November 13 Meal: Pre-Thanksgiving

Who says turkey is just for Thanksgiving?  There are 3 turkey recipes in the November issue of Bon Appetit.  It sounds like a lot, but I was nervous that there would be a lot more.  The last week and a half of October I anxiously checked the mailbox every day to get the November issue and find out my turkey fate.  I'm writing this entry out of order so that any of you who are interested in a few good turkey recipes can read about these.  We had some friends over the other night to test out the Malt-Beer-Brined Turkey with Malt Glaze and Salt-Roasted Turkey with Lemon and Oregano, along with Roasted Cranberry Sauce with Herbed Candied Walnuts, Mixed-Mushroom and Tarragon Gravy, Greek-Inspired Fresh Oregano and Giblet Pan Gravy, and Pumpkin Pie with Pepita, Nut, and Ginger Topping. 

Malt-Beer-Brined Turkey with Malt Glaze and Mixed-Mushroom and Tarragon Gravy

Both of the turkeys are brined, but in different ways.  This one sits in a bath highly-salted water, Guiness, and barley malt syrup (I used molasses instead).  It takes a very large bowel and two turkey brining bags (shown to the right).  After brining overnight it gets stuffed with onions, garlic, thyme, and sage, then roasted for several hours and basted with a glaze, made with similar ingredients as the brine, toward the end.  The turkey came out very tender and juicy.  Everyone seemed to like it.

To go with this turkey the magazine suggests the mixed-mushroom gravy.  The mushrooms I used were dried porcini and fresh cremini.  Additionally, there are the usual suspects: butter, shallot, garlic, thyme and sage.  The unique ingredients are creme fraiche, vermouth, and tarragon.  Unfortunately, I completely forgot the tarragon.  I was trying to do too many things at once.  I thought it still tasted great, though.

Yumminess: 9 out of 10

Cost: Approx. $28 for 11 lb. turkey; $16 for gravy

Time: Turkey: Bon Appetit said 20 hours total and it took that long with the brining.  Gravy: Bon Appetit said 45 minutes prep and 1:45 total.  I took me about 25 minutes prep and 1 hour total.

Was it worth it?: Yes, this was a surprisingly good turkey.  It had just a mild flavor of the malt and beer.  Just enough to enhance the flavor of the meat.

Salt-Roasted Turkey with Lemon and Oregano and Greek-Inspired Fresh Oregano and Giblet Pan Gravy

The brine for this turkey was a salt rub with oregano, lemon peel, garlic, and pepper.  Before roasting it is stuffed with a mixture of lemons, onion, celery, oregano, pepper, thyme, and salt.  It went in the oven with just enough room next to the malt-brined turkey.  Every once in a while you add chicken broth to the pan.  The outcome was good, just a little bit under the malt-brined turkey.  

The gravy for this turkey was my favorite of the two.  It was supposed to use the "ultimate turkey stock" recipe in the magazine, but I hadn't made it yet.  I just used chicken broth.  Of course, you scrape up all those delicious brown bits under the turkey and cook with the  chicken stock, onion, flour, white wine, oregano, and lemon juice.  It was great with both turkeys.

Yumminess: 9 out of 10

Cost: Approx. $23 for 11 lb. turkey; $5 for gravy

Time: Turkey: Bon Appetit said 21:45 hours total and it took that long with the brining.  Gravy: Bon Appetit said 35 minutes prep and total and it took me that amount of time.

Was it worth it?: Yes, this was a great turkey.  I especially loved the gravy.

 

Roasted Cranberry Sauce with Herbed Candied Walnuts

This was a very popular cranberry recipe with our friends.  I used frozen cranberries.  They were roasted with lots of sugar, walnut oil, rosemary, thyme, sage, sea salt, and red wine.  The nuts were mixed with sugar, red wine, rosemary, thyme, and sage, then roasted.  I did both recipes in the morning.  The nuts kept really well and were crunchy in the cooled-off cranberry sauce.  Even with a lot of sugar this was still very tart.  Sure beats the can though!

Yumminess: 9 out of 10

Cost: Approx. $10.25 for 3 cups

Time: Bon Appetit said 40 minutes of prep and 3:40 total (including cooling).  It took me about that long.

Was it worth it?: Yes, this was a great recipe to showcase the cranberries. 

Pumpkin Pie with Pepita, Nut, and Ginger Topping

My favorite part of Thanksgiving - pumpkin pie!  This one has a special topping that gives that extra little kick.  The pumpkin filling was also especially creamy, probably because of the whipping cream.  Instead of using pumpkin from a can I've learned that I really enjoy using fresh pumpkins.  You know those little pumpkins that are about as big as your head?  Not really big enough for carving, but those are the ones you want for pies.  Just steam them until the flesh is soft and mush up.  There's your pumpkin filling.  For this pie, it gets mixed with brown sugar, sugar, molasses, flower, cinnamon, ginger, ground clove, salt eggs, and cream.  It ended up being just a bit too much to fit in the crust that I pre-baked.  Last, the topping is added.  It is a combination of pepitas (pumpkin seeds), almonds, pecans, butter, brown sugar, salt, and crystallized ginger.  To be honest, it wasn't my favorite part of the pie.  I think I may try the same pie again in the (near)future without the topping.

 Yumminess: 9 out of 10

Cost: Approx. $9.50 for 1 pie

Time: Bon Appetit said 40 minutes of prep and 5:40 total (including cooling).  It took me about that long, maybe a little longer for prep with the fresh pumpkin I used.

Was it worth it?: Yes, I will definitely use this recipe again.