Got a Date With a Bird?

Between a House marathon on the USA (USA! USA! USA!) network and a full day of cooking, this might be my only chance to wish you all happy Turkey Day.

So, Happy Thanksgiving!

On the menu:

Turkey: Brined overnight in a salt, brown sugar, lemons, oranges, herbs and allspice berries. Covered liberally in oil, salt and pepper. Roasted @ 500 for half-an-hour, about 2.5 hours or so at 350 after that.

Dressing: New recipe. Dried cornbread and white bread, with Italian sausage and apples. Onions and celery, natch. Got some homemade stock I cooked last week for the moist. 350 for half-an-hour with Tom, then 425 to crisp once the bird vacates the cook box.

Roasted vegetables: Sweet potatoes, carrots, cippolini onions, sweet peppers. Covered liberally in olive oil, salt, pepper, cumin, and paprika. 350 degrees for 1/2 an hour with the turkey, 425 to finish them off once the bird takes a rest.

Leeks: Five slices of bacon, let 'em render. Remove bacon, add four leeks that have been cut into 1/2 inch pieces, washed and separated. Salt, pepper, maybe a little fennel and caraway seed. Let those leeks cook down until soft.

Green beans: Washed, blanched, ice bathed ahead of time. Hot pan with olive oil (would use butter, but guests have allergies), beans in the pan, tossed to coat. Lots of garlic, salt, pepper, and a squeeze or two of the meyer lemon.

Gravy: Classic 1 tablespoon to 1 tablespoon to 1 cup formula. Again, would use butter for my fat, but will fall back on turkey fat/olive oil, flour, and then more of that stock I made last week. I might throw in some drippings, but it's kind of a pain in the arse. You have 20 minutes to make gravy while the turkey rests and there's almost no way for the fat to separate from the drippings in that time and to make the gravy. But whaddya going to do?

Guest are responsible for bread, cran, wine and pie. AB made some chocolate mousse. We should be having a rocking time. Wish you could all be here.