Thanksgiving: This Is How We Do It

*cue Montell Jordan*

My husband Matt and I have had our own home-alone Thanksgiving for at least seven of the 10 years we’ve been together. His (crazy) family is out west, and my (crazy) family is nearby. So after a couple of Thanksgivings with mine, we decided to do our own thing, partly because that was around the time I really got into cooking and we turned into Food Network junkies and Gourmet magazine subscribers. And yes, although I love them dearly, also partly because they’re completely exhausting (except grandma) and Christmas is only a freakin’ month away.

So instead of a long stressful day, it’s leisurely and fun, just cooking and hanging out, watching the parade and football, and poring over the Completely Ginormous Thanksgiving Newspaper and its endless supply of Black Friday ads and mini-catalogs. Even though we have absolutely no intention of getting close to a mall. (Except a couple of years ago when we braved the big electronics stores and got our big fabulous flat screen for a song)

Anyway, I make breakfast, usually homemade blueberry scones or these yummy sausage and cheese rolls that are insanely delicious. But this year, because Matt has an addiction…

…Williams-Sonoma’s quick bread. Particularly the spiced pecan pumpkin variety. It’s so damn good; so good that he’ll bake it himself, and that is particularly delightful. After breakfast and newspaper and all that, we get finally get to business. This year’s it’s the “not too many damn sides” version of our traditional menu—brined and roasted turkey, chestnut, pancetta and ciabatta dressing, two casseroles and some bread. The turkey and dressing are obviously the stars of the show, and the recipes we’ve tweaked over the years are after the jump. Enjoy!

The fun starts the night before when we brine the turkey. It’s the key to an amazingly juicy bird the next day.

The Brine

1 cup kosher salt
1 cup brown sugar
2 oranges, quartered
2 lemons, quartered
4 sprigs (or handfuls, whichever) thyme
4 sprigs (same here) rosemary

Dissolve the salt and sugar in 2 gallons of cold water in a large stock pot. Gently place turkey in brining bag (we use the ones from Williams Sonoma), and pour in the brine solution. Add the oranges, lemons (not peaches) and herbs, close up the bag, and stick it in the fridge. Brine for at least 12 hours, but no more than 24.

When you’re ready to cook, remove the turkey from the brine and toss the bag and its contents. I highly recommend draining as much of the liquid from the bag before attempting to remove the turkey. I cannot stress this enough, as you do not want to wear it, aromatic though it may be. Remove everything that’s inside the turkey, and rinse inside and out under cold water. Pat it dry.

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F.

The Bird

4 tablespoons unsalted butter (room temp.)
1 medium yellow onion, cut into 8ths
2 large oranges, cut into 8ths
1 stalk celery, large dice
1 large carrot, large dice
2 bay leaves
2 sprigs thyme
2 cups chicken broth, for basting

Place turkey breast side down in a big, heavy roasting pan, and rub on all sides with the butter. Season lightly with salt and pepper. Stuff the turkey with the onion, oranges, celery, carrot, bay leaves, and thyme. Tie the drumsticks together with kitchen string, or don’t. I don’t.  Also, this recipe originally called for a ton more aromatics than I’ve listed here, but trust me, this works beautifully for a 12-14 pound turkey. If you’ve got Super Turkey, adjust as necessary.

Roast the turkey breast-side down for an hour. Remove from the oven, turn, and baste with 1/2 cup broth.

After years of practice, we’ve determined the easiest way to do this is not with a contraption of wooden spoons and quickness, but by simply putting on some oven mitts, picking the thing up and turning it over. (It’s also helpful if your spouse or significant other has no feeling in one hand because his sister slammed it in a car door as a child, making it much easier for touching hot things from the oven) Promptly throw the oven mitts into the laundry pile after you do this. Undercooked bird and all, right?

Roast breast side up until an instant-read meat thermometer hits 165 degrees F when inserted into the largest section of thigh and away from the bone, about 2 to 3 hours total cooking time. Baste the turkey once every hour with 1/2 cup of chicken broth.

Remove from the oven and place on a platter. Tent with aluminum foil and let rest for 20 minutes before carving.

