Happy Thanksgiving!

First, I wanted to say thank you to everyone who has been reading and sharing the blog. I really appreciate your support and all of your kind words! I apologize for letting those Thanksgiving followers down at “T minus 3” but as we got closer, I had to pick either sleeping or blogging, and sleeping won out!

Just to summarize, here is what the two days before Thanksgiving looked like:

T minus 2…Tuesday was an early day! I got up at 5am to shred my Mississippi Roast that cooked overnight. The house smelled wonderful when I woke up and yes, I had a taste before showering and heading to Maryann’s for a hair cut and color at 7:30am. Headed to work after that for a full day of meetings. After work, I picked up my turkey and the last few grocery items that I had missed from my previous trips. We heated up the leftover Chicken Parm from the weekend, I wrote out my to do list for Wednesday, washed all of my crystal and barware, then headed to bed!

T minus 1…Wednesday was my big prep day! I was up by 6:30am and started by washing every fruit and vegetable that I bought over my 4 trips to different grocery stores! Next on the docket was Apple Bourbon cake. I’m not a baker, so following the recipe exactly was a bit of a challenge for me. It wasn’t hard, but there were a lot of steps. The outcome was delicious and it made my house smell great all day. This cake was time consuming, but totally worth it! Next was the pie dough. I have to say that traditionally, I make the best apple pie. This year, things didn’t quite work for me. I made 3 pie doughs and they all failed. After the third fail at 7pm, I abandoned the apple pie idea and made an apple crisp instead.

The herb butter for the turkey came next. I love this herb butter but it is definitely a commitment! I then prepped and baked 12 potatoes for my Auntie Pat potato recipe and headed out to pick up the Thanksgiving flowers and get a manicure. My hands deserved a manicure after the last 4 days of washing dishes, glasses, and fruits and vegetables! Once I got home, I started baking my sweet potatoes for my Sweet Potatoes with Hot Honey recipe (had to sub Serrano peppers for Fresno since I couldn’t find them), put my ice cream base in the ice cream maker, made Mississippi Roast sandwiches with shredded Provolone cheese for dinner, swept and washed the floor, setup my tables and chairs, put out fresh candles, filled my vases with candle oil, and then finally headed to bed!

Thanksgiving Day!!!

After a week of prep, it finally arrived! I was up by 7am, made coffee, and got started on setting the tables. I prepared my antipasto, defrosted the meatballs and gravy, put my turkey stock on the stove to warm, washed my mushrooms, chopped some pancetta for the gravy, prepped my turkey breasts, and got all of the white wine, Pelligrino, and soda chilling. My husband, and faithful assistant, vacuumed the house, got the Green Egg going, and roasted some red peppers for me! We topped things off with a Champagne toast with the boys, then all went to shower and get ready for our family.

The day went awesome! Had one blip with the turkey (cooked too fast and was way ahead of schedule for serving), but otherwise, things came together nicely. I got my turkey gravy done and delegated my cousin Bill to make the mushrooms (they were awesome by the way!). I thought the food was delicious and my family seemed to agree. The gravy made up for the slightly dry turkey. Wine was flowing all night with a couple of spills and a broken glass or two, but everyone had fun.

We ended the night with a full sweet table - apple crisp, apple bourbon cake, chocolate ganache cake, swiss roll with carmel, apple, and cream cheese filling, cannolis, lemon knots, and snickerdoodles. Thanks to my sister Lia, my mom Geri, Auntie Pat, and my cousins Bill and Ann for bringing all for the delicious desserts!

I was so happy to have all of my family together for Thanksgiving! The night ended up a few too many drinks, my bad DJ skills, and some dancing. I don’t think I ever laughed so hard! It will be hard to erase the memory of my brother-in-law Miguel doing the “wash yourself” dance or the Soul Train line that we formed. Thanks to my wonderful family for making this Thanksgiving memorable. I am grateful for all of you…Tony, Anthony, Michael, Mom, Lia, Miguel, Diego, Lili, Auntie Pat, Bill, Ann, Lindsay, and Kelly. I am looking forward to many more Thanksgiving celebrations with all of you!

