Need Some Tested Thanksgiving Recipes?

This weekend we decided to have a little pre-Thanksgiving feast with our friends in SLO since there are a bunch of us that like to cook and we are all going all over California for the actual holiday. Much was made out of the Thanksgiving issues of Bon Appetit and Cooking light that I really liked and thought I would pass along in case anyone is looking for some great recipes to try:

Malt Beer Brined Turkey With Malt Glaze:
http://www.epicurious.com/tools/searchresults?search=beer+brined+turkey&x=0&y=0

This was a deliciously juicy and had great flavor. Due to Dave's new interest in beer making, we decided to go for some beer inspired recipes. We cooked it in a "turkey roaster" (think giant crock pot) on 350 for about 4 1/2 hours. The only thing I changed is I used three of Dave's American Pale Ale beers from the keg to baste with instead of the water that the recipe called for.

Mixed Mushroom and Tarragon Gravy:
http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Mixed-Mushroom-and-Tarragon-Gravy-361769

Great flavor. I kind of messed up the texture on this by using light sour cream instead of creme fraiche. Use the real deal. I also subbed Trader Joe's turkey broth for the home made turkey stock due to time.

Framboise Cranberry Sauce
http://find.myrecipes.com/recipes/recipefinder.dyn?action=displayRecipe&recipe_id=50400000107546

Not too sweet and super easy! I'd make it again. I might add a tiny bit more orange zest next time. We made it the day before and I feel like the flavors melded together quite nicely. We could actually taste the raspberry from the framboise.


And Nat made a really nice vegetarian mushroom stuffing I thought I'd also share. The flavor was really nice:

Ingredients:
3 boxes assorted mushrooms, sliced thin
1 stick butter
2 white onions, chopped
9 cloves garlic, minced
a good large splash of brandy- might have been like a 1/2 cup
2 boxes of corn bread stuffing mix
2 cups home made mushroom stock (or can sub veg stock)
1 bag collard "southern" greens from TJ's

To season- salt, pepper, thyme, oregano, cayenne, paprika to taste

Directions:
Cook mushrooms and onions in a stick of butter, add brandy, cook until most of liquid is absorbed- about 15 minutes.

Cook greens in a pan for like 30 min with garlic, seasonings and some liquid- broth or water or both until well cooked.

Mix everything in a bowl, add more season if necessary, butter the pan well, and cook at 350 for an hour or until golden brown.


Happy Thanksgiving!!!