Mary's Thanksgiving Recipes

Cooking a Whole Turkey

1 fresh whole turkey,  brined                          Ginger (approx 1 ½” piece), optional      

Carrots (approx 4)                                          3 sticks unsalted butter, melted

Yellow Onions (approx 2)                                3 cups chicken stock

Celery (approx 4)                                           Coarse salt to taste

Garlic (approx 8 cloves), optional                     Freshly ground pepper to taste

1. Remove turkey from brine. Discard brine. Rinse turkey and pat dry inside and out with paper towels. Place, breast side up, on a rack  in a roasting pan. Let stand at room temperature for up to 1 hour.
2. Place rack on lowest level in oven, preheat oven to 450 degrees.
3. Medium chop carrots, yellow onions, celery and toss together in a bowl with salt, pepper, peeled garlic cloves and roughly chopped peeled ginger.
4. Stuff vegetable mixture in cavity and cover the bottom of the roasting pan with it.
5. Tuck wings underneath the turkey, and tie legs together with kitchen twine. Fold neck flat under. Brush turkey all over with butter, and season generously with salt and pepper.
6. Place turkey, legs first, in oven. Cook for 30 minutes.
7. Melt butter in chicken stock and using a pastry brush, baste turkey with the mixture. Reduce oven temperature to 350 degrees and continue to cook until a thermometer inserted into the thickest portion of the thigh registers 175 degrees, approx 20 mins per pound, basting every 30 minutes and watching pan juices; if the pan gets too full, spoon out juices, reserving them for gravy. . If there are not enough juices, continue to use the butter and stock. The skin gets fragile as it browns, so baste carefully.
8. If the skin is browning too much, drap turkey with foil, shiny side up.
9. Remove the turkey from the oven and transfer to a platter, reserve the pan juices.  Cover the turkey and let it rest for at least 30 mins before carving while you make the gravy.  

Gravy

Makes about 3 cups

Roasting pan with juices from Turkey                     6 tablespoons all-purpose flour

5 1/2 cups Chicken or Turkey stock                       2 tablespoons unsalted butter

1. Remove vegetables from roasting pan and discard. Pour pan juices into a glass measuring cup or gravy separator, and let stand until separated, 10 minutes. Pour off fat.
2. Place roasting pan over 2 burners on medium heat. Add 1 cup of stock, and simmer, stirring and scraping pan constantly for 2 minutes. Add the reserved juices and 4 cups stock, and bring to simmer.
3. Meanwhile, whisk together remaining 1/2 cups stock and the flour in a bowl until smooth. Whisking constantly, slowly add flour mixture to pan. Simmer until gravy is reduced by half and coats the back of a spoon, 10 to 12 minutes.
4. Remove from heat, add butter, and swirl pan until it has melted. Pour through a fine sieve, discarding solids. Serve immediately or keep warm over low heat. (Gravy can be refrigerated in an airtight container for up to 1 week.) 

Mashed Sweet Potatoes

4 sweet potatoes

2 carrots

¼ - ¾ cup heavy cream, scalded

4 – 8 tbsp butter to taste

salt to taste

freshly ground pepper to taste

¼ tsp. nutmeg (optional)

¼ cinnamon (optional)

1. Peel potatoes and carrots and cut them into 1” chunks.  Place them in a large pot and just cover them with cold water.
2. Cook on high heat until tender through.  Drain and return the potatoes and carrots to the hot stock pot.
3. Add the scalded cream, butter, salt, pepper, nutmeg and cinnamon and mash until smooth.  Be careful not to over mash so the potatoes stay light and fluffy.

Sautéed Broccoli Raab (Rapini)

1 bunch broccoli raab

2 tbsp olive oil

2 cloves garlic

juice of ½ lemon

salt and freshly ground pepper to taste

1. Trim off ends of broccoli raab, rinse and pat dry.
2. Heat a sauté pan and add 2 tbsp of olive oil.
3. Sauté garlic briefly to release aroma, add broccoli raab and sauté 2-3 minutes.  Add ½ cup of water, cover pan and steam until desired tenderness 5 – 8 minutes.  Squeeze juice of ½ lemon over and serve.

Cranberry, Pear, Apple Sauce

Makes approx 5 cups

1 lb. fresh cranberries

2 ½ cups sugar

2 pears, peeled, cored, and dice

2 tart apples (Granny Smith), peeled, cored and diced

1/4 tsp. ground cloves

1/4 tsp. Allspice

1/2 tsp. Cinnamon

zest and juice of l lemon

zest and juice of 1 orange

1. Rinse and pick over the cranberries discarding any that are green or mashed and removing stems.
2. In a 2 qt. pot, place cranberries, sugar, diced pears and apples, lemon and orange juice. Cover pot and cook over medium heat until mixture comes to a boil.  
3. Uncover and stir in spices. Cover and simmer for 12 - 15 minutes until thickened and most of berries have popped.
4. Stir in lemon and orange zest.
5. Cool to room temperature. Refrigerate until serving time.