This year we did Thanksgiving at our home. To make it easier on us , I did a couple things the night before.

Croutons for the stuffing: I just took the bread I had leftover from Tuesday dinner and diced it, tossed them in olive oil to coat, salt and pepper and Herbes de Provence. In the oven for 1 hour at 280 or until entirely dry.

The mirepoix (carrot, celery onion) for the stuffing: sweat the ingredients in a bit of olive oil, salt pepper and fresh thyme and rosemary.

The stock: with the neck, heart and liver, I made a stock that would be use the next day for the stuffing and the gravy.

The cranberry sauce: 2 bags of cranberry, 1 1/2 cup of sugar, 1 orange zest and juice, vanilla extract, bourbon 2 shot glasses, and 1 jalapeńo. Cook in a sauce pan until nicely thick and jam-like (30 min) on low heat.

The morning I did the carrot soup:

You sweat 1 onion in a bit of butter, then toss in your sliced carrots (about 6). In a sauce pan, boil some water (20-32-oz) with lemongrass and fresh ginger. Add some vegetable stock to your carrots and onion mix and cook carrot until soft. Salt & pepper to taste. At the end add the infusion of ginger- lemongrass to taste. I used maybe 2 cup of the liquid and it was very strong flavored. Blend everything together and put through a fine sieve to get a velvety smooth texture. Presented with a dollop of creme fraiche and garnish of fresh cilantro leaf.

The salad was made of mixed greens, a basic vinaigrette and thinly sliced persimmons and pomegranate seeds.

The mash potatoes: I count about 1 medium potato per person. I boil them in salted water until fork tender. Then drain them. Pass them through a food-mill. I add 1/2 cup of butter and with a whisk, I whisk in some milk until nice, moist and fluffy, add little by little so you can get the right consistency. Salt & pepper (use white pepper for mash potatoes)

A friend some Brussels sprouts with pancetta. That’s a pretty easy recipe. Just render the pancetta in a pan until nice and crisp. At the same time, blench in boiling salted water your sprouts for a couple minute. Pull them out of the water and dip them in an ice bath to stop the cooking. Then add your sprouts halved to the pancetta pan and sauté until nice and caramelized.

For the gravy, I just used 2 tablespoons of butter and 1 tablespoon of flour to make a roux in a pan, added some of my leftover mirepoix from the stuffing, then when the flour is cooked a bit I deglaze the pan with some white wine a cup or 2 depending on how much you like the taste of wine. Then I added some stock and the pan drippings from the turkey. Stir constantly until nice and thick.

The turkey was brined for 3 days and I will recommend to pre-heat your oven at 400. I place a few sage leaf under the skin of the turkey, you can just pull it off with you hands and slide the leaf in. (you can try also to put a thin slice of truffle). When ready put your turkey in, rubbed with butter, salt pepper and Herbes de Provence. I let the skin crisp for 20 minutes, then I cover my turkey with foil and lower the heat to 325 for the rest of the time (depending on the size turkey, it should take between 2 to 4 hours. The temperature should read 165 at least.

The stuffing is a basic mirepoix, I added Shiitake mushroom, a chicken sausage (pan fried separately) and then I added the croutons I had prepared the night before, dressed it with stock and put it in the oven for 30 minutes.

The pie was made by my friend Lance. This was one of the best pies I ever had. the crust was light and crispy, with pear and almond crust. I tried to get the recipe, but he is a bit like me: “a bit of this, some of that, not sure what else” well, I now if I want it again, I will have to see him make it!