Prepare Day Before
Stuffing
- 4 Medium Brown Onions - Chopped
- 1 Stalk Celery - Chopped
- 4 lbs Russet Potatoes
- 6 Cups Dried Cubed Bread
- 1 lb Fatty Bacon
- 1 Bunch Fresh Thyme
- 1 Bunch Fresh Sage
- Sea Salt
- Fine Black Pepper
Boil potatoes until tender. Test with knife. Allow cooling for 20 minutes, and peel off skin.
Cut potatoes into cubes before second cook.
As potatoes are boiling; pull thyme and snip sage. I recommend making sure that the thyme is stock free, and further break apart by getting bunches in between your fingers then pull apart. Two or three times do the job.
 |
| Fresh Sage |
 |
| Fresh Thyme |
Chop sage leaves just before cook.
Fry bacon in cast iron skillet until well done. Set cooked bacon aside.
Remove bacon, and pour half of fat into wok. The other half will be used to twice cook the potatoes in.
Heat wok over high heat with bacon fat, and add onions. Cook until almost clear. Add celery, and 2 dashes of salt plus 4 dashes of pepper. As onions and celery are cooking, second cook potatoes in skillet. Sprinkle 2 dashes of salt onto potatoes as they cook. Turn potatoes while they cook and also turn wok mix. Once potatoes are second cooked, add to wok mixture along with the fresh herbs. Gently fold mix together, and cook for 10 minutes more. Turn off heat, and then fold in dried bread one cup at a time. Last, crumble in bacon and fold in. Cool to room temperature.
 |
| Stuffing |
Turkey Rub Basics
- 4 Dashes Sea Salt
- 3 Dashes Fine Black Pepper
- 2 tsp Paprika
- 4 tsp Dried Sage
- 3 tsp Dried Thyme
The Turkey
I buy no name birds. They are not as greasy, and I find they have a soft game taste too. If you buy a brand name bird don't add the butter as outlined in the following steps. Make sure your bird is completely thawed. In other words, you cannot successfully stuff and cook a frozen bird with this recipe. I thaw my bird out in the refrigerator for several days (3-4) before the day I plan to cook it. If you buy a frozen bird and let it thaw over night, you may find that it will not be thoroughly thawed.
Remove gizzards and neck. Place them into a simmer pot covered with sufficient water.
Rinse turkey cavity of blood. Place turkey into roaster pan and sprinkle rub mixture into cavity as well as in between the skin and breast meat. Apply rub to the outside skin as well. Use left over rub for giblet pot seasoning. Next, stuff bird chest and neck cavity with stuffing. I like to place 1/2 stick of butter in between the skin of each chest side as this keeps the white meat moist. Refrigerate stuffed turkey overnight along with giblet pot.
Simple Cranberry Sauce
This is so simple, and it beats any canned sauce hands down.
12 oz Bag Fresh Cranberries
Syrup
- 1 c. Sugar
- 1 c. Water
- 1/4 c. Triple Sec
In accommodating pot, bring to a boil syrup mix and then add cranberries. Bring back to boil, and reduce heat to medium. Continue cooking and stirring for 8-10 minutes until sauce begins to thicken. Remove from heat, and cool to room temperature. Place in refrigerator once cool.