Make-Ahead Gravy

I've always wanted to make gravy from scratch for Thanksgiving, but because I deep fry our turkey, I don't have turkey pan drippings to make the gravy. So I always resort to the powder or bottled version from the supermarket. Then I got the idea of making gravy using stock after doing some searches online. And what perfect timing it was when this recipe came up on my reader from The Brown Eyed Baker. I happen to always have Turkey stock made from the turkey carcass of our Thanksgiving luncheon, so this recipe came in handy.

1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter

1 1/2 cup finely chopped onions

1/4 cup all purpose flour

3/4 tsp. salt

1/2 tsp. ground black pepper

2 cups turkey or chicken stock, heated

1 Tbsp. heavy cream

1) In a large saute pen, melt butter over medium heat. Add onions and cook for 12-15 minutes until lightly browned. (Do not rush this step!)

2) Sprinkle flour into pan and whisk. Add salt and pepper. Cook for 2-3 minutes. Whisk in stock and cook uncovered for 4-5 minutes until thickened. Add cream and serve.

(Note: This gravy can be frozen. When ready to use, thaw in refrigerator and reheat over the stove or microwave, adding a splash of stock to loosen the gravy).

Sage, Sausage & Apple Dressing

I've been searching high and low for the perfect dressing to serve for Thanksgiving. I don't want to use the boxed stuff. But its been hard to find a tried and true dressing recipe. One thing was for sure. I really wanted to use sausage and apples in the recipe. So I found this recipe that was the best of both worlds. The use of boxed cubes and a recipe using sausage and apples. And it came out so good. To add a little twist to it, I used half of the recipe and added some dried cranberries and toasted walnut pieces for a little bit more depth of flavor. I think I may have found my dressing recipe.

16-ounce bag stuffing cubes

6 Tbsp. unsalted butter, plus more to grease the pan and topping

1 lb. sage sausage (I used Jimmy Dean's Sage breakfast sausage)

1 medium onion, chopped

2 Granny Smith apples, peeled, cored, and chopped

1-2 ribs celery with eaves, chopped

1 medium carrot, finely chopped

1/2 cup corn kernels

1/2 tsp. salt

3 3/4 cups chicken broth

1/4 cup chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley

1/2 cup toasted walnut pieces (optional)

1/2 cup dried cranberries

2 eggs, beaten

1) Preheat oven to 325 deg F. Butter a 3-quart casserole dish.

2) Melt 2 tablespoons of butter in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add the sausage and break up with a wooden spoon. Cook until no longer pink, but not so much that its dry, about 5 minutes. Place stuffing cubes in a large mixing bowl and add cooked sausage and pan drippings into the bowl.

3) Melt the remaining butter in the pan. Add the onion, apple, celery, carrot, corn, and salt. Cook until the vegetables get soft, about 5 minutes. Add the broth and parsley and bring to a boil.

4) Pour mixture over the stuffing cubes and toss until evenly moistened. Mix in walnuts and cranberries (if using) and eggs. Loosely pack the dressing in the prepared pan and cook uncovered until the top forms a crust, about 40 minutes. Drizzle about 2 tablespoons of turkey pan drippings or melted butter over the top. Cook until the top is crisp and golden, about 20 minutes more.

Scalloped Potatoes revisited

I know its been over a week since my last blog post. Honestly, I had been working myself up for this recent Thanksgiving holiday. Keeping busy by planning my strategy on how to tackle the tasks at hand. My menu has been the same ever since I volunteered to host Thanksgiving dinner for my side of the family. We always have my famous Deep Fried Turkey, Creamed Corn, Mashed Potatoes, and Scalloped Potatoes. Scalloped Potatoes is the one dish my brother looks forward to. However, my Scalloped Potatoes are either a hit or miss. They either are somewhat undercooked, or not cheesy enough. Then a couple of weeks before Thanksgiving, this recipe came up on my reader from the Brown Eyed Baker. The key for perfect Scalloped Potatoes every time is to boil the entire mixture together prior to baking it. I can't believe I didn't think of that before. They came deliciously.

