Fresh Cranberry Cake

What's on your Thanksgiving menu this year?  I may have to go buy more cranberries so this cranberry cake can be a late addition to mine.  For the most part, I'm sticking with classic recipes this year but adding in a few new items as well.

Cider Brined Turkey and Gravy

Mashed Potatoes

Sweet Potato Casserole - I'm doing a cross between this recipe and a copycat Ruth's Chris Steakhouse version

Dressing with apples and cranberries

Broccoli Cheddar Quinoa

Stove Top Macaroni and Cheese

Cranberry Sauce

Harvest Salad with Roasted Butternut Squash

Crock Pot Apple Butter Yeast Rolls

Classic Pumpkin Pie

Salted Caramel Apple Pie

Pumpkin Roll

If you haven't nailed down your desserts yet, I've got a new one for you to try.  This takes about 20 minutes of prep time, but with a stand mixer about half of that time is just running the mixer.  It's so simple and likely the only thing you don't already have in the pantry are fresh cranberries.  Take advantage of the cheap fresh berries in every grocery store and make this cake while they are in season.  The tart cranberries are perfect with the sweetness of the cake and the light glaze.  Served with a scoop of vanilla ice cream, this is a great finish to Thanksgiving dinner.

Fresh Cranberry Cake

Cake:
2 cups sugar
3 eggs
3/4 cup unsalted butter, slightly softened
1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 tsp almond extract
1 T orange zest
2 cups flour
1 tsp cinnamon
2 1/2 cups cranberries

Glaze:
1 cup powdered sugar
2-3 T milk
1/2 tsp vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Spray a 10" springform pan or 9"x13" baking pan with baking spray and set aside.

Combine sugar and eggs in the bowl of a stand mixer or a large mixing bowl.  Mix 6-8 minutes on medium speed until pale yellow and doubled in volume.  Add in butter and extracts and zest and mix two more minutes.  Add flour and cinnamon and stir until combined.  Fold in cranberries.  Transfer batter to prepared pan.  If you are baking in a springform pan, put the pan on a cookie sheet and put in the oven.  Bake approximately one hour (about 45 minutes in a 9"x13" pan).  Cool completely and remove ring from pan.

Put powdered sugar in a small bowl, add milk one tablespoon at a time, whisking until smooth.  Add vanilla and drizzle over cake.

Cider-Brined Roast Turkey and Gravy

The star of Thanksgiving dinner is the turkey.  There are many ways to make a turkey, you can bake it, fry it, grill it, smoke it, etc. but my favorite way to make it is to brine it overnight the night before you bake it.  Brining the turkey in a salty solution infuses the turkey with extra moisture, creating an extra juicy turkey.  While I don't take credit for the apple cider brine, I have no idea where the original recipe came from and its been adapted several times over the past few years to the current version. 

Even if you brine the turkey, the most important thing is not to overcook it.  If you overcook it, no matter what you did the turkey will be dry.  My advice - don't rely on that little pop-up button that comes in the turkey.  They are often wrong or just don't work at all.  Make sure you get a meat thermometer, you can find one at pretty much any store with a kitchen department.  While you can spend a lot of money, you definitely don't have to.  Personally, I prefer the kind that has a probe that you can leave in the turkey that connects to a display outside of your oven.  

The gravy recipe below is for "sweet gravy" a recipe that my grandma always made.  You can make the gravy without the sugar, but I really suggest trying it to see if you like it if you've never had sweet gravy before. 

Cider-brined Roast Turkey

Brine:
1 quart apple cider
1 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup kosher salt
1 T allspice
2 cups apple cider vinegar
1 bay leaf
1 onion
4 cloves garlic
1 T peppercorns
8 whole cloves
At least 3 quarts water

Heat the apple cider, brown sugar, salt, and allspice in a large stockpot over medium high heat. Stir frequently until boiling to dissolve sugar. Set aside to cool. Quarter onion and smash and peel garlic cloves. In a container large enough to submerge the turkey, add the cider mixture, apple cider vinegar, onion, and garlic along with bay leaf, peppercorns, and cloves. Add two cups ice. Carefully add thawed turkey (make sure to remove the neck and giblets first if necessary). Pour in water until the turkey is submerged. Refrigerate turkey for approximately 12 hours.