Thanks for indulging me on my Thanksgiving recap! Recipes that I didn’t include links to in this post will follow, so keep scrolling! Happy Thanksgiving every one!

The Final 2016 Thanksgiving Menu

Starters

• Titi and Uncle Tone’s meatballs with gravy
  
• Roasted sweet peppers with chiles
  
• Antipasto with spicy soppressata, serrano ham, mozzarella, fontinella, heirloom cherry tomatoes, and spiced olives
  
• Sea-salt dusted crackers with port wine cheese
  
• Cool ranch doritos (for Diego) and Lays’ Limon chips (for Lili)

Entree

• Lemon-herb turkey breast with lemon-garlic gravy
  
• Twice roasted sweet potatoes with hot honey
  
• Auntie Pat’s double-baked potatoes (v 2.0)
  
• Green beans with chiles and lemon oil
  
• Sautéed mushrooms with red wine, thyme and garlic
  
• French rolls (store bought - just ran out of time to make from scratch!)

Sweet Table

• Apple crisp with cranberry and orange ice cream
  
• Apple bourbon bundt cake
  
• Chocolate ganache cake
• Swiss roll cake with carmel, apple, and cream cheese filling
• Cannoli
• Anginetti (Italian lemon knot cookies)
• Snickerdoodles

Lemon Herb Turkey with Lemon Garlic Gravy

So let’s start with the main meal, shall we?

Full disclosure. This is NOT the turkey breast I made for Thanksgiving, but it is very close! I forgot to take a picture of the finished turkey breast, so I’m using a picture of my “practice” turkey breast.

I originally found this recipe back in 2007 from Bon Appetit magazine. It is SO good that I make this turkey every year. I have talked about doing something different a few times, but my son Anthony has been adamant about not changing things up. There are several steps, but the outcome is worth it. I’ve incorporated my modifications into the recipe below.

Lemon Herb Butter

• 2 lemons
• 2 heads of garlic
• 4 sticks of unsalted butter at room temperature (leave out overnight)
• 1 bunch of chopped Italian parsley
• 3-4 tablespoons of fresh fennel fronds
• 2 small shallots
• 2 tablespoons of chopped fresh sage
• 2 tablespoons of fresh thyme
• 2 tablespoons of chopped fresh rosemary
• 1-2 large pinches of saffron threads
• 2 pinches of kosher salt
• 10-12 cranks of fresh ground pepper

Make 4 long ½ inch deep cuts in the lemons and place in a bowl in the microwave. Microwave for 2 minutes. Squeeze the juice from the lemons into the bowl and reserve all of the juice for the gravy. This next part is kind of a PIA. Scrape all of the fruit and rind (white parts of the peel) from the peel. I’ve tried using a grapefruit spoon to scrape the fruit and pith, but found it easier to just take a sharp knife and run it along the peel. Get as close to the peel as you can. Set the peels aside.

Next, put two heads of garlic in a bowl and cover them with water. Microwave for about 3 minutes or until the garlic is soft. Remove the garlic from the water, let the garlic cool, then peel the garlic.

Place the garlic and lemon peel into a food processor. Pulse a few times to chop the peel and the garlic. Add the butter and the rest of the ingredients. Process until combined. Place the butter into a Tupperware container and place in the refrigerator. You can make the butter 2-3 days ahead, but you need to bring it back to room temperature before using it on the turkey.

My version of this recipe is actually double what the recipe calls for. I use a lot of butter on my turkey. I also reserve about 4 tablespoons to make the gravy. Keep this in a separate container so that you don’t forget it!

Turkey Breasts

Wash and dry two 6-8 pound turkey breasts, then let the breasts sit out until they come to room temperature. Place the skin side down on a sheet pan. Drizzle the bottom of the turkey with olive oil, kosher salt, and some fresh ground pepper. Flip the turkey over, loosen the skin from the breast, then insert the butter between the skin and the breast. Use a lot of butter. Push the butter down into the breast as much as possible. Drizzle the top of the breast with more olive oil, kosher salt, and fresh ground pepper. Place any leftover butter in the microwave and melt it (not fully, just so that it is a smooth paste). You can use this to baste the turkey breast.

