Thanksgiving

I can strongly recommend a kosher turkey. The downside is that they need to be plucked a bit at the beginning (there are usually some small quills left), but the brining that they undergo is a great thing for the bird. Failing that, you can brine the bird of your choice, as long as it isn't one of those Butterballs that's already been injected with chicken broth, or whatever it is they pump them up with.

My phyiscs prof posted this on a school BB back in '88.

BAKED STUFFED TURKEY

6-7 lb. Turkey
1 cup melted butter
1 cup stuffing
1 cup uncooked popcorn
Salt/pepper to taste

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Brush turkey well with melted butter salt, and pepper.
Fill cavity with stuffing and popcorn.

Place in baking pan with the neck end toward the back of the oven.

Listen for the popping sounds.

When the turkey's ass blows the oven door open and the turkey flies across the room, it's done.

Roasted cauliflower! It's really easy, totally delcious, and it impresses people.

So here's what you do. Get a metal or glass baking dish. Get a head of cauliflower (with a crowd of your size, maybe get two.) Break the cauliflower up into slightly larger-than-bite-sized florets.

OK, so now get a measuring cup. Add 1/3 to 1/2 cup of olive oil for each head of cauliflower. Add salt and pepper to taste, and a lot of garlic, smooshed in a garlic press. (Maybe 4 or 5 cloves per head of cauliflower.)

In a bowl, toss the florets with the oil mixture, making sure that all the florets get good and coated. It is fun to use your hands for this.

Pour the cauliflower into the roasting pan. It shouldn't be stacked too deeply. Roast it in the oven, at something like 425 degrees, turning once or twice, until it's beautiful golden brown, soft enough to eat, and COMPLETELY DIVINE.

(This will probably take about half an hour, give or take.)

Roasting a turkey is easy. Follow the directions on the turkey you buy and I can almost guarantee that it will be at least acceptable.

Alton Brown on Good eats had a show last week that covered your question.

http://tinyurl.com/wzpzj

It covered stuffing, but of course the turkey was present as well. Good luck.

Well, I can give you my recipee for Chocolate bourbon pecan pie... But somehow I'd feel unnecessary then B-)

Brine your turkey (or, even better, have the store brine it for you). Start it out upside down and flip it at some point (I'll dig up the actual times later). Stuffing is evil.

An unusual cranberry sauce:

1/2 seedless orange, diced with skin on
1/2 bag cranberrys
1/4 c sugar + to taste

Toss it all in a food processor, pith and all.

Definitely check out the Alton Brown Thanksgiving show. I show it in my freshman class and it answers all of your questions.

Another thing would be to ask both moms for their methods.

I'm rapidly becoming a convert to brining any meat that is to be roasted. Most modern meat is simply too lean and this results in dry flavorless roasts. Brine, roast, don't overcook is really all there is to a good bird. Beyond that, it's all personal taste.

Speaking of personal taste, I'll toss my stuffing recipe into the ring. It's really very simple: make a basic bread stuffing (sauteed yellow onion, melted butter, broth, bread, salt, pepper, and a mess of sage) and add four types of mushrooms, diced and uncooked. The mix of mushrooms changes from year to year depending on what's available and what I can afford. It always gets rave reviews.

The mushroom idea works even better with a wild rice stuffing, but that gets a bit expensive with a Turkey and a big crowd. I did that once and spent more on the dressing than I did on the turkey.

I agree with Aaron. Stuffing is evil. I usually make a little (about a cup) out of nostalgia but I can never really eat more than a bite.

As for the turkey, salt, pepper, garlic, butter, maybe a little lemon juice.

1. Get the bird from the store. Don't get a butterball. Make sure you take it out of the freezer and put it in the refrigerator at least a day or two before Thanksgiving. This will allow it to thaw enough to cook in a reasonable amount of time. The web site I mention at the end has some guidelines for how to thaw a turkey that should work well for you.

