First, I want to let you know that I run a small catering company here on the Siedlung. Please reach out to me for a free quote for any of your catering needs...I can help with something as small as dessert, cake, or pie for a small family get-together to a cocktail party for 100 people and everywhere in between. I'd really love to help make your event special for you and your guests through my love of food. Just click on the Catering and Consulting tab (or right there!) and fill out my **Catering Proposal Request** with detail of your event and I'll get back to you quickly with ideas and a quote.
Second, my blog is also here to help you through your tour in Germany and to answer all those ingredients and cooking questions you may have. You can either leave a comment on the blog with your questions or email me at TheGlobalFork@gmail.com.
Now, down to the nitty gritty of why you really came to my blog...you probably want those Thanksgiving recipes! I've written a lot about Thanksgiving on this blog over the years so feel free to search around, but I'll include here recipe cards for Turkey brine, my gravy, and a very traditional turkey stuffing.
Thanks again for visiting, happy cooking, and Happy Thanksgiving!
Yield: Approx. 6 Servings
Turkey Gravy
Even if you don't like to admit it, you love gravy. Especially on Thanksgiving. Here's a method I have used in the past with great success...you'll basically want to drink it straight (but don't)...
ingredients:
- 1/4 C butter
- 1/4 C flour
- 2 Tbsp canola oil
- 1 package turkey giblets from inside your turkey, or you can use turkey wings/legs/bones or even chicken giblets, bones, wings, etc.
- 1/2 onion, diced
- 1 large stalk celery, diced
- 1 large carrot, diced
- 1/2 C dry white wine
- 4 C turkey or chicken broth or stock (low or no sodium if purchased, or homemade)
- bay leaf and thyme sprigs
- drippings from pan in which you've roasted your turkey (optional)
- 2 Tbsp Madeira, Cognac or Sherry (optional)
instructions
- Make your roux (please reference my blog post on roux): Melt butter in a saute pan over low heat. Whisk in flour and increase heat to medium-low. Cook roux, stirring often, until it reaches a medium brown color and has a nutty aroma. Let roux cool. (This step is important to avoiding lumpy gravy later!)
- Preheat oven to 450 degrees F. In a large oven-proof saute pan, heat canola oil in oven until smoking. Add turkey or chicken pieces. Roast in the oven until golden brown, turning occasionally. Remove pan from oven and remove turkey or chicken pieces.
- Transfer pot to stovetop and place over medium heat. Add onion, celery, and carrot to the hot pan. Stir to crape up fond (the golden brown bits) from bottom of pan, and cook, stirring often, until soft and golden brown.
- Add dry white wine and reduce until almost dry. Add chicken broth and bring to a simmer. Temper roux into broth (this is important for avoiding lumps; more info in my Roux blog post) and bring back to a simmer. Add bay leaf and thyme sprigs and let simmer gently for 15 minutes. Strain gravy through a fine mesh sieve and discard mirepoix (onion/carrot/celery) and herbs.
- Add pan drippings (straining if necessary) and Madeira or Sherry. Allow to simmer 5 minutes longer and serve hot.
Created using The Recipes Generator
Yield: Enough for approx. 16-lb Turkey
Turkey Brine
I always brine my turkey, resulting in the most delicious, moist meat that all my guests rave about. I started brining after working at Williams-Sonoma and using their brine mix. Lea created this recipe, modeling it off the same brine mix and I've adapted it here to my standard practices. Click here for Lea's blog: http://paleospirit.com/2011/holiday-turkey-brine
ingredients:
Dry Ingredients
- 2 Cups kosher salt
- 1/2 Cup star anise
- 6 bay leaves
- 3 Tbsp Herbes de Provence
- 2 Tbsp black peppercorns
- 1 Tbsp dried rosemary
- 1 Tbsp juniper berries
Fresh Ingredients
- Peel of 1 fresh orange
- Juice of 1 fresh orange
- 1/4 - 1/2 Cup honey or brown sugar
- 4-6 garlic cloves, crushed
- 1 fresh sprig rosemary, leaves removed
instructions
- When ready to brine your turkey, add the mixture of dry ingredients and fresh ingredients in a large stockpot with one gallon of water and bring to a boil, stirring occasionally.
- Remove pot from heat, add one gallon of cold water to the pot, and allow to cool to room temperature.
- Set up your brining bag inside your roasting dish, refrigerator drawer (removed from fridge) or other sturdy container. Remove inner packet of giblet, neck, etc. from your turkey. Place your turkey in the bag, breast side down, and pour cool brine ingredients into the bag on top of the turkey.
- Close bag tightly by twisting and using rubber bands around the neck of the closure. You want to try to seal the bag in a way that the brine liquid touches all parts of the bird.
- Brine for 24-72 hours, depending on size of bird and amount of sodium added to bird during plant processing. (Take a look at the label; if your bird has already been treated with salt water it doesn’t need to brine as long.)
- When ready to roast, remove turkey from brining bag and brush off any solid brine ingredients from skin of turkey. Season, baste and roast as you normally would.
Created using The Recipes Generator
Yield: 8-10 servings
Traditional Turkey Stuffing
"Stuffing" is traditionally the term used for bread stuffing that you put inside your turkey while it bakes, while "dressing" is traditionally the term used for bread stuffing baked outside of the bird. Old habits die hard, though, so I refer to it all as stuffing. I do not recommend putting this stuffing into the bird while it cooks as that is generally considered unsafe, given that it is difficult for the stuffing (which will have raw turkey juices incorporated) to reach the appropriate temperature (165 degrees F) by the time the turkey reaches the appropriate temperature and needs to be taken out of the oven.
Make this recipe your own by adding any additional ingredients you like, such as cooked italian sausage, apples or even nuts.
ingredients:
- 2 onions, small diced (or processed in the food processor)
- 4 stalks celery, including some leaves, small diced (or processed in the food processor)
- 1 stick of butter (8 Tbsp)
- 1-2 Tbsp bacon grease (can be rendered from cooking about 1/4 lb bacon)
- 1 1/2 lb (24 oz) cubes of bread or extremely coarse bread crumbs, based on your preference (either from a box/bag, like Pepperidge Farm brand, or made yourself from loaf French bread)
- 5 Tbsp dried sage
- Freshly Ground Black Pepper
- 1/4 C butter (4 Tbsp)
- 4 chicken bouillon cubes
- Kosher Salt, if needed
instructions:
- Dice or process the onions and celery. Melt bacon grease and 1 stick butter in a large sauté pan, then add vegetables and sauté until tender. (These tasks can be done ahead of time and the cooked vegetables can be stored in the fridge.)
- If using fresh bread, cut into desired size (some people like large chunks of bread in their stuffing while others prefer extremely course bread crumbs) and allow to dry overnight or bake in a 350 degree F oven until crispy.
- When ready to assemble dish, in a large bowl mix dried bread with vegetables (they do not need to be reheated). Add sage and freshly ground black pepper to taste.
- In a small saucepan over medium-low heat, or in the microwave, heat 1/4 C butter together with chicken broth and 4 chicken bouillon cubes. Whisk to make sure all the bouillon dissolves. (Using bouillon cubes instead of more chicken broth allows you to have a concentrated flavor without a lot of liquid.) Mix butter/chicken broth mixture into bread mixture. It should not be too wet; add more bread crumbs if needed.
- Transfer to an oven safe casserole dish and bake at 350 degrees F for 20-30 minutes. Serve hot.
Created using The Recipes Generator
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