how to make a thanksgiving turkey dinner

Today is Canadian Thanksgiving!  And so is tomorrow.  Because in Canada we are so thankful that we need 2 days of happiness.  Or it could just be that while the statutory holiday is the Monday, not everyone gets it off so many celebrate on Sunday.  What really matters though is TURKEY! 

This year my Mom was away at a retreat with her friends and so the duties of making the Turkey fell to me.  Excited & terrified to be cooking a turkey for the first time ever, I spent most of the week trying to decide how to cook it & what to serve with it.  This was my final menu: 

Turkey with a Maple-Dijon Glaze

Rosemary-Rye Stuffing

Mashed Sweet Potatoes

Green Beans with sauteed Red Pepper

&

Sugar-free Cranberry Sauce

and for dessert

Baked Ambrosia Apples with a Cranberry-Pecan Stuffing 

Are you drooling?  You should be.  The good news is.... you can make it too!  Because really what kind of website would this be if I just teased you with all this yummyness and didn’t share!  Here’s your step-by-step guide on how I did Thanksgiving!  (for your convenience there’s a “printer version” button at the bottom)

Part 1: Turkey & Stuffing

The week leading up to Thanksgiving....

I started to plan what I was going to make about a week ago, when in a sudden panic I realized that Thanksgiving was the following weekend.  Having a one week out plan was helpful.  You can sit down and figure out what side dishes you want to make, and make a list for what you’ll need at the grocery store.

I went to the local farm market (Howard Wong’s) and bought all my fruits & veggies on Wednesday, and then over to the local grocery store for anything else I needed.  I figured doing it early would save me from the crowds closer to the weekend.  Also, when I forgot one or two things (which of course I did) I still had a few days to stop in.

2 days before....

If you’re using a fresh turkey (like I did) this is when you want to buy it.  On Friday I went out to JD Farms in Langley to get my turkey.  They are a family run farm who are antibiotic free & grain-fed.  They even have all their rules of certification laid out on their website so you can see they treat their animals with respect.  

I knew that they would most likely be crazy busy on the weekend, and I didn’t want to be fighting over a bin of turkeys with anyone.  Farmer Jack was on hand to help you pick out the right turkey, which was really helpful.  Especially since they sell both Grade “A” and “U” turkeys (in short, the “U” are a missing a little piece and the “A” come with the giblets inside).  As much as I felt bad for the little lopsided “U” I found, I decided to be a snob and go with the Grade “A”.  

I was really amazed at the place they had there.  Selling all sorts of sausages, soups, jerky, meatballs... pretty much anything you could think of.  I picked up a package of turkey brats to try later, which I think will be perfect for the World Series.  I couldn’t leave before trying something at their bistro, so I went over to visit Debbie and got a smoked turkey leg.  Seeing as it was probably one of the last sunny & warm days of the fall I ate it outside on their patio.  If you’re going to trek out there to get a turkey, be sure to go with an appetite.  Soups, salads, sandwiches... you won’t leave hungry.

the day before...

This is when you need to get your bread for the stuffing.  Day-old bread will be a little stale, and that’s best.  Why?  No idea, but that’s what my Mom always does.  It seems to work out great. 

The day before is also when you need to write out your game plan for T-Day.  Now you might be thinking, “Game plan? Aren’t you getting a little over-zealous?”  No, I’m getting prepared.  You see, I’m not a morning person.  But knowing that I was going to have to put something in the oven that was hours in the making meant I needed to know if I was getting up early.  And in fact, I did have to get up early.  And when you get up early you don't always have the best judgement and having a list tell you what to do can be very helpful.

Write out a list of all the things you need to make, and then figure out how much time each will take you.  That way you’ll have a plan for the day so that everything makes it to the table at the same time!

T-Day. 

Alright, it’s game-day (literally if you’re my Dad who watched football, baseball & golf all day).  Here’s your plan of attack:

1 - put on the coffee.

2 - make coffee for the other person currently awake in your house.  you may find you need their help later on in the process when you’re holding a turkey over a sink and can’t reach the paper towels, and this gesture of kindness will earn you brownie points.

3 - make the stuffing

you will need:

• the biggest frying pan you have
• a wooden spatula
• a serrated knife
• a vegetable knife
• a cutting board

ingredients:

• 1 loaf of rye bread
• 1/2 cup dried cranberries
• 1 shallot (not green onion, actual shallot)
• 2 cloves of garlic
• 1 tsp dried rosemary
• 2 tbsp olive oil 

First things first, you want to prep your ingredients.  Take your loaf of bread and slice it into 1 inch cubes.  I used a dark-rye, which I liked but it was suggested by a certain someone that it was a bit dry.  You can try using a whole-grain loaf, or any other hearty healthy bread you can find.  At this time you’ll also want to finely dice your shallot and mince your garlic cloves (the easiest way is to smash them with the flat side of a large knife & then chop through them).

Put your frying pan on high, when it’s slightly warm add in the olive oil & shake it around so it coats the whole thing.  Next add in your shallots & garlic and stir them with a wooden spatula.  After a minute or so add in your bread cubes, cranberries & rosemary.  You want to continually toss the cubes until very lightly toasted.  Take them off the burner and set it aside.  

4 - how to deal with your turkey.

you will need:

• a cookie sheet
• paper towel
• a roasting pan
• tinfoil 

ingredients:

• a turkey (mine was 4.3 kg / 9.5 lbs)
• extra virgin olive oil
• dried thyme
• sea salt
• fresh ground pepper

It was not my first time dealing with a whole bird before, whenever I make chicken soup I use a whole chicken.  But I think I must block out the cleaning process each time because I always forget how gross it is.  If you’ve never made a turkey before, I’m going to take a moment to walk you through what you’re about to be getting into.  Literally.