2 Tbsp. unsalted butter

1 small onion, minced

2 cloves garlic, minced

3 cups heavy cream

1 cup milk

4 sprigs of fresh thyme

2 bay leaves

2 tsp. salt

1/2 tsp. ground black pepper

4 lbs. russet potatoes, peeled and thinly sliced

1 cup shredded cheese

1) Preheat oven to 350 deg F.

2) In a medium sized stock pot, melt butter over medium-high heat until foaming subsides, about 1 minute. Add onion and saute until it softens and begin to brown, about 4 minutes. Add garlic and saute until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Add cream, milk, thyme, bay leaves, salt, pepper, and potatoes. Bring mixture to simmer. Cover, adjusting heat as necessary to maintain a light simmer. Cook until potatoes are are almost tender (paring knife can be slipped into and out of center of potato slice with some resistance), about 15 minutes.

3) Remove and discard thyme and bay leaves. Transfer potato mixture into a 3-quart casserole or gratin dish. Sprinkle top with cheese. Bake until cream has thickened, is bubbling around the sides, and the top has turned golden brown, about 20 minutes. Cool for 10 minutes before serving.

Herbed Turkey Meatballs with Cranberry Sauce

I came across this recipe from Annie's Eats and it got me missing Thanksgiving. With Christmas Day fast approaching, I'm starting to feel a little bummed that the holidays would soon be over. So I decided to make this today to somehow take me back to a month ago, Thanksgiving. Because after today, I'll be starting my Christmas preparations.

This dish gave me all the flavors of Thanksgiving, without the hassle and stress of preparing a full Thanksgiving meal. This will definitely be my go-to meal when I crave a Thanksgiving meal.

1 Tbsp. butter

1/3 cup onions, finely chopped

1/3 cup celery, finely chopped

1 lb. ground turkey

1 cup breadcrumbs

1 large egg

2 tsp. minced thyme

2 tsp. fresh parsley

1/2 tsp. minced rosemary

1/4 tsp. dried oregano

1/2 tsp. poultry seasoning

1/2 tsp. salt

1/4 tsp. black pepper

cranberry sauce

1) Preheat oven to 425 deg F and lightly grease a baking sheet or line with parchment paper.

2) Melt butter in a small skillet over medium-high heat. Add onion and celery and cook just until softened, about 4-5 minutes. Remove from heat and set aside to cool slightly.

3) In a large mixing bowl, mix together celery/onion mixture with the remaining ingredients (except cranberry sauce) until well combined. Form the mixture into evenly sized balls, about 1 1/2 inches in diameter. Place meatballs, evenly spaced, on prepared baking sheet. Bake for 10-15 minutes until thoroughly cooked. Serve warm with Cranberry Sauce and mashed potatoes.

Thanksgiving Feast 2010

For the preparation of last year's Thanksgiving feast, I only had one day to prepare. I decided that that was too stressful to prepare a whole Thanksgiving meal by myself. So this year, I decided to take 2 days off from work to prepare. And I'm glad I did. It gave me plenty of time to clean the house, take out all the good china and serving platters, prepare the food so that all I had to do on the day of Thanksgiving was assemble everything together. I made myself an itinerary so that I can make sure I get everything done and not miss anything. I was much more organized this year and I think I executed it very well.

Just like every year, we had our Thanksgiving lunch at my brother-in-law's place. Everyone usually brings a dish or a dessert. Hubby requested that I bring my Creamy Taco Mac, which the kids really liked. I also brought a Buttermilk Pie that I wanted everyone to try out and received positive feedback on. Once finished with the celebrations with the in-laws, we headed back home to prepare Thanksgiving dinner with my side of the family.

As usual, I made my now infamous Deep Fried Turkey and had the usual sides of Mashed Potatoes, my brother's favorite Scalloped Potatoes, Creamed Corn, and of course, Dressing on the side. This year, however, I decided to make the dressing with Sourdough bread rather than the cornbread that the recipe called for because not everyone liked the sweetness of the cornbread in the dressing. But the sourdough taste, I felt, overpowered the dressing. So next year, I'll use plain french bread. For dessert, I served another Buttermilk Pie and French Silk pie. My mom also brought her famous potato salad and ordered some Spam Musubi to top off the meal.

