When we are living in Italy, I am often asked what “American” food is and the answer is not always easy. American food is an amalgam of all other foods, we love to eat Mexican, Italian, Chinese, Indian food, Japanese among many others. This is the food we eat. There aren’t many “true” American dishes. Of course there is the Classic American Hamburger, apple pie, all fruit and cream pies for that matter as well as many cakes and cookies.
The only other true American dish I can think of is the Original Turkey Dinner. True, our English ancestors have always loved a good roast but the early American really nailed this classic after that first winter survived in the “new world”.
This meal is hardy and heart warming with its roasted turkey and all the “carb” heavy sides of stuffing (otherwise known as dressing), mashed potatoes, gravy, candied yams (sweet potatoes), cranberry sauce and pumpkin pie for dessert.
Before returning home from Italy I asked my mom to buy a turkey during the season that whole turkeys are available in November and put it in the freezer for me so I could enjoy this true American classic when I got home. When I got home to California in January I found a big turkey in my freezer just waiting for me, thanks mom!
So, one Sunday morning in January I wrestled that big bird to prepare him for our dinner just like the Pilgrims of old. Except my bird was already cleaned and prepared for me. I didn’t have to remove feathers or gut it but even with all of these modern day conveniences, this isn’t a job for people who don’t like to touch raw meat or be reminded what the animal actually looked like before.
I removed the neck and the “inards” (the heart, liver and whatever else is in there from the neat little package that came inside of the bird) I used these to make some broth to use in my stuffing because the stuffing will need broth long before the drippings are ready from the bird.
To make this broth I cut up two carrots, a couple or ribs of celery and an onion complete with all of the peel and rough parts that you usually through away. Place these in a large stock pot with a little olive oil and get them all browned up over heat. Then add the neck and inards and brown those good too. Lastly add water to fill the pot (about 6 cups) with salt and pepper and cook for several hours.
I collected fresh herbs from my garden: sage, rosemary and thyme. We aren’t so different then those old hunter Italians I wrote about in the recipe for Chicken Cacciatore a few weeks ago. They too picked wild herbs to flavor their fowl.
I chopped those fresh herbs finely along with some garlic and added fresh ground pepper and salt. That’s when the wrestling with the bird happened because I rubbed my hands right under the skin removing the connective tissue and massaged in the herbs between the skin and the meat.
This will ensure the flavor really gets into the meat. I stuffed the cavity of the bird with lemons, garlic cloves and sprigs of rosemary. Now the bird was going into the oven.
The idea of roasting the bird on a spit on an open hearth in an ancient kitchen like we had in Montefiascone sounded romantic and lovely but we are going with the security of a modern California kitchen and I’m using a Reynolds Turkey bag in an electric oven. I’m sorry if this burst your romantic cooking imagery but a girls gotta do what a girls gotta do to have a moist turkey!
I recommend having the Turkey ready 3 hours before your guests arrive. This is so the Turkey can cool down and you can remove the meat off the bones. In the Normal Rockwell picture of our dreams we think of the Turkey being presented to a table full of delighted guests. But in reality that means everyone must descend on the Turkey like a pack of wolves over an antelope carcass. Its very difficult to gracefully remove all of the meat from the carcass while it is sitting in its entirety on your dining room table.
Instead, you can remove all of the meat from the bones before your guests arrive and arrange it nicely on a platter. First cut off each breast and place the breast on a cutting board, then cutting across the grain of the meat, slice your breast into nice slices. Then pull the brown meat off the legs, thighs and wings and arrange those on the platter. I drizzle the platter of meat with a little of the broth so the meat will stay moist. Then cover with foil, 15 minutes before eating place the turkey platter into the oven to heat it up.
I then take the carcass devoid of meat and put it in a large stockpot with 2 carrots, one onion and 3 sticks of celery along with fresh herbs, salt and pepper. Cook for several hours to extract the flavor and minerals. Use this broth for the gravy and for soup the next day.
Next I got busy on my side dishes: the stuffing, gravy, mashed potatoes and candied yams. Here are my recipes, I hope you give them a try and gather your friends and family around your table. Nothing brings friends and family together like a good hardy meal set around a beautiful table. I wish you could smell the aroma of that turkey cooking with all of those fresh herbs…..hmmmm….it’s gonna be a great meal.
Classic American Roasted Turkey
Ingredients:
- Whole turkey defrosted (this takes a couple of days)
- fresh herbs: sage, rosemary, thyme, garlic, salt and pepper
- one lemon
- one turkey bag and 1 Tablespoon of flour
Instructions:
Chop herbs finely, combine together and rub down the turkey with them. It’s best to get under the skin if possible. Quarter the lemon and place in the turkey cavity along with a couple of sprigs of rosemary and several cloves of garlic. Place the turkey in the turkey bag (this is an oven proof bag purchased specifically for this purpose, if you can’t find one then just roast the turkey in an open dish basting it with liquid regularly. It takes longer and can dry out faster buts it’s how they have done it for hundred of years so I’m sure you can work it out. It helps to put the turkey breast side down to keep the breast from drying out) along with a tablespoon of flour, tie with the ties included with the bag and place in the oven. Follow the instructions on the bag for cooking times. Bake in a 350F or 170 C degree oven for at least two hours. Three hours for a very large turkey.