2. Remove the giblets from the inner cavity. NOTE - Don't forget to do this! Many first timers forget.

3. Rinse the inside of the bird out with water. Take a small handful of salt (about a teaspoon worth for a 10+ lb bird or more to taste) and rub it inside that cavity.

4. Stuff the bird if you so desire, but make sure you take the temperature of the stuffing when you take it out to make sure it is cooked. You don't want anyone getting sick off the stuffing.

5. Sprinkle the outside of the bird liberally with salt, pepper, garlic. Baste[1] with melted butter and lemon juice.

6. You may want to cover the tips of the legs with tinfoil to prevent burning. Keep an eye on them as the bird gets close to being done and cover them if you need to. The same is true of the top of the bird. If it isn't cooked through but is starting to get golden brown, you may want to cover it to prevent it from burning.

The bird is done when the internal temperature is about 165 (or the little red button pops).

Most of the flavor is going to be on the skin but it will soak in. I try to poke some holes in the skin so the basting and seasoning get inside a bit, but you have to be careful you baste it several times so it doesn't dry out.

This site:
http://www.fsis.usda.gov/Fact_Sheets/Lets_Talk_Turkey/index.asp
has some useful tips for turkey baking newbies.

If you are feeling ambitious, I would recommend trying a brine for the flavor, but it will be just fine if you don't. Gravy is your friend and a good giblet gravy will liven up the turkey like you would not believe.

[1] Basting (pouring the liquid over the bird using a brush or a spoon) should be done multiple times throughout the cooking.

Winter squashes make good side dishes -- spaghetti and acorn squash are particularly classy-looking when stuffed (perhaps with a wild-rice based mixup), but see what's available in your local markets. Remember that pumpkin itself is a perfectly good winter squash! Succotash is also a classic seasonal note.

Apples are also versatile -- depending what sorts you have, they can be baked "whole" (cored) for desserts, cooked into sauces or stuffings, or incorporated into various side dishes.

Calabacitas is also a nice side dish. Squash, corn, a bit of chile for spice. Here's a simple recipe:

http://recipes.epicurean.com/recipe/22362/calabacitas.html

Since you probably won't be able to get green chile to chop, you can substitute a red chile powder like ancho or chipotle (don't use a lot, a quarter tsp will be more than enough). My bf's mexican family use the powdered red chile more than the green because it's easier. You can also use diced tomatoes instead of the paste. It will taste better.

If you don't like squash, you won't like this, but if you do, you may love this dish.

Most Thanksgiving stuff is really easy. Hardest part is getting everything to finish together. This, however, is helped by the fact that the turkey should sit at least 20-30 minutes before it's carved. And up to an hour won't hurt. Something that big loses heat slowly. As you know Bob.

In our family we make dressing, not stuffing, and we make it with cornbread which has way more flavor than that gloppy white bread stuff. I can supply a rough formula if you're interested.

MKK

The easiest possible way to ensure you don't overcook or dry out your turkey is to use a roasting bag. You rub the thing with olive oil, salt and pepper it, then fill the cavity (after removing giblets and neck, of course) with rough chopped (like for making stock) celery, carrot, and onion. Oil the inside of the bag and season it to prevent the turkey from sticking. Tie the bag off, slit it in about 3 places to prevent explosions (small slits on the top of course) and roast until done. When you're done, the veggies will have kept the insides moist and added some flavor both to the turkey and the drippings (GRAVY!) and the oil will crisp the skin and seal in the flavor while keeping the bird from sticking to the bag. Easy as pie... well, actually easier than pie, since making proper pie crust is no simple feat compared to bag it and bake it.

If you're looking for an orthodox trick or a secret, try this:

Wash and rinse a whole, unopened can of halfway-decent beer, because you don't know where it's been. Depending on the size of your turkey, you might want to go with a tallboy or even a Fosters. You could also drain and clean a cheap beer can, and substitute your favorite microbrew or import, although I find that subtleties of the beer's character don't really survive roasting.

