My first Turkey

OK I am really feeling like an idiot. I cooked the most beautiful turkey and I didn't take a picture. I followed Martha Stewart's cheesecloth covered turkey recipe. Oh my gosh, it was the best turkey I have ever had. Even the 2 and 3 year olds had seconds of turkey and whipped cream.

For all these years we have usually spent Thanksgiving with Jerry's brother. I have never had to cook before. I planned and planned and it all came out perfectly. Sometimes, well quite often really, when I cook dinner the entree is finished before the sides or vice versa. Many nights we finish dinner and I realize that I left some important dish in the refrigerator. In other words the kitchen is not my favorite place. So the fact that it all came together and most of the dishes were finished at the same time I attribute to a minor miracle.

So here was the menu:

Stuffed mushrooms which I modified from the previous menu listing. I browned one package Jimmy Dean Sausage with three green onions and a chanticleer pear (I think that's what it was called, it was a super sweet pear about the size and color of a plum) diced small. I then pureed 1/4 cup of cashews in the blender. Stirred the sausage, cream cheese, cashews, scallions and pear all together over low heat and then stuffed the mushrooms. Yummy!

I made the sweet potato puree described in an earlier post. Not a big hit, but it was interesting!

Mashed potatoes using steamed heavy cream instead of milk. So creamy!

Rhodes bake and serve rolls. Much better than I could do on my own.

Brussel sprouts halved and par boiled for eight minutes then sauteed with garlic in olive oil.

homemade cranberry and orange sauce. Tyler Florence's recipe. I would add more sugar than he suggests.

The stuffing and the turkey were the big hits of the day.

For the stuffing I made it up completely. I used four six ounce packages of Mrs. Cubbison's cornbread stuffing or two boxes. One package Jimmy Dean sage sausage browned with six thinly sliced leeks. Yes, you heard right I used six leeks. The flavor was amazing. A couple of people who said they never eat stuffing piled their plates with seconds. Drizzled with about one small can of chicken stock until just damp. I don't like soggy stuffing.

You can find Martha Stewart's turkey recipe several places online. This is the recipe I followed.
http://food.yahoo.com/recipes/martha-stewart/recipe1656/perfect-roast-turkey

Although I don't drink wine I cook with it all the time. In this case it paid off. This was the best turkey ever. One thing I added was fresh chopped sage to the butter I rubbed all over the skin before placing the cheesecloth. You could add any herb whose flavor you like. You could taste the sage in every bite. Delicious!