Holiday Super-Post Special: Feast for Two

Brad and I spent Thanksgiving together for the first time. We were pretty sad to be away from our families, but I made a meal that did a good job cheering us up and it wasn't too hard to pull off! I started prepping the turkey at 11 and we were eating at 3:00. I think 4 people could have eaten comfortably off the food, with some modest leftovers. We really like Thanksgiving leftovers, so this is what I made for just the two of us to eat until Monday. :o) I recommend you make these in the order I wrote them, with the turkey going in first, and then working on the sides while the turkey is cooking. ( I did make a pumpkin pie REALLY early in the morning...but I'm not going to include it. Don't worry, there will be another post to make up for it!) You'll also notice that we didn't have any gravy. That's because I was tire, and I thought the turkey was moist enough on its own, and I didn't want to cover up the the nice tang of the potatoes. In my family, gravy is just for making pulled turkey sandwiches out of leftovers. Oh, and a quick word about celery before we start. I have a problem with buying that big stalk of celery, only to use two sticks of it. So I just skip it.

We had this for Thanksgiving, but I think it would be pretty good for any holiday meal. I hope you enjoy this post, and THANK YOU for reading!


Turkey
Breast only, bone in.
Olive oil
rosemary
thyme
Salt
Pepper
1/2 orange cut into 6 chunks
1/2 large onion cut into 4 chunks
3 slightly smashed garlic cloves

Make sure it's all thawed, and any extras (like giblets) are removed. Preheat your oven to 500 degrees. (That is not a typo.) Pat the whole thing dry with paper towels (even the inside cavity), and then massage the bird with olive oil. Sprinkle the skin, and under the skin, liberally with the rosemary, thyme, salt and pepper. Make sure to season the inside of the cavity too. Then Fill the cavity with 1/2 an orange cut up into 6 chunks (skin on), 1/2 a large onion, cut up into 4 chunks, 3 smashed garlic cloves. You'll want 20 minutes of cooking for each lb of turkey. The first 30 minutes will be at 500 degrees, after that, lower your oven to 350 degrees and cook for the remaining time at that temperature. Use an internal temperature thermometer to make sure the thickest part of the breast (but not too close to the bone!) is 165 degrees in the center. If it's done, don't take the thermometer out of the bird until it has cooled and rested for 15 minutes. You don't want to let all that good juice out! Discard the things in the cavity. Golden, juicy, crispy and delicious!

Mashed Potatoes
4 medium russet potatoes, peeled and cut into pretty small chunks*
2tbsp butter, softened
1/2 c butter milk, warmed for about 30 seconds in the microwave
salt and pepper

Place potatoes in a medium pot. Fill with cold water to just cover the potatoes, and salt generously. Bring to a gentle boil, and let them go that way for about 20 minutes (or until a knife goes through them easily, when you pull out a chunk with a spoon). Strain and smash/stir with a fork. Add butter, about half of the buttermilk, salt and pepper. Check the texture. Keep adding buttermilk until you reach the desired consistency.

*I cut the potatoes into long quarters then slice the quarters into 1/2 inch pieces.

Sweet Potato Casserole
4 sweet potatoes- cooked any way you like, there are some suggestions in the sweet potato pancakes post
Juice and a small bit of zest from the other half of the orange in the turkey
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/2 tsp cinnamon
Topping
1/2 cup chopped macadamia nuts
1/3 cup flour
4 tbsp butter softened
1/2 cup brown sugar

Mash the sweet potatoes with the juice, zest, brown sugar, and cinnamon. Put this in a small casserole dish. In a small bowl mix nuts, flour, butter, and brown sugar. Sprinkle this mixture on top of sweet potatoes. Bake at 350 degrees for 15 minutes ( I would put this part in while the turkey is resting and the oven is still hot.)


Brussel Sprouts
1 lb brussel sprouts
4 strips of bacon cut into 1/2 inch squares
1 garlic clove cut into fourths

Don't give me that look! These are delicious! Cut off the little nub and then slice sprouts in half longitudinally. Put them in a large frying pan, add 1/4 cup water and salt. Cover to steam on medium high heat for 5 minutes. Drain sprouts and set aside. Fry the bacon on medium heat until it just starts to color. Add in the brussel sprouts and the garlic. Fry for a few more minutes (stir it to make sure there is even distribution, but not too much. Some still contact with the pan will get you some lovely browning on the sprouts. ) You'll have to pick through and throw out the garlic.

Dressing with Sausage
Your favorite dressing with 1/2 a 12 oz tube of breakfast sausage fried up and stirred in. Yeah, that was a little anti - climatic. Hey, this was the end of the work!

Not bad for my first Thanksgiving meal, eh? :o)