We cooked the turkey breasts on the Green Egg, with the place setter, at a temperature of 325 degrees. Place the turkey breasts directly on the grate, facing in opposite directions. The breasts will cook for about 15-20 minutes per pound until they reach an internal temperature of 160 degrees. The cooking time for two breasts is the same as it is for a single breast. I know that is hard to believe, but it is true. This is the mistake that I made. If you are cooking 2 eight pound breasts, the cooking time will be about 2 hours. Make sure to rotate the breasts half way through the cooking time. When you rotate the turkeys, baste the breasts with the leftover butter.

Let the breasts cool for about 15 minutes before cutting. Unfortunately, the time mistake I made meant that we started cooking the breasts too early and they were ready well in advance of dinner. As a result, the breasts were a little dry, but luckily, the kickass gravy recipe below saved the meal!

Lemon Garlic Gravy

• 9 cups of turkey stock (see my previous post on how to make this recipe, or use 3 boxes of chicken stock)
• ¼ pound of diced pancetta
• 6 garlic cloves, minced
• 2 shallots, minced
• ¼ cup all purpose flour
• Reserved lemon juice
• Lemon herb butter

Heat the turkey stock in a pot until it comes to a simmer. In a separate pot on medium heat, cook the pancetta with the lemon herb butter and a little olive oil, until the pancetta starts to crisp. Add the shallots and cook two minutes longer. Add the flour and cook until the flour mixture is a nice golden color. Add the garlic and the turkey stock, one ladle full a time, while continuously whisking the gravy. It will be thick at first, but don’t worry. Keep adding the stock and whisking until all you have used all of the stock. Add the reserved lemon juice and let the gravy simmer on a low heat. Taste the gravy and add more salt and pepper to taste. You can also add some additional fresh thyme if you like.

When you are ready to serve the gravy, strain it through a fine mesh sieve, then serve!

Enjoy!

Auntie Pat Potatoes v 2.0

Ingredients

• 12 russet potatoes (1 per guest)
• 4 pounds shredded mozzarella
• 4 sticks unsalted butter, cut into pieces
• Milk
• Kosher salt
• Fresh ground pepper
• Paprika

Prepare the Potatoes

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Pierce the potatoes all over, run them under cold water, then wrap them in aluminum foil. Place the potatoes on two sheet pans, then bake in the oven for at least one hour or until soft to the touch. Switch the pans half way through the baking time.

When the potatoes are soft, remove them from the foil, one at a time, peel the skin, and place the potatoes in a large bowl. Peel about half of the potatoes at one time. Add milk, maybe ¼ cup, two sticks of butter, and mash the potatoes with a potato masher. If the potatoes are not smooth enough, add more milk. You add the milk by feel; just a little at a time until you get the right consistency. Add some freshly cracked pepper to taste and a pinch of kosher salt. Fold in about 1 ½ pounds of the shredded mozzarella. Once the mozzarella is incorporated, taste the potatoes and add salt as necessary.

Transfer the potatoes to a 13 x 9 pyrex baking dish, smooth out the potatoes, then place the rest of the shredded mozzarella on the top of the potatoes. Once the potatoes have cooled, cover with plastic wrap, and refrigerate overnight.

Repeat with the remaining potatoes.

Reheat the Potatoes

The potatoes can be prepared 1 day ahead. On the day you are going to serve them, take the potatoes out of the refrigerator and let them come to room temperature. Sprinkle paprika over the top of the potatoes. Cook the potatoes at 325 degrees for about 45 minutes, or until the cheese has melted and is bubbly. Then serve!

T minus 3...

Monday, November 21st

Things I can check off my Thanksgiving to do list:

• Standard Market - done, but couldn’t find sweet potatoes or haricot vests
• Name cards and napkins - done, my not so crafty handiwork is below
• Decide what to do about the “roll situation” - done, going to try my hand at the Parker House roll recipe sent to me by my friend Maryanne
• Buy flowers for the dining room table and kitchen - done, thank you Standard Market!

