I love your menu :). I would be worried too, since you need to get them the night before.
Thank you!
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Oooo - can you please share the gravy recipe?
I have already made our Thanksgiving reservations at a restaurant. It will be our third time at the same place and it is wonderful. Portions are plentiful enough we have leftovers to take home.
But I will buy a little Turkey and freeze it, and we will have it probably in January.
I’d eat your menu ANYDAY over a turkey!
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Of course!
I usually make this a few days ahead and refrigerate. I double the recipe (we all love gravy). If you do that, you’ll have to split the thighs through the garlic into two pans. Watch to make sure nothing burns.
The broth can be made either on the stove or in a slow cooker.
I make the broth on one day, refrigerate it, and then make the gravy the next day.
Have extra canned or boxed chicken stock or broth on hand for the final heating because it’s usually too thick.
Cook’s Illustrated Make-Ahead Turkey Gravy
MAKES ABOUT 2 QUARTS
Six drumsticks can be substituted for the thighs; however, we found drumsticks to be a bit more unwieldy. Depending on when you make the gravy, you may be able to add the neck (hacked into chunks) and giblets (except the liver) from the turkey to the roasting pan in step 1. You may need to adjust the gravy’s consistency when reheating it in step 5; you can use either defatted drippings from the roast turkey or canned chicken broth.
6 turkey thighs, trimmed, or 9 wings, separated at the joints
2 medium carrots, chopped coarse
2 medium celery ribs, chopped coarse
2 medium onions, chopped coarse
1 head garlic, halved
Vegetable oil spray
12 cups low-sodium chicken broth, plus extra as needed (see note)
2 cups dry white wine
12 sprigs fresh thyme
Unsalted butter, as needed
1 cup unbleached all-purpose flour
Salt and ground black pepper
Defatted drippings from your Roast Turkey
1 DAY TO 2 MONTHS AHEAD MAKE THE GRAVY: Adjust an oven rack to the middle position and heat the oven to 450 degrees.
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Place the thighs, carrots, celery, onions, and garlic in a roasting pan, spray with vegetable oil, and toss well. Roast, stirring occasionally, until everything is well browned, 1 to 1½ hours.
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Transfer the contents of the roasting pan to a large Dutch oven. Add the broth, wine, and thyme and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to low and simmer slowly until the broth is brown and flavorful and measures about 8 cups when strained, about 1½ hours. Strain the broth through a fine-mesh strainer into a large container, pressing on the solids to extract as much liquid as possible; discard the solids. Let the broth sit until the fat has risen to the top, 15 to 20 minutes.
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Spoon off and reserve ½ cup of the fat (add butter as needed if short on turkey fat). Heat the fat in a Dutch oven over medium-high heat until bubbling. Whisk in flour and cook, whisking constantly, until well browned, 3 to 7 minutes. Slowly whisk in the turkey broth and bring to a boil.
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Reduce the heat to medium-low and simmer until the gravy is very thick, 10 to 15 minutes. Season with salt and pepper. Transfer the gravy to an airtight container and refrigerate for up to 2 days or freeze for up to 1 month.
1 TO 2 DAYS AHEAD
THAW THE GRAVY (IF NECESSARY): Transfer the gravy to the refrigerator to thaw overnight.
30 MINUTES BEFORE SERVING REHEAT THE GRAVY: Transfer the gravy to a saucepan and heat over medium heat, stirring often, until bubbling. Add the defatted roast turkey drippings (or additional chicken broth) as needed to adjust the gravy’s consistency, then season with salt and pepper to taste.
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Gosh! Thank you so much! Gravy is the most stressful menu item for me.
Where does one buy turkey thighs??
I buy them at the grocery store. Safeway, Albertsons, Fred Meyer (Kroger). I’ve used backs, necks, drumsticks, wings, thighs…whatever I can find, and cut bigger pieces to make them more manageable. Drumsticks are my least favorite because they’re usually more expensive.
In the roasting pan, I turn them over at least once and mix things up to keep it all from getting too dark.
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While we aren’t having traditional Thanksgiving this year, I always do two cranberry sauces. A jalepeno one and the famous NPR pink stuff
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That sounds delicious! Do you use a food processor or a grinder??
I just saw this recipe in our local paper and will be experimenting with it! Not sure I can find currants this late into fall, so will improvise with cranberries.
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For the NPR one? I used a food processor. It’s really easy.
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Going out for a buffet at a resort on Shelter Island. We’ll have a table on the patio overlooking the marina and Point Loma.
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That looks so good. I haven’t been able to find delicata squash lately- if I do I’m going to try this. Thank you for sharing.
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