Holiday Recipes

Cheesy Broccoli-Rice Casserole

Everything in the below recipe is approximate. TASTE THE CASSEROLE BEFORE BAKING!!
This made enough casserole to fill an 11”x15”glass baking dish and served 11 people on thanksgiving with enough leftovers for you to snack on for the week after.

2lbs – Fresh Broccoli
½ Cup – Chopped Celery
2 Cups – Diced red onion
2 - Standard sized bags of shredded SHARP CHEDDAR cheese
1 20oz can - Cream of Chicken Soup (I always buy an extra can just in case!)
1 20oz can – Cream of Mushroom Soup (I always buy an extra can just in case!)
1 cup - Milk (This is very estimated. I added this in as the last ingredient and only to moisten the casserole before baking)
2-3 cups – Cooked white rice
Butter – Just enough to coat the skillet and sauté onions and celery
Salt and Pepper to taste

If you’re serving the casserole the same day as you’re preparing it, preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
Cut broccoli into small florets. I like to chop up a few stems to mix in for texture as well. Cook broccoli/stems to your liking.
While the broccoli is cooking, sauté the celery and onion in butter until onions are slightly translucent, but still have a crunch to them.
Mix all of the ingredients (MINUS ONE BAG OF CHEESE) into a large bowl (MILK LAST). Season with salt and pepper to taste. In regards to the milk, mix that in last just to add a bit of moisture, it really doesn’t add or take away from the taste. I typically use from 1 to 1-1/2 cups. Eyeball it…
Once all ingredients have been mixed, I suggest you taste the casserole at this point. SERIOUSLY, taste the casserole or you might regret it. The final step will be baking the casserole, but you should have an overall idea of how it will turn out if you taste it now before baking. Once it’s baked, there’s no going back. Typically at this point if I need to add moisture I add more milk. If I need more flavor, I add more soup (cream of mushroom/chicken).
Once the casserole is to your liking in regards to taste; pour the mixture into a glass baking pan, cover the top with the second bag of cheddar cheese and bake, covered with foil, for about 45 minutes, or until the cheese is completely melted and slightly browned around the corners.
NOTE: You can let it sit overnight and bake it in the morning if it’s for a special occasion and you’re just prepping the day before.
Some people like to add French fried onions, cracker crumbles, or some other type of crunchy texture on top in addition to the cheese, but it’s just as good without that as well.

A few years ago I stumbled upon what has apparently been a well known secret to making amazing mashed potatoes…see? It’s never too late to learn! Two tricks I learned are described below; first, allowing the steam to escape the potatoes is key and second is the magical addition of cream cheese!

2 pounds Yukon Gold Potatoes (or any other creamy, buttery potato. NOT russets)

1/3 cup butter (reduced fat Country Crock is fine, it’s what I use)

2 tablespoons of butter sliced into small slabs

4 ounces reduced fat cream cheese

¼ cup fat free half and half

1 teaspoon white pepper

Salt as needed to taste

1/8 cup salt for boiling

MAKES 4 SERVINGS

1. Peel and cut the potatoes into eighths. Bring a large pot of water with 1/8 cup of salt to a boil

2. Add the potatoes and maintain a rolling boil for about 30 minutes

3. Drain the potatoes and then place them back into the pot on the stove over low heat. Mash the potatoes using a potato masher (not an electric mixer). Allow seemingly all of the steam to escape before proceeding

4. Preheat oven to 350 degrees

5. Turn the stove off and add the pepper, butter, cream cheese and half and half. Resume mashing and stirring

6. Check for taste. If they need salt, add some and stir (I’ve never had to add salt)

7. Place the potatoes into a baking dish and top with the sliced pats of butter

8. Cook in the oven for 15 minutes. Increase heat to 400 degrees and cook for an additional 10 minutes total (Don’t wait for the oven to actually reach 400 degrees before starting your timer, just raise the temp and cook for 10 more minutes)

9. I have tried making this dish in advance and it’s good, but not the same. I advise against it. Worst case scenario, prep all the way to step 7 and then wait to finish, following steps 8 and 9, increasing cooking time as needed

FOR THE SEASONING MIX:
1 cup salt
2 tablespoons cayenne pepper
2 tablespoons pepper
2 tablespoons onion powder
mixed together

FOR THE MARINADE:
3 Tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
¼ cup Cider vinegar
¼ cup molasses
½ cup honey
1 12 ounce bottle beer
¼ cup chicken broth
1 tablespoon salt
½ cup creole seasoning (now easily found in grocery stores spice racks, any brand will do)
½ teaspoon cayenne
1 tablespoon Italian seasoning
mixed together

FOR THE FRYING:
1 turkey, about 14 pounds
turkey fryer
Peanut oil (approx. 8-12 gallons)

To Make...

