Happy Thanksgiving Eve

Happy Thanksgiving Eve! 

It's that time of the year again...food coma time. I love Thanksgiving, it's my favorite time of the year to be in the kitchen and cook. Okay, who am I kidding? I love to be in the kitchen everyday, all year long. But, Thanksgiving is just extra special. Here is one of my favorite desserts to make, my Peanut Butter Pumpkin Cheesecake Bars. Here's a video on how to make it.

Now, it's time to brine the turkey! I thought I would write a post this morning because my phone is blowing up over questions about brining and things to do ahead of time. Here's a few of my tips for the day:

#1- If you want to wet brine your turkey, remove you turkey from its packaging. Remove the giblets and the neck and set aside. Add the turkey to a large brining bag or large zip top bag. Add a cup of salt (you can add sugar if you want as well, but the salt is a must) to each gallon of water that you need. 

These Ziplock Big Bags are great because they can handle even the largest turkey that you may have. My turkey is a fresh, 20 pound butterball (my nickname these days because I love to eat, haha). 

I added salt, sugar, guajillo peppers, lemons, limes, oranges, peppercorns, garlic, thyme, rosemary, dill and sage to the bag and then filled enough water to completely cover the turkey. Then I sealed the bag, put in in a large roasting pan and put it in our second refrigerator. If you don't have an extra fridge, no problem, just add it to cooler and put ice it in. You MUST keep the turkey cold. Most refrigerators run between 35-38 degrees, so that is what you are looking for.  

#2 - Add the neck to a sauce pan and cover with chicken broth or water. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and let simmer. I like to simmer it with onions, carrots and celery for a couple hours. Then, I make extra gravy today with the broth. Of course, I will make more gravy tomorrow after I roast the turkey with all the drippings, but I like to have extra gravy because we never seem to have enough. By making some gravy ahead today with the turkey neck, you won't run out of gravy tomorrow. 

#3- Cut your veggies up ahead of time. I chopped my celery and carrots in one bag,

and just plain onions in another bag. These are sliced thinly to make the topping for our green bean casserole. When you are ready to make the topping, toss these onions in a mixture of flour, panko bread crumbs, salt and ancho chili powder then add to a baking sheet and bake at 475 degrees for 25-30 minutes or until nice and crispy. 

#4- Make homemade croutons for your stuffing, they are so much better than packaged stuffing. And don't spend a ton of money on the bread for the croutons, go to the discounted bread area because you need day or two old bread for the croutons. Here are a few that I made last night.

Basil Olive Oil Asiago & Garlic Croutons - 

I make these from French Baguettes (2 loaves), cubed with 1/4 cup of olive oil, 2 minced garlic cloves, 1 tsp salt and pepper. I toss that around and the grate on the asiago cheese and bake at 400 degrees for 15 minutes or so. 

Then just add them to a zip top bag to preserve freshness until ready to assemble the stuffing. And yes, I call it stuffing even though I do not stuff it in the

 bird. 

Grainy Dijon Mustard Pretzel Bread Croutons -

These are heavenly and they make for a very unique stuffing. Just take some pretzel buns or bread and cube it. Add it to some olive oil, grainy dijon mustard, garlic, salt and pepper. Bake at 400 degrees for 15 minutes or so. 

Smoked Paprika & Garlic Brioche Croutons - 

These have a great depth of flavor and make any stuffing awesome! I take some brioche buns or bread and cube it. I then add some olive oil, smoked paprika, sage, thyme, garlic, salt and pepper and bake at 400 degrees for 17-20 minutes. I find that the brioche takes a little longer to crisp up because it has more moisture content than a French baguette. So, just remember when you are making croutons that the time in the oven will depend on the bread that you are using and, of course, the temperature. I always put the timer on for 15 minutes and then check it from there. Keep baking until your desired crispness. 

Have fun cooking today. I hope some of these tips help! 

Post photos of your Thanksgiving food to social media with the hashtag #mealsarememories.

I would love to see all of them. 

Happy Thanksgiving