My Abbreviated, Mostly Homemade-ish Thanksgiving Countdown

Thanksgiving requires a bit of planning to juggle all the things that need attention in order to pull off a yummy and timely meal.  Last year, I put together a timeline that is still a great idea for folks who are planning the full magilla of a meal.  You can find that here., complete with links to recipes for really good turkey stock,my Granny's seriously yummy and fresh cranberry salad (it isn't a holiday without it at our house!), fresh herb stuffing and assorted other goodies.

This year, though?

Given the very recent surgery and my limited energy supply and mobility limitations as I'm healing, I'm going for a semi-homemade approach.

Prior to the surgery, we picked up some refrigerated mashed potatoes from Sam's Club.  To perk them up more like my homemade ones, I'll boil some diced redskin potatoes on the day before Thanksgiving, perhaps throwing in some well-chopped kale as well for a little more of a good nutritional hit (post-cancer diagnosis, that is way, way up on my list of things to be certain to do as often as possible -- so it might be a bit more like the Irish boxty or champ than the usual creamy mash this year.  If I do this, I'll throw the kale into the potato water the last 4 minutes of the boiling time for potatoes to soften it before mixing it into the mashed potatoes.).  If I'm feeling especially decadent, I'll add in a bit of diced reduced-fat neufchatel cream cheese and some reduced-fat, 2% finely grated sharp cheddar into the potatoes -- this is lovely when reheated and so amazingly creamy.

The potatoes then go into an aluminum foil pan and then into the fridge to be reheated and served on Thursday and can be made up to 2 days beforehand.

I'll make homemade gravy as usual on Thanksgiving day from pan drippings and my easy but seriously tasty crockpot stock (which I usually make the day before), but I've got some refrigerated extra gravy just in case I need to fill it out.

Instead of a more complicated caramelized shallots, green beans and gremolata dish, I'll do some sheet pan-roasted green beans, halved cherry tomatoes and quartered and chopped zucchini, tossed with a little extra virgin olive oil, sea salt, freshly ground black pepper and a few sprigs of fresh thyme and rosemary.  Toss, bake along with the turkey and serve.  Yummy!  Those I'll make Thanksgiving day as well -- you can't get that crisp-tender bean when you make it the day before.

It's not the usual fussy Thanksgiving, but it will definitely do.  You do what you can, right?

The one thing I refuse to scrimp on is the turkey.  On Wednesday, we'll be making the pilgrimage to the local Kroger grocery store to pick up fresh herbs, shallots and my pre-ordered 12 pound fresh organic turkey.

What I'll do on Wednesday afternoon is whiz some fresh herbs (thyme, flat-leaf parsley, rosemary, sage and/or chives) and shallots in the food processor along with a stick or two of butter (depending on the size of your turkey, it can take one or two sticks).  Once everything is chopped and well-blended so that the butter is fully seasoned all through, I'll scrape this seasoned, compound butter onto a sheet of plastic wrap and get it formed into a sort of log.  That will go into the fridge to firm up for the night.


After I remove the turkey gizzard and organs (save the gizzard for roasting in the oven with some chicken or turkey wings to make stock), the turkey will get well seasoned, inside and out, and also rubbed down well into the skin with a mixture of kosher salt, pepper, Penzey's poultry seasoning blend, paprika, garlic powder, onion powder, and a tiny bit of freshly ground nutmeg.  I often put some of the Penzey's poultry seasoning into the compound butter mixture as well.

On Thanksgiving morning, I'll get up and take the seasoned turkey out of the fridge and pop it into my covered roasting pan.  In the bottom of the pan, I'll already have some coarsely chopped celery, quartered onions, garlic cloves and mini-carrots.  This forms a sort of natural veggie rack under the turkey, allowing it to bake in the oven out of the grease but get permeated by the flavors of the veggies as they caramelize in the heat in the bottom of the pan.  The turkey sits out a bit to come to room temperature, while the oven preheats to 325 F.

Once the turkey warms a bit, I'll take the compound butter out of the fridge and cut it into slices.  Then, I loosen the skin from the breast of the turkey with my fingers, being careful not to tear the skin but just loosening at the membrane only.  Then I work the butter under the between the turkey breast meat and the skin, sliding it slice by slice down to cover the bulk of the breast.  This then works as an internal basting and flavoring agent to keep the white meat from getting dry.

Inside the turkey, I stuff some cut up lemon quarters, some quartered onion, and some fresh herbs.  This will steam the turkey from the inside and flavor the meat while keeping it moist as well.

The finishing touch is to mix up some Penzey's poultry seasoning, kosher salt, freshly ground black pepper, some paprika and a couple of tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil in a cup.  I brush this on the turkey skin, all over to flavor and crisp the skin.  Then pour my stock in the bottom of the roaster -- two cups -- and pop the top on the roaster.

The turkey gets roasted at 325 F for 15 minutes per pound, or about 3 to 3 1/2 hours for the size we usually bake.  To be certain you have a fully cooked turkey, check with a meat thermometer in the thickest part of the thigh that the meat is at 180 F when the thermometer is inserted.

When you take the turkey out of the oven, let it rest without cutting for about 30 minutes.  This allows the meat to suck back in a lot of the juices, and keeps it from getting really dry.  Cutting too early is a huge mistake -- use this resting time to finish your side dishes and set the table, you'll find the better meat texture well worth it.

The secret with this is the covered roaster and the compound butter.  You don't have to baste nearly as much because the covered roaster makes things self-basting, and your turkey will be wonderfully fragrant and delish from the compound butter and the lemon, onion and herbs baking in the turkey cavity.

Beyond that, there may or may not be some mashed sweet potatoes -- I picked up a pack of pre-made sweet potato souffle into which I'll add some diced, baked fresh sweet potato, vanilla, assorted spices like cinnamon, ground cloves and a little freshly grated nutmeg, and perhaps a bit of a custardy blend of egg and milk nixed into the potatoes to fluff them up a bit, topped with chopped pecans mixed with rolled oats, cinnamon and ground cloves, brown sugar, and a bit of melted butter as a sort of crumble for the top as they bake.  I may save this, though, for a side dish for next week -- since it will just be the three of us, I don't want to overcook.

I also may make a salad with mixed microgreens, some diced fresh apple, dried cranberries, a little goat cheese, and a bit of Newman's Own reduced-fat walnut and raspberry vinaigrette.  Makes a nice winter salad, but again, I'm trying not to overdo it for the meal for just 3 of us.

I just hope I'm up to doing all of this.  If not, Mr. ReddHedd is about to get a crash course in Thanksgiving turkey 101. 

(YouTube is Dido singing Thank You.)