It was another successful Thanksgiving celebration, with lots to be thankful for again this year. I think my plan of action worked out well this year. I think I may have started a tradition of taking off 2 days from work. It made my preparations so much easier.

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

Buttermilk Pie

At our office Thanksgiving luncheon last week, one of my co-workers, Stacy, brought a buttermilk pie that she had been raving about for the last year. She orders it from a guy she knew. I've never had buttermilk pie before and the way she described it made my mouth salivate in anticipation. This recipe came up from my reader a couple of weeks ago from Sing for your Supper... that I had been saving up. I planned to make it once I had a taste of Stacy's buttermilk pie. And after a year-long anticipation, I finally had a taste. It was custard-y goodness that I cannot describe. But I had to have more. Alas, there was no more leftovers. But I still had the recipe and wanted to make it as one of our desserts for tonight's Thanksgiving dinner.

The pie came out very sweet, so I topped it with whipped cream to off-set the sweetness a little bit. I'll probably make the pie with much less sugar next time. It called for 3 3/4 cup sugar. I'll probably lessen it to 2-3 cups instead. But the pie was still delicious and I received some positive feedback from the family. I'll definitely be making this again. Yum!

2 (9 inch) pie crust, unbaked

3 3/4 cups sugar

1/2 cup all purpose flour

1/2 tsp. salt

1 tsp. vanilla extract

6 eggs, beaten

2 sticks butter, melted

1 cup buttermilk

1) Preheat oven to 350 deg. F.

2) Mix flour, sugar, salt. Add eggs, butter, buttermilk and vanilla. Pour into 2 unbaked pie crust. Bake for 1 hour. (note: start checking the doneness of the pie at 50 minutes. If they're too jiggly, continue baking them for a few more minutes. If the tops begin to brown, loosely cover with foil). Cool for at least 1 hour before slicing. Top with whipped cream or powdered sugar.

Turkey Stock

We had our office Thanksgiving luncheon today. And I guess tradition (its only been the 2nd time) is for me to deep fry a turkey for the office. Like last year, my boss bought the turkey, and I went to my dad's (which is only 10 minutes away from the office) to deep fry it.

Last year, one of the staff took home the leftover bones from the turkey. She told me she would make soup out of it. What an awesome idea. So when we had Thanksgiving at home, I used the turkey bones to make my own batch of Turkey stock. This year, I took the turkey bones from the office to make some stock again. It freezes well for later use in soups and other dishes that require broth. Its a great way to use up all the turkey bones from your Thanksgiving dinner. And it smells so good!

1 Turkey carcass

3 sprigs of parsley (I didn't have any, so this was omitted)

2 medium onions, quartered

3 ribs celery, cut up

2 carrots, cut up

1 bay leaf

2 tsp. dry thyme leaves

2 tsp. salt

a dash of black pepper

1) Break up carcass and place in a large stockpot. Add remaining ingredients and fill with enough water to cover all the ingredients in the pot. Bring to a simmer over medium-low heat. Reduce heat to low and simmer for 3-4 hours. Cool slightly. Strain broth into a bowl. Refrigerate then remove fat from the top of the broth.

Thanksgiving feast

Every year since getting married, we always have 2 Thanksgiving meals. Thanksgiving lunch is spent at my brother-in-law's for hubby's side of the family. Thanksgiving dinner is spent at our house for my side of the family. It usually takes me the whole morning to prepare everything for our dinner. Mom, dad, and my siblings usually bring dessert, a few side dishes, and sometimes another main dish, while I make the turkey, and a few more side dishes. This year, on the other hand, I've somewhat gotten myself to cook the entire meal. This time, it took me from last night to early this morning to prepare everything - turkey, 2 kinds of potato dishes, vegetable dish, corn dish, and dessert.

