I didn’t hold out a lot of hope for my Christmas Eve dinner. It’s true, that I’m usually a pretty darn good cook, but for these big holiday dinners or family get togethers I’m usually planning the menu a month in advance and swapping and changing out dishes until everything looks just right. This time, I was feeling procrastinatory (no I don’t care if it’s not a real word) and left it until a few days before to decide what I was cooking – in fact three of the sides weren’t even confirmed until the day before when I went to the farmer’s market and saw what local produce was available!

Also, we usually pony up and pay for a fancy, free-range & organic heritage turkey; but we are on super budget right now, trying to get our finances under some semblance of control…this meant a standard, supermarket brand turkey was all that the budget would stretch to. Sad, but true. So some special treatment of this bird was in order!

First of all, it was going into a beer brine. Thanks to some kind friends who had brought a 12 pack of Sam Adams Boston lager to our place for Brent’s birthday, but ended up drinking my homebrew cider all night, I already had the perfect bath for my bird! I took the Home Brew Chef’s beer brine recipe and tweaked it a little to my own taste; tripling the garlic, and only adding the onion/thyme/lemon on day two of the brining. Things were looking good!

I have had very good success roasting turkeys over the past 6 years of Thanksgivings – this in itself is a miracle, seeing I come from a country where as a rule we do not roast turkeys! I’ve never had a dry turkey, and the family always raves….however, the basting thing is a big, fat, pain in the arse. I end up with make-up running down my face, and my hair a mess from the heat coming out the oven door; there has to be a better way! Well apparently there is – and my dear TV pal Alton Brown has been hiding it (in plain sight) from me all these years!

After brining and patting dry my turkey, I rubbed my proscuitto-sage butter up underneath all the skin on top of the turkey, this always helps keep the turkey moist (and I change up the recipe each year) – also, be sure to tuck your wing tips under the bird – this will stop the ends of the wings turning to a burnt mess!

Like this:

Set the oven to 500 degrees. Yes, I am serious! I have never set my oven this hot, excluding the few times I have used my self clean cycle, but trust me. Before you put the turkey into the oven, take a large enough piece of aluminium foil to cover the top of the turkey and form a cap over the breast and wings. Now you have a little mold for the top of the bird. Take this off the bird, and pop it inot the oven for 30 minutes – DO NOT OPEN THE OVEN DOOR DURING THIS TIME!

Once the 30 minutes is up, pull the bird out and turn the temp down to 350 degrees. Replace the foil cap you made  and insert your thermometer into the thickest part of the breast. Bird goes back into the oven till the temperature on the thermometer is 158 degrees. Easy-peasy! Cover the whole bird in foil and let rest for about 30 minutes.

Gorgeous Turkey after only 30 brief minutes in the oven!

Finished turkey after 3.5 hours roasting

Waverley Estate (now defunct Hunter Valley winery) 1998 Semillion was an AMAZING match for turkey!

All in all this turned out to be one of my best holiday meals to date; the most amazingly moist turkey, great sides, perfect wine matches and best of all, great company Here’s to many more of the same!

The menu with all the recipes is here after the jump!

Beer Brine for Turkey (adapted from Home Brew Chef’s Beer Brined Turkey recipe)

• 12 x 12oz  Beer (I used Samuel Adams Boston Lager; if choosing again and had the budget I would go with a stronger tasting bock or brown ale)
• 4 bowls of ice (medium sized bowl)
• 2 cups of kosher salt
• 1 cup organic turbinado sugar
• Approximately 4 bay leaves (mine were all destroyed in the jar, so I’m guessing I was close)
• 20 sprigs of fresh thyme
• 2  huge yellow onions, peeled and quartered
• 2 quartered lemons
• 12 garlic cloves, unpeeled but smashed with the side of a knife

Pour beer into a heavy pot on the stove. add sugar and salt SLOWLY. It will foam! Probably a lot, so be gentle! Add bay leaves and simmer for about 10 minutes. Cool to room temp, or close to.

