My Thanksgiving Recipes

Below i will be listing the turkey recipe that I made. I took the steps from various online platforms and added my own touch, as well as my apple pie and salad recipe.

The rest of the recipes you can find online!

I’m going to start off this blog post with, well, the obvious.

THE TURKEY

I hadn’t realised that roasting a turkey required so many previous steps, like brining for example.

Brining is when you soak your turkey in salty water, to make it simple.

Steps below

First of all when you are buying your turkey, make sure you choose it depending on the amount of people you are going to be feeding.

Please don’t forget that depending on your turkey size, it takes it DAYS to thaw. I prefer thawing it in the fridge ( for every 5 pounds give it 24 hours), but you can speed up the thawing process by placing the turkey in cold water.

After you defrost it, wear your gloves, place the bird in a large basin, and remove it’s neck as well as the giblet package ( contains heart, gizzard, and liver). DONT THROW THEM.

Rinse the turkey by running cold water inside out and making sure nothing nasty is still lingering inside.

Now its time to BRINE.

Brine Recipe

You will need

• 2 gallons Cold Water
• 4 Tablespoons Fresh Rosemary Leaves
• 1-1/2 cup Kosher Salt
• 2 cups Brown Sugar
• 3 Tablespoons Peppercorns
• 5 whole Bay Leaves
•  Peel Of Three Large Oranges and Lemons
• 3 Cinnamon sticks
• 1 cup Salt

Method

1. Place all the ingredients in a large pot, bring them to a boil.
2. Place the turkey in a large turkey oven bag (I didn’t have a large enough pot to fit it) and pour the water with all the ingredients over it.
3. Close the bag and place it in a large basin and in the fridge for a minimum of 12 hours.

Now that we are done with brining, its time to butter the babe.

Herbal Butter

You will need

• 1 cup unsalted butter
• 2 teaspoons minced fresh thyme
• 2 teaspoons minced fresh tarragon
• 2 teaspoons minced fresh sage
• 2 teaspoons minced fresh rosemary

Method

In a food processor, add all the ingredients and pulse until they are well incorporated.

Pat dry your bird, place it in the roasting pan, wear gloves, and massage it with herbal butter. Inside, outside, on the sides, under the skin, everywhere and anywhere, making sure not to miss a spot, and really giving it a good massage. Sprinkle salt and pepper generously on the bird.

I went an extra buttery mile, by injecting the bird with syringes of melted butter, all over, but if you don’t want to you don’t have to.

Now that you’re done with the butter, its time to roast!

You will need

• 1 cup diced peeled carrots
• 1 cup diced celery
• 1 chopped apple
• Rosemary twigs
• Sage
• 6 cups or more chicken broth
• 1/2 cup + 2 tbsp of butter, separated

Method

1. Melt the butter and stir it into the chicken broth (For Basting the bird)
2. Preheat oven to 220°C and place the rack at the lowest position
3. Place the herbs and 2 tbsp of butter inside the turkey cavity
4. Tie the legs with twine and tuck the wings under the turkey
5. Place an oven safe thermometer in the thigh
6. Place turkey in oven and roast it for 20 minutes
7. Reduce oven temperature to 175°C and baste with one cup of broth
8. Continue basting every 30-40 minutes with broth and pan juices until the thermometer in the thigh registers 80°C (around 3 hours, depending on the size of your turkey)
9. Remove the turkey and let it rest for 30 minutes before carving it

There you have the main Thanksgiving recipe! Don’t be discouraged at doing it! Steps might seem insane for a bigger but trust me, if i can do it you definitely can!

The Gravy

You will need

• 4 cups turkey broth (Made from the neck that you saved from the turkey)
• 4 tbsp butter
• 3/4 cup all purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon black pepper
• 1/2 teaspoon minced sage
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• Turkey drippings from roasting pan

Method

1. In a large saute pan, melt butter, stir in flour, and cook for 1 minute.
2. Slowly add in warm turkey stock 1/2 cup at a time until gravy reaches your desired consistency.
3. Add in spices and adjust seasoning.
4. When the turkey is roasted, add 3/4 cup stock to the pan and scrape it.
5. Add the liquid from the pan into your gravy and stir in over a low fire until well incorporated.
6. Serve it warm with your turkey.

Pomegranate Salad Recipe

You will need

• Mixed greens (I used arugula, lollo rossa lettuce, fresh thyme, and purslane)
• 1 cup pomegranate
• 1 cup walnuts
• 1/2 cup gruyere cheese
• 3/4 cup Olive oil
• 1 cup squeezed lemon
• 2 tbsp pomegranate molasses
• Salt
• Homemade croutons

Method

1. Combine all the greens in a large bowl.
2. Sprinkle the pomegranate, walnuts, and cheese on top.
3. Whisk olive oil, lemon, pomegranate molasses and salt in a separate bowl.
4. For the homemade croutons just toss french bread cut into 1 inch pieces with olive oil, parmesan and rosemary and bake for 10 minutes in oven.

There you have all three recipes!

Pinch of Love,

Mrs.Clueless