Chestnut, Pancetta & Ciabatta Dressing

Crank oven up to 350 degrees F.

The original calls for a 15×12x2 baking dish, but that’s really not big enough. Personally I like the aluminum roaster pans from the grocery store, they’re deeper and I think the dressing bakes better.

6 tablespoons butter
8 ounces pancetta, cut into 1/4-inch dice
2 large onions, small dice
2 carrots, small dice
3 celery stalks, small dice
2 tablespoons chopped fresh rosemary leaves
3 garlic cloves, chopped (Or just use the stuff in the jar. I swear by it. )
2 med. jars roasted peeled whole chestnuts, coarsely broken (I use two of the big jars from Williams-Sonoma)
1 1/4  pound day-old ciabatta bread, torn into small cubes
2/3 cup freshly grated Parmesan (Use the real stuff here, not the canned variety.)
1-1 1/2 cups chicken broth
Salt and pepper
2 large eggs, beaten to blend

Melt 2 tablespoons of butter in a big skillet over medium heat. Add the pancetta and cook until nice and crisp, about 10 minutes. Transfer to a large bowl. Melt the rest of the butter in the same skillet over medium heat. Add the onions, carrots, celery, rosemary and garlic. Saute until the onions are tender, about 12 minutes. Stir in the chestnuts. Transfer the onion mixture to the bowl with the pancetta. Add the bread and Parmesan and gently stir to coat. Add enough broth to moisten the stuffing. Season to taste with salt and pepper, and mix in the eggs.

Transfer the dressing to whatever you’ve chosen to bake it in. Cover with foil and bake until the heated through, about 30 minutes. Uncover and continue baking until the top is crisp and golden, about 15 minutes longer.

While I handle the dressing and tend to basting the turkey and drinking and what not, my husband is in charge of his two favorite Thanksgiving staples: broccoli, rice and cheese casserole, and green bean casserole.

Broccoli, Cheese & Rice Casserole

1 cup water
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup instant rice
1/4 cup butter
1/4 cup chopped onion
1/4 cup chopped celery
1 can cream of mushroom soup
1 can cream of celery soup
10-ounce package frozen chopped broccoli, thawed
1/2 cup diced Velveeta

Bring water and salt to a boil.  Add rice, cover and remove from heat. Let rice sit for 5 minutes. Melt butter in skillet and saute onion and celery until tender. In a large bowl, combine rice, celery, and onion with remaining ingredients. Pour into a greased 1 1/2 qt. casserole. Bake at 350 degrees F for an hour.

Green Bean Casserole

1  can condensed cream of mushroom soup
3/4 cup milk
1/8  teaspoon pepper
2  cans French style green beans, drained
1-1/3  cups French-fried onions

Combine soup, milk and pepper in a 1-1/2 quart casserole and mix well. Stir in beans and 2/3 cup French-fried onions. Bake at 350 degrees F for 30 minutes. Stir, then sprinkle with the rest of the onions. Bake 5 minutes or until onions are golden.

While I love the broccoli-cheese concoction (it’s even better cold the next day), I have never loved anyone’s version of this green bean business. Ever since I was a kid, my only concern with this dish was absconding with the rest of the French-fried onions. They’re so wrong, yet oh so right.

But mostly I’m happy to have his help in the kitchen. By the time the Parker House Rolls (thanks Sister Schubert! I totally didn’t want to make the foccacia bread from scratch this year like I usually do!) come out of the oven and we’re ready to eat, Matt’s helped me clean the kitchen so we don’t have to drunkenly deal with dishes and a big ol’ mess after dinner. He’s also highly skilled in the leftover packaging department, which is excellent, because if it were left up to me, you would not have beautifully sliced turkey readily available for next-day sandwiches.

I love that we have this whole day that’s our own way of celebrating the season, our own take on tradition. We do the wishbone thing (and he always wins). The dogs are out of their minds because they know they’re totally gonna get some turkey. We actually eat at the dining table. Sometimes we eat at 5, sometimes we eat at 9. We usually drink too much wine. But we have the best day, and that is what I’m truly thankful for.