It’s really important that the turkey is cleaned and dried both inside and out before you cook it.  For bacterial reasons this is a step that you cannot skip.  For icky reasons it might be a step that makes you scream “ew! ew! oh my god! what’s that thing? *shriek* I touched it! grosssssss.”  

Here’s how I did it with the least amount of trouble.  Take out your roasting pan (the thing you’re eventually going to be putting the turkey into.  Make sure the rack and everything is set in the bottom.  Put this to one side of your sink.

If you have double sinks, sit an extra-large cookie sheet on the sink next to the roasting tray.  The other sink is where you’re going to deal with Tom.  (if you don't have double sinks, put the cookie sheet on the counter between the roasting tray & the sink) 

Prop the turkey up so that it’s butt is in the air.  Slice open your packaging at the top and peel some of it away.  You don’t want to rip off the whole package yet as you’re going to need a minute to get the insides out.  You’ll probably find the drumsticks are tucked into a fat flap and once you take them out the cavity will be accessible.  Next comes the gross part.  Reach in and pull out the neck & giblets which may or may not be in a neat little bag.  Feel free to make yucky noises while doing this.

Next up turn on your tap to lukewarm and start washing.  Remember to get inside and out and in all the little nooks and crannies.  Try not to get distracted by the fact that it’s joints move.  The first time I dealt with a whole bird this was a bit of a freak out factor for me.

Once your bird has had it’s bath move it over to the cookie sheet.  This is about the time that I always realize that I forgot to rip off sheets of paper towel.  A good time to call in that morning-coffee person and get them to help you.  You need to thoroughly dry out the cavity, and all over the body.  If you don’t get the outside dry the skin won’t be crispy.  And if you don’t get the inside dry you could get nasty bacteria issues with your stuffing.  And don’t forget to dry inside the neck flap area either, you’re going to be stuffing things up there too.

Provided Tom is now washed & dried move him over to your roasting pan.  Because next comes the stuffing!

Stuffing Tom was particularly odd for me.  First you have to get it at the right angle.  I found that propping the turkey up and holding open the legs with one hand, while grabbing fistfuls of stuffing and shoving it in the carcass was the way to go.  Feel free to really pack the stuffing in quite tightly.  As my Dad pointed out, “you can’t hurt it, it’s already dead”.  Once you’ve gotten as much in the butt as possible, cross the drumsticks over each other & shove them under the fat-flap-loop.  You’ll probably also notice a bit of a butt (or as my grandma use to say “the pope’s nose), so fold that back in under the fat-flap and the drums too.

If you turn the turkey around you’ll see where the neck used to be and the neck skin.  Take a moment to not be grossed out by this.  When you pull it open you’ll notice that it allows for a bit of a pocket around the turkey breasts.  Which just happens to be where you’re going to be packing the rest of that stuffing.  Once your done try and fold the rest of the neck-skin back into the cavity making sure all the stuffing is securely inside.  Yes, I know, it’s a bit weird and gross.  I found that by reciting all the ways you like to eat turkey tends to make this whole process a bit easier.  Now might also be a good time to thank the turkey for giving it’s life for your yummy-yummy dinner, after all, it is Thanksgiving.

You’re almost ready to stick the turkey in the oven, just a few more steps.  You need to fold the wing tips underneath the bird.  It’s a little awkward to do, basically you want to bend them up & back.  Picture yourself stretching out with your hand folded behind your head.  Do that, and sort of tuck them under the body.  Make sure the legs are secure and covering as much of the cavity hole as possible.

Drizzle the extra virgin olive oil over the top of the turkey & massage it in all over the place, making sure to get in all around the leg & wing flaps.  Next sprinkle it liberally with dried thyme, ground pepper & a little sea salt. 

Cover your turkey with a big sheet of tinfoil (leave space between your turkey & the foil “roof” so they don’t touch), and fold it down tightly around the sides of your roasting pan.  This will lock in all the moisture and sort of steam-bake-roast it.

If your turkey is the same size as mine you’ll want to bake it at 325F for 4 hours.  The general rule of thumb is 1/2 hr per pound.

5 - by now you’ve probably realized you’re hungry.  This is a good time to take a break, eat a light meal, have a shower and clean the kitchen.  One of the most important things on T-Day is to keep cleaning the dishes as soon as you dirty them, or else you’ll end up in choas.

(5.5 - this is when you should make your cranberry sauce... the recipe for that comes tomorrow)

6 - the glaze.

ingredients: 

• 3 tbsp amber maple syrup
• 2 tbsp dijon mustard

Mix together your maple syrup & dijon until they’re completely combined.  Take your turkey out of the oven and remove the tinfoil.  Resist the temptation to eat it, because it’s not done yet!  Using a BBQ brush slather the turkey with the glaze.  Make sure you get all of the leg & wing bits coated really well.

Put the turkey back in the oven for another 1/2 hr - hour, this time uncovered.

Take the turkey out (after a total cooking time of 4 1/2 - 5 hours).  Check it with a meat thermometer to make sure it’s cooked properly.  Allow the turkey to rest in the roasting pan for about 10 minutes.  Then carefully transfer it to your serving platter.  You’ll want to wait another 20 minutes before slicing so the juices have a chance to redistribute throughout the bird.

Serve & enjoy!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Tomorrow: Part 2... the side dishes

Comments

[RK]

Oooooh this is delicious!!

[kat]

Thanks! It pretty much just fell off the bone after I let it rest. I was nervous because I made up the recipe out of thin air and really hoped I wasn't going to mess up such a beautiful bird!