1. Make sure the bird is fully thawed by placing it in the refrigerator at least 3 full days before cooking. If, on the night before, it is not thawed, place the turkey in a room temperature bath until it thaws.

2. The night before roasting, clean the turkey by removing the neck and giblets enclosed in the bird. Use them for the gravy, or discard.

3. Rinse the raw bird completely with cold water, using your hands to "massage" the bird as it is rinsed with the water. Do this all over, and inside the bird's cavity. MAKE SURE that everything you touch is thoroughly cleansed afterwards.

4. Drizzle olive oil into the cavity of the turkey, followed by generous amounts of the mixed together seasoning mix. Rub it all over the inside wall of the turkey.

5. Proceed to the outside of the bird, and rub generous amounts of seasoning mix all over the bird. (You are creating what is called a "dry-rub") The seasonings not only bring out the bird's flavors, but also help to keep the meat tender.

6. Using a large kitchen-use syringe, fill it numerous times with the marinade and injecdt the turkey. You'll want to lift the skin, and jam the needle directly into the meat of the bird. After doing each injection, gently press down on the area of the bird you injected to evenly disburse the marinade.

7. Fill your large pot approx. ¾ full with peanut oil and heat to 325 degrees. Carefully lower the bird into the oil as directed by the fryer's manufacturer.

8. Allow 3 minutes per pound before checking the turkey. To do so safely, have someone raise the turkey completely above the oil, allowing you to test the thigh and breasts area with a meat thermometer. The turkey is done when the thigh reaches 175 degrees and the breasts reach 155 degrees.

9. Place the done bird on a roasting pan which has been covered with brown paper bags. Let bird rest for 10 minutes, then carve.

Some important notes:

I suggest that you use my Turkey Brine if you choose to cook your turkey this way.

Roasting a turkey on a BBQ grill produces the same effect as an oven roasted bird, but is jucier, more flavorful and easier in my opinion. It also allows the oven to be used for other dishes.

These directions are done using a gas grill with a temperature gauge. If you have neither, you will have to improvise

Finally, I serve my turkey juicy and tender, thus it has a slight pink hue along the outer edges of each slice. I certainly cannot and am not advising you to not follow the USDA's guidelines for safely serving poultry to your family. If you, of your own free will, choose to serve your turkey as I do be ready for someone at the table to be "freaked out" by the presence of pink around their turkey. My answer to this always is, "don't eat it, then." You may want to cook your bird a little longer to avoid all of this.

Ingredients for the Seasoning Mix
1 White Onion
1/2 stalk of celery
3 Large Shallots
Olive Oil
10 cups chicken broth
5 teaspoons garlic powder
5 teaspoons onion powder
3 teaspoons poultry seasoning
3 teaspoons paprika
Salt and Pepper
a turkey, no larger than 14 pounds, brined using my "turkey brining recipe"

To Make...

1. Make sure the bird is fully thawed by placing it in the refrigerator at least 3 full days before cooking. If, on the night before, it is not thawed, place the turkey in a room temperature bath until it thaws.

2. Brine the turkey for at least 6 and up 12 hours prior to cooking.

3. Place the bird, breast side up, in his baking pan, on a rack which allows the turkey's drippings to accumulate beneath it.

4. Drizzle olive oil into the cavity of the turkey, followed by generous amounts of salt and pepper. Rub the salt and pepper all over the inside wall of the turkey. Allow the excess oil to simply dribble into the pan under the turkey.

