Thanksgiving: Part One

As crazy as I am, I did two Thanksgivings this year.  One with the in-laws, and one at home (because there were no leftovers from the in-laws).  The husband loves holiday leftovers, so I had to create a meal just so he could have holiday leftovers.
So for the in-laws really simple Thanksgiving holiday food.  One of these days, when I get around to getting a smaller digital camera, I'll take pictures of all this lovely food.  Getting out the Nikon professional series digital camera that the hubby bought is too much trouble and not as handy.  So due to well planning, I didn't have a whole lot of last-minute cooking. So here's the menu (recipes included) for the in-laws:
Roasted turkey with homemade cornbread stuffing
Southern Cornbread Stuffing (adapted from Paula Deen)
Cornbread, recipe follows
1 whole loaf of day old wheat French bread, cubed
8 tablespoons butter
4 ribs of celery, chopped
4 carrots, chopped
1 large onion, chopped
8 cups chicken stock
2 teaspoon salt
Freshly ground black pepper
1 tablespoon sage
1 tablespoon thyme
1 tablespoon poultry seasoning, optional
7 eggs, beaten
In a large bowl, combine crumbled cornbread, and cubed wheat French bread; set aside.
Melt the butter in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the celery, carrots, and onion and cook until transparent, approximately 5 to 10 minutes.  Season vegetables with salt and peper to taste. Pour the vegetable mixture over cornbread mixture. Add the stock, mix well, taste, and add salt, pepper to taste, sage, thyme, and poultry seasoning. Add beaten eggs and mix well. This can be prepared the night before.  Cover and store in the refrigerator.  It will help the cornbread absorb the liquid, and allow the flavors to develop.


Cornbread:
2 cup self-rising cornmeal
1 cup self-rising flour
1 1/2 cup buttermilk
4 eggs
4 tablespoons vegetable oil
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
Combine all ingredients and mix well. Pour batter into a greased shallow baking dish. Bake for approximately 40 to 45 minutes. Remove from oven and let cool.


Roasted turkey:
1 onion, peeled and halved
3 carrots, peeled tops and tips removed
3 large ribs of celery
5 sprigs of sage
4 sprigs of thyme
2 large lemons, halved
Salt
Paste made of olive oil, salt, and pepper
4 cups of chicken broth
1 cup of white wine
I use Butterball turkeys because my Mom does, and have never used any other bird.  Ensure that the bird is completely thawed out.  I thaw my 20+ lbs. turkey in the sink overnight for one night, one week prior to Thanksgiving.  The bird then goes into the refrigerator until Thanksgiving morning.  This ensures that the turkey is completely thawed. 
Pre-heat the oven to 325 degrees.
Prepare the roasting pan by throwing in the onion, carrots, celery, sage, thyme, and lemons.  Place the roasting rack on top.
Remove turkey from packaging and take out the neck and gizzard packages from the cavity.  Rinse the turkey with cold water and rub with salt to clean.  Pat the bird dry with a paper towel.  Pin the wing tip bones underneath the turkey.  Stuff the neck cavity with the stuffing.  Use a skewer or toothpicks to secure the skin flap underneath the bird.  Stuff the main cavity of the bird.  Using the extra skin by the turkey's rear end, tuck the drumsticks back into position. Continue stuffing the main cavity to your liking.  I overflow it.  Place turkey on top of the roasting rack in the roasting pan.  Rub the turkey with the paste made of olive oil, salt, and pepper.  Pour the chicken broth and the white wine into the bottom of the roasting pan.  Insert digital thermometer prod into the thigh of the turkey.  Place roasting pan in the oven.
Set the digital thermometer to 165 or 170 degrees.  For 2008, the FDA set the standard of turkey done-ness at an internal temperature of 165 degrees.  In 2009, the FDA raised it by 5 degrees to 170.  Pick one and use it.  The digital themometer will tell you when the turkey is done.
Baste the turkey 2-3 times during the roasting process.  Once your turkey has browned to your liking, cover the tukey and the roasting pan with foil.  Let the digital thermometer tell you when the turkey is done.  5 1/2 to 6 hours for a stuffed 20+ lbs bird.
Pour the remaining stuffing in a greased baking dish and bake covered with foil at 350 degrees for an hour.  Remove foil and bake for another 15 minutes if you want a crisp top.


Sauteed carrots with fresh parsley (adapted from Ina Garten)
3 tablespoons olive oil
3 tablespoons butter
3 lbs carrots, peeled and sliced on the diagnol about 1/2"
Salt, to taste
Fresh ground pepper, to taste
1/2 cup fresh parsley leaves
In a heated pan, melt butter and add olive oil.  Place carrots in pan and stir.  Add salt and pepper to taste.  Cover pan with lid for about 5-8 mins depending on how done you want your carrots.  Turn off heat, stir in parsley.

