Foodmomiac

Plated

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Turkey barbecued

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Plugging away

Cranberry sauce and potatoes.

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Prepping the stuffing!

Yesterday my father-in-law broke up some white bread for the stuffing. You can see that in the background. It's now perfectly stale. This morning, Megen and I made cornbread with stone ground corn from he farmers market. That was also get torn up (or crumbled) for the stuffing. Off to get my brother and his girlfriend from the airport. Stay tuned!!

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And the cooking has officially begun

My house official smells amazing. I love, love, love the brine that we use for our turkey every year, and one of the reasons I love it is the aroma it generates. Boil 6 quarts of water, 2 quartered onions, one cup of fresh, chopped ginger, 3/4 cup packed light brown sugar, 1 cup coarse salt, 4 bay leaves (this year I found fresh ones at my local market - OMG what a difference!!!), 4 star anise, 12 crushed black peppercorns. Once it boils and the sugar and salt have dissolved, let it cool completely and then brine the turkey in it overnight. The recipe is from an old Bon Appetit and I'm incredibly loyal to it.

A quick brining tip: I never have room in my fridge, so I use a cooler. I put the turkey and the brine in a turkey oven bag (you could also use a giant ziploc), and then put the whole thing into the cooler and out on my cold porch. If you leave in a warm climate, add some ice to the cooler.

Tomorrow, the turkey will go on the grill. I'll share pics!

Non-Negotiable Thanksgiving Dishes #2 and #3: The Cranberry Contingent

Thanksgiving wouldn't be Thanksgiving without cranberry sauce, right? In traditional foodmomiac fashion, we take that one step further by making TWO types of cranberry sauce. I love, love, love both. Below are the two recipes (which I've posted before but re-posted here for your convenience).

Cranberry Horseradish Relish

This is from the 1994 Thanksgiving Bon Appetit. It is one of our favorites. The tangy flavor provides an excellent foil to the rich turkey. My sister-in-law is vegetarian, but she eats this with EVERYTHING. She especially loves it with the creamed corn.

2 cups cranberries (about 8 ounces)
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 cup prepared horseradish
1 tbsp. fresh lemon juice

Chop berries with sugar in a food processor. Place it into a bowl. Add horseradish and lemon juice, and mix well. Cover with plastic wrap and chill it for at least 1 day. (Can be made up to
5 days ahead). You are correct in reading that the cranberries are raw in this recipe. If this relish doesn't sit for at least 24 hours, it will be too crunchy.

Cook's Illustrated Cranberry Sauce
Every Thanksgiving, my mom made homemade cranberry sauce. And, while some of the berries were sweet and delicious, there are always plenty that were almost too tart to bear. After I found this recipe by Cook's Illustrated in 1999, the too-tart berry became a thing of the past. The secret? Salt!! The salt brings out the sweetness from EVERY cranberry, yielding the perfect cranberry sauce.

3/4 cup water
1 cup sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 12oz.bag of cranberries, picked through

Bring water, sugar and salt to a boil in a medium pot over high heat. Stir occasionally to insure that the sugar dissolves and doesn't burn. Once dissolved, stir in cranberries and return the mixture to a boil. Lower the heat to medium and simmer until the sauce thickens. You want about 2/3 of the berries to pop open. (CI says this takes about five minutes. I ALWAYS cook it longer, because I like a thicker sauce.) Pour the sauce into a bowl (not metal) and chill. This can be prepared up to seven days in advance. CI recommends serving it at room temperature, but I like it nice and cold.

Non-Negotiable Thanksgiving Dish #1: Creamed Corn made with Cope's Dried Corn

I have a confession. I'm one of those people. You know those family members who throw a hissy fit if you don't make a certain, traditional item on Thanksgiving? Yeah... that would be me. If certain items aren't on my menu, I am not a happy camper. I realize that this is boring. I realize that this is out of character for someone who is obsessed with food. But, I might as well embrace my faults, no?

So.. the first item that is non-negotiable is the Creamed Corn (sorry three lactose-intolerant people coming to our Thanksgiving). I've written about this before, but I don't think I've ever actually shared the heart attack-inducing recipe. It came from a mid-90's article in Saveur Magazine by R.W. Apple, a brilliant writer who passed away two years ago. The recipe can be found right here. You'll see that it calls for four cups of milk and three cups of heavy cream. Oh, and also a half stick of butter. You can definitely cut back on the cream a bit (just up the milk). Don't lose the cream altogether, though. The texture will suffer, and this IS Thanksgiving after all. It's not a night for watching diets.

Most of you are probably wondering where to find dried corn. It's become a bit easier to find, so do call around to local gourmet stores to see if they have it in stock. If you can't find it locally, you'll need to order it. I searched around, and the best price is from John Cope's, the actual manufacturer. I realize that Thanksgiving is just a few days away. They charge $15.42 for two day shipping. That's a lot, but this dish is worth it, I promise.

(Note: I don't know where to find the corn in Chicago, but in Toledo it can be found at Churchill's, and in Ann Arbor, it can be found at Zingerman's. If anyone finds it locally in other cities, please share in the comments!)