Mother's Giblet Gravy

A simple, basic recipe for Thanksgiving gravy.  This must be served whenever turkey, mashed potatoes, and dressing are on the menu; it's the law.

When you prep the turkey, remove all the giblets. Rinse them off, place them in a sauce pan and cover with water. Add a carrot, some celery, and half an onion.  season the water with salt and pepper.

I also add the egg(s) to water so they can hardball while the giblets are cooking.

When the water comes to a rolling boil, skim off any nasty looking foam.  Reduce the heat to a gentle simmer and forget about it for about 30 minutes.

Check the doneness of the giblets, turn the heat off and strain the solids.  Return broth to the sauce pan. When they are cool enough to handle, dice up the giblets and hard boiled egg and reserve in a small bowl until it is time to add to your finished gravy.

When your turkey is done, and removed from the roasting pan to rest on a platter, strain any solids off the bottom of the roasting pan and add the clear juices to the broth.  

Add corn starch - 1 Tbsp. for every cup of broth, to a ball jar.  Bring the broth to a boil. Prior to it coming to a boil but still warm, add enough broth to the corn starch and begin to blend it with a fork.  Put the lid on the jar and carefully (with a towel covering the lid) shake up your slurry until completely smooth.  Set aside.

Once the broth is at a rolling boil, give the slurry a shake to re-mix and slowly add, in a small stream, to the broth while whisking.  The gravy should thicken almost immediately.  Lower the heat and bring to a gentle simmer for several minutes.  Add your chopped giblets and eggs and allow to warm through.

Some Notes to Consider Before Making Your Gravy:

When prepping and seasoning your turkey for roasting, take into consideration that what you put in the roasting pan and the turkey may affect the taste of your gravy. I don't use anything sweet, such as fruits, because they simply don't make a tasty gravy. I like to use lots of carrots, onion, celery, garlic cloves and springs of fresh thyme or rosemary in the roasting pan.  I usually put lemon and onion inside the bird.  I use LOTS of seasoned butter under the skin of the bird.

If you need/want more gravy than your broth and juices combined make, use some boxed chicken broth to bring your broth to the desired amount that you want.

Do NOT add the dry corn starch directly to the boiling broth.  It will become a lumpy mess that you cannot fix and you will hate yourself.  I speak from experience.  ALWAYS make your smooth slurry in a jar first.

If you don't like the giblets/egg in the gravy, the gravy is still delicious on it's own.

Green Bean Casserole

Through the years I have tried to update this iconic dish.  I have used fresh green beans and frozen green beans. I have tried using fresh onion rings and I have even made my own mushroom sauce to replace canned mushroom soup.

The 'upscaled' recipe is really good but takes a little more effort to make and, if you are nostalgic, it won't taste quite like the original recipe that was developed by Dorcas Reilly who was the head of the Campbell's Test Kitchens in 1955; and the one I grew up eating.

This is so much easier. 

Not to mention the taste takes me back to my childhood.

 

Mix the soup, milk, and the Beau Monde in a mixing bowl then stir in the drained beans.

 

Add part of the onions and combine 

Turn it into a baking dish that has been prepared with vegetable spray and pop it in the oven.

Sprinkle the remaining onions over the top during the last minutes of cooking and there you have it.


Classic Green Bean Casserole
Serves 6

Ingredients:
1 - 10-1/2 ounce can of Campbell's Condensed Cream of Mushroom Soup
3/4 cup milk
1 Tbsp. Beau Monde seasoning
1 - 28 ounce can canned, French cut green beans (I like Del Monte)
1-1/3 cups French's Crispy Fried Onions, divided

Method:
Preheat oven to 350° F.  Spray a 1-1/2 quart casserole dish (an 8" x 8" square Pyrex) with vegetable spray, such as Pam.  Drain the green beans.

In a mixing bowl whisk together the soup, milk and Beau Monde.  Fold in the drained green beans and 2/3 cup of the onions. 

Turn in to the prepared casserole and bake for 30 minutes or until bubbling.  Top with the remaining onions and cook for 5 more minutes until onions are golden.   

 NOTE:  the original recipe has ground pepper for the seasoning; I have always used Beau Monde )

Thanksgiving Dressing Waffles

Don't let this photo deceive you're senses.  It may not look pretty on the plate but oh how tasty it is.

 
We all love leftovers after the big Thanksgiving meal but we usually associate them with a turkey sandwich later in the day. One of my favorite leftovers is the dressing.  

Years ago while living in Boulder my mom came up for Thanksgiving to visit.  I think that is the first time I actually made Thanksgiving dinner myself (with her guidance, of course).  Ah, yes, I remember now, that was when I left all the giblets in the neck cavity and only discovered it after the turkey was in the oven.