Gravy
Ingredients
- Turkey drippings (about 3 cups)
- Turkey or chicken broth (about 3 cups) homemade or purchased
- 1 cup of flour
- 1 cup of water
- Kitchen Bouquet Browning Sauce in a bottle
- salt and peeper
Instructions:
- Measure the turkey drippings and place into a large sauce pan
- Add the broth to make 6 cups
- In a separate bowl mix the flour and water together. Add the water slowly whisking constantly until a smooth paste forms
- Add the flour/water mixture slowly to the broth, the broth should not be too hot or bubbling while you do this or you will get lumps. Whisk rapidly or you will get lumps.
- Turn the heat on and bring to a gentle bubbleI don’t always add all of the flour/water mixture all at one time because you may not need all of it, it may make the gravy too thick. If the gravy is too thick add more broth or water, if it is too thin add more flour/water mixture
- Add a teaspoon of Kitchen Bouquet, this will make the gravy a nice brown color. Kitchen Bouquet should be found in the seasoning section of the grocery store or near the gravy mixes. It is natural flavors and carmel coloring. If you don’t want to use this your gravy will be a pale Turkey color.
- Add salt and pepper to taste.
Stuffing:
Ingredients
- 2 loaves of sliced sandwich bread (I used one wheat and one white)
- 5 ribs of celery
- 1 large onion
- 1/2 cup of butter (1 cube)
- 6-8 cups of chicken broth
- 1/2 teaspoon salt, 1/4 teaspoon pepper, 1 teaspoon dried sage
- fresh sage, thyme and parsley
Instructions:
- Slice the bread into cubes and toast in the oven at 350 F (170 C) until lightly golden and crisp (about 20 minutes. You can turn the oven off and let the bread sit over night also.
- Chop the celery and onions and place in a large stock pot with the butter and cook until the onions are translucent (about 10 minutes on medium high)
- Add six cups of the broth and bring to a bubble, turn off heat.
- Place the toasted bread in a large bowl and add the dry spices.
- Pour the broth, onions and celery on the top of the bread and stir until incorporated
- Add more broth if it seems too dry, it should feel moist to the touch but not too wet.
- Add the fresh chopped herbs and toss into a large baking dish. I used a clear 9×13 dish.
- Cover with tin foil and place in an oven at 350F (170 C) for 45 minutes
Mashed Potatoes
Ingredients:
- 10 Potatoes
- 1/4 cup butter
- 1/2 cup cream or milk
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
Instructions:
- Peel and chop potatoes into cubes
- Place in a pot and cover the pots with water
- Bring water to a boil and cook until the potatoes are fork tender (about 10 minutes depending on how large your potatoes cubes are) do not leave the potatoes in the hot water too long or they will get the consistency of glue.
- Frain off the water
- Heat the cream or milk
- Add the butter and a little of the hot milk to the potatoes
- Smash with a potato smasher or mix the potatoes with a mixer. Do not over mix or the potatoes will become the consistency of glue. Add more milk if the potatoes are too stiff, depending on how you like their consistency.
- Add salt and pepper to taste
Cranberry Sauce:
Ingredients:
- 1 package fresh or frozen cranberries
- 1 cup of sugar
- 1 cup of water
- zest of one orange if desired
Instructions:
- Place cranberries in a medium size sauce pan on medium high heat
- add sugar, water and orange zest
- bring to a boil
- cook for 10 minutes
Candied Yams:
Ingredients:
- 5 sweet potatoes or yams
- 3 Tablespoons butter, sliced
- 1/2 cup of brown sugar
Instructions
- Peel and slice yams into 1 inch sections, place in a pan over medium high heat with the butter and brown sugar. Cover with a lid
- when steam starts to come out reduce heat to low and cook for 40 minutes or fork tender.
To use Keto recipes for this Turkey Dinner, try one from our Archives:
Keto Cauliflower “Mashed Potatoes” (Published January 16, 2019)
Keto Cranberry Sauce (Published January 18, 2019)
For other American Dishes try one from our Archives:
Southern Fried Chicken (published September 11, 2018)
Spiced Chickpea Salad with Roasted Cauliflower (Published April 22, 2018)
Beef Bone Broth (published September 24, 2018)
Classic American Hamburger (published September 25, 2018)
Oven Roasted Herb Chicken (published September 29, 2018)