5. Drizzle olive oil all over the turkey's breasts, legs, back, etc, rubbing the oil in. Follow it with generous amounts of salt and pepper rubbed all over the bird. The seasonings not only bring out the bird's flavors, but also help to keep the meat tender.
6. Chop the celery, onions, peeled shallots, and mix together in a bowl.

7. Stuff the vegetables into the cavity of the turkey. This is done to flavor the bird, and will not be eaten.
8. Mix together the chicken broth and seasoning powders. Pour 3 cups of the broth mixture into the pan beneath the turkey.

9. Preheat grill to 500 degrees (usually takes 20 minutes).

10. Place a fresh layer of olive oil along the outside of the turkey.

11. Place turkey in the grill and cover the grill for 40 minutes.

12. Your turkey should be beginning to turn golden brown already. Add 3 more cups of broth to the bottom of the pan which is probably bone dry now.

13. Reduce grill heat to 300 degrees.

14. DO NOT OPEN THE OVEN CONTINUALLY. Just let the bird cook.

15. Despite common myths, there is no formula based on "minutes per pound" to figure out when your bird will be done. In my experience, an 18 pound turkey will need another 1 ½ to 2 ½ hours of cooking at this point, but you have to use some common sense. You want you turkey's legs to reach 175 degrees, and the breast meat to reach 155 degrees. At that point, you will remove the turkey from the oven, keep it covered and carve it 10 minutes later. Add more broth as needed in the bottom of the pan. I suggest checking your turkey after 1 hour of cooking at 300 degrees and determining at that point how well it's going. You can always reduce the heat even more if it's cooking too quickly or turn it up if the opposite is true.

(serves 6-8 people)

First, a note from Rob's Crazy Mother...

Most dishes come with a little leeway. I often change things to match my own instincts. Some recipes, however, need to be followed. This dish works specifically because of the ingredients listed.

For example, using hot sausage taints the flavor and overruns the stuffing. Using margarine instead of butter changes the consistency and screws things up. Substitute at your own risk. So here are the ingredients for my stuffing recipe...

Ingredients
6 Italian Sausages
1 15 oz. box of seasoned stuffing
1 white onion, chopped
3 cloves of garlic, chopped
1 whole bunch of celery, cut in half (using only the top leafy half. Discard the bottom half. Chop coarsely the top half, including leaves)
28 ounces chicken broth
approx. 1 stick of butter
Olive oil

Note on stuffing: Stuffing mix (that I’m familiar with) seems to come in either a 12 or 16 ounce box. Get either – it will be fine and if necessary, adjust the liquid etc accordingly!

To Make...

1. Remove the casing (outer film) from the Italian sausage and chop into smaller than bite size pieces (about the size you see on pizzas)

2. Preheat the oven to 325 (see step 11 below for other alternatives)

3. In a large saucepan over medium heat, add approx 2 tablespoons of olive oil, then brown the sausages on medium low until still just pink inside. Be careful not to overcook. Discard oil and Reserve sausage.

4. In the saucepan, warm ½ stick of butter of medium heat (Use the remaining 1/2 stick of butter to make stuffing more moist if desired, otherwise discard it). Add approx. 7 ounces of chicken broth

5. Add onion, celery and garlic and cook for 3 minutes over medium heat, stirring often.

6. Add remaining chicken broth and sausage and mix together

7. Place the stuffing mix in a large bowl and slowly and gently add the sausage/veggie mix. Do not over-mix or the stuffing will turn mushy. Add any seasoning packets that came with the stuffing mix at this time, again gently mixing it in. If, after all the ingredients are added, the stuffing seems dry, add more chicken broth, but do so very sparingly. Remember that more fat from the sausages will cook out and add some moisture to the mix.

8. Place the stuffing mix in a greased or Pam-sprayed baking pan, then cover with aluminum foil.

9. Bake for 45 minutes and check for doneness. If stuffing is still too moist, cook for up to an additional 15 minutes. If it's too dry, add some chicken broth and cook, checking frequently, for approx 5-15 more minutes.

10. Just before serving, pour 2 tablespoons of turkey drippings (from the roasting pan you made your turkey with) into the stuffing mix and stir. If you don't have any turkey drippings, skip this step.

11. If the oven is being used on thanksgiving day, for example, the stuffing can be baked earlier in the day (before the turkey goes in) and reheated for dinner in the microwave until warm. This is not ideal, but it will still produce a great stuffing.

