I hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving, it was our first one in our new home and I think I pulled out all of the stops! The peanut gallery might disagree *cough, cough...Jacob*(he didn't like the green beens they were not soft enough for him, oh well can't win them all).
I thought I would take a moment to share what I cooked and where the recipes are from! If you watched my Instagram story you would know that I did brine my turkey overnight. I made my own recipe for that, Ill do my best to recreate it for you. Below you'll find everything I did, I hope you enjoy my meal lol, and yes, I forgot to break out the camera so they're all phone images.
The Menu
Turkey Brine: In a big pot I had about 7 cups of water, 3 Stalks of Celery Chopped, 3 bay leaves, 1 Tablespoon of Rosemary, 1 Tablespoon of Thyme, 4 Fresh Sprigs of Oregano, Zest of One Lemon, 1 Cup of Sea Salt, 1 Parsnip. I boiled this for about 20 minutes Scooped out all of the greens (it made a nice broth). In the cooler I chopped up 2 Oranges & 2 Lemons and added 1 Bag of Ice & two gallons of Ice Water. I dumped in my mixture that was on the stove (let it cool off before you add it, or you kinda waste your ice...). Just add your turkey, I put mine in Breast Side down. It sat overnight, when I got up I rotated the turkey and let it sit for another 30 minutes. Before cooking pat the turkey dry!
Turkey: If you read above, I brined my turkey overnight. To me this made the most juicy turkey I think I have ever eaten. I kinda went with the recipe listed below. I stuffed my turkey with: 1 quartered lemon, half an orange, 1 large onion quartered 7 a big scoop of butter. I did rub my turkey with butter, rosemary, salt and pepper. https://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/ina-garten/perfect-roast-turkey-recipe4-1943576
Stuffing: This recipe is incredible! I might cook this year round super easy. https://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/ina-garten/herb-and-apple-stuffing-recipe-1941887
Cranberries: I sorta followed the recipe, I didnt use alcohol in my cranberries...I didn't have the correct flavors to make it work correctly so I just used water. My only complaint is I wouldn't add that much clove, maybe I just messed it up but it was very strong. I simmered mine much longer than the instructions to get more of a jelly. https://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/ted-allen/triple-sec-cranberry-relish-5484533.recipePrint
Mashed Potatoes: So these were my recipe, I use an entire bag of potatoes pealed. I quarter all of them and boil until fork-able or they start to fall apart (because I forgot to watch them but thats fine, they mashed themselves). In them was 2 tablespoons of butter, 1 small container of heavy whipping cream, 1 tablespoon of garlic, 1 teaspoon of rosemary (if you have the fresh stuff it probably tastes even better.
Green Bean Casserole: This is the part that Jacob didn't like the green beans were to crunchy for his taste. to me I LOVED IT. Alton Brown you are an incredible human being and an amazing chef, I love this recipe. https://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/alton-brown/best-ever-green-bean-casserole-recipe-1950575
Apple Pie: https://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/food-network-kitchen/apple-pie-recipe-2011423
I hope you all had a great Thanksgiving and an even better Black Friday!
Cheers.