Things to do tomorrow:

• Make the ice cream base (forgot to buy the dark chocolate today, so had to postpone my original plan)
• Pick up the turkey breasts, sweet potatoes, and green beans
• Make the kids’ beds
• Clean the oven
• Buy wine and other alcohol for Thanksgiving - delegated to my husband!

I did make time tonight to make a couple of different meals for dinner the next few nights. I wanted to make sure the refrigerator was stocked with leftovers so that I could focus the next two days on Thanksgiving.

For dinner tonight, I made steak tacos. Simple recipe - skirt steak, a little canola oil, kosher salt, pepper, and cumin. I seared the steaks on a flat griddle on the stovetop for about 2-3 minute per side and then let them sit covered with foil, until I was ready to serve them. I served the steak tacos with Spanish rice. Plenty of leftovers - check!

Tomorrow night we will have the last few pieces of chicken parmesan that I made on Friday night. I might (no promises), cook a pound of rigatoni as a side so that we have something to snack on for lunch on Wednesday. After all, I made gravy on Saturday, so I might as well put that to use. Oh, by the way, here is the results of that effort…

Wednesday is my main Thanksgiving prep and cooking day AND the kids arrive. I have a Mississippi Roast cooking in the slow cooker right now and I’ll reheat that on Wednesday night with some shredded Provolone. Not sure what I’ll serve as a side right now, but I’ll worry about that Wednesday night. Mississippi Roast just sounds gross, right? You can admit it! At first, I wouldn’t even read the recipe but I have to say, this roast rocks! It is a cross between pot roast and Italian beef. It has this really nice tangy flavor and I serve it like I would a beef sandwich and it is amazing. Got this recipe from the New York Times, so just follow the link. The only thing that I do different is that I use a whole stick of unsalted butter (only a sissy would use 4 tablespoons - come on!) and I add a bottle of beer and some of the extra pepperoncini juice. You MUST try this recipe!

Oh, did I mention that I subscribed to Sam Sifton’s Turkey Text from the New York Times? Yup - he has texted multiple times a day for the last four days. Don’t know why I chose to subscribe to the added pressure! It has been nice to receive reminders though to let me know how far behind I should feel!

Alright, I’m checking out for tonight. Sorry for the short post, but I’m up at 5am to shred my roast and get ready for my 7:30am haircut appointment. THAT is the most important item to check off the list tomorrow (um, besides the turkey breast pickup)!

Good night!

T minus 4...

Sunday, November 20th

Today has been a slow cooking day at madonia.kitchen. In fact, except for some soft scrambled eggs with cottage bacon, I haven’t spent anytime cooking. It’s been a busy day cleaning and reorganizing the kitchen for the most part. Mostly ad hoc projects that totally didn’t need to get done today, but my ADD got the best of me.

The only cooking going on this evening is meatball prep for our Thanksgiving appetizer, and it is not even being done by me! The chef wishes to remain anonymous, but I will say that his meatballs are the best I have ever tasted. They are so go that I have not even tried to replicate them. Here is his secret recipe…

Ingredients

• 3 ½ pounds grass fed, 85% lead, ground chuck
• 3 eggs
• Italian bread crumbs (Cento is his favorite)
• Garlic powder
• Onion powder
• Italian seasoning
• Kosher salt
• Pepper

Time to Make the Meatballs!

Crack the eggs and put them in the bowl of a standing mixer with the paddle attachment. Mix the eggs on low with a lot of the seasoning. How much? Good question, but there is not a good answer. Use several “shakes” of onion and garlic powder - equal parts - and double the amount of italian seasoning. Use a pinch of salt and a couple of cranks of the pepper mill to start. Mix the seasoning and the eggs well, then add the meat. Add the bread crumbs until the meat starts to bind together. Again, I don’t have an exact measurement, so just keep an eye on it. You will know by the look of the mixture.

