Thanksgiving Feast

We had Jim's brother's family and one of Peta's co-workers over for the feast. The heritage turkey (a Black Spanish) that our friend Matt's mother raised arrived Tuesday and we immediately did a dry brine even though we had but two days rather than the suggested three. Didn't even matter. It's called the Judy Bird and it helped us to produce a fantastic turkey.

Here's the menu:
Appetizers

• Cheese Plate (with too many cheeses to list)
• Dates Stuffed with Parmesan and Toasted Walnuts
• Domain Carneros Brut 2006 Champagne

Main

• Dry-brined Black Spanish Heritage Turkey stuffed with Date, Sage, Walnut and Preserved Lemon Stuffing
• Herbed Oyster Stuffing
• Mashed Potatoes
• Brussel Sprouts with Cider and Bacon
• Louis Martini M^2 2003 Cabernet Sauvignon, MacMurray Ranch Winemaker's Signature 2006 Pinot Noir and/or Trefethen 2006 Chardonnay

Dessert

• Apple Crisp with Breyer's Vanilla Ice Cream
• Kona Blend Coffee

The 15 pound turkey was cooked for around 4 hours at 325 and flipped once until the internal temperature was 145 F, since heritage birds can dry out and they aren't all infected like mass-produced birds. Carry-over brought it to 152 F while the potatoes cooked at an agonizingly slow rate. It was unbelievably good.

While we waited, we played a little bocce and ate the Stuffed Dates (The New Best Recipe) and cheese plate and drank a magnum(!) of Domaine Carneros champagne.

We cooked mashed potatoes and brussel sprouts with cider and bacon from The New Best Recipe book. We subbed apple juice for cider which was a mistake. If nothing else, we should have added a bit of cider vinegar for some acid punch. The dish really missed it. It also could have used Parmesan cheese in my opinion as well. The potatoes were good but nothing to write home about.

Peta's non-US upbringing did not stop her from making up a great stuffing recipe out of nowhere. She used the breadcrumbs from the Peasant White Bread loaves that we baked out of "Daily Bread". It's a sticky, yeasty recipe but serviceable. We used less honey than required and that probably hurts the crumb. We are on the lookout for an easy, quick, tasty recipe, so let us know if you have one.

I cooked the Herbed Oyster Stuffing from Epicurious also with a sourdough and homemade bread mixture. Boom... the bomb.

Jim's brother's family contributed the Apple Crisp which they make with double crisp from the Bride and Groom Cookbook. So tasty!

Happy Thanksgiving to all!