Although I was quite stressed while preparing it, it was the fun kind of stress. Nothing beats the satisfaction I get when I see my family enjoy a meal that I've cooked. So the stress was all worth it. I'm thankful for a lot of things - my health, my career, food to eat, a roof over my head, clothes on my back. But I'm most thankful for my loving husband, beautiful daughter, generous parents and siblings. Cooking for them was the least I could do for everything they've done for me all my life. So whenever they make requests for me to cook something, its always my pleasure to do it.

Deep Fried Turkey

I've been deep frying my turkey ever since I got married and decided to cook the turkey for Thanksgiving. I was always afraid of cooking turkey myself for fear of possibly over cooking and and drying it out. So for our first Thanksgiving as a married couple, I decided to deep fry it. I was so new at cooking a turkey that I left the packet of innards inside the cavity of the turkey. I thought I had pulled everything out, but didn't realize there was more to it. lol. Anyway, it still came out so flavorful and so moist. I've never done it any other way. Except that now, I'm more of a pro in cleaning out the turkey. My deep fried turkey has made a lot of non-turkey eaters love eating turkey. I also made this for a potluck at work. My boss bought the turkey and I deep fried it. It was a huge hit. I think this is the reason why I end up having Thanksgiving dinner with my family at my house every year.

18-20 lb. turkey (cleaned and dried)

2 cups warm water

2 Tbsp. store-bought creole seasoning

2 Tbsp. store-bought turkey rub

peanut oil

1) Measure out the amount of peanut oil you need by placing turkey in the deep fryer and pouring water until the turkey is completely submerged. Remove turkey. Mark the water level on the outside of the fryer with duct tape. Pour out water and completely dry the fryer.

2) Pour peanut oil to the previously measured level. Heat oil until it reaches 360-380 deg. F, about 1 hour.

3) Mix water and creole seasoning in a deep bowl. With a turkey syringe, inject mixture into different parts of the turkey. Note: since the breast area tends to dry out quickly, inject more of the seasoning in this area.

4) Rub turkey rub throughout the skin of turkey. Let sit for 1 hour while oil is heating up.

5) Place turkey on the fryer holder, neck down. Gently place turkey in hot oil. Cook turkey for 5-8 minutes per pound, and the internal temperature at the thickest part of the turkey (between thigh and breast) is 160-170 deg. F.

Mashed Potatoes

Mashed potatoes and gravy is a staple in almost all Thanksgiving meals. Its really easy to make. I normally just toss everything together without any measurements, but for the sake of my Thanksgiving menu, I thought I should add it on here.

2-3 lbs. russet potatoes (peeled and quartered)

1/2 cup heavy cream

4 Tbsp. butter

salt and pepper to taste

1) Boil potatoes for 15-20 minutes until softened. Drain potatoes. Add heavy cream, butter, salt and pepper to hot potatoes. Mash together with a potato masher until desired consistency.

Scalloped Potatoes

This is my brother's special request for Thanksgiving. Every year, he asks for scalloped potatoes. And every year I seem to always make a different version. At the end, he always says, he wants it to be cheesy. Well, this year, I finally took him up on it. I searched for a cheesy scalloped potatoes recipe and it all called for some type of processed cheese. I thought, "why not use my own cheese sauce from my macaroni and cheese recipe?" And my Scalloped Potatoes recipe is born. It was quite a hit with my brother. So much so, that I didn't even get a taste of it because he took the rest of it home.

6 small to medium sized russet potatoes (sliced thinly)

3 Tbsp. butter

2 3/4 cup warm milk

1/4 cup all purpose flour

1 tsp. salt

1/8 tsp. nutmeg

1/8 tsp. black pepper

1/8 tsp. cayenne pepper (optional)

2 1/2 cups shredded cheddar cheese

1) Preheat oven to 375 deg. F. Grease a casserole dish.

2) In a medium pan, melt butter. Add flour and whisk for a minute. Slowly add warm milk while whisking rapidly to prevent lumps. Bring to a boil and allow to slightly thicken.

3) Remove from heat. Add salt, nutmeg, black pepper and cayenne pepper. Mix well. Add cheddar cheese and mix thoroughly.