Corn casserole (adapted from Paula Deen)
1 (15 1/4-ounce) can whole kernel corn, drained
1 (14 3/4-ounce) can cream-style corn
1 (8-ounce) package corn muffin mix (recommended: Jiffy)
1 cup sour cream
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, melted
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
In a large bowl, stir together the 2 cans of corn, corn muffin mix, sour cream, and melted butter. Pour into a greased 9 by 13-inch casserole dish. Bake for 45 minutes, or until golden brown.


Lemon icebox pie
30 Nilla wafers, 10 crushed and 20 whole
3 tablespoons butter, melted
2 cans sweetened condensed milk (recommended: Borden)
3 eggs, separated
3 lemons, juiced and zested
1/2 tsp cream of tartar
Pinch of salt
1/8 cup of powdered sugar
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Combine crushed wafers and melted butter in a pie pan.  Mix well, and press to create the bottom crust of the pie.  If there is excess, push the crumbs up to the sides of the pan.  Place whole wafers, curved side facing outward, and gently press into the crumb crust.  Place in oven and bake for 10 minutes.  Cool on wire rack.
In a bowl mix condensed milk, egg yolks, and the juice and zest of the lemons.  Mix well until mixture is a pale yellow.  Pour into cooled pie crust.  Place back in the oven for 30 mins.  Cool on wire rack.
Once pie is completely cooled, to make the meringue top, combine 3 egg whites, cream of tartar, and salt into a bowl.  Mix until soft peaks form in the meringue.  Add powdered sugar, and mix into meringue.  Add meringue topping to pie, and place into a 350 degree oven until the meringue top browns to your liking.


Caramel apple pie (adapted from Tyler Florence)
1 package of refrigerated pie crust (recommended:  Pilsbury)
1 container of caramel topping (recommended:  Richardson's Butterscotch caramel)
1 lemon, halved
8 apples (recommended: Granny Smith and Gala)
1 tablespoon flour
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/4 cup unsalted butter
1/4 cup sugar
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Fill a large bowl with cold water and squeeze in the lemon juice. Peel the apples with a paring knife, cut them in half, and remove the core with a melon baller. Put the apple halves in the lemon-water (this will keep them from going brown). Toss the apples with the flour, 1 teaspoon cinnamon, cloves, and nutmeg. 
Place one layer of the prepared pie crust in a pie pan.  Carefully mold so that it fits the pan.  Slice a couple of the apples at a time using a mandolin or a very sharp knife. The apples need to be thinly sliced so that as the pie bakes, they collapse on top of each other with no air pockets. This makes a dense, meaty apple pie. Cover the bottom of the pastry with a layer of apples, shingling the slices so there are no gaps. Ladle about 2 ounces of the caramel sauce evenly over the apple slices. Repeat the layers, until the pie is slightly overfilled and domed on the top; the apples will shrink down as the pie cooks. Top the apples with pieces of the butter.  Brush the bottom lip of the pie pastry with a little beaten egg white to form a seal. Place the pastry circle on top of the pie, and using some kitchen scissors, trim off the overhanging excess from around the pie. Crimp the edges of dough together with your fingers to make a tight seal. Cut slits in the top of the pie so steam can escape while baking. Place the pie on a sheet tray and tent it with a piece of aluminum foil, so the crust does not cook faster than the apples.
Bake the caramel apple pie for 25 minutes on the middle rack. In a small bowl, combine the remaining 1/4 cup of sugar with the freshly grated cinnamon. Remove the foil from the pie and brush the top with the remaining egg white. Sprinkle evenly with the cinnamon sugar and return to the oven. Continue to bake for another 25 minutes, until the pie is golden and bubbling. Let the apple pie rest at room temperature for at least 1 hour to allow the fruit pectin to gel and set; otherwise the pie will fall apart when you cut into it.


Pumpkin bread (adapted from Bon Appetit)
3 cups sugar
1 cup vegetable oil
3 large eggs
1 26-ounce can solid pack pumpkin
3 cups all purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1 cup coarsely chopped walnuts (optional)
Preheat oven to 350°F. Butter and flour two 9x5x3-inch loaf pans. Beat sugar and oil in large bowl to blend. Mix in eggs and pumpkin. Sift flour, cloves, cinnamon, nutmeg, baking soda, salt and baking powder into another large bowl. Stir into pumpkin mixture in 2 additions. Mix in walnuts, if desired.
Divide batter equally between prepared pans. Bake until tester inserted into center comes out clean, about 1 hour 10 minutes. Transfer to racks and cool 10 minutes. Using sharp knife, cut around edge of loaves. Turn loaves out onto racks and cool completely.


The corn casserole was a big hit...even with people who don't like corn.  The desserts worked out well.  And I had the most beautiful looking turkey at the party.  I was super tired from prep work all week long.