But, it was also the first time that I started using the Thanksgiving leftovers for breakfast the next day.  The favorite was to make an omelet stuffed with a little shredded turkey meat, a little dressing and a little gravy on top.

Another great way to use leftovers is to make dressing waffles.  To clarify, I call it dressing because it is cooked outside of the turkey.  If it were cooked in the turkey I would call it stuffing.  And that's how I differentiate.....

All you do is make a patty out of some dressing that you have let come to room temperature .  It's easier to work with your hands if you let it get to room temp.  This year I am at Papa's house and all he has is a Belgian waffle iron.  The waffles are better if you have a regular waffle iron.  You will have more crispy surfaces that way.  But I'm not complaining about how this one turned out.

 

Close your waffle iron and let it do it's magic.  Don't hurry about it or keep checking it.  You'll be able to smell when it's done.  In the mean time.....

 

cook your egg.  Look here! I had an egg with a double yolk.  I guess they would have been twin chickens?

 

Once your egg is done to your preferential satisfaction, place your dressing waffle on a plate and top it with the egg.  It will not disappoint.

Turkey Stock

Good stocks are always welcome items in my freezer.  They couldn't be easier to make. They may take time, but there is always a good day to mark on your calendar to spend comfort time in the kitchen. Turkey stock is the champion during the holiday season.  It can be used for gravies and soup bases.

Stock can be made way ahead of the holiday. In the Fall, as soon as I see packages of turkey necks, wings, legs, gizzards, etc. show up in the meat department of my favorite grocery store, I get to work.



This year I used turkey necks, wings and legs.  Everything gets rubbed in oil, salted and peppered.


 
These get roasted in a 400° oven for about 45 minutes.


 
 While the turkey parts are roasting, prepare the vegetables. I used carrots, onion, garlic, celery, and fresh sage leaves.


 
Once the meats are roasted, remove them, temporarily, and place the vegetables in the bottom of the roasting pan.  Give the vegetables a toss to coat with the drippings in the pan.


 
Return the meats to the pan placing them on top of the vegetables, turning the meats over with the roasted side down.


 
This gets returned to the oven to roast for 35 minutes longer.


 
Once the turkey parts and vegetables are removed from the oven they are placed in a large stock pot, covered with water and simmered for 2 hours.


 
Everything is strained and the stock is cooled in the refrigerator so any fat can be skimmed off.


 

The stock is now ready for freezing.  Pour into four 1-quart Mason jars or four 1-quart plastic freezer bags.  If you freeze in Mason jars, be sure to leave space at the top for the stock to expand and put the lid on loosely until the stock is frozen solid.  If you elect to freeze in freezer baggies lay them flat on a sided baking sheet until the stock is frozen solid.  Also,  I would highly suggest NOT using the bags with the slider zippers.  They can leak while the baggy is lying flat on a baking sheet.  Once frozen solid, the baggies will stack well in the freezer.
 

Turkey Stock
Adapted from a recipe of Guy Fieri's
Yields 4 quarts of stock


Ingredients:
2 turkey legs
2 turkey wings
2 turkey necks
2 Tbsp. canola oil
salt and freshly ground black pepper
6 large garlic cloves
2 large yellow onions, quartered
2 large carrots scrubbed
3 stalks of celery, chopped in half
6 fresh sage leaves
6 quarts water

Method:
Preheat oven to 400°F.

Evenly rub turkey parts with oil.  Sprinkle with salt and pepper.  Place turkey parts in a large roasting pan, skin side down, in oven and roast for 45 minutes.

Prepare and combine vegetables and sage leaves.  Reduce heat of oven to 350°F., briefly remove turkey from roasting pan. Add vegetables to roasting pan, tossing to coat in pan juices.  Return turkey parts placing skin side up on top of vegetables and continue to roast for another 35 minutes.

Remove pan from oven and transfer turkey parts and vegetables to a 10 quart or larger stock pot. Place the roasting pan over burners of range top (do this only if your roasting pan is a heavy-duty pan), add 2 cups of water to the pan and boil, scraping up any stuck bits.  Pour this into the stock pot.

Add 6 quarts of water to the stock pot.  Bring to a boil then lower heat and keep to a medium to low simmer for 2 hours, uncovered until stock is deep in color and flavor.  Strain turkey and vegetables from stock, pushing any vegetable matter through strainer.  Let stock sit, overnight in refrigerator if time allows, then skim off any fat from top.

Divide stock into 4 Mason jars or plastic freezer bags and place in freezer.