Recipe courtesy of Betty Crocker

This Cheesecake is PURE HEAVEN and sooooooooo easy to make! Once you make it for Thanksgiving it will become a requested Cheesecake every year, so be prepared to make it every year!! But hey you will want to because you will want to eat it as well!!!

CRUST

2 cups gingersnap cookie crumbs (about 32)

¼ CUP butter or margarine, melted

FILLING

4 packages (8 ounce each) cream cheese, softened

1 ½ cups sugar

4 eggs

1 cup canned pumpkin (not pumpkin pie mix)

1 ½ teaspoons ground ginger

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg

1. Heat oven to 300 degrees. Grease 9 inch springform pan with shortening or cooking spray. Wrap foil around pan to catch drips. In small bowl, mix cookie crumbs and butter. Press crumb mixture in bottom and 1 inch up side of pan. Bake 8 to 10 minutes or until set. Cool 5 minutes.

2. In large bowl, beat cream cheese with electric mixer on medium speed just until smooth and creamy, do not overbeat. On low speed, gradually beat in sugar. On low speed, beat in eggs, one at a time, just until blended. Spoon 3 cups of the cream cheese mixture into pan, spread evenly.

3. Stir pumpkin, ginger, cinnamon and nutmeg into remaining cream cheese mixture, mix with wire whisk until smooth. Spoon over mixture in pan.

4. Bake 1 hour 25 minutes to 1 hour 30 minutes or until edges are set but center of cheesecake still jiggles slightly when moved.

5. Turn oven off, open oven door at least 4 inches. Leave cheesecake in oven 30 minutes longer. Remove from oven, place on cooling rack. Without releasing side of pan, run knife around edge of pan to loosen cheesecake. Cool in pan on cooling rack 30 minutes. Cover loosely, refrigerate at least 6 hours but no longer then 24 hours.

6. Run knife around edge of pan to loosen cheesecake again, carefully remove side of pan. Place cheesecake on serving plate. Store cheesecake covered in refrigerator. 16 servings.

Some important notes:

I suggest that you use my Turkey Brine if you choose to cook your turkey this way.

I serve my turkey juicy and tender, thus it has a slight pink hue along the outer edges of each slice. I certainly cannot and am not advising you to not follow the USDA's guidelines for safely serving poultry to your family. If you, of your own free will, choose to serve your turkey as I do be ready for someone at the table to be "freaked out" by the presence of pink around their turkey. My answer to this always is, "don't eat it, then." You may want to cook your bird a little longer to avoid all of this.

Ingredients
2 Large Yellow or White Onions
1 stalk of celery
4 Large carrots
4 Large Shallots
Olive Oil
½ bunch fresh thyme
½ bunch fresh sage
½ bunch fresh rosemary
Salt and Pepper
Oh yeah... and a turkey

To Make...

1. Make sure the bird is fully thawed by placing it in the refrigerator at least 3 full days before cooking. If, on the night before, it is not thawed, place the turkey in a room temperature bath until it thaws.

2. The night before roasting, clean the turkey by removing the neck and giblets enclosed in the bird. Use them for the gravy, or discard. (See my gravy recipe for more info)

3. Rinse the raw bird completely with cold water, using your hands to "massage" the bird as it is rinsed with the water. Do this all over, and inside the bird's cavity. MAKE SURE that everything you touch is thoroughly cleansed afterwards.

4. Drizzle olive oil into the cavity of the turkey, followed by generous amounts of salt and pepper. Rub the salt and pepper all over the inside wall of the turkey.

5. Drizzle olive oil all over the turkey's breasts, legs, back, etc, rubbing the oil in. Follow it with generous amounts of salt and pepper rubbed all over the bird. The seasonings not only bring out the bird's flavors, but also help to keep the meat tender.

6. Place the bird, breast side up, in his baking pan, preferably on a rack which allows the turkey's drippings to accumulate beneath it.

7. Chop the celery, onions, carrots, peeled shallots, and herbs and mix together in a bowl.

8. Stuff the chopped herbs and vegetables into the cavity of the turkey. This is done to flavor the bird, and will not be eaten.