Heat a frying pan with a couple of tablespoons of olive oil on low on the stove. Start to make your meatballs - we are making mini meatballs today (this recipe produced about 60). As the meatballs cook, add additional seasoning - garlic powder, onion powder, italian seasoning, and pepper. The chef says he over seasons the meatballs. As the meatballs start to get color, flip them. Keep your pan moving so that the meatballs don’t stick. Cook them until they are “crusty brown.” Cut into one, to test that they are done. We tasted a lot of meatballs during the meatball making process around here!

This is a recipe you will just master by feel. You just got to jump in and try this one!

We shared a great bottle of wine during the process - our favorite - a San Andreas Pinot Noir from Hirsch Vineyards.

So what’s on the agenda for tomorrow? Well, tomorrow is a work day, but I do have some prep work planned…

• Final round of grocery shopping - hitting Standard Market after work
• Making the ice cream base for the Cranberry, Orange, Chocolate ice cream
• Writing out the name cards and making my place settings
• Deciding on what to do about the “roll situation” - the recipe last night was just meh. I just don’t have a knack for bread. I think the rolls will be store bought again this year!

That’s probably all I can handle for one evening. Since we can’t eat the meatballs, we need to come up with a dinner plan. I need a rest tonight, so I think we are going to Portillos. Doesn’t seem like the best plan but I’m tired and hungry and need a night off.

Until tomorrow - stay tuned…

And the Countdown Begins..."T - 5" Days

Saturday, November 19th

I’m 5 days and 14 people away from Thanksgiving! I had a brief panic attack yesterday, but feel back on track now. My turkey breasts are ordered (all 12-16 pounds of them), my tablecloths are washed and ironed, and my new burlap table runners from FairStreetCrafts have arrived!

Grocery shopping started yesterday with trips to Whole Foods and Jewel. Today, I added a trip to Caputos along with a visit to Celidan Florist, to drop off vases for my Thanksgiving centerpieces. I have a batch of Sunday Gravy and my turkey stock both simmering on the stove and I just made the dough for my butter and parsley rolls (this is my test batch). I’m taking my first break since 6:30am - sitting on the couch in front of a nice warm fire with a glass of Cabernet Sauvignon from Tin Barn and some soppresseta and crackers. It’s nice to finally get a break!

Well, I guess it is time to share some recipes, huh? Well, I used the Sunday gravy recipe already on this page, but I did make a couple of minor tweaks. This time, I added three anchovies packed in oil to the pot while I sautéed my onions. The anchovies melted completely and just sort of rounded out the flavor. I’m only 5 hours into the cooking process, so we will see what the final product tastes like! This time, I also used ¾ bottle of Chianti and a full box of beef broth. The tomatoes just didn’t have as much juice as normal, so it needed the extra liquid to get a good simmer going.

For my turkey stock recipe, I borrowed Sam Sifton’s Serious Turkey Stock recipe from the New York Times. I made a few changes to the original recipe:

• I used 4 turkey drumsticks instead of the combination of drumsticks and wings. Why? Because Whole Foods only had drumsticks!
• I tossed the drumsticks with canola oil, salt and pepper before roasting them in the oven. I also cut up two two slices of cottage bacon and placed that under each drumstick.
• I added the onion, celery, carrot, and thyme to the stock pot before even bringing the water to a boil. It was early and I hadn’t had any coffee yet, so this was just me, not fully reading the recipe.
• Instead of using all water, I used 6 cups of water and 2 boxes of chicken stock. I also added 6 cloves of garlic to the pot.

The recipe says “simmer as long as you can manage.” We are 5 hours in…I’ll let you know how long I managed!

I’ll add the recipe for the garlic parsley rolls once my “test” is complete. Right now, my break is over, so its back to the kitchen to stir the gravy and get those rolls in the oven!

More to come…

2016 Thanksgiving Menu

I can’t believe Thanksgiving is only two weeks away! I’m still working on my menu and haven’t yet ordered my turkey breast. Unfortunately (or fortunately for some), I have completely abandoned my ‘outside Thanksgiving’ plan again this year. One day, I’ll make that dream come true!

The good news is that I have pretty much decided on the table landscape (not important to most, but important to me) and have ordered my table runner and picked out my flower arrangements. I think I may have even picked out my place cards. Yes, I am THAT structured!