Open the can, and empty half the beer out. You can pour this beer in the roasting pan, or drink it.

Take the open half-can of beer, and place the whole thing, can and all, in the bird's cavity.

Use the high-heat method for roasting the turkey. I don't have times and temperatures at my fingertips, but you should be able to google it. It involves cooking the bird at around 475 or 500 F, and then finishing in a slow oven.*

The high heat seals the outside of the bird, as the beer inside comes to a boil and steams the bird from within. Because you use high heat to seal the outside, the moisture has no where to go. I've been making beer turkey for years, and it always gets rave reviews.

* One year I had to transport a turkey to a party some distance away. At the end of the high-heat phase, I took the half-cooked turkey out of the oven, wrapped it in alternating layers of aluminum foil and kitchen towels, then put the whole thing in a large Coleman cooler. Three hours later I took it out of the cooler and unwrapped it, and it was perfectly cooked all the way through, and moist and tender as can be.

Our preferred alternative to cranberry glop is the recipe for cranberry/orange relish that comes on the side of a bag of fresh cranberries, which I've conveniently swiped from the Ocean Spray web site. This is just a more formalized version of the one Aaron Bergman recommends in an earlier comment. We've found that the recipe calls for too much sugar, I use somewhat less but it's one of those "to taste" things and I can't tell you an amount. Preparation takes about three minutes with a food processor. Definitely worth doing.

FRESH CRANBERRY ORANGE RELISH

INGREDIENTS:

1 12-ounce package Ocean Spray® Fresh or Frozen Cranberries, rinsed and drained
1 unpeeled orange, cut into eighths and seeded
3/4-1 cup sugar

DIRECTIONS:

Place half the cranberries and half the orange slices in food processor container. Process until mixture is evenly chopped. Transfer to a bowl. Repeat with remaining cranberries and orange slices. Stir in sugar. Store in refrigerator or freezer.

Makes about 3 cups.

Definitely make Aaron Bergman's cranberry/orage relish above. (I don't know Aaron from Adam, but I've had that type of relish often - it's quite good.)

For the bird, buy a good one - fresh, not frozen. However you roast it, brine it first.

I'd grab one of the 14-day trial subscriptions to Cook's Illustrated and grab all their turkey recipies. There was one from about 4-5 years ago that was elaborate (brine, dry overnight in the fridge, and roast at 2 temps with three flips) but the best turkey I've roasted.

The same issue had a cornbread stuffing that's just perfect, too.

Bourbon and maple syrup glazed yams.
You wanna use a good bourbon.

Deep fry it and put on a show for your family!

Otherwise, follow Alton Brown's recipe (non deep-fried of course).

I'll also endorse the cranberry-orange relish mentioned above, with the caveat to use less sugar than the recipe on the bag. You can always add more if taste warrants. I've also varied this by adding a couple ounces of peeled fresh ginger root to the mix in the food processor.

For the turkey: Do not buy frozen or one that's been "prebasted" (injected with saline). You can place an advance order for a fresh one of the size you want (for feeding nine and having some leftovers, I'd recommend 14-16 lbs.) at either Price Chopper or Hannaford, and pick it up on the Weds. It'll keep overnight in a cooler in your garage or in the trunk of your car, saving refrigerator space.

If you are going to do your turkey with stuffing of any kind, I recommend the two temperature method - about 40 minutes at 425 degrees, followed by the rest of the cooking time at 325. You may want to cover the breast with aluminum foil for the last hour or so to avoid overcooking the breast meat.

If you like a good bread stuffing, but don't like it to be really soggy, make the stuffing using good, crusty, chewy Italian bread (The Tuscan Hearty loaf from one of Price Chopper's Artisan bakeries is ideal). Just before making the stuffing, lay out the bread slices on your oven racks, turn the oven on to 250 degrees, and let the bread dry out for half an hour. Then tear up the bread into bite-sized chunks and proceed. If you're inexperienced at seasoning stuffing, try using Bell's Seasoning (in small yellow box in supermarkets for about $0.69), which is a nice powdered blend with about the right mix of sage, other herbs, and black pepper.

