Thanksgiving

What a great tradition- cook massive amounts of tasty food (with massive amounts of butter), eat until you're going to burst, eat more just to prove you won't, then try really hard not to take a nap, only to pass out on the couch.

This year was a great success.  Nearly everything was produced within 150 miles of my house.  I like that.  It's good for the planet, and good for the belly.  Fresh, local food has more flavor than you can imagine.   

Let's start with the turkey.  Free range, freshly slaughtered, and damn tasty.  I brined it overnight in a solution of salt, sugar, apple cider vinegar, ground sage, dried rosemary/thyme/bay, and peppercorns.  The brine will keep your turkey tender, and flavor it to the bone.  I stuffed it with carrot, celery, onion, garlic, and lemon. Coated the skin, inside and out, with melted butter blended with duck fat and sage.  Yeah, duck fat.  Do it.  

I had a pretty brilliant idea.  I elevated the turkey on a couple of bricks, and slow roasted it at 325.  Left a pan underneath to catch the juice.  This allowed air to circulate all around the turkey.  The result was a very crispy skin, and a ton of pan juice, which I turned into a swell gravy.

The highlight of the meal, for sure, was the sweet potato.  I used two varieties of tuber, sweet potato and yam, both picked up at the farmers' market.  Roasted in the oven, passed through a sieve, then enhanced with butter, cream, maple syrup, cinnamon, & fresh nutmeg.  I managed to forget to buy pecans, so I went with the traditional marshmallow topping.  The pecans, though they would have been great, weren't missed.  This was something special.

The table was rounded out by a carrot & apple salad, cranberry sauce (shoot me, but I prefer the canned stuff. Actually, don't shoot me, most of you do.  I did get a brand without corn syrup, which was smart), stuffing, and roasted green beans (with bacon!).  There might have only been 4 of us, but we ate like 40.  

Special thanks to Mom, who acted as both soux-chef and chief dishwasher.  Thanks especially for the dishwashing!  (Seriously, Mom kept the place tidy all day long.)