9. Cover the turkey and keep refrigerated over night.

10. On the day of cooking, remove the bird from the fridge in plenty of time for it to reach room temperature.

11. Preheat oven to 500 degrees.

12. Place a fresh layer of olive oil along the outside of the turkey.

13. Place turkey, legs to the back, in the oven for 30 minutes.

14. Your turkey should be beginning to turn golden brown already. (if the bird is quite large, like say 20+ pounds, you may need to add an extra 15 minutes).

15. Reduce oven heat to 300 degrees.

16. Place a triangular piece of aluminum foil over the breast and continue cooking DO NOT OPEN THE OVEN CONTINUALLY. Just let the bird cook.

17. Despite common myths, there is no formula based on "minutes per pound" to figure out when your bird will be done. In my experience, an 18 pound turkey will need another 1 ½ to 2 ½ hours of cooking at this point, but you have to use some common sense. You want you turkey's legs to reach 175 degrees, and the breast meat to reach 155 degrees. At that point, you will remove the turkey from the oven, keep it covered and carve it 10 minutes later. I suggest checking your turkey after 1 hour of cooking at 300 degrees and determining at that point how well it's going. Given the choice you'd rather your turkey be done too soon, rather than too late.

If you like, you can use the reserved juices from this dish to make a brown gravy. A VERY easy way to do this is to use those gravy packets from the store. Rather than adding water as the packet recipes says, add the roast drippings instead. (In other words, if the gravy packet says to add 1 cup water to the seasoning packet, add 1 cup of drippings to the packet instead. If your gravy is too thick, add water then).

Ingredients
1 Seven Pound prime beef rib roast (figure about ¾ pound per person. This size should feed 10 people)
Olive oil
2 tablespoons fresh thyme leaves
Salt and Pepper
Roasting Pan

To Make...

1. Remove your meat from the refrigerator at least 1 hour before cooking it, so it reaches room temperature.

2. Preheat Oven to 475 degrees.

3. Put the roast, fat side up (rib side down) in your roasting pan on a wire rack which allows the drippings of the roast to catch in the bottom of your roasting pan.

4. Rub olive oil all over the roast.

5. Remove the thyme leaves from twigs and press the thyme leaves all over the roast to adhere the thyme directly to the meat.

6. Generously season the entire roast with salt and pepper.

7. Make sure that your meat is at room temperature before cooking it.

8. Roast the meat, uncovered, in the middle of the oven for 30 minutes (DO NOT OPEN THE OVEN DOOR DURING THIS TIME!!)

9. Reduce the oven heat to 300 degrees and roast for another 90 minutes. The "formula" is around 13 minutes per pound at this stage and this temperature. Check the meat with a meat thermometer. The roast is done when the thermometer reads 115 degrees.

10. Remove the meat from the oven and allow it to rest, covered with aluminum foil for at least 10 minutes and no more than 20. Carve the meat and serve your perfect roast.

Great turkey gravy is so much easier than people think. This recipe assumes that you are cooking a whole turkey. Also, this recipe takes advantage of those packaged mixes available at any grocery store which is a hell of a lot easier (and the way I make it) tastier than using flour.

Ingredients
Raw whole turkey giblets and neck
Chicken bouillon cubes
3 packages turkey gravy mix (this assumes that each package calls for 1 cup of water to be added to each package)
water

To Make...

1. Clean the raw turkey and remove the neck and giblets.

2. Place the neck and giblets in a saucepan and cover them with water. Add 2 bouillon cubes and place on the stove on medium low heat.

3. About an hour later, check the water level. If it has dipped below the turkey parts at all, again cover with fresh water and add another bouillon cube. Repeat this as necessary, allowing the neck and giblets to cook a total of at least 3 hours, up to 4.

4. Strain the remaining liquid and discard the solids. You will now have between 2-3 cups of real, fresh turkey broth.

5. Follow the package directions for the gravy (which should be as simple as bringing the package powder and water to a boil) but instead of using water as the package says, use your turkey broth. If you have 2.5 cups of broth, use all 3 packages of gravy mix for thicker gravy, and only two for thinner gravy. You will wind up with a nice tan to brown gravy that tastes better than any turkey gravy you've had.

