Holiday Recipes

Rewarming Pre-Made Mashed Potatoes:

To rewarm, preheat your oven to 350F. Add your potatoes to a casserole dish (you can even use the disposable foil trays to eliminate dishes) in a thin even layer. Top with ½ cup of milk and several dabs of butter then cover with foil and bake until warmed through (about 30 minutes: I like to do this while the turkey rests). Mix in the melted butter and warmed milk before serving.

Make the Gravy:

Preheat the oven to 425F. Pat the wings dry with a paper towel then rub them all over with olive oil and season with salt. Place them on a baking sheet and cook for about 30 minutes (once the thermometer reads 170F) remove the wings and allow to cool. Once cooled the wings are yours to enjoy (these make perfect buffalo wings if you’ve got sauce handy). All we wanted were those precious browned bits from the pan.

To make the gravy, add the butter to a medium-sized stock pot and heat until melted. Then, whisk in the flour to make a roux. The butter and flour will come together as a paste. Continue to cook the mixture over low heat until you reach your desired color. You can stick to golden for a light roux or keep cooking until you get almost a chocolate brown (each of these tastes wonderful and you may notice from the photos we actually experimented with quite a few).

Meanwhile, use ½ cup of stock and a wooden spatula to scrape and move around the browned bits on the tray you cooked your wings. Transfer all that stock and all those precious browned bits to the stockpot with the roux. Whisk until smooth, continuing to add stock as you go. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Once your gravy is smooth, seasoned and thick enough it is done. Allow to cool before refrigerating or freezing for later use.

Make the Brussel Sprouts:

Preheat the oven to 425F. Cut the ends off the brussels sprouts and discard them. Then slice the Brussels sprouts in half lengthwise. Put them on an extra large baking sheet (you may need to use 2 baking sheets to prevent overcrowding depending on the size of your sheet). Drizzle olive oil over and rub to coat. Season generously with salt and lay them again cut side down on the baking sheet, spaced in an even layer.

Bake on a bottom rack of the oven for about 15-20 minutes. They should be crispy and the flat sides should be nicely browned.

Finish the Dish:

Top the finished roasted Brussels sprouts with a drizzle of balsamic glaze and toss to coat. Next, quickly fry up the prosciutto with a little olive oil on the stovetop (about 3 minutes on medium-high heat) until the prosciutto is browned and completely crispy. Lay the finished prosciutto on a paper towel-lined plate and allow to cool. Sprinkle the pomegranates on the dressed Brussels sprouts then crumble the cooled prosciutto and spread it around to finish the dish. Serve warm.

Rewarming:

You can rewarm Brussels Sprouts in a 350F oven for 10-12 minutes. Reheating in the oven is the best way to keep them crispy.

The dressing can be made in advance as can the prosciutto. If you plan on making these and rewarming to serve, hold off on the glaze and toppings until just before serving.

Make the Turkey:

Preheat the oven to 400F then lower to 350F once the turkey goes in. Plan on cooking 12-15 minutes per pound of turkey. To start, dispose of the brine and dry the turkey with a paper towel. Be sure to remove all the peppercorns that may have stuck to the bird. The herbs from the brine can be reused to stick in the cavity. Then salt the dried turkey all over, including in the cavity.

Meanwhile in a medium sized pot on the stove, melt the butter and add the herbs. Brush this butter herb mixture all over the turkey, front, back and sides. Cut the lemons in half and add them to the cavity of the bird to release moisture as it cooks. Tuck the wings into the bird and tie up the legs before roasting. Then roast the turkey at 350F.

If the turkey is browning too quickly, tent the turkey with aluminum foil (I did this at 2 hours into the cooking). Check your turkey in the thickest part of the thigh for doneness. I never stuff my turkey, however if you do, be sure to check your stuffing temperature as well to ensure that it is cooked through (in my opinion, it is always easiest to cook stuffing on the side). Your turkey should read 170F in the thigh. Allow the turkey to rest at least 30 minutes before slicing.

Make the Filling:

Peel and core all the apples. Then, thinly slice the apples and add them to a very large bowl. Squeeze the lemon juice on the finished apples and stir around or toss with your hands to mix. Add in the brown sugar, flour and cinnamon and toss once more. Then add in the pecans and caramel and stir to combine.

Rewarming:

If you are rewarming your pie, preheat the oven to 350F. Cover your pie with foil and rewarm for 15-20 minutes. Be sure to also leave out your caramel to warm before serving.

Serve your warmed pie with extra salted caramel and vanilla bean ice cream.

Finish the Pie:

Return the refrigerated pie crusts to the counter. Move the top crust on the wax paper to the side and carefully mound your filling into the crust-lined pie pan.

While the top crust is on the counter, it is fun to use cookie cutters to make cut outs. I used a simple leaf pattern to make vents in the center. Then I used my remaining pie scraps as leaves to circle around the outer edge of the pie. Get creative, however you garnish the top of your pie really adds to the appeal. The garnish makes for the best presentation BUT it doesn't make for the easiest slicing. If you want just a basic cover to the pie, you can skip this step and simply use a paring knife to cut 3 small vents in the top.

Before you lay the top of the pie crust on the filling, make your egg wash. In a small bowl, crack your egg and whisk until smooth. Using a pastry brush, brush the outer edge of the pie pan crust and then lay on the top crust. The egg wash helps to glue the two pie crusts together.

Continue decorating your pie crust, however for every extra layer of crust you lay down (ex: adding a leaf pattern on top) be sure to egg wash to “glue” the pieces down. Use a paring knife to cut any excess off the edge and crimp down the sides to close. You can simply pinch them together, use a fork to press them together or get a lot more creative. Be sure to egg wash the entire finished crust before baking.

Bake in the center of the oven on the preheated baking sheet. Once the pie goes in the oven, reduce the heat to 375F and bake for 30 minutes (at this point I was seeing color on the top crust but it was a pale tan and the pie was not fully cooked). Rotate the pie at 30 minutes and then cook for another 15-20 (cook until the top crust is a true golden brown). After 50 minutes, I used foil to loosely tent the top crust to stop it from further browning (the color was perfect after 50). Then I finished baking for another 10 minutes until I could see the filling bubbling inside.

Allow to cool before serving.