Happy Thanksgiving

When it comes to food, I'm not a big fan of the traditional. Just because you have been eating the same thing for the last 20 years doesn't necessarily mean that it is a great idea.

This Thanksgiving is the first Thanksgiving for Joe and me as a married couple, so I decided to add a twist to the original turkey dinner.

I spent a few days earlier last week, google-ing new turkey, cranberry and stuffing recipes... and managed to find a few that I think are workable.

I took the turkey (about 15 lbs... yes it is a bit too big for two people, but Costco's Turkeys you can't expect anything less than 15 lbs!) out of the chest freezer last Thursday and had it sit in the cold storage room for a few days to thaw.

Sunday Oct 12. I got up at 9am and started preparing the turkey dinner.

Roasted Turkey -- I did not stuff the turkey this year, so that turkey took less time to cook. However, I did put parsley, carrot, rosemary, onions and celery in the turkey cavity to give the bird some flavour while baking. I cooked the turkey breast-side down and by doing that the turkey came out very tender and moist.

From Thanksgiving Dinner Oct 2008

Stuffing -- Last year, my coworker gave me a home-made recipe of stuffing which requires tons of potatoes. I am not a big fan of potatoes and so I decided to make something without potatoes. Joe loves stovetop stuffing. To Joe, stovetop stuffing is the "it" stuffing. As I am not a traditional person, this year, I decided to widen Joe's horizon on stuffing.

Turkey Stuffing Recipe

Ingredients

* 1 loaf of day old French bread, cut into 3/4-inch cubes (about 10-12 cups)
* 1 cup walnuts
* 2 cups each, chopped onion and celery
* 6 Tbsp butter
* 1 green apple, peeled, cored, chopped
* 3/4 cup of currants or raisins
* Several (5 to 10) chopped green olives (martini olives, the ones with the pimento)
* Stock from the turkey giblets (1 cup to 2 cups) (can substitute chicken stock)
* 1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley
* 1 teaspoon poultry seasoning or ground sage (to taste)
* Salt and freshly ground pepper (to taste)

Method

1 If you haven't already made the stock, take the turkey giblets - heart and gizzard - and neck if you want, and put them in a small saucepan, cover with water and add a little salt. Bring to a simmer; simmer for about an hour, uncovered. Strain the stock into a container for use with the stuffing. Alternatively, you can use chicken stock or just plain water with this recipe.

2 Toast the walnuts by heating them in a frying pan on medium high heat for a few minutes, stirring until they are slightly browned (not burned) OR put them in the microwave on high until you can smell the aroma of them toasting, about a minute or two. Let them cool while you are toasting the bread, then roughly chop them.

3 Heat a large sauté pan on medium heat. Melt 3 Tbsp butter in the pan, add the bread cubes, and stir to coat the bread pieces with the melted butter. Then let them toast; only turn them when they have become a little browned on a side. Note, if you aren't working with somewhat dried-out day-old bread, lay the cubes of bread in a baking pan and put them in a hot oven for 10 minutes to dry them out first, before toasting them in butter on the stove top. The bread should be a little dry to begin with, or you'll end up with mushy stuffing.

4 In a large Dutch oven, sauté chopped onions and celery on medium high heat with the remaining 3 Tbsp butter until cooked through, about 5-10 minutes. Add the bread. Add cooked chopped walnuts. Add chopped green apple, currants, raisins, olives, parsley. Add one cup of the stock from cooking the turkey giblets or chicken stock (enough to keep the stuffing moist while you are cooking it). Add sage, poultry seasoning, salt & pepper.

5 Cover. Turn heat to low. Cook for an hour or until the apples are cooked through. Check every ten minutes or so and add water or stock as needed while cooking to keep the stuffing moist and keep it from sticking to the bottom of the pan.

From Thanksgiving Dinner Oct 2008

Cranberry Sauce -- I hate the Oceanspray's Cranberry Sauce. Seriously I HATE it! So I decided to make my own cranberry sauce:

Spicy Cranberry Sauce with Pinot Noir

Ingredients

1 tablespoon vegetable oil
2 cups fresh or frozen cranberries (about 8 ounces)
1 tablespoon minced fresh ginger
2 cups Pinot Noir or other dry red wine
(we went to Merrickville on Saturday and we picked up a bottle of Pelee Island's 2007 Baco Noir)
1 cup sugar
3 tablespoons chopped crystallized ginger
1/2 teaspoon curry powder
Large pinch of Chinese five-spice powder*

Method

1 Heat oil in large saucepan over medium-high heat. Add cranberries and fresh ginger; stir until cranberries begin to burst, 3-5 minutes.

2 Add wine and sugar; boil until mixture is reduced to 2 1/2 cups, about 15 minutes.

3 Add crystallized ginger, curry powder and five-spice powder.

Serve sauce cold or warm. Makes 2 1/2 cup

From Thanksgiving Dinner Oct 2008

Mashed Potatoes -- last year I simply boiled potatoes and I found them too plain. So I made mashed potatoes instead. Of all the recipes I did yesterday, this one, by far, was the easiest.

Ingredients:
5 lbs. potatoes or 9 large 2.5kg
8 oz. low-fat cream cheese 250g
1 cup fat-free sour cream 250ml
2 tsp. onion salt 10ml
1 tsp. salt 5ml
pinch of pepper
2 Tbsp. butter 30ml

Instructions:
Cook and mash potatoes. Add all ingredients, except butter, and combine. Put into large greased casserole. Dot with butter. Bake, covered, at 350F (180C) for 30 minutes.If making ahead, cover and refrigerate or freeze. Thaw before baking. Serves 10-12

** I modified the recipes by cutting into halves so I did not end up having tons of leftover.

From Thanksgiving Dinner Oct 2008

After spending close to 9 hours in the kitchen, thanksgiving dinner was served at 6pm. When Joe first saw the stuffing, he said, "No Stovetop Stuffing?" I almost wanted to smack him in his head. Then he tried a bit and said, "Wow! This stuff is good!" He looked a bit skeptical on the cranberry sauce and after a spoonful taste, he said," wow this IS good! How much wine did you put in there?"

Although it was a hard day of work for me, it was worth it as Joe and I both really enjoyed the dinner and Joe even said it was THE best turkey dinner he ever had.

Well... who says we need to have traditional thanksgiving dinner?

From Thanksgiving Dinner Oct 2008

For more pictures of our thanksgiving dinner.. here is the link!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Louisa, Joe and Bee
(Hopefully there will be a Couscous in our family soon!)