JeffF just beat me, dammit. Seriously, consider deep frying! It's not at all what you expect...the extreme heat of the conductive cooking sears and carmelizes the skin of the turkey almost immediately, sealing the flesh away from the greasy oil while keeping in all the tasty natural juices (and whatever spicy marinades you inject beforehand). The skin becomes a cardiac time-bomb, of course, but the meat itself is juicy, flavorful, but not at all greasy.

My mom often makes cranberry salsa, which is similar to the cranberry relish above but also has cilantro and finely diced jalapenos.

I tried making my own cranberry sauce once, and was amazed at how similar it was to the canned stuff. You might like it better while it's still hot and liquid, though.

Various facts that ought to be entered into evidence here:

1) We have a 20-22 lb turkey from a local farm on order through the Co-Op, to be picked up on Wednesday. I'm not sure if they arrive frozen or not, but we have procured a turkey.

2) As far as stuffing goes, my mother makes the best stuffing EVAR. I have no idea what's in it, but I plan to get the recipe.

3) I can't stand bourbon, owing to some unpleasant experiences with Jim Beam while in college. That extends to pretty much any brand of whiskey, and whiskey flavored stuff.

I'm open to the idea of brining the turkey. I really like the results from brining shrimp before grilling them, and will consider giving it a try, depending on the condition of the turkey (frozen or not) and the time required for brining.

Deep frying, not so much...

"We have a 20-22 lb turkey from a local farm on order"

Hello! Information we could have used before!

Deep frying is right out. Thirteen pounds is about the max for any home frying rig and first timers are advised to start with a breast or a duck just to get the hang of the process. By the way, before you deep fry anything figure out what you are going to do with 3-5 gallons of used peanut oil. A big funnel stolen from the chemistry lab will help get the cooled oil back into the jug.

You also need to procure a monster roasting pan for a turkey that big (don't even think about a foil pan from the supermarket)and make sure you stage the dishes that need oven time so that you're not trying to roast sweet potatoes at 450 before the turkey is out of the oven.

The best advice I can give is to pick up the Cook's Illustrated cook book, "The New Best Recipes" a week in advance and read all of the background info; they try every variation possible and usually distill it down to a reasonably simple protocol.

Final advice: Drink about half as much as you'd like to; it's going to be a long day and you can bask in the compiments while others clean up later.

20-22 pounds? Holy Moses.

I hesitate to underline the brining. I did it with a kosher bird two years ago, and the meat was very tasty. The drippings were unusable for gravy.

I would also joint the bird and roast the legs and thighs separately from and longer than the breast and wings. Purchase two remote digital thermometers, and roast the breast to 160-165F and the legs to 180F. And roast the bird HOT! 500 degree oven, and do it fast.

Stick a couple of roasted garlic bulbs in the body cavity.

Let the bird rest for a while after roasting, prior to carving. Also, buy an electric carving knife.

You are halfway there if you're using a local farm bird. Supermarket birds taste like cardboard. We go with the high temperature, overcook the bird approach, but for a monster bird we'll start out at 375-400F, then crank it up to 450F to get the skin crisp. Have some hoisin sauce handy to make the most of it.

We go for Aunt Betsey's Cranberry Chutney

2 lbs fresh cranberries - pulse chop lightly in the cuisinart
1 lb brown sugar (or less, 1/2 to 3/4 lb)
1 box golden raisins (or somewhat fewer ordinary ones)
2 apples, peeled and chopped
1/2 cup cider vinegar
juice of one lemon
1 tsp lemon zest (or zest of one lemon)

Cook it up in a big pot, you can tweak the sugar and raisins while it cooks.

