Thanksgiving is only a little over a week away now and I am absolutely STOKED! To make things even better, Marci is coming to visit us in a week to spend Thanksgiving with us! That means one more person to feed :) Last year was the first time I made Thanksgiving dinner, so this year I feel like I can tweak a few things to make this year even better. I've been DVRing Thanksgiving specials like a mad woman to get some ideas!
As a recap, this is what last year's looked like...
http://littleasianguineapig.blogspot.com/2010/11/happy-thanksgiving-humans-and-animals.html
Last year I brined the bird using Alton Brown's recipe. If you don't know what I'm talking about, it's this one: http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/alton-brown/good-eats-roast-turkey-recipe/index.html
Brining was an excellent idea and I will definitely be doing it again! I didn't realize how many people found brining to be intimidating. You shouldn't be afraid! It's so easy! And totally worth it because the bird that comes out is so flavorful and moist.
Last year I brined in a bucket which took up a lot of space in the frige, but this year I think I will try the brining bag in an effort to try to conserve space. Also, this year I will be adding some chopped herbs with butter to lather the outside of the bird rather than just going simple with canola oil as suggested in Alton's recipe. I'm debating using mayo instead of butter as suggested by the Voltaggio brothers. Something about how the egg in the mayo helps the herb stick to the turkey better than just plain butter. Although the thought of slathering mayo on my turkey is something that will be hard to get over.
Another technique I am going to try is, when making gravy, instead of cooking the neck and giblets on the stove top, I think I'm going to try cooking it underneath the turkey in the oven. That way they will get cooked with the turkey drippings. The chef just added four cups of water, put the nasty body parts in the roasting pan, and put the turkey on the rack. Sounds good to me!
Right now my biggest planning struggle is the stuffing. I asked Gary what kind of stuffing he would like and he said plain and simple, but not too moist, and not too dry. Okay Gary, that is much easier said than done. So I tried a Food Network recipe tonight and.... I didn't like it. Next! I am thinking of trying a corn bread stuffing. Although corn bread is not my favorite. Maybe I will try mixing french bread and corn bread. Eek! So many decisions before the big day!
9 more days!
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