Happy Thanksgiving!
It’s been a crazy busy fall and I am really looking forward to a relaxing Thanksiving feast with friends and family. This year I am going back to basics with a simple grill roasted turkey deeply seasoned with a salt and pepper dry brine as the center piece.
In addition to candied yams and roasted garlic mashed potatoes with my Classic Giblet Gravy, I like to serve a couple side salads that can be served at room temperature and are great later on as leftovers. I grill roasted the vegetables for both dishes, but you can easily roast them in the oven if your grill is working on that turkey. Brussles sprouts studded with phesant sausage, pomegranate seeds, dates and pecans and dressed with a vinaigrette made with pomegranate molasses is as beautiful as it it is delicious. For a heartier salad I combined quinoa and black rice with roasted butternut squash and red beets and dressed it with a maple and bacon vinaigrette. This makes a wonderful vegetarian main dish – just leave the bacon out of the vinaigrette.
I think everyone will agree, that the leftover turkey sandwiches are the best part of Thanksgiving. Because I usually only cook a smaller bird, I am also roasting up a turkey breast just for sandwiches. I took a full breast and removed the bone and skin and pounded it flat, then rolled it up like a jellyroll with lots of garlic, orange zest, sage and fennel seed. Before grill roasting it, I wrapped the whole thing with slices of bacon to help keep it moist. This is a great alternative if your group only likes the white meat. 🙂
{Click the photos to be taken to the recipes}
Cheers and Happy Thanksgiving!
~Jeff