Even people that HATE sweet potatoes rave over these things every year! As you’ll see below, there are a lot of varieties you can actually choose from based on your tastes. Have fun!

4 large sweet potatoes
1 Yam
4 tablespoons sweet, salted butter (sweet cream butter)
2 eggs
½ cup brown sugar
2 tablespoons orange juice
1 teaspoon cinnamon
½ cup sugar
1 teaspoon real vanilla
1 teaspoon imitation maple flavoring
¼ cup whole milk
1/3 cup all purpose flour

FOR THE TOPPING: (your choice of the following, use any, all or any variation)

Mounds sweetened coconut flakes
Miniature marshmallows
Shelled pecans

Serves 8

1. Peel the sweet potatoes and yam and cut into quarters

2. Bring a large saucepan of water to a boil and place peeled yam and potatoes into boiling water for 10-15 minutes, until fork tender

3. Preheat oven to 350 degrees

4. In a separate bowl, combine all of the remaining ingredients except the toppings

5. Remove potatoes and yam and drain and immediately move to step 6 with the hot drained potatoes and yam.

6. Place the yam and potatoes in an electric mixer and mix for 3-5 minutes, until creamy. You are looking for a consistency identical to cooked mashed potatoes.

7. Add the bowl of additional ingredients and continue to mix for another 3-5 minutes.

8. Place potato mixture into a greased/buttered 9x13 glass casserole dish.

9. Cook in oven for 10 minutes, then remove

10. Increase oven temperature to broil

11. Top your soufflé with your desired topping by sprinkling an even, desired amount of marshmallows, pecans, coconut or whatever topping you have chosen over the top of the cooked soufflé.

12. Broil for 3-5 minutes to finish, watching very closely. This is where your soufflé can go from awesome to destroyed very quickly. You are trying to brown the top of your soufflé to a desired doneness without burning it. Keep a close eye on it!

13. Remove from oven and serve immediately

A Turducken is a boneless chicken stuffed inside a boneless duck stuffed inside a boneless tuekey. It is A LOT of work and I found that the key to making this dish great is actually the stuffing that you cook between the layers of the birds.

Also, have your butcher do the hard part. Make him de-bone and pre-twine your turkey. Even with all of that, this is a huge undertaking.

I found a ton of different ways that people suggest to cook this thing and decided to make up my own way. The birds all came out perfectly cooked using my method, so I am confident in this procedure. It also allowed me a lot more control over timing.

When it's all said and done, I can't say that I recommend this dish, although reviews were mixed. A few people thought it was excellent, I thought that it was fine, but it wasn't worth the trouble

Finally, I would suggest using some website that guide you through this process photographically. Here are two that I consulted.

magicseasonings.com

thesalmons.org

Easily feeds 12-15 people

Ingredients
One 15 pound turkey, de-boned and prepped to be tied.
One 4-5 pound duck, de-boned
One 3 pound chicken, de-boned
One recipe of Spicy Sausage Sourdough Stuffing
Salt
Pepper
Olive oil

To Make...

1. Pre-make my Spicy Sausage Sourdough Stuffing recipe following the directions (remember, you don't need to cook the stuffing in advance if you are using it for Turducken. It'll cook inside the bird). If you have refrigerated it, allow the stuffing to come to room temperature before proceeding.

2. On the night before cooking, assemble the birds. Spread the turkey, skin side down on your prep area. Apply a modest layer of salt and pepper (some people also like creole seasoning).

3. Spread a layer, about ½ inch thick of stuffing across all of the exposed turkey meat. If your butcher has also de-boned the drumsticks and wings, they too, should be stuffed with the stuffing.

4. Place the duck, skin side down on top of the stuffing and season it and then apply a layer of stuffing.

5. Repeat the process with the chicken, then cinch the bird together. (If you haven't already consulted those other websites for photographic help, now is the time!)

6. Look around the bird and make sure that no flaps are dangling which will allow stuffing to fall out. Some most likely will be and they can be secured using toothpicks and/or meat skewers.