Turkey:
1 14-18 pound turkey
1/4 cup butter, softened
2 T sage, chopped
2 T thyme, chopped
1 apple, quartered
1 lemon, quartered
1 onion, quartered
1 tsp salt
1 tsp fresh ground pepper
1/2 cup dry white wine
4 cups chicken or turkey stock
Cheesecloth

When ready to cook the turkey, preheat oven to 375 degrees, rinse turkey and pat dry with paper towels.  Place turkey on a roasting rack in a heavy roasting pan.  Pour wine in a shallow bowl and soak a square of cheesecloth big enough to cover the turkey breast in wine.  Mix butter with herbs and rub liberally over turkey, including inside cavity and under skin of breast.  Sprinkle turkey with salt and pepper.  Lay cheesecloth over turkey breast.  Add apple, lemon and onion slices to the cavity of the turkey, put anything that doesn't fit in the bottom of the pan.  Pour any remaining wine over the turkey, add about 2 cups of stock to the bottom of the pan. 

Bake turkey at 375 degrees for about 30 minutes, then reduce heat to 300 degrees and continue baking for about 15 minutes per pound.  Baste the turkey every 30 minutes.  Remove the cheesecloth for the last 45 minutes of baking time.  Cook turkey until the temperature in the breast reaches 160 degrees on both sides.  Remove turkey from the oven, transfer to a platter, tent with foil and let rest for about 30 minutes.  Save the turkey drippings in the pan for gravy.  Temperature should continue to rise until it hits 165 degrees.  Remove the aromatics from the turkey cavity and discard.  Carve turkey as desired.  If during the cooking process, the wing tips or legs start to get too dark, cover them loosely with foil and continue cooking.

Gravy:
Turkey drippings
1/3 cup water
2 T cornstarch
2-3 T sugar
Chicken or turkey stock if necessary

Carefully pour turkey drippings from roasting pan into a large measuring cup, mason jar, or gravy separator or similar container.  Put container in the refrigerator.  The fat from the drippings will rise to the top and then can be carefully spooned or poured off and discarded.  Meanwhile, mix together cornstarch and water to form a slurry in a separate cup.  Heat a large deep skillet over medium heat.  Add remaining drippings.  Whisking constantly, add cornstarch slurry to thicken.  Continue whisking until the mixture thickens to desired consistency.  If its too thick or you don't have enough gravy, you can add additional stock, if it's too thin, add more cornstarch slurry.  Do not add the cornstarch directly to the gravy or it will be difficult to get rid of lumps, mix it with water first.  When it's the right consistency, add 2-3 tablespoons of sugar, to taste.  Transfer to a gravy boat or serving bowl and serve hot.

Spice Rubbed Roasted Turkey Breast

Frozen turkey breasts were on sale a couple of weeks ago at the grocery store so I picked one up. Even on sale, turkey breast is generally about twice the price of a whole turkey but since we don't really eat the dark meat, its more economical for us. You can easily use this recipe to make a whole turkey though.

While it takes a little prep work and a few hours in the oven, a turkey breast is a great time saver for healthy, weeknight meals. Prepare it on Sunday and you can have a classic Sunday night dinner and package up the leftovers for tacos, chili, salads, etc during the week. Substitute it for what you would normally do with a rotisserie chicken.

Spice Rub:
2 T ground cumin
2 T garlic powder
1 T allspice
1 T chili powder
1 T rosemary
1 T thyme
1 tsp cayenne pepper
1 tsp dry mustard
1 tsp salt
4 T butter, slightly softened

You'll aslo need a lemon, onion, and 2-4 cups of chicken stock.

Mix together all the spices in a small bowl and combine with 4 T softened butter.

To cook turkey breast, thaw in the refrigerator as directed on the package (generally at least 24 hours).

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. I use a roasting pan with a rack but you can also use a regular roasting pan. Rinse turkey with cold water and pat dry with paper towels. Rub all over with spice rub, including inside the cavity. Quarter 1 lemon, squeeze juice over the turkey. Quarter 1/2 an onion and place both onion and lemon wedges in the cavity and the bottom of the pan. Add about 1 cup of chicken stock to the bottom of the pan and add more as necessary to baste while cooking. I cook the turkey breast side down on the rack because I think it results in a juicier turkey, albeit, slightly less pretty but I don't carve it at the table anyway. Cook according to package directions, approximately 15 minutes per pound, basting approximately every 30 minutes. Use a meat thermometer to ensure turkey is cooked to 170 degrees. If skin starts to become too brown, cover with a sheet of foil. Once the temperature is reached, cover with foil and let rest about 15 minutes before carving.