Holiday Cornbread Dressing

I refer to this as Holiday dressing because that is pretty much the only time I make it; Thanksgiving and Christmas.  Most of us create some derivative of recipes we grew up with and that is the category this recipe falls into.

I loved my mom and dad's dressings growing up. Mom would make our traditional cornbread based dressing and dad would like to change it up by adding oysters to his batch. I liked both.

Once I left home for college then living on my own, I didn't make or have dressing unless I went home. Years later at my sister's house she was making a big batch of Mom's dressing and I paid close attention. I've been making mine ever since.  As with so many recipes it's easy to make them your own. This is pretty much the way we had it growing up, except for the "other" bread used in conjunction with the cornbread.

The cornbread....I don't make the cornbread from scratch the way I do for, say, ham hock and beans. I whip up a couple packages of Martha White's Yellow Cornbread Mix. There are others on the market such as Corn-Kits & Pioneer but one that I will not use for dressing is Jiffy. It's much too sweet for my taste.

Using a packaged mix makes things a little simpler; especially when there are so many other things going on in the kitchen during Thanksgiving and Christmas day.

I bake mine in an 8 x 8 Pyrex pan.   Once the corn bread is baked and cooled in the pan crumble it up. Two packages make about 8 cups crumbled cornbread. Whatever other bread you use for your dressing, you want to keep it at a ratio of 2 parts cornbread to 1 part other.

So, for the other bread choices to add to the dressing....I have used plain white sandwich bread (my favorite) such as Rainbow or, here in Texas, Mrs. Baird's. I have also had great luck with baking up a batch of canned biscuits. Enter Lovey into my life and he prefers a 'healthier' choice like La Madeleine Country Wheat. Ssshhh, I'm not telling him that this will not make his dressing 'healthy'. But, I aim to please my man so I now use the country wheat. In this recipe I'll use about 4 cups bread. Tear it up by hand or cube using a knife.

Once the breads are combined I sauté onion and celery in a couple sticks of butter.  Yes, I said a couple of sticks.  Butter makes everything better and tastier.  Add the vegetables to the mix and use chicken stock to moisten. How moist you like your dressing can be determined by the amount of stock you add. You can add extra melted butter too. There's not a strict rule; it's what you like.

Prior to adding the egg to bind the mixture I season to taste with salt, pepper, and rubbed sage last.  I don't usually have to add much salt because the chicken stock is normally salty enough.  Add sage a Tbsp. at a time.  I like a lot of sage but if you use too much it can leave a bitter after taste.  Get in there with your hands and mix it all up.

If you are serving dinner at a nicely set table, you can bake this in a nice oven proof, serve-at-the-table baking dish.  I made this in a disposable this year because it's just Lovey and myself.

Now, if you want to use part of this recipe as stuffing and cook it inside the bird, please just make sure that, 1) don't cram it in the cavity of the bird; pack it loosely as it will expand; and 2) take the temp of the dressing and make sure it registers at 165°F. 

 Bake for about 30 minutes until hot throughout.

This recipe will serve about 12 if the servings are approximate to the photo above.  In our house this recipe would serve about 6 😋.

Ingredients:
2 - 6 ounce packages yellow cornbread baked according to package instructions
4 cups cubed bread or biscuits
2 sticks salted butter
6 stalks celery, chopped
1 large onion, chopped
4 cups chicken broth, boxed or homemade
salt and pepper to taste
5 Tbsp. rubbed sage
3 large eggs, slightly beaten

Method:
Preheat oven to 350°F.

Prepare cornbread according to package instructions.  Cool and crumble in a large mixing bowl.  Cube or tear up bread and add to mixing bowl.

Melt butter and saute' celery and onion until beginning to soften.  Add to bread mixture and toss well.  Add chicken broth and mix.  Season with salt and pepper.  Add sage.  Once you are satisfied with the seasoning, add the eggs.

Turn mixture into a 9 x 13 baking dish.  Bake for 30 - to 40 minutes or until top is golden brown. 

Upgraded Green Bean Casserole

Green beans prepared at our house are usually steamed, buttered and sprinkled with lemon juice.

I have never cared for left over green beans.  They are hard to revive to their original fresh and snappy selves.  Kind of like take out french fries with your hamburger.  By the time you get it all home the fries are a pile of limp starch sticks; they're never the same as if you'd stayed and enjoyed your burger and fries at the burger joint.




This year I opted to steam enough green beans for Thanksgiving dinner but instead of left overs the next day I tried a green bean casserole recipe from the November / December 2006 issue of Cook's Illustrated.