4) Place 2 layers of sliced potatoes on the bottom of casserole dish. Pour 1 cup of the cheese sauce over potatoes. Place another 2 layers and pour another cup of cheese sauce. Repeat until you have filled your casserole dish to your desired thickness. Sprinkle the top with more shredded cheddar cheese. Bake for 1 hour to 1 1/2 hour, until bubbly.

Neely's Cornbread Dressing with Apples and Sausages

If its stuffed inside the turkey, its called "stuffing." If its left as a side dish, its called "dressing."

I normally ask my dad to bring the "dressing" to my house for our Thanksgiving dinner. He usually makes the boxed stuffing. But this year, I decided I wanted to make it from scratch. At a potluck from work, one of my staff brought his homemade stuffing which was so good so I asked for the recipe. His recipe had clams and italian seasoning with sourdough bread. But I found this stuffing recipe on the Food Network from the Neely's and also looked so delicious. I decided to try this recipe because I always wanted to try a sausage and cornbread stuffing.

This recipe called for bourbon, which I didn't have. So i substituted with white wine. I also used fresh cornbread, instead of the dry stuffing cornbread. It turned out really well, but everyone was surprised by the sweetness from the cornbread. So next time, I'll try to make it with some kind of sourdough or french bread instead of the cornbread. I just love the flavor of the the other stuff in it.

• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 pound Italian sausage, casing removed
• 1 medium onions, chopped
• 2 stalks celery, chopped
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 1 Granny Smith apple, peeled and chopped coarsely
• 1 teaspoon freshly minced thyme leaves
• 1 teaspoon freshly chopped sage leaves
• 1/2 cup white wine
• 1 1/4 pounds cubed and dried cornbread
• 1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley leaves
• 2 cups turkey or low-sodium chicken stock
• 2 eggs, beaten
• 1/2 cup chopped pecans

1)Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

2) Heat olive oil over medium-high heat in 12-inch skillet.

Cook sausage for 5 to 7 minutes until browned. Add onions and celery and saute until softened. Add salt and pepper, to taste. Mix in apples, thyme and sage and saute for another 2 minutes. Add wine. Allow to simmer until wine is almost evaporated; 1 to 2 minutes.

3) In a large bowl, add cornbread stuffing, parsley, chicken stock, eggs and pecans. Mix well. Mix in vegetable mixture to bowl. Combine and stir well together. Add to a large greased casserole dish and bake for 30 minutes.

Creamed Corn

This dish is one of my favorite side dishes ever. I got the recipe from the Lawry's website. I make it so often, not just for Thanksgiving, that I know it like the back of my hand. You can place this dish in a casserole and top with shredded Parmesan cheese and bake in the oven for a special touch. This dish is so good, that I can't wait long enough to have to bake it. So I just serve it as is.

1 1/2 Tbsp. butter

1 1/2 Tbsp. flour

1/2 tsp. salt

1 1/2 cups heavy cream

2 Tbsp. sugar

3 cups frozen corn kernels

1) Melt butter. Add flour and mix until it becomes like dough. Slowly add heavy cream while whisking to remove lumps. Cook until mixture begins to boil and thicken.

2) Add salt, sugar and corn kernels. Continue to boil until corn cooks through.

Green Beans with Roasted Tomatoes

Aside from the normal, mashed potatoes & gravy, dressing and corn side dishes, I wanted to serve some kind of a vegetable dish as well. I didn't want to make the typical soggy green bean casserole that frequent Thanksgiving meals. So I found this recipe on foodnetwork.com from Robin Miller. It came out really well and the colors looked so awesome with my Thanksgiving spread.

1 1/2 lbs. fresh green beans

1 pint grape tomatoes

1 Tbsp. olive oil

1 Tbsp. balsamic vinegar

1/2 tsp. salt

1/4 tsp. black pepper

1) Preheat oven to 400 deg. F. Grease a cookie sheet and set aside.

2) Combine all ingredients in a large bowl. Toss to thoroughly coat the vegetables. Place mixture on prepared cookie sheet. Bake for 15-20 minutes or until vegetables are tender.