Charles ordered a turkey from K&K a couple weeks ago, and after a final tour of the City Market on Saturday morning, he managed to lug the 15lb. bird home via ETS. It sat in the fridge until the next day, when we washed and salted it in preparation for Monday. We decided on this method of cooking the turkey - no stuffing, high heat, and only a couple hours. This, I think, is what scared my family; no stuffing! Two hours! 450°F! That's crazy!
The turkey was in the oven Monday morning, along with an addition of onion, lemon, thyme, celery and sage in the cavity, at 9:30am and was done around 11:30am. I wish I would have taken a picture pre-carving, but here it is, ready for transport to my Nanny's larger apartment where we would be eating.
The gravy that accompanied the turkey recipe was excellent. My family has a long standing tradition of ruining the gravy, but I think this roux based one will likely be utilized around Christmas as well. Also, we substituted the turkey stock with chicken, which worked well.
The happy turkey card from my Mom.
My Mom took care of the mashed potatoes and Brussels sprouts over at my Nanny's, while my cousin brought a much loved green salad, and my Aunt did cranberries and her mashed yams - there's something about the way she cooks yams that's always good; this time there was lots of cinnamon and pecans.
Charles and I also handled the pumpkin pies along with a maple and salted pecan ice cream, a wild mushroom 'stuffing' that went over really well, I roasted some carrots and made some swiss chard, and we all enjoyed a bottle of en Santé's Green Envy wine.
As many reviewers said, the custard from the pumpkin pie recipe ended up making two regular sized pies, which worked out well. And I also followed other reviewers' advice and doubled the spices. The custard was rich and smooth, and the sour cream provided a subtle brightness. The crust from David Lebovitz worked well. Although it's sort of ugly, it was the right light and flaky base.
My family inevitably sticks fingers in the pie.
Maple and salted butter pecan ice cream
Tonight we used some left over turkey and the stock that simmered for the better part of yesterday evening, to make soup. I can feel a bit of a cold coming on, and warm turkey soup was certainly in order.
We hope you all had an excellent weekend!
