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We’ve eaten so much great food the past 2 days. Below is the complete list of food with recipes. Here are a few highlights: the organic turkey was so perfect looking, flavorful and made great gravy (and stock), the stuffing was delish, the brussels sprouts are always a family favorite, the apple pie was the best yet and the pancakes were so light and fluffy and tasty. My mouth is watering just thinking about it! Side note, most of the veggies and herbs were from my CSA and the framers market.

The Table

The Leftover Plate

To start the day:
Stuffed mushrooms
Cornbread
Caramelized onion, bacon and bourbon jam
Mimosas

Dinner:
Turkey
Pancetta stuffing
Spice glazed carrots
Brussels sprouts
Twice baked potatoes
Pureed maple sweet potatoes
Cranberry sauce
Gravy
Dessert:
Apple pie with vanilla ice cream
Cappuccinos with Kahlua
Breakfast today:
Pancakes

Stuffed Mushrooms
Serves 6-8
Total time 55 minutes

Ingredients for stuffing:
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 small bunch fresh thyme
1 yellow onion finely diced
2 small cloves garlic minced
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
12 ounces white mushrooms, finely diced
1/4 cup dry white wine
1 cup sour cream
1/3 cup grated Parmesan

Ingredients for mushroom bottoms:
3 tablespoons unsalted butter
18 white mushrooms, about 1 1/2 pounds, stems trimmed slightly, washed
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
1/2 cup dry vermouth
2 tablespoons toasted bread crumbs
1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar, for finishing

Directions for stuffing:
Heat a large saucepan over medium heat. Add the olive oil and carefully add the thyme bundle. Once it crackles and becomes crispy set aside on a paper towel to drain. Add the diced onion, and salt and pepper, to taste, and cook until tender, about 3 to 5 minutes. Add the garlic and cumin and lower the heat. Stir in the diced mushrooms, and season with salt and pepper, to taste. Cook until the mushrooms are tender and most of the liquid has evaporated at the bottom of the pan, 8 to 10 minutes.Stir the wine into the mushrooms and cook until the flavor of the alcohol has mellowed considerably, 5 to 8 minutes. Taste for seasoning. Add the sour cream and fried thyme removed from the stems back to the pan. Reduce heat and allow sour cream to melt over the mushrooms. Do not overheat the cream or it will separate. Stir in half of the grated Parmesan. Taste for seasoning.

Directions for mushroom bottoms:
Heat a medium saute pan over medium heat and add the butter and the mushroom bottoms. Season with salt and pepper, to taste, and cook over medium heat, until the water emerges from the mushrooms and evaporates. 5 to 8 minutes, stir in the wine and cook 5 to 8 minutes. Taste for seasoning, then set aside to cool.
Finish the dish:
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.When the mushrooms have cooled slightly fill each bottom with some of the stuffing. The stuffing should be firmly packed in the mushroom bottom well above the top. Arrange the mushrooms, in a single layer, on a baking sheet. In a small bowl, mix the bread crumbs and remaining Parmesan, then sprinkle it on top of the mushroom caps. Heat in the oven until they are hot inside and lightly browned on the top, 5 to 8 minutes. Serve immediately.

Stuffed Mushrooms

Cornbread
Serves 6-8
Total time about 1 hour

Ingredients:
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 cups finely ground yellow cornmeal
4 tablespoons sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
2 teaspoons salt
2 1/4 cups milk
2 large eggs
6 tablespoons butter, melted and slightly cooled, plus 1 tablespoon unmelted butter
2 tablespoons rendered bacon fat or butter

Directions:
Preheat the oven to 400.

Put a 10-inch cast iron skillet in the oven and heat it for at least 30 minutes. Meanwhile, prepare the batter.

Whisk together the flour, cornmeal, sugar, baking powder and salt in a large bowl. In a medium bowl, whisk together the milk, eggs and melted butter.

Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients and pour the wet mixture into the well. Stir the batter until evenly combined.

Remove the hot skillet from the oven, add the fat and swirl to coat the bottom. Pour the batter into the skillet and, using a spatula, spread the batter evenly across the pan. Bake until lightly golden brown, firm and springy to the touch, about 30 to 35 minutes. Remove from the oven, top with unmelted butter and serve directly from the skillet, if desired.

Cornbread

Caramelized Onion, Bacon and Bourbon Jam

Thinly slice onions and cook in olive oil with chopped bacon until soft. Add a little bourbon and brown sugar to taste and cook until the jam thickens. Goes great with the cornbread!

Turkey

This is Martha Stewart Turkey 101. Preheat the oven to 325. Add 1/3 of a bottle of white wine to 1 stick of melted butter. Soak a 17” square of 4-ply cheesecloth in the butter and wine and cover the turkey with the wet cheesecloth. Add 1 cup of water to the roasting pan. Cook in the oven basting every 30 minutes. Remove the cheesecloth for the last 30 minutes of cooking.

The Bird

Too pretty for just one pic

Pancetta Stuffing

Ingredients:
1 loaf of white bread, cubed
1/4 pound pancetta, finely diced
1 onion, diced
2 stalks of celery, diced
2 tablespoons rosemary, minced
3 tablespoons parsley, minced
2 tablespoons sage, minced
2 cups chicken stock
Olive oil
Salt and pepper

Directions:
Saute the pancetta in some olive oil until crisp. Remove from pan and drain on a paper towel. Add onion and celery to pan, salt and pepper, cook until tender about 15 minutes. My bread was fresh so I put it in the oven for a few minutes to dry out a little. Combine pancetta, bread, vegetables and herb. Add enough stock so bread is moist but not wet. Stuff it in the bird. Cook until the temperature of the stuffing reaches 165.