7. Refrigerate until ready to cook. Make sure you allow the bird(s) to assume room temperature before beginning the cooking process

8. Pre-heat oven to 450 degrees.

9. Cover the bird with a layer of olive oil and salt and pepper

10. Place bird in a deep roasting pan, on a rack, and place in the center of the oven for 30 minutes

11. Lower the oven to 300 degrees and cover the bird with aluminum foil

12. At this point, it will take approximately 20 minutes per pound of your entire turducken but DO NOT rely on this as a sure fire way to properly cook your bird. I suggest checking the bird after 4 hours with a digital meat thermometer and monitoring it's cooking process. If the bird is less than 100 degrees at this point, you may want to turn the oven up slightly and check again in an hour. Make sure that you stick the thermometer all the way into the center and that you do so in a few different spots on the bird. You are totally safe either turning the oven up to 350 or down to 225 at this point to speed up or slow down the cooking process to best accommodate your dinner time plans.

13. Once the bird has reached 160 degrees, turn the oven off but leave the turducken in the oven for another 30 minutes, allowing it to slowly cook to finish.

14. Carving the Turducken is not like carving a turkey. Again, consult the websites I have mentioned and try your best to make each serving for your guests include a piece of the chicken, duck, turkey and helpings of stuffing.

A brine is simply a seasoned salt-water bath that the turkey soaks in for 6-18 hours (or one hour per pound) prior to cooking. The brine adds some flavor, but most importantly provides a chemical method to keep the meat tender and juicy while cooking.

Ingredients
Raw whole turkey
5-gallon bucket (like from Home Depot)
3-pound box of kosher salt
1 tablespoon of whole black peppercorns
2 gallons chicken broth (water mixed with bouillon cubes is fine
1-gallon ice water
1 whole bunch fresh thyme, torn roughly
1 whole bunch fresh oregano, torn roughly
1 whole bunch fresh sage leaves, torn roughly
1 whole bunch fresh marjoram, torn roughly

To Make...

1. Clean the raw turkey and remove the neck and giblets.
2. In the bucket, combine the cooled (room temperature) broth with the ice water, salt, pepper and fresh herbs and mix well.

3. Place the turkey in the bucket, breast side down and cover the bucket. Leave it sit somewhere cool, I usually use the garage (unless it's summer time obviously).

4. After at least 6 and no more than 18 hours, and prior to cooking your turkey, remove the bird and rinse it with cool water, then proceed with your cooking prep

By popular demand, we bring you a fairly myopic recipe for my “rotisserie turkey.” This recipe uses the “set it and forget it” appliance known as the Ronco rotisserie, still sold online for a regular price of $150.  People rave about the moist, juicy, flavorful, turkey this recipes produces. I suggest any of my brines.

10-14 pound turkey, brined

1 cup chicken broth

1 cup melted butter

2-4 tablespoons Herbes de Provence

1 Large Yellow or White Onion

1 stalk of celery

2 Large carrots

4 Large Shallots

Olive Oil

½ bunch fresh thyme

½ bunch fresh sage

½ bunch fresh rosemary

½ cup chicken broth

Salt and Pepper as needed

1 stick of butter, sliced into 16ths

1 cup additional melted butter

MAKES 8-12 SERVINGS

1. The night before roasting, drizzle olive oil into the cavity of the turkey, followed by generous amounts of salt and pepper. Rub the salt and pepper all over the inside wall of the turkey.

2. Combine chicken broth and melted butter

3. Carefully peel and pull the skin from the breast meat, leaving the skin attached, but creating an easy to access pocket between the breasts and the skin. You should be able to slide your whole hand between the skin and breast meat when you are done, without tearing the skin. This should be done across the entire bird

4. Using a marinade injector, inject the broth/butter mixture directly into the meat throughout the bird, including directly into the thigh and drumsticks. After each injection, use your hands to push down on the injection spot and spread the marinade across the meat. Do this multiple times trying to distribute the mixture across as much of the bird as possible.

5. One tablespoon at time, apply salt, pepper, and herbes de provence directly to the breast meat under the skin and spread as evenly as you can

6. Drizzle olive oil into the cavity of the turkey, followed by generous amounts of salt and pepper. Rub the salt and pepper all over the inside wall of the turkey.

