuffing you need a quality corn bread recipe. This is my grandmaʼs no fail corn bread.

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. In a large bowl, combine crumbled cornbread and set aside.
Melt the butter in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the celery and onion and cook until transparent, approximately 5 to 10 minutes. Pour the vegetable mixture over cornbread mixture. Add the stock, mix well, add sage, poultry seasoning, and salt and pepper to taste. Add beaten eggs and mix well. Pour mixture into a greased 13 x 9in casserole dish and bake until cooked through, about 35-45 minutes

Serves 6

• 2 lbs yukon gold potatoes, peeled and quartered length-wise
• 3/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup sourcream
• 3 Tbsp butter
• 1-1 1/2 Tbsp milk
• Salt and Pepper

Add potatoes to a large stock pot. Add 1/2 teaspoon salt. Add water until potatoes are covered. Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer, covered but vented 15-20 minutes until tender.2 Drainwater from potatoes. Put hot potatoes into a bowl. Add sour cream and melted butter.Use potato masher to mash potatoes until well mashed. Use a strong spoon to beat further, adding milk to achieve the consistency you desire (Do not over-beat). Add salt and pepper to taste.

Turkey Gravy 101

I wanted to provide you with a no fail turkey gravy formula that I found back in 2005.
* For each cup of gravy, use 1 cup of liquid + 1 tablespoon of fat
+ 1½ tablespoons of flour.
For example: To make 12 servings of turkey gravy, use 4 cups of liquid (broth plus de-fatted pan juices) + 4 tablespoons fat + 6 tablespoons of flour.
• If you don’t have enough of the turkey pan drippings to make the amount of gravy you need add homemade or low-sodium store bought broth to make up the liquid difference.

3 secrets to perfect gravy:

1. Use a wire whisk to stir the gravy to avoid lumps.
2. Make sure to thoroughly cook the flour in the fat (before adding the liquid) to avoid a starchy taste.
3. Salt is the key to great flavor.

Home Made Turkey Gravy

(8 servings)

• 3 cups turkey stock with pan drippings
• 2 T. Butter
• 3 T. Flour
• Salt and pepper to tasteOnce the turkey is removed from the roasting pan, skim any visible fat from the pan drippings. In a large sauce pan add butter, melt.
Using a wire whisk stir in flour to melted butter, whisk to form a paste.
Once paste forms, slowly whisk in turkey stock and pan drippings.
Stir until thickened, reduce heat to low and simmer 5-10 minutes.
Salting you gravy is key to great tasting gravy. Add and taste constantly. Start with about 1/2 tsp. for 4 cups of liquid. Then sprinkle in a tiny bit at a time, stirring and tasting until desired flavor achieved.
Add pepper.
If your gravy is lumpy, use a strainer to remove lumps. Never use a blender or food processor to try to remove small lumps from gravy.

Topping:

3 cups fried onions

Fried Onions:

• 2 large onions sliced
• 1 1/2 cups milk
• 1 cup flour
• canola oil for frying
Soak sliced onions in milk for 5 minutes, Heat canola oil in the pan about 1 inch deep. Remove onions from the milk with a fork and coat with flour, shaking off excess. Quick fry coated onions in hot oil until browned, remove to paper towel to drain.

Green Beans and Sauce

2 pounds green beans , ends trimmed, and halved
3 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 pound white button mushrooms , chopped
4 cloves garlic, minced
Salt and pepper to taste (1/2-3/4 tsp)
3 tablespoons all purpose flour
1 1/2 cups low-sodium chicken broth
1 1/2 cups heavy cream
Adjust oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 425 degrees. In a large stock pot bring 4 quarts of water to a boil, add a pinch of salt. Add green beans. Cook beans until crisp-tender, about 6 minutes. Drain beans in colander and plunge immediately into ice water to stop cooking. Spread beans on paper-towel-lined baking sheet to drain. Add butter to large saute pan, melt. Add mushrooms, garlic, 3/4
teaspoon salt, and 1/8 teaspoon pepper; cook mushrooms until most liquid is gone and mushrooms are tender , about 6 minutes. Add flour and cook for 1 minute, stirring constantly. Stir in broth and bring to simmer, stirring constantly. Add cream, reduce heat to medium, and simmer until sauce is thickened and reduced to 3 1/2 cups, about 12 minutes. Season with salt and pepper to taste.Once sauce is done add prepared green beans to sauce and stir until evenly coated. Arrange in even layer in 13 x 9 inch baking dish.
Sprinkle with fried onion topping and bake until top is golden brown and sauce is bubbling around edges, about 15 minutes. Let stand 5 minutes before serving

Serves: 6-8

• 3 cups mashed sweet potatoes (Prep as you would mashed
potatoes)
• 1 cup brown sugar
• 2 eggs, lightly beaten
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 1/2 cup milk
• 1/2 cup melted butter
Topping:
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 1/3 cup flour
• 1/3 cup melted butter
• 1 cup chopped pecans
Preheat oven to 350ʼCombine first 6 ingredients. Pour into a buttered 13 x 9 inch casserole dish. Mix remaining ingredients together and sprinkle over top. Bake at 350° for 30 to 40 minutes, until hot and browned.

Serves 6-8

(Recipe: Queen of Deliciousness: Mrs. Paula Dean)
• 1 (8-ounce) package cream cheese, softened
• 2 cups canned pumpkin, mashed
• 1 cup sugar
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 egg plus 2 egg yolks, slightly beaten
• 1 cup half-and-half
• 1/4 cup (1/2 stick) melted butter
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon ground ginger, optional
• 1 piece pre-made pie dough
• Whipped cream, for topping
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
Place 1 piece of pre-made pie dough down into a (9-inch) pie pan and press down along the bottom and all sides. Pinch and crimp the edges together to make a pretty pattern. Put the pie shell back into the freezer for 1 hour to firm up. Fit a piece of aluminum foil to cover the inside of the shell completely. Fill the shell up to the edges with pie weights or dried beans (about 2 pounds) and place it in the oven. Bake for 10 minutes, remove the foil and pie weights and bake for another 10 minutes or until the crust is dried out and beginning to color.
For the filling, in a large mixing bowl, beat the cream cheese with a hand mixer. Add the pumpkin and beat until combined. Add the sugar and salt, and beat until combined. Add the eggs mixed with the yolks, half-and-half, and melted butter, and beat until combined. Finally, add the vanilla, cinnamon, and ginger, if using, and beat until incorporated.Pour the filling into the warm prepared pie crust and bake for 50 minutes, or until the center is set. Place the pie on a wire rack and cool to room temperature. Cut into slices and top each piece with a generous amount of whipped cream