Spice Glazed Carrots

Peel and cut 6 carrots into bite sized pieces, steam them until almost tender. Melt 3 tablespoons of butter in a pan, add 1 tablespoon of brown sugar, stir to combine. Add carrots and stir to coat with glaze. Add about a 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon, 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg and 1/4 teaspoon cumin. Simmer until tender. Adjust spices to taste.

Brussels Sprouts

Ingredients:
1-2 pounds Brussels sprouts
4 cloves of garlic minced
1/2 stick of butter
Heavy Cream
Pancetta diced about a 1/4 pound
Directions:
Trim brussels sprouts and cut in half. Steam until tender. Melt 1/2 stick of butter melt over medium heat, add pancetta and cook until crisp, add garlic cook until tender but not browned, add brussels sprouts and lower heat. Cook at least 10 minutes or until they start to brown slightly. Then add some of the cream, until it at least covers the bottom of the pan. Continue to cook, if needed add more cream.

Twice Baked Potatoes

Ingredients:
1 potato per person (plus 1 for added filling) – Idaho or Russet
1 stick of butter
Cream
Directions:
Scrub potatoes and poke one side with a knife. Bake in 375 oven until you can easily insert a knife. Probably 45 minutes to an hour. Let them sit for about 10 minutes or until you can handle them. Cut each potato in half and let sit until you can handle them again, but don’t let them completely cool. Take a spoon and scoop out the potato trying to leave some around the skin. Put in a bowl add about 3/4 of the butter cut into pieces, and mash a bit, add some cream, a little at a time until you get the desired consistency. Add salt to taste. Fill the skins and add a small slice of butter. Put foil over the potatoes and bake at about 350 for 30 to 45 minutes.

Pureed Maple Sweet Potatoes

Ingredients:
3 large sweet potatoes
1/4 cup heavy cream
3 tablespoons butter melted
2 tablespoons maple syrup
Directions:
Peel and cut sweet potatoes into 2-inch chunks. In a large pot, cover potatoes with water. Bring to a boil, cook until tender when pierced with the tip of a paring knife, 15 to 20 minutes. Drain, puree in food processor, with heavy cream butter and maple syrup. Season with coarse salt and ground pepper.

Cranberry Sauce

Ingredients:
1 bag (12 ounces) cranberries
3/4 cup sugar
1 teaspoon grated lemon zest
1 cup water
Directions:
In a medium saucepan, combine cranberries, sugar, lemon zest, and water; bring to a boil. Reduce to a simmer; cook until cranberries are soft, about 10 minutes. Transfer to a bowl, and let cool to room temperature.

Cranberry Sauce for Dad

Pie Crust
Ingredients:
3 cups all-purpose flour
1cup (2 sticks) plus 2 tablespoons cold, unsalted butter
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup ice water, plus more if needed
Directions:
In the bowl of a food processor, pulse together flour and salt. Add butter and mix until it resembles a coarse meal. With the machine running, slowly add water and process until a dough comes together. Add more water if dough seems too dry.
Break dough into walnut-sized pieces and, one at a time, flatten each piece against your work surface with the heel of your hand (this creates flaky layers of butter inside the crust). Reincorporate dough into two equal size balls and flatten into disks. Wrap each disk in plastic wrap and chill at least 1 hour before rolling out. The key to successful pie crust is when rolling it out make sure to keep moving it. pick it up and turn it over, rotate, etc.

Apple Pie

Ingredients:

3/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup flour
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1/2 tsp cinnamon
Dash of salt
6 cups thinly sliced and pared apples
2 tbsp butter
Directions:
Heat oven to 425. Stir together sugar, flour, nutmeg, cinnamon and salt. Mix with apples. Put into pie crust and dot with butter. Cover with top crust. Crimp the edge of the crust. You can do it with a fork. Run a knife around the edge to remove the excess crust. Cut some slits in the top. I usually do one 4 inch long in the center and a few small ones on either side. Cover the edge of the pie with foil to prevent it from browning too much. Remove it 15 minutes before cooking is up. Bake 40-50 minutes or until crust is brown and the juice starts bubbling through the slits. If the crust begins to brown too quickly and its not done put foil over the whole pie. Serve with vanilla ice cream!

The Perfect Pie

Apples!

Pancakes
Makes 18 to 20 3-inch pancakes
Ingredients:
4 cups all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon baking powder
3/4 cup sugar
1 teaspoon coarse salt
6 large eggs, separated
3 cups whole milk
3/4 cup (12 tablespoons) unsalted butter, melted, plus 2 teaspoons unmelted for cooking
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
Directions:
Sift flour, baking powder, sugar, and salt into a large bowl.
In medium bowl, whisk together yolks, milk, melted butter, and vanilla until combined. Whisk yolk mixture into flour mixture until just combined; batter will be slightly lumpy.
Place egg white in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, or whisk by hand, until medium peaks form. Gently mix half the egg whites into batter with a rubber spatula. Gently fold in remaining whites. The egg whites should not be fully incorporated into the batter.Heat a griddle until hot, about 350 to 375 degrees. Add remaining unmelted butter to hot griddle. Add 1/4 cup pancake batter and let set. When bubbles begin to form, lift pancake; if golden brown, turn. Cook until golden brown on remaining side.

Pancakes