7. Place the bird, breast side up

8. Chop the celery, onions, carrots, peeled shallots, and fresh herbs and mix together in a bowl.

9. Stuff the chopped herbs and vegetables into the cavity of the turkey. This is done to flavor the bird, and will not be eaten. Do not over stuff the cavity. NOTE: Ronco does not advise stuffing the bird in any way and claims that it may inhibit the rotisserie’s ability to heat and cook the bird properly. I have ALWAYS stuffed my turkey cavity as described here with stunning results. If you choose to not stuff yours, it may affect cooking time.

10. Create a ball of aluminum foil just the right size to shove into the end of the turkey cavity snuggly. This is done to close off the cavity and keep the seasoning stuffing inside the cavity as the bird rotates.

11. Use heavy string or twine to tie down the wings and legs of the turkey (as described in your Ronco recipe guide if you have one). The purpose of this is to prevent the wings or legs, which will try to flare out as the bird rotates and cooks, from touching the machine’s heating element and burning.

12. Fill the rotisserie drip tray with the ½ cup broth and what remains of the vegetable mix. This will add aromatic flavor to your turkey as it cooks. Additionally, as the turkey roasts, juices will fall from the bird into the tray, which can be used later to season your gravy.

13. Secure the turkey centered on the spit rods and place it into the rotisserie.

14. Turn the rotisserie on “No heat rotation” and, using a cooking brush, apply a generous, even layer of melted butter across the entire bird for at least two entire rotations. Season the outside of the bird with salt and pepper (this takes some angling of the salt and pepper shakers as the bird rotates)

15. Turn your rotisserie on and set the timer to cook your turkey for 10 minutes per pound (in other words, do the math. If your turkey was 12 pounds, set the timer to cook for 120 minutes)

16. Once the turkey is cooking, open the oven once every 20 minutes, change the setting to no heat rotation and apply a layer of melted butter. Also use this opportunity to drain any liquid from your drip tray so that it doesn’t overflow. I use this liquid as part of my turkey gravy.

17. After your turkey has cooked for 10 minutes per pound, use a high-quality meat thermometer to check the internal temperature of the meat. If the breast meat is 150 degrees and/or the leg meat in 170 degrees, close the door and allow your turkey to rotate for an additional 5 minutes on the no heat setting. If your bird has not reached these temperatures yet, continue cooking it, checking the temperature regularly until those readings occur.
    
18. Once the finished bird has rotated for 5 minutes on no heat rotation, it is ready to be carved. If you are not ready to serve it yet, allowing to rotate on the no heat setting is fine for up to 10 minutes more.

If you're using this to stuff your Turducken, don't actually cook it… it will cook inside the birds.

Makes 30 cups or 2 baking dishes full of stuffing; enough to stuff a full turducken and have an entire extra pan left over. Cut this recipe in half if you're just making this as a side dish for a family of 4.

Ingredients
3 pounds of fresh baked sourdough bread
3.5 pounds of spicy smoked sausage
5 ounces sliced mushrooms, diced
8 stalks celery, sliced
2 medium white onions, chopped
2 tablespoons Tabasco sauce
12 fresh sage leaves, chopped
2 tablespoons dry thyme leaves
1 teaspoon pepper
2 cups of chicken broth (although you probably won't need that much, have it ready)
4 tablespoons butter

To Make...

1. Cut the bread into ½ inch cubes and spread evenly on baking sheets. Toast the bread in the oven, under the broiler until dry, crisp and beginning to brown. This can take from 8-18 minutes depending on your broiler so watch the cubes closely.

2. Place diced sausage in a large saucepan over medium heat and cook until just slightly browned. Transfer with a slotted spoon to a large bowl.

3. Melt butter in the sausage drippings and add the onion, celery and mushrooms and cook for just 3 minutes while stirring

4. Add thyme and sage and pepper and stir together

5. Lower heat to low and add sausage and bread to the pan, stirring the whole mixture together

6. Add chicken broth ¼ cup at a time, while stirring constantly until you get the consistency you desire in a stuffing. Less broth means a dryer stuffing.

7. Place stuffing greased (pam spray is fine) baking dishes.

8. Preheat oven to 350

9. Bake stuffing for 15 minutes, stir and check for desired doneness