Thanksgiving Dinner Recipes

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Ingredients:
1 13-Pound WHOLE TURKEY fresh or thawed
1 Medium onion quartered
1 lemon quartered
1/4 Cup vegetable oil
1 Teaspoon dried thyme
1 Teaspoon dried tarragon
1 Tablespoon dried rosemary
1 Teaspoon salt
1/2 Teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

Instructions:

Preheat oven to 325.
Remove giblets and neck from turkey and reserve for broth.

Rinse turkey with cold running water and pat dry with paper towels. Place onion and lemon quarters in neck and body cavities.

In a small bowl, mix oil with herbs, salt and pepper. With your finger tips, gently loosen skin from the breast without pulling off the skin.

Place 1 tablespoon of herb mixture under skin; replace skin. Rub cavities and outside of turkey with remaining herb mixture.

Secure the neck skin to the back with skewers. Fold wings under back of turkey. Place legs in tucked position. May be prepared to this point, covered and refrigerated for several hours.

Place turkey, breast side up, on a rack in a large shallow (no more than 2-1/2 inches) deep roasting pan. Insert an oven-safe thermometer into the thickest part of the thigh, being careful it does not touch the bone.

Cover bird with a loose tent of foil. Roast turkey in a preheated 325 degree F. oven for about 2-1/2 hours.

Remove foil and baste bird with pan juices. Continue to roast for about another hour until meat thermometer registers 180 degrees F. in the thigh.

Remove turkey from oven and allow to rest for 15-20 minutes before carving. Transfer to a large platter and serve with gravy.

Instructions:

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees

Remove the rine from a large whole ham and score the fat in the traditional diamond pattern.

Stud it heavily with whole cloves and place it in a large roaster.

Pack One whole pound of brown sugar on to the top of the ham just as thick and as high as you cant pack it.

Dont worry about the part that falls off it will be left in the pan to melt into the glaze

Put this in the 400 degree oven for thirty to forty minutes until the brown sugar begins to melt.

Then pour one can of Classic Coke over the ham very gradually trying not to wash off the melting sugar.

Reduce the oven temp to 325 degrees.

For the remaining basting you will use a mixture of half burgandy wine and half pineapple juice basteing every 30 minutes for 4 hours. Be sure to dip up the pan juices and spoon them back up over the top too. The idea is to keep the meat super moist for the whole time it is cooking.

You may "tent it" with foil the first 3 and a half hours and I always do if I have a lot going on and might become distracted. This will be the best tasting ham you have every ate so be willing to devote a little extra time to it.

Ingredients:
3-4 loaves of white bread (or 5 if you like leftovers)
water
chicken broth
insides of the turkey
2 bunches of celery
1 or 2 onions
2 TBSP butter
1/2 tsp. sage
oysters (optional)
mushrooms (option)

Instructions:

The night before you want to eat the stuffing, break the bread into small pieces (about 1 inch squares) into 2 huge bowls or pots. Let the bread sit overnight to dry out.

The next day, after you remove the insides of turkey, boil them in water in 2/3 qt. sauce pan until cooked (about 20/30 minutes). Remove insides for later use or discard. Keep water and put aside.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Chop onion and celery and place into food processor until minced.

Melt 2-3 tablespoons of butter in large saucepan.
Saute onion and celery until heated through. Do not brown! (Saute mushrooms also at this time if wanted). Depending on how much stuffing you want and how much celery and onion you've chopped, you may have to saute the onion and celery in two parts.
Once cooked, pour the onion/celery mixture directly over the dried out bread.

Pour 1/2 tsp. sage over bread/onion/celery mixture.
Then take your reserved water and pour slowly over bread. The bread will shrink as you do this. Be careful not to pour too much water in.

Mixture thoroughly and smell/taste for perfect stuffing.

If you need more liquid, open a can of chicken broth and pour over bread. If you need more spice, add more sage.

If you are using oysters, add them now.
Once stuffing is of a consistency that it will stick together and does not look too dry, do not add more liquid.

Either stuff in turkey to be baked in oven, or put in 9 x 13 pan.

If using oysters, it is recommended that you bake the stuffing in a pan so as to ensure the oysters will be cooked through.

Bake in 350 degree oven for 45 minutes to an hour. You want the stuffing to have a nice brown crust on top.

Ingredients:
1 Can (10-1/2 ounces) condensed French onion soup
1 Soup Can water
1/4 Cup margarine
1 Cup celery cut into 1/4-inch cubes
1 Cup green onions thinly sliced
1-1/2 Teaspoons poultry seasoning
2 Packages (8 ounces each) cornbread stuffing mix
Vegetable cooking spray

Instructions:

Preheat oven to 350.

