Home Cooked Sunday: Thanksgiving Dinner

This week for Sunday Dinner we had a Thanksgiving feast.  It was a great way to kick off the holiday week! 

Menu
Dinner: Roasted Turkey and Vegetables, Cornbread Dressing, Sweet Potato Casserole

Carolyn also brought a yummy corn casserole and oreo cheesecake for dessert.  Here's a picture of our feast.

And the great thing is- after spending much of the afternoon in the kitchen cooking, we'll have enough leftovers to eat for the short week we will be in town before we head to Houston to spend Thanksgiving with our family.

This was my first time to cook a turkey, and I sort of made this recipe up as I went along.  I watched some episodes on Food Network this week and combined several ideas I got.  I had fun, and it turned out great!  The turkey was crisp on the outside and so juicy and flavorful on the inside... yum!

The Turkey

Brine:

• 6 quarts water
• 3/4 cup salt
• 1/3 cup sugar
• 1 cup apple cider vinegar
• 1 head of garlic, peeled and broken up
• 6 bay leaves
• 1/2 onion, cut into large chunks

• 13 lb. turkey
• 1 stick butter, softened
• 1 1/2 tsp. salt
• 1/2 tsp. pepper
• 1 tsp. dried basil
• 1 tsp. dried rosemary
• 1 tsp. dried sage
• 1/2 tsp. paprika
• 1 Tbs. fresh parsley, chopped
• 1 bundle fresh thyme
• 1 red onion, chopped into large chunks
• 1 head of garlic, peeled
• 3 carrots, peeled and chopped into large chunks
• 5 red potatoes, chopped into large chunks
• 1-2 cups of chicken broth
• 1 cup white wine
• olive oil

Directions:

In a large pot heat water and following 6 brine ingredients to dissolve salt and sugar and release flavor of remaining ingredients.  Remove from heat.  Fill a large bucket halfway full of ice and place turkey, cavity side up, on top.  Allow brine to cool a little and then pour brine into the bucket allowing turkey to be fully submerged in liquid.  Cover and leave turkey soaking overnight (at least 12 hours).  Note: If you have room in your refrigerator you can reduce amount of ice and keep in there. 

Remove turkey from the brine and place on rack in roasting pan, breast side up, on the counter for about 30 minutes allowing it to dry and come to room temperature.  Meanwhile, combine butter and next 6 ingredients.  Rub all over the outside of the turkey and under the skin on the breast.  Tie the bundle of thyme with butchers twine and place inside the cavity of the turkey.  Place a quarter of the onion inside the cavity along with a few cloves of garlic, and one carrot.  Place the remaining onion, garlic, carrots, and potatoes in the bottom of the roasting pan with chicken broth and white wine.  Tuck the wings under the turkey and tie the legs together. 

Drizzle olive oil over the top of the turkey and place in the oven at 350 degrees for 3 hours or until internal temperature of turkey reaches 165 degrees.  Remove turkey every hour to baste with liquid and check temperature.  When turkey is done, allow to rest for 30 minutes before carving.  Joey did the honor of carving our bird.  It was his first time and he did a great job!

Corn Bread Dressing

recipe courtesy of Mom

Ingredients:

• 2 pkgs corn bread mix, cooked according to package instructions
• 3 slices of bread
• 6 hard boiled eggs
• 2 stalk of celery, finely diced (I only used 1)
• 1 yellow onion, finely diced (I used half)
• 1 stick butter, melted
• 2 raw eggs, lightly whisked
• 2-3 cans chicken broth
• salt, pepper, poultry seasoning, sage: to taste

Combine all ingredients in a 9 x 13 casserole dish.  Bake at 400 degrees for 20-30 minutes or until slightly browned and crusty on top.

Sweet Potato Casserole

I adapted this one from one I had from Momma Hance.

Ingredients:

• 3 sweet potatoes, peeled and chopped into large chunks
• 3/4 cups sugar
• 3 eggs
• dash of salt and dash of cinnamon
• 1 tsp. vanilla
• 1 stick butter

Topping:

• 1 stick melted butter
• 1 cup brown sugar
• 1/2 cup finely chopped pecans
• 1 cup mini marshmellows

Put potatoes in large pot and cover with water.  Bring water to boil on stove and cook for about 20 minutes or until potatoes are fork tender.  Drain water and add remaining ingredients to potatoes in pot and mash.  Place into a 2 quart baking dish and bake at 350 degrees for 20 minutes.  Meanwhile, combine all ingredients for topping.  Remove sweet potatoes from oven, pour topping over top of potatoes, and return to oven for another 10 minutes.

Wishing you a Happy Thanksgiving with lots of great food and time with people you love!