wilkes

sounds very good..so you cookin?

Southern Thanksgiving
Roasted Turkey
Dressing
Giblet Gravy
Green Bean Supreme
Cranbrerry Salad
Sweet Potato Souffle
Georgia Pecan Pie
Tray of condiments to include sweet gerkin pickles, bread &
butter pickles and olives (green & black)


ROASTED TURKEY
1 (14 to 16 pound) frozen young turkey
For the brine:
1 cup kosher salt
1/2 cup light brown sugar
1 gallon vegetable stock
1 tablespoon black peppercorns
1/2 tablespoon allspice berries
1/2 tablespoon candied ginger
1 gallon iced water
For the aromatics:
1 red apple, sliced
1/2 onion, sliced
1 cinnamon stick
1 cup water
4 sprigs rosemary
6 sage leaves
Canola oil
Combine all brine ingredients, except ice water, in a stockpot,
and bring to a boil. Stir to dissolve solids, then remove from
heat, cool to room temperature, and refrigerate until thoroughly
chilled. Early on the day of cooking, (or late the night before)
combine the brine and ice water in a clean 5-gallon bucket.
Place thawed turkey breast side down in brine, cover, and
refrigerate or set in cool area (like a basement) for 6 hours.
Turn turkey over once, half way through brining. A few minutes
before roasting, heat oven to 500 degrees. Combine the apple,
onion, cinnamon stick, and cup of water in a microwave safe dish
and microwave on high for 5 minutes. Remove bird from brine and
rinse inside and out with cold water. Discard brine. Place bird
on roasting rack inside wide, low pan and pat dry with paper
towels. Add steeped aromatics to cavity along with rosemary and
sage. Tuck back wings and coat whole bird liberally with canola
(or other neutral) oil. Roast on lowest level of the oven at 500
degrees F. For 30 minutes. Remove from oven and cover breast
with double layer of aluminum foil, insert probe thermometer
into thickest part of the breast and return to oven, reducing
temperature to 350 degrees F. Set thermometer alarm (if
available) to 161 degrees. A 14 to 16 pound bird should require
a total of 2 to 2 1/2 hours of roasting. Let turkey rest,
loosely covered for 15 minutes before carving.

DRESSING
2 large onions, diced
6-8 c. Cornbread, crumbled (recipe follows)
6 large biscuits, crumbled (if you can't cook them
homemade, just cook some of those Pillsbury frozen biscuits)
1 c. Milk
6 eggs, beaten
1 stick butter, melted
1 T. Sage, or to taste
1 T. Poultry seasoning, or to taste
4 cans chicken broth, boiling
Salt & pepper, to taste

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Mix crumbled cornbread and
biscuits with sage, poultry seasoning, salt, pepper and onions.
This can be done several hours before cooking to allow to dry
out and let flavors meld together (I do this the day before).
Beat eggs and mix with milk, melted butter and chicken broth.
Pour liquid mixture over bread mixture and mix well. Dressing
batter should be very moist, almost soupy. Add more chicken
broth, as needed to achieve the right consistency. Spray baking
pans with non-stick cooking spray (I use disposable aluminum
pans). Pour raw dressing into baking pans and bake until golden
brown.

CORNBREAD
2 c. Self-rising cornmeal
1 egg
Buttermilk (about 2 cups)
1/4 c. Vegetable oil or shortening
Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Put oil or shortening into a cast
iron frying pan and place in a preheated oven for 3 minutes.
Mix all ingredients (enough buttermilk to make a batter) and
pour into the hot pan. Bake until golden brown, about 30
minutes or so. Every oven is different. Just keep an eye on it
so it doesn't burn.


GIBLET GRAVY
1 stick butter, melted
1/2 c. Flour, sifted with salt & pepper to taste
4 c. Chicken broth
3 hard boiled eggs, peeled & mashed
1 c. Cooked turkey
1 c. raw dressing mixture
Melt 1 stick of butter and add 1/2 cup sifted, seasoned, flour
and stir until boiling. Add 4 cups chicken broth, boiled eggs,
1 cup turkey meat and 1 cup of the reserved raw dressing
mixture. Cook until you achieve the desired consistency.


GREEN BEAN SUPREME
2 c. chopped fresh green beans
1 onion, finely diced
2 T. butter
1 tsp. salt
2 tsp. soy sauce
1/8 tsp. hot sauce
2 T. Worcestershire sauce
1 can cream of mushroom soup
1 lb. sharp cheddar cheese, grated
1 can French-fried onions
Steam beans over a pot of boiling water until tender but still
firm. Rinse under cold water to cool and stop the cooking
process. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a large skillet over
medium heat, melt butter and sauté onions. Add salt, soy sauce,
hot sauce, Worcestershire sauce and mushroom soup. Mix well.
Put half of the green beans into a casserole dish as your first
layer. Then add a layer of cheese and soup mixture. Repeat
layers. Bake, uncovered, at 350 degrees for about 30 minutes or
until hot and bubbly. Top with French fried onions and heat 10
additional minutes.
NOTE: To make this a little faster you can just use canned
green beans. You'll need 2 cans (not french cut).


CRANBERRY SALAD
1 can whole cranberry sauce
6 oz. raspberry Jell-O
1 1/2 c. hot water
16 oz. crushed pineapple
3 large apples, diced
2 oranges, chopped
1 c. pecans, chopped
Dissolve Jell-O in hot water. Add cranberry sauce. Stir to
dissolve both Jell-O and cranberry sauce. Add pineapple,
apples, oranges and nuts. Pour into desired mold and
refrigerate until set.


SWEET POTATO SOUFFLÉ
FILLING:
3 small cans sweet potatoes
3 eggs
1/2 c. white sugar
3/4 c. melted butter
3 small cans evaporated milk
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1 pinch nutmeg
TOPPING:
1 c. brown sugar
1 c. chopped pecans
1/3 c. flour
1/2 stick butter, melted
Mix all filling ingredients until well blended. Pour into a
casserole dish. In a separate bowl, mix together all the
topping ingredients and sprinkle over the casserole. Bake at
350 degrees for 30 minutes or until golden brown and bubbly.


PECAN PIE
3 eggs
2/3 c. sugar
1 c. dark corn syrup
1/3 c. melted butter
1 c. pecan halves
1 (9") deep dish, unbaked pie shell
Beat eggs thoroughly with sugar, dash of salt, corn syrup and
melted butter. Add pecans. Pour into unbaked pie shell. Bake
at 350 degrees for 50 minutes or until knife inserted halfway
between outside and center of filling comes out clean.