In 5-quart saucepan combine soup, water, margarine, celery, onions, and poultry seasoning. Bring to boil and remove from heat.

Stir in cornbread stuffing mix.

Bake stuffing in 1-1/2 quart casserole coated with non-stick vegetable cooking spray.

Bake, covered, at 350 degrees F. 45 minutes or until set.

Ingredients:
For each cup of gravy you need one tablespoon each of fat and flour

Instructions:

Before hand make up some rich turkey broth, use the bones or the organs. I like to use the bones but that means no big uncarved turkey on the dinner table.

You can simmer turkey neck, heart, gizzard, and and some minced onion, and celery and ½ t salt in enough water to cover until vegetables are done.

Dice the turkey liver and use the hot broth to simmer the diced turkey liver for about 15 minutes The turkey bones yield much more broth and you can add more vegetables to the pan.

Don't forget to get the brownings from the pan as mom says "that's the goodies" just after you've removed the cooked turkey and roasting rack from the roasting pan. Strain poultry drippings through a sieve into a 4-cup glass measuring cup.

I then use 3 tb of corn oil to stir around in the bottom of the pan and get out the brown bits that have baked on. That gets added to my turkey drippings and I still really "wash" the pan out with my turkey broth if its made (or the water Im going to use in my broth if I haven't made it yet).

To make Gravy you need three things; well seasoned fat, flour, and good Rich broth.

For each cup of finished gravy you need one tablespoon of Fat and one tablespoon of flour and 1 cup of broth.

The trick is to know How many cups of broth you have and to see if you have that much fat.

If you are light on the broth end you can add some canned chicken broth

If you are light on the fat side you can add a small amount of corn oil,.or just save the rest of your broth for storing and reheating the turkey.

There are a few more tricks to making good gravy. First be sure to take the measured fat and stir into it the measured flour and then put it over the burner. Make sure you have covered all the flour with fat and blended It well.

Then you cook the flour and fat mixture until it begins to smell Just slightly salty. It will be bubbly and look like its just this side of brown.

Next REMOVE THE PAN FROM THE BURNER and whisk in the entire measured liquids.

Then return the pan to the burner and slowly bring this almost to a boil.

Remember you already cooked the flour in the fat so all you need to do now is stir this until it thickens up to what you like. You can let it stay sort of thin or let it cook out until it is thicker than your Mashed potatoes.

Ingredients:
1 Package Neck, heart, gizzard from TURKEY giblets
1 Medium carrot thickly sliced
1 Medium onion thickly sliced
1 Medium celery rib thickly sliced
1/2 Teaspoon salt
1 TURKEY liver
3 Tablespoons fat from poultry drippings
3 Tablespoons all-purpose flour
1/2 Teaspoon salt

Instructions:

In a 3-quart saucepan, over high heat, place neck, heart, gizzard, vegetables, and salt in enough water to cover.

Heat to boiling. Reduce heat to low; cover and simmer 45 minutes.

Add liver and cook 15 minutes longer. Strain both into a large bowl; cover and reserve broth in the refrigerator.

To make gravy, remove the cooked turkey and roasting rack from the roasting pan. Pour poultry drippings through a sieve into a 4-cup measuring cup.

Add 1 cup giblet broth to the roasting pan and stir until the crusty brown bits are loosened; pour the deglazed liquid/broth into the 4-cup measure. Let the mixture stand a few minutes, until the fat rises to the top.

Over medium heat, spoon 3 tablespoons fat from the poultry drippings into a 2-quart saucepan. Whisk flour and salt into the heated fat and continue to cook and stir until the flour turns golden.

Meanwhile, skim and discard any fat that remains on top of the poultry drippings. Add remaining broth and enough water to the poultry drippings to equal 3-1/2 cups.

Gradually whisk in warm poultry drippings/broth mixture.

Cook and stir, until gravy boils and is slighty thick.

Ingredients:
1-1/2 C sugar
1 navel orange
1/2 t grated ginger
4 cup cranberries
1/2 C (2 oz.) toasted pecans.

Instructions:

Grate the orange peel and add to a pot with the sugar and ginger.

Add the juice from the orange into the pot and simmer over medium heat until the sugar is dissolved.

Add cranberries and cook until they pop - about 5 minutes.

Add pecans and cool sauce.

