I have now successfully cleared a major cooking hurdle. The turkey turned out beautifully! We will definitely use the brining method again. We also made the Pioneer Woman's butternut squash puree - just as heavenly as she makes it sound! We forgot to prepare it the day before, so I microwaved the squash wrapped in paper towels for 30 minutes instead of cooking it in the oven, and that worked just fine. The only minor disaster (and what would Thanksgiving dinner be without at least one mishap?) happened in the gravy preparation. I had poured off the turkey drippings from the roasting pan into a small glass measuring container. I had set the container in the sink, so as not to make a mess all over the counter tops if I spilled. In the time it took me to turn the stove on and set the roasting pan on the burners, other people started using the sink to (A) dump out coffee grounds and (B) fill a pot with water. The addition of water and coffee grounds rendered our turkey drippings unusable for gravy-making (although I suppose we could have discovered a new gourmet treat - mocha gravy!). I ended up using butter instead of the turkey fat, and chicken broth in place of the drippings. Not quite as flavorful, but it turned out okay. And now I know that I can improvise a gravy!
I'm off now to join Aaron's family for pumpkin pancakes; yum!
3 comments:
Andrea--our turkey turned out okay...definitely moist, but not terribly flavorful...i.e. not worth as much work as I put into it. Was yours flavorful as well as nice and moist? Can't wait to hear more about it. The mashed potatoes turned out FABULOUS (from Pioneer Woman) and I also made her gravy--my first time to do it from scratch (yes, I ditched the gravy packets). It turned out, well, I'm not so sure I liked it but Eric did. But I'll try it again...just couldn't figure out why it didn't taste great to me. Perhaps it was missing a turkey liver or two? :)
great job with the brining! and way to go on the stovetop gravy!! you're turning into quite the pioneer woman yourself.
I made PW's bread pudding with whiskey cream sauce for women's bible study and that was a hit, too. She's not a low-fat recipe giver, but it sure is tasty stuff!
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