Here is the working draft of this year’s menu. I’ll post recipes as I go, but if you have any recommendations that you would like me to try, please let me know!

STARTERS
Titi and Uncle Tone’s meatballs with gravy
Roasted sweet peppers with chiles
Antipasto with spicy soppressata, serrano, mozzarella, fontinella, heirloom cherry tomatoes, and spiced olives
Sea-salt dusted crackers with port wine cheese
Special Lili & Diego snacks!

ENTRÉE
Lemon-herb turkey breast (on the Green Egg) with lemon-garlic gravy
Twice roasted sweet potatoes with hot honey, chiles and butter
Auntie Pat double-baked potatoes version 2.0
Green beans with chiles and lemon oil
Sautéed mushrooms with red wine, thyme and garlic
Garlic and parsley butter rolls

DESSERT
Apple pie with cranberry, orange, and chocolate chunk ice cream
Apple bourbon bundt cake
Chocolate ganache cake

Looking forward to my favorite holiday! More to come soon!

Happy pre-Thanksgiving!

Getting Ready for Thanksgiving

It is no surprise that my favorite holiday is Thanksgiving. Thanksgiving is all about family and food, two of my favorite things!

I wait all year for the Thanksgiving editions of both Bon Appetite and Food and Wine magazines. I read every recipe and then build the perfect menu. The perfect menu seems to be about the same every year lately. It is all of our favorites: Lemon Herb Turkey Breast, Auntie Pat (double-baked) Potatoes, Geri’s Double-baked Sweet Potatoes with Brown Sugar and Maple Syrup, some kind of vegetable, and Rigatoni and Gravy. I make homemade apple pie and Fireman’s Apple Cake, another family tradition. I absolutely love this meal and I look forward to it all year long.

One of the things that I have always wanted to do is host Thanksgiving outside. A couple of years ago, I had an entire plan: tent, heaters, round tables with white table clothes, flowers, candles, etc. That plan was pretty costly, so I caved and kept it inside. This year, I’m revisiting “outside Thanksgiving” again, but am starting slowly. Step 1: cook my turkey breast on the Green Egg!

So, here is my first practice recipe for Thanksgiving…Lemon Herb Roasted Turkey Breast!

Ingredients

• 5 pound turkey breast, bone in
• 1 ½ sticks unsalted butter, room temperature
• 1 shallot, mixed
• 4 cloves of garlic, minced
• ¼ cup fresh parsley, chopped
• 1 ½ tablespoons fresh rosemary, minced
• 1 ½ tablespoons fresh thyme, minced
• 1 tablespoon lemon zest
• 1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• Pinch of kosher salt

Prepare the Turkey Breast

Mix the butter and all of herbs together and let the herb butter sit overnight.

Rinse the turkey breast thoroughly and dry. Separate the skin from the breast and rub the inside of the breast with the herb butter. The goal is to use about ¾ of the prepared butter on the inside of the breast. Rub the remaining butter on the outside of the breast and then season salt and pepper. Make sure to salt and pepper the underside of the breast as well. Let sit, uncovered, while you prepare the grill.

Bring the grill to 325 degrees. The turkey will cook over indirect heat. If you are using the Green Egg, make sure that you insert the plate setter.

Place the turkey breast on a rack, skin side up on the grill. Cook the turkey 15-20 minutes per pound, rotating the rack every 20 minutes. Let the turkey reach an internal temperature of 160 degrees, then remove from the grill and let sit covered for about 5-10 minutes.

So what’s the verdict?

The turkey turned out perfect!

The breast was a beautiful golden brown on the outside and the skin was nice and crispy. The breast itself was incredibly moist; you could practically cut it with a fork! We used apple wood chips in the Green Egg, which we could have done without. The turkey was just a little too smokey with the chips, so I’ll leave those off for the big day!

For our Green Egg Turkey Test I made garlic mashed potatoes, with some of the same butter that I used for the breast. Incredible! I spent so much time worrying about the turkey breast, I completely forgot to make my gravy, so you will have to read my official Thanksgiving post to get the official gravy recipe!

Happy Test Thanksgiving!