 

In the taste department it's a far cry from the recipe we're all familiar with that we can throw together in our sleep.  This one is definitely worth the extra effort.  I want to clarify here that I certainly don't turn my nose up at the original green bean casserole; I'll eat the whole pan of it if it's plopped down in front of me.

This recipe makes a dish we so love even better.  I will be coming back to this again and again for several reasons.

One, the green beans maintain their bright, verdant color and have the perfect bite to their texture.

Two, the from-scratch mushroom sauce is bursting with fresh mushroom flavor.  It can't even be compared to the salty, gelatinous mushroom soup concentrate we are accustomed to.

Three, is the twist to the french fried onion ring topping.  With the addition of a little bit of white bread crumbs (I used a couple of leftover Parker House Rolls) and butter to the onion rings made for a more sophisticated topping.

Four, and very important to me, is that Lovey really, really liked these.

It halves nicely which is what I did here.  I'm giving you the full recipe below.  If you do half it bake it in a 2-quart (or 8-inch x 8-inch square) baking dish.  The components of the casserole can be prepared ahead of time.

My recommendation?  Go ahead, break from tradition and try this the next time you want to make green bean casserole.  You may just start a new tradition in your household.


Green Bean Casserole
Adapted from Cooks Illustrated November-December 2006 issue
Serves 10-12

For the Topping:
Ingredients:
4 slices white sandwich bread
2 Tbsp. unsalted butter, softened
1/4 tsp. table salt
1/8 tsp. ground black pepper
3 cups canned fried onions (about 6 ounces)

Method:
Tear each slice of bread into quarters and place in the bowl of a food processor.  Add the butter, salt and pepper.  Pulse until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs, about ten 1-second pulses.  (NOTE:  You can prepare the topping ahead of time to this point and store in an airtight container in the refrigerator over night.  The onions will be added right before baking.)  Transfer to a large bowl and toss with onions; set aside.

For the Beans and Sauce
Ingredients:
Table salt
2 pounds green beans
3 Tbsp. unsalted butter
1 pound white button mushrooms
3 medium garlic cloves (about 1 Tbsp.)
Ground black pepper
3 Tbsp. all-purpose flour
1-1/2 cups low-sodium chicken broth
1-1.2 cups heavy cream

Mise en place:

• rinse beans, trim ends and cut in half; set aside
• pop stems off mushrooms, wipe mushrooms clean and break into half-inch pieces (you can  also dice them to half-inch pieces)
• finely mince the cloves of garlic
• measure out flour
• measure out chicken broth
• measure out heavy cream
• adjust oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 425 °.
• fill a large bowl with ice water
• line a baking sheet with paper towels

Method:
Bring 4 quarts water to boil in large Dutch oven.  Add 2 Tbsp. salt and beans.  Cook beans until bright green and crisp-tender, about 6 minutes.  Drain beans in colander and plunge immediately into ice water to stop cooking.  Spread beans on paper-towel-lined baking sheet to drain.

Add butter to now-empty Dutch oven and melt over medium-high heat until foaming subsides.  Add mushrooms, garlic, 3/4 tsp. salt, and 1/8 tsp. pepper; cook until mushrooms release moisture and liquid evaporates, about 6 minutes.  Add the flour and cook for 1 minute, stirring constantly.  Stir in broth and bring to simmer, stirring constantly.  Add cream, reduce heat to medium, and simmer until sauce is thickened and reduced to 3-1/2 cups, about 12 minutes.(if you are halving this recipe this cooking time will be reduced to about 6 minutes to 1-3/4 cups).  Season with salt and pepper to taste.

Add green beans to sauce and stir until evenly coated.  Arrange in even layer in a 3-quart (or 13 by 9-inch) baking dish. (If preparing ahead, cover dish with plastic wrap and put in refrigerator for up to 24 hours - then remove plastic wrap, heat casserole in a 425° oven for 10 minutes then add the topping and bake as directed).  If not, sprinkle with topping and bake until top is golden brown and sauce is bubbling around edges, about 15 minutes.  Serve immediately. 

Bourbon Pecan Pie

  Since my young life the best tasting, can't beat, go-to recipe for pecan pie was the one on the label of Karo Dark Corn Syrup.

  About 12 years ago I ran across this recipe in an issue of Garden & Gun. Have used this recipe ever since.

There was a from-scratch recipe for the pie crust in the magazine. I have tried it and it is good,  but when in a crunch I use the Pillsbury refrigerated pie crusts.

My mother taught me to always let the pie sit for several minutes once I've poured it into the pie shell.  This give the pecans a little personal time to get situated and allows them to float to the top.

