Thanksgiving Recipes

A traditional Thanksgiving dish in the United States is roasted turkey with herbs and hearty gravy. The recipes for this bird are similar, yet each hostess tries to put something special into her dish. We’re going to make a traditional turkey with the meaty, hearty gravy that Americans love so much.

Vermont Turkey with Gravy and Spice

The main thing in this recipe is to choose a good, fresh and fatty turkey. So, to prepare it, you will need:

1 turkey carcass with giblets (approximately 6-7 kg);

200 grams of butter;

4 tablespoons of flour;

bay leaves to taste.

For the broth:

half an onion;

1 carrot;

celery (2 stalks);

2 bay leaves;

black pepper (10 pieces);

parsley to taste.

Spices, herbs and flavorings:

• 1 lemon;
• half an onion;
• ground pepper (teaspoon);
• thyme (10 sprigs);
• rosemary (4 sprigs);
• sage (2 sprigs);
• parsley (10 sprigs);
• bay leaf (4 pcs.);
• half a teaspoon of garlic powder;
• vegetable oil – sunflower or olive (4 tablespoons).
• All fresh herbs can be replaced by dried and ground.

For the giblet gravy:

Finely chop a large leek.

Let’s proceed to cook the turkey.

How to cook a turkey for Thanksgiving

Wash the turkey and remove the giblets (we will still need them). Also trim the neck and wing tips. Salt the bird and rub with ground pepper and garlic powder.

For the stock place giblets, neck and wing off parts in a pot, add 900 ml of water. Bring to the boil, remove foam, add vegetables and seasonings (those for broth) and simmer for 2.5 hours. Then strain the broth and leave it to cool.

While the broth is boiling, coarsely chop the lemon, chop the herbs and mix them with vegetable oil. Brush the turkey with this marinade on top and also stuff the inside (with the remaining spices and lemon).

Preheat the oven to 240 degrees. Mix 85g of butter with the flour and rub into the turkey skin. Place the bird in a large mold in the oven and bake for 1 hour.

Melt the remaining butter with a tablespoon of water.

Reduce the temperature in the oven to 180 degrees. Then remove the turkey, drizzle with melted butter and set aside to roast for another 50 minutes. Don’t forget to take the turkey out every 15 minutes and drizzle with butter. At the end, leave it in the oven for another 20 minutes without removing it.

For the gravy, drain the juice from the baking turkey into a saucepan and place on the stove. Heat, stirring, for 5 minutes over medium heat, then let it cool. As it cools, the fat should come out of the liquid, which you should take out with a spoon and fry with the chopped shallots for 1 minute. Pour the fat into the stock and bring to the boil. Add the giblets and simmer for 10 minutes more.

Strain the sauce, pour it into a bowl, and serve with the roast turkey.

Thanksgiving is sometimes called Turkey Day. After all, there are many recipes for cooking this bird. Some housewives stuff it with oranges, apples, cornbread with nuts, butter and onions. Link to source https://yagupov.com.ua/

Cranberry Sauce.

If gravy is too greasy for you, you can make a traditional cranberry sauce for Thanksgiving.

Cranberry Sauce

For this recipe you will need:

1. cranberries – 500 g;
2. sugar – 200 gr;
3. 1 orange (juice and zest);
4. ¼ teaspoon nutmeg;
5. ¼ ground pepper (allspice);
6. 50 ml water.
7. roast turkey

Cooking Method.

Place the berries in a saucepan, add the sugar, spices and water. Rinse the orange with boiling water, dry it, remove the zest. Squeeze the juice out of the citrus.

Add the zest to the sauce and bring everything to a boil over medium heat, stirring all the time.

Turn down the heat and simmer the sauce for 8 to 9 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Add the orange juice, bring to a boil, stir and turn off.

Stir the sauce with a blender, then strain through a sieve.

Serve over roasted turkey.

Green beans with bacon and brown sugar

Another traditional Thanksgiving treat is green beans. This classic side dish is served with turkey alongside mashed potatoes. Or even in place of them. Everyone probably knows how to make mashed potatoes. But the recipe for green beans – very unusual and interesting – we will tell you.

Green beans with bacon

For this recipe you will need:

• 900 grams of fresh green bean pods;
• 4-6 strips of bacon;
• 2/3 cup brown sugar;
• 2 tablespoons Dijon mustard;
• 1 tablespoon minced garlic;
• salt and pepper to taste

Method

Put beans in a large pot, fill with water, cover and bring to a boil.

Boil on high heat until tender. The beans should be soft, but not boiled. Next you will finish cooking them.

Drain and rinse the beans.

Pan fry the bacon for 6 to 8 minutes.

Add brown sugar, Dijon mustard and garlic and mix.

Then add the green beans. The mixture will start to juice and bubble, keep stirring for 4-6 minutes.

Season with salt and pepper and serve hot for dinner.

roast turkey

You can garnish this dish with green onions, roasted walnuts or crispy onion rings in batter. Very tasty!

American Cornbread with Cheddar Cheese

We’ve perfected this recipe for baking traditional bread with the addition of cheddar cheese.

For this recipe you will need:

• 200 g of fine cornmeal;
• 115 g of sifted wheat flour;
• 1/2 tbsp. baking powder (baking powder);
• 1 tbsp. baking soda;
• 2 tbsp. salt;
• 35 g sugar;
• 375 ml of kefir;
• 3 eggs;
• 85g unsalted butter (melt);
• 75g grated cheddar cheese.

Method of preparation

Preheat oven to 190 degrees.

In one bowl, combine the corn and wheat flours, add the baking powder, baking soda, salt and sugar.

In another bowl, whisk together the eggs, kefir, and melted (but cooled) butter.

Pour the whipped liquid mixture into the bowl with the dry ingredients and mix everything well (without beating). Add the grated cheese.

Butter a 23cm square baking dish and pour the batter into it.

Bake the bread for 20-25 minutes until light and fluffy.

When ready cool the cornbread, cut into squares and serve at the table.