• 4 garlic cloves, peeled
• 6 oz proscuitto
• 1/4 cup grated Parmesan
• 1/2 stick butter, room temp
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 2 tbsp minced onion
• 1 tsp finely chopped fresh rosemary
• 1 tbsp finely chopped fresh sage
• 2 tsp black pepper

Prosciutto gravy

• 1/2 cup finely chopped prosciutto
• 2 quarts chicken or turkey stock
• 1/4 cup corn starch (or flour) dissolved in 1cup stock or water (cold!)

Drain turkey drippings into a glass measuring jug &  skim off as much of the fat as is possible, reserving 2 tbsp . Heat a heavy pan on medium-high and cook the prosciutto in the 2 tbsp of turkey fat. Add the turkey drippings and stock and bring to a boil. Stir often!  Add the corn starch mixture a couple tablespoons at a time and let it come back up to a boil; repeat until you have your desired gravy consistency.

Roasted Butternut Squash soup

• 3 large butternut squash
• 2 medium yellow or brown onions
• 2 Granny Smith apples, peeled
• 3 tablespoons honey
• 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
• 1 tablespoon chopped fresh sage
• 3 quarts chicken stock (switch out for vegetable stock to make soup vegetarian)
• salt & pepper to taste

Fennel, Wild rice & Prosciutto Stuffing

• 3 cups canned low-salt chicken broth
• 1 1/2 cups wild rice (about 9 ounces), rinsed, drained
• 4 cups bread cut into 1 inch cubes (I used a Cranberry-Walnut bread from Costco and it was AWESOME!)
• 2 large fennel bulbs, sliced
• 1 cup chopped prosciutto
• 1 medium onions, finely chopped (about 1 cups)
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 1 cup parmesan cheese, grated

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Sautée the fennel and onion in olive oil till lightly golden. Combine all ingredients, excluding the parmesan and place in an ovenproof dish. Sprinkle parmesan over the top and bake for 35 minutes or till a crispy golden colour on top.
Chipotle Cranberry sauce

• 2 dried chipotle chiles or 1 tsp sambal oelek
• 1 12-ounce package frozen cranberries (fresh if you can get them – I couldn’t)
• 1 1/3 cups dark brown sugar
• 3 tablespoons lemon juice
• 1 clove garlic, chopped
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon cumin

Place chiles in medium saucepan filled with water; bring to boil. Reduce heat  and simmer until chiles are soft, about 30 mins. Drain. Combine softened chipotles, cranberries, sugar, and lemon juice in heavy medium saucepan on medium heat; stir till the sugar dissolves. Continue cooking until cranberries have popped, stirring regularly for about 5 minutes. Stir in garlic, cinnamon, and cumin & simmer till sauce thickens slightly. Cool &  remove chipotles.

• 1 lb green beans, topped & tailed
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 2 tbsp olive oil

Blanch green beans in a large pot of boiling water, no more than 4-5 minutes. Drain. Lightly brown the garlic in the olive oil in a large pan, add the beans & toss to coat. Salt & pepper to taste.

Creamed corn pudding

Preheat oven to 425°F. Grate corn into large  bowl using the largest holes on the grater.  Melt 2 tablespoons butter in heavy large skillet over medium-low heat. Add onions and 1/2 teaspoon salt. Sauté until tender but not brown. Scrape mixture into bowl with corn.

Whisk egg yolks in another large bowl and stir in corn & onion mixture, crême fraîche, 1/8 teaspoon pepper, and remaining 2 teaspoons coarse salt. Whisk egg whites in medium bowl until stiff, then fold into corn batter in 2 additions.

Place remaining 2 tablespoons butter in oven-proof dish. Place in oven and heat until butter starts to brown, about 4 minutes. Brush butter over inside of dish, add pudding mix & bake 15 minutes. Reduce heat to 350 degrees & bake another 30 minutes. Let stand 5 minutes before serving.

Potato Gratin

Taken directly out of the Williams-Sonoma Thanksgiving cookbook; only change is I use all regular potatoes, no sweet potatoes