Bourbon Pecan Pie
Serves 8 - 10
Adapted from Garden and Gun magazine

Ingredients:
1 9-inch pie crust
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1-1/2 cups dark corn syrup
1/2 tsp. kosher salt
1-1/2 tsp. all-purpose flour
3 large eggs
1-1/2 tsp. vanilla
2 Tbsp. bourbon
1-1/2 Tbsp. melted sweet butter
2 cups pecan halves

Mise en place:

• roll out the pie disk and fit in a 9-inch pie pan.  Crimp the edges and set aside
• preheat oven to 350°F.
• melt the butter
• crack eggs into a small bowl
• measure out sugar, corn syrup, salt and flour into a large mixing bowl
• measure out the vanilla and bourbon
• measure out pecans

Method:
Using a mixer, combine the sugar, corn syrup, salt, flour and the eggs, mixing well.  Using a wooden spoon, add the vanilla and bourbon to the mixing bowl and stir to combine.  Add the melted butter and pecan halves and stir to combine.  

Pour into the unbaked pie shell. Let sit for a few minutes to allow, if needed,  pecans to float to the top.
Bake in the preheated oven for 1 hour and 15 minutes (a toothpick inserted in center should come out relatively clean).  If the top of the pie and/or crust look like they are getting too brown during baking cover loosely with foil.

Remove from oven and place on a cooling rack, allowing pie to rest for 2 to 3 hours to set.

*    I bake with an old heavy cookie sheet below the pie plate

*    The syrupy base makes about 3 cups of syrup

Turkey Stock and a Soup to Take the Chill Off

Thanksgiving dinner clean up in our kitchen usually means throwing things together for turkey stock.  It was super easy this year because we had a smaller turkey than usual; a 13 pounder.  I didn't have to get the chain saw out and cut a 20 pound carcass into pieces.

Place your turkey carcass in a 5-1/2 quart Dutch oven (or larger if you have a big turkey).  Now, start going through your refrigerator and pantry and grab anything you can add to help create a rich stock.  I used the rest of my celery, carrots, an onion, garlic, some fresh oregano and rosemary.

I'm too full and tired to start the stock Thanksgiving night so I cover the pot with foil and put it in the refrigerator overnight.

The next morning I filled the pot with water, added a little salt and brought the pot to a boil.
Once boiling, I turned the heat down, covered (lid slightly ajar), and simmered for about 4 hours.

Allow to cool a bit and remove all solids.  If there is a substantial amount of meat on your turkey carcass you can pull that off at this point and save.  Strain broth then strain a second time through a cheesecloth lined strainer.

Broth is cooled in refrigerator to allow fat to rise to the top and solidify.  Scrape the fat off, discard, and store broth in an airtight container if using within the next few days.  If not, freeze.

I ended up with 8 cups of turkey stock.

To turn the stock into a hearty soup I added a turkey thigh that was obviously not being eaten as leftovers

zucchini & yellow squash

 

 and some small pasta shells; because that's what I had at hand.

 Once you have your turkey broth you can add anything you want and create the perfect soup that's just right for you and your family.

 I'm not going to post a formal recipe since this is a throw - together type of soup.  You don't even have to use the broth right away.  Freeze it for another day.

 

Thanksgiving Summary

I've been busy and lax about posting since October.  Thanksgiving dinner this year was a small yet nice gathering of family.  We had the regular dishes that grace our Thanksgiving table but I did play around with a couple of things.

We tried an organic heirloom turkey this year.  It had the prettiest complexion!

I tried a new seasoning/cooking method from my norm.  Lynne Rossetto Kasper of The Splendid Table posted a rub that sounded interesting so I tried it.  Yes, it looks like someone got sick all over my turkey.  At Lynne's suggestion, I tried it breast side down for the first portion of roasting.

The results were fine and the seasoning made for a very interesting gravy (translated: it was really good but Lovey likes the old fashioned regular gravy I make better).

 

 

 

Made some pastry cut-outs to decorate the crust of the pumpkin pie.  Pumpkin pie recipe is straight off the Libby's label.  I go back to it every time.  Can't beat the good old recipe.

I strayed from the normal pecan pie and made a bourbon pecan pie (post to follow).


Rounded off the dinner with mashed potatoes, dressing and green beans.  Christanne  brought a great sweet potato dish.  I will say that sweet potatoes combined with goat cheese and pistachios make for a very tasty side dish (will see if I can get her to post the recipe).  I believe it was her dad's favorite way he's had sweet potatoes.

Although the food seems to edge it's way to the forefront of Thanksgiving, it's really about who you spend it with isn't it?  I was blessed this year to be able to spend time with daughters, grand kids and in-laws.  There was still al ot of family I didn't get to spend time with but they were in my heart just the same.