If you want a non-cranberry alternative, try lingonberry jam, the variant with little sugar. You can probably find it at IKEA.

Re: brining... Last year was the first year I cooked turkey for everyone (and all the fixings, which meant I was in the kitchen from about 4:00 p.m. Wednesday until early afternoon Thursday, but it was worth it), and I brined it using a simple recipe from the local paper, which basically boiled down to submerge it in a big stock pot in a mix of cold water, sugar, salt, some garlic, thyme, bay leaves, allspice, juniper berries, throw some ice on top, and let it sit overnight. Anyway, it turned out really good. Mmmmm...turkey. Good luck. Don't forget the pumpkin and apple pie.

Another almost-traditional, but better, side dish:

Mashed Sweet Potatoes (Cooks Illustrated)

4 Tbsp unsalted butter
2 Tbsp heavy cream
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp sugar
2 lbs sweet potatoes

0. Peel, quarter lengthwise, and cut crosswise sweet potatoes
into 1/4-inch thick slices
1. Combine butter, cream, salt, sugar, and potatoes in 3-4 qt
saucepan; cook, covered, over low heat, stirring occasionally,
until potatoes fall apart when poked w/ fork (35-40 min)
2. Off heat, mash potatoes in saucepan w/ potato masher (or fork),
stir in pepper, serve immediately.

This recipe has the advantages of actually tasting like sweet
potatoes (instead of marshmallows) and not requiring the already-
in-use oven.

Let me add to the pile-on suggesting the cranberry-orange relish; some variation of that has been on our family Thanksgiving table for years, and it always makes new converts. The particular variation I do has a bit of maple syrup for sweetness and a shot of Cointreau to up the orange ante, and let it sit and soak for a day before serving.

Here's what my fiancee and I did for the best turkey we've ever had:

Step 1) BRINE THE TURKEY! All you need is salt and water, maybe some peppercorns too.

Step 2) We rubbed under the skin of the bird with an herbed compound butter. I don't remember what herb was in it. If you don't enjoy handling raw poultry...you'll find this step pretty gross. I didn't mind it.

Step 3) Let the bird warm up at room temperature a bit before roasting. For a 20lb this step will take 2 hrs or so. By reducing the temperature difference between the inside of the bird and the oven, you help guarantee an evenly cooked turkey. You can partially combine this thermalization with the butter rubbing step.

Step 3.5) Our bird was stuffed with aromatics (onion, carrot, apple). These were discarded after cooking.

Step 4) Don't overcook it! This is probably THE most important step. The best possible way to ensure this is to use a probe thermometer. I use a thermocouple probe thermometer with heat-resistant cable and an external digital display. Roast the turkey to your desired internal temperature, though anything over 165 in the breast and it will start to dry out (especially if it isn't brined). The legs can take a little more...but they're much more tolerant to overcooking?

We started the roasting hot (450 deg or 500 deg) for a half hour and then dropped it down to about 350 for the rest of the time.

If you want your turkey to LOOK amazing, do the Martha Stewart trick -- cover in a butter-and-wine soaked cheesecloth and then baste every half hour. It's a fair amount of extra work, and none of the flavor soaks into the meat (the skin is, after all, waterproof)...but WOW that turkey was the most perfect golden brown I've EVER seen (and that includes the fake/improperly cooked turkeys they put on TV commercials).

Step 5) Wait. Don't carve it. Let it sit for a half hour. Something about juices redistributing. It will stay warm (it's roughly spherical...low surface-area-to-mass ratio) and the internal temperature will continue to rise as the bird thermalizes.

Step 6) Carve. Eat. Revel in the glory of the best turkey ever.

The nice thing about roasting meat is that the rate of heat transfer is so low you can fiddle with the parameters (such as temperature and cooking time) quite a bit -- as long as you close the feedback loop properly with an internal temperature reading.

reference:
http://www.marthastewart.com/page.jhtml?type=content&id=recipe1656&site=

Fiancee, huh?