We had another nice relaxing Thanksgiving with the Hesses, the Mashlans, and Auntie Bonnie.
Thanks (heh) to Rona’s new wheat / milk / egg-free food plan, we had to get creative with some of our dishes. Several things were doubled up, with traditional and alternate versions. It was all good.
Ala Alton Brown, we brined the turkey for about 5 hours before roasting. This made our 14 pound turkey roast in only 2 and a half hours, and it was incredibly juicy and flavorful. To learn more, check out the recipe, or search YouTube for “romancing the bird” (the name of the Good Eats episode in which this recipe originated). By far, the best turkey we’ve ever made.
We also made a gluten-free dressing (stuffing cooked outside of the bird) that was really good! We based it on this stuffing recipe from Gluten-Free Girl, but we left out the water chestnuts, bacon, and butter, and added in a pound of Fletcher’s Italian sausage. For bread we used most of a loaf of the house gluten-free bread from Flying Apron Bakery in Fremont. All of our chicken stock was frozen, so we just used one bouillon cube in 1/2 cup of water, and the dressing turned out great. (Unfortunately, it doesn’t seem to reheat in the microwave as well as does traditional stuffing’s eggy buttery goodness, so get your fill when it’s fresh from the oven.)
Rona made mashed potatoes with almond milk and possibly Earth Balance Soy Garden spread (not sure if she put that in or not). To go with it, Rona and Jen made awesome gluten-free gravy with the turkey drippings and some sweet rice flour.
The food went on and on (haven’t even mentioned the walnut streusel-topped yams with apple rings, the bacon green beans, or our version of Blue Ribbon Cooking School’s roasted beet salad) with some dishes not even getting touched. Good friends, good food, good times. Thanks!
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