Thanksgiving Dinner, Turkey Help, Cooking Turkey
Thanksgiving Dinner, Timing is EVERYTHING!
Thanksgiving Dinner Timeline
I took the turkey out of the freezer and put it into the refrigerator four days before Thanksgiving so that it would thaw thoroughly. I also kept an eye on it to make sure it was thawing. The day before Thanksgiving I got the turkey out, removed the giblets. I covered the turkey with plastic wrap and put it back in the refrigerator.
I cooked up the giblets in chicken
stock with celery, onions, salt, pepper, and sage, just like my Mother
and Grandmother did. I simmered this most of the day. This is the broth
I used in the stuffing and gravy. It made all the difference in the world.
I made both stuffings the day before and stored them in the refrigerator.
Note: Do not put the stuffing into the turkey until you're ready to
put it in the oven. Two things off my list for Thanksgiving day. I
also made the White Chocolate cake, the Pearl Onion au Gratin, and the
Cranberry Compote. That's five things off my list.
My mother-in-law was making her dessert specialty, Strawberry Trifle and
the mashed potatoes. My sister-in-law was making the sweet potatoes. That's
eight things off my list for Thanksgiving Day.
That meant that from the Thanksgiving
Dinner menu all I had to prepare on Thanksgiving Day was:
Turkey
Glazed Ham
Peas
Candied Carrots
Green Bean Casserole
Creamed Corn
Cranberry Jelly
Madeira Gravy
Rolls
Pretty easy, especially since the peas, creamed corn and rolls only needed heating up, the jelly needed to be slid out of the can onto a plate. So I had to fuss with the turkey, glazed ham, candied carrots, green bean casserole and Madeira gravy.
Thanksgiving morning. I knew the turkey had to cook 3 1/2 to 4 1/2 hours. It had to be out of the refrigerator 1 to 1 1/2 hours prior to going into the oven. It had to be ready by 4:30. So, the turkey came of of the refrigerator at 10:45A. The stuffing that went into the turkey came out of the refrigerator at 11:30A. I stuffed the turkey and put it into the oven at 12:15. 4 1/2 hrs of cooking would mean it would be ready by 4:30-4:45. Since I needed to take the foil off for one hour for it to brown, take foil off turkey was on my list at 3:30. We checked the temperature so we were sure the turkey was done. The thigh temperature should be 175 degrees and the stuffing 160-165 degrees.
My
schedule looked something like this:
10:45A ......Turkey out of refrigerator
11:00A
11:30A.......Sage stuffing out of refrigerator/preheat oven
11:45A
12:00
12:15P.......Turkey (stuffed) into oven 325 degrees covered with foil
1:00P
1:30P
2:00P
2:30P........ Ham into convection oven 325 degrees - glaze every 15 -
20 minutes
3:00P
3:15P
3:30P..........Foil off turkey
3:45P ........Sage sausage and apple stuffing out of refrigerator
4:00P ........Pearl onion au gratin out of refrigerator
4:15P.........Sage sausage
and apple stuffing into
oven
................... Make green bean casserole
4:30P ........Turkey out of oven, out of roaster, cover with foil, rest
20-30 min.
....................Pearl Onion au Gratin into oven
....................Start
Madeira gravy
....................Make candied carrots
5:00P .........Pearl Onion au Grain out of oven - cover with foil
....................Green bean Casserole in oven
....................Check apple sage stuffing add liquid if needed
....................Start heating peas and corn
....................Carve turkey
................... Ham out of oven, carve
5:15P.........Apple sage stuffing out of oven
- cover with foil
....................Dinner rolls in oven
5:25 P .......Stir green bean casserole, add remaining onions to top
....................Dinner rolls out of oven
5:30P ........Green bean casserole out of oven
EAT!
As you can see a lot was going on around 4:30 I had my sister in law keep watchful eye over the Madeira gravy after I started it and my mother-in-law carve the turkey and ham while I saw to the other dishes.
I'm an admitted "A"
type so I like lists and I like organization. I liked this list because
I was able to relax knowing I was doing what needed to be done. I had
plenty of time to relax and get the table set. I got all the serving dishes
and serving utensils out. When my mother-in-law and sister-in-law walked
in the door I know they were surprised how well everything was going.
This really worked for me. I know that it can work for you. It's so simple. Figure out what time you want to have dinner and work backwards from that time.
Every Thanksgiving since I've been married I've heard about the time my sister-in-law left the giblets in the turkey when she cooked it. I also hear about the time she forgot to cook the stuffing. I'm sure that in the years to come I'll make a few blunders of my own.
What made this Thanksgiving
so enjoyable for me was adding new dishes. That's definitely a tradition
I'll continue. My nephew wanted to know if I had made that "green
bean stuff" and was very happy that I had. He also tried a bit of
everything - without being asked!
As Thanksgiving approaches we'll be adding more of our favorite Thanksgiving
recipes.
Thanksgiving
Recipes
Bourbon
Cranberry Sauce
Campbell's Green
Bean Casserole
Chestnut
Stuffing
Fresh
Cranberry Orange Compote
Homemade Turkey Broth
Madeira Gravy
Pearl Onions au Gratin
Sage Sausage and Apple Stuffing
Tangy Cranberry Apple Chutney
Tips on Cooking a Turkey
Tasty & Easy Green Bean Recipes
Blanched Green Beans
Fried Green Beans
Ginger Garlic Green Beans
Greek Green Beans
Greek Potatoes and Green Beans
Green
Beans a'la Waterman's
Green Beans Almondine
Green Beans Almondine (with a hint of lemon)
Green Beans Almondine (with an Asian flair)
Green Beans Almondine (with mushrooms)
Green Bean Casserole (Campbell's)
Green Bean Casserole (Cook's Illustrated)
Green Beans in Sour Cream & Tomato Sauce
Green Bean Salad, Dill, Parlsey &
Savory
Green Bean Salad, Feta & Pecans
Green Bean Salad, Provencal
Green Beans with Coconut
Green Beans with Ginger Butter
Green Beans with Onion Paste (Madhur Jaffrey)
Green Beans with Shallots
Italian Green Beans (St. Anna Beans)
Oven Roasted Green Beans
Pears with Green Beans & Bacon
Persian Green Beans & Rice
Sesame & Portobello Green Beans
Sicilian Green Bean & Fennel Salad (Cooking Light)
Stir-Fried Green Beans with Pork & Chilies
Sweet & Sour Green Beans
Greek Potatoes and Green Beans
Another winning recipe from www.all-creatures.org. Keeping in the Greek tradition the green beans are cooked with tomatoe and potatoes. According to my Greek friend Karen this is the way her mother would present this dish, but she says that she would consider adding some garlic and oregano to jazz it up a bit.
How to freeze fresh green beans
If you've been spoiled like me eating fresh green beans and dread the end of the season and going back to factory frozen or canned green beans, you should know that freezing green beans is the easiest way to have them year round. Many people prefer to freeze green beans as opposed to canning them. Freezing is much less time consuming and requires fewer tools. Canning requires jars, lids, and a pressure cooker.
Russian Green Beans in Sour Cream & Tomato Sauce
This is a recipe that we attribute to The Best Foods of Russia by Sonia Uvezian. It's a tasty and delightful green bean dish unlike any other we've had. It was our first attempt at Russian cuisine and a success! We used regular fat sour cream but you can certainly substitute light.
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