Ingredients:
1 Package (12 ounces) fresh cranberries
1/2 Cup balsamic vinegar
1/2 Cup sugar
1 Teaspoon nutmeg
1 Teaspoon cinnamon
1 Teaspoon cayenne pepper
1 Teaspoon cumin

Instructions:

In medium saucepan, over high heat, combine cranberries, vinegar and sugar; bring to a boil.

Reduce heat to medium-low and add nutmeg, cinnamon, cayenne, and cumin

Simmer 20 to 25 minutes or until mixture is very thick, stirring frequently.

Ingredients:
8 to 10 cloves garlic, peeled
1 cup olive oil
4 russet potatoes
2 tbsp. butter
1/3 to 1/2 cup heavy cream
1/4 cup Asiago cheese, grated 2 tbsp.
Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese, grated
Salt and pepper, to taste

Instructions:

Put the garlic and olive oil in a heavy saucepan over lowest possible heat and simmer until soft; 30 to 40 minutes.

Drain off oil (reserve for marinades or vinaigrettes).

Cut and puree each garlic; set aside.

Meanwhile, prick potatoes with a fork and bake in a 400°F oven for 1 hour, or until soft. While still hot, peel and mash, or pass through a potato ricer.
Melt butter in heavy cream; whisk in puréed garlic.
Stir into potatoes.

Stir in cheeses and season with salt and pepper.
Spoon into a gratin dish.

Place in a 400°F oven for 12 to 15 minutes or until browned and bubbling.

Ingredients:
4 medium sweet potatoes, peeled
1 tbsp. butter
1/4 cup milk
3/8 cup brown sugar
1 tsp. cinnamon

Instructions:

Boil water.

Peel potatoes and cut into small cubes.

Put in boiling water. Let cook until potatoes are soft.

Remove potatoes, place in bowl.

Mash potatoes with potato masher or mixer.

Add butter and milk; stir.

Add brown sugar and cinnamon, stir.

Dish onto bowl or plate.

Sprinkle cinnamon lightly over top.

Ingredients:
2 pie crusts
Filling:
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup light brown sugar
1 tbsp. flour
1 tbsp. bitters (optional)
1 tsp. cinnamon
1 tsp. ginger
1/2 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. nutmeg
1/4 tsp. cloves
1 egg, lightly beaten
2 tbsp. butter
1 can (29 oz.) pumpkin
1 can (12 oz.) evaporated milk
1/4 cup milk
1 cup water

Praline:
4 tbsp. butter, softened
2/3 cup light brown sugar
2/3 cup pecans, coarsely chopped
Whipped cream, for garnish (optional)

Instructions:

Mix sugars, flour, bitters, spices in large bowl.
Stir in egg; set aside.

Melt butter in large skillet over low heat.

Add pumpkin, simmer, stirring occasionally until purèe thickens slightly, 10 minutes.

Gradually stir hot pumpkin into sugar mix, stir in evaporated milk, milk and 1 cup water. If desired, cover and refrigerate overnight.

Praline:
Prepare crusts.

Preheat to 450°F.

Spread half the praline mix in each crust. Bake until praline is golden brown and bubbly, around 10 minutes; cool slightly.

Reduce oven temp to 400°F.

Pour half pumpkin filling into each crust; smooth top with spatula.

Bake until pumpkin is firm and crusts are golden brown, about 1 hour. Cool completely and serve.
Garnish with whipped cream or topping, if desired.

You'll spend more than enough time just getting the main Thanksgiving dinner prepared and served. Sure, Thanksgiving dessert is always something that everyone looks forward to, but making pies and tarts and breads and cookies can eat up a lot of time.

Make it easy on yourself: Order your desserts online and have them delivered!

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Or the Rum Pumpkin Tart

Ingredients:
1 cup cooked pumpkin or canned
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup margarine
1 egg, beaten
1 tablespoon molasses
2 cups sifted flour(sift before measuring)
1/4 teaspoon cloves
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon mace
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon soda
3/4 cup buttermilk
1/2 cup chopped pecans
1/2 cup raisins .

Instructions:

Blend together sugar and margarine.

Add pumpkin, molasses and egg.

Sift flour with baking powder and spices.

Add soda to buttermilk.

Mix raisins and nuts with 1/2 cup of sifted flour and spices.

Add the rest of flour alternately with buttermilk to creamed mixture.

Add raisins and nuts.

Place in well greased muffin tins. Bake at 375° for 20 minutes. If very large tin, bake 25 minutes.

Makes 4 dozen small or 2 dozen large muffins.