Roast Heritage Turkey with Sausage, Apple and Pecan Dressing

Maybe it is the times that we live in, maybe its because I love history.  Either way, I find myself drawn to earliest days of our Republic, when people such as George Washington, Alexander Hamilton, Thomas Jefferson and James Madison were walking and talking. I often enjoy trips to Mount Vernon, Monticello, or colonial Williamsburg. And, with each trip, I ultimately find myself fixated on, not the founding fathers, but the enslaved who served them. The reason is that I am almost always interested in the kitchens. Those kitchens were staffed by slaves, who were responsible for preparing and serving each course to the hosts and guests.  (My interest actually goes far beyond what may have been served to the guests of George Washington and focuses on what the slaves often prepared for themselves with what little they had. If you are looking for a good book that touches on this subject, check out The Cooking Gene by Michael Twitty.)

For Thanksgiving 2018, I decided to prepare a meal that would have prepared during the colonial times. I drew from my cookbooks, such as The Colonial Williamsburg Tavern Cookbook, and, online, such as the recipes provided by Mount Vernon.  Nearly all of the dishes -- from the appetizer to the main course -- were recipes that could find some connection to America's colonial past. (The only exception was the roasted vegetable dish, which I had made in the past.)

When it came to the turkey and dressing recipes, I decided upon the a Roast Turkey with Sausage, Apple and Pecan Dressing.  This recipe comes from the Tavern Cookbook.  One would like to think that this recipe was served back in the colonial era, such as to George Washington, but I have nothing to support that theory.  And, given that Thanksgiving itself did not become a recognized holiday until another one of the great American Presidents (President Lincoln), this turkey and dressing recipe certainly wasn't served to celebrate any holiday. 

As for the actual turkey itself, Thanksgiving 2018 also featured a first in my cooking adventures ... roasting a heritage turkey. My beautiful Angel and my family were going to be celebrating Thanksgiving at home with her parents. This sparked an interest in sourcing a local turkey from a Maryland farm and, even further, a heritage bird that represents the history of this bird.  There are several farms across the Old Line State that raise heritage turkeys, such as Narragansett and Bourbon Red breeds. Ultimately, I chose Nick's Organic Farm, in part because of its location and the variety of products beyond turkey that the farm sells.  (In a way, this was a test of buying directly from a farm; I am looking to procuring more of the meat that I cook with from a farm as opposed to a grocery store.)

I purchased a ten (10) pound Bourbon Red turkey from Nick's Organic Farm. This 10 pound weight makes the the turkey the smallest one that I ever prepared. (I usually have cooked birds between 12 and 16 pounds, and, occasionally, up to 20 pounds in the past.) Given this was the first time that I was cooking with a heritage bird, I did a lot of research into the bird itself, including the white meat to dark meat ratio and the cooking times.  This is where the Internet, for all of its information, can fail someone. There are literally recipes for cooking this bird in two opposite ways: (1) low and slow; and (2) hot and fast. For someone who is new to cooking heritage birds, this is not helpful. Needless to say, I choose the low and low method in the hopes that I could err on the side of caution. It would be far less frustrating (or so I thought) to cook the bird for an additional 15 minutes than to have a bird as dry as the paper upon which the recipe is printed. I cooked it at 325 degrees for approximately 3 hours. Otherwise, I cooked the bird according to the recipe's instructions.  The lower cooking temperature meant that the cooking time was a longer.  For purposes of this recipe, however, I have left the cooking times from the Tavern Cookbook because those cooking times are more appropriate for store-bought birds).

The stuffing recipe also provided a first, in terms of the ingredients that were used and the style of preparing the stuffing. In an effort to produce a stuffing as close as possible, my beautiful Angel baked both French bread and corn bread. As for the principal ingredients, I bought some bulk turkey sausage.  (My Angel only eats turkey, she does not eat pork or beef.) The apples were a combination of Granny Smith and Honeycrisp apples. The pecans were, well, pecans.

Typically, when preparing stuffing, I was always told to dip the day-old bread in some turkey stock.  This dipping is to help the stuffing remain moist during the cooking process.  The recipe that I worked with did not call for the dipping of anything in turkey stock.  Instead, the only liquid that was added to the stuffing was 1 stick of melted butter.  This naturally created a drier stuffing.  Given I was working with a smaller bird, I could not put much of the stuffing in the cavity of the bird. The rest went into a greased, glass baking dish and baked separately. I put the dish in at the end of the cooking time for the bird.

Overall, I found the heritage bird to be the best turkey that I have ever eaten, both in terms of flavor and texture. (And, in this regard, I strongly recommend using Nick's Organic Farm.)  The Bourbon Red really does provide a stark contrast to the rather bland meat and texture of a mass produced, broadbreasted white bird.  In fact, the bird is so much better than any other turkey that I have had, that it more than justified the additional cost of the heritage bird. I definitely plan on using heritage birds in the future.  The only change I would make is to stick with the instructions or go with my gut when cooking the bird

ROAST HERITAGE TURKEY WITH

SAUSAGE, APPLE AND PECAN DRESSING

Recipe adapted from The Colonial Williamsburg Tavern Cookbook, pg .116-117

Serves Many

Ingredients (for the dressing):

1 pound bulk fresh mild or hot sausage
     (I used mild turkey sausage)

2 large onions, finely chopped

2 celery ribs, finely chopped

3 cups cooked corn bread, cut into 1/2 inch dice

2 cups day old French or Italian bread, 

     crusts removed and cut into 1/2 inch dice

2 large cooking apples, preferably Granny Smith,

     peeled, cored, and cut into 1/2 inch dice
     (I used a combination of Granny Smiths and Honeycrisps)

1 1/2 cups chopped pecans

1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, melted

2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh parsley

1 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper

Ingredients (for the turkey):

1 trimmed turkey (12 to 14 pounds)
     (I used a 10 pound Bourbon Red heritag eturkey)

Salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste

1/4 cup (1/2 stick unsalted butter, softened

3 tablespoons flour

1 1/2 cups turkey stock

Directions:

1. Prepare the dressing. In a large skillet over medium-high heat, place the sausage and cook, stirring often, until no trace of pink remains. Use a slotted spoon to transfer the sausage to drain on paper towels. Pour off all but 1 tablespoon of the fat from the skillet. And the onions and celery to the skillet and cook, stirring often, until softened about 5 minutes. In a large bowl, combine the drained sausage, onions, celery, corn bread, day old bread, apples and pecans. Stir in the melted butter, parsley, salt and pepper. 

2. Prepare the turkey.  Dry the turkey inside and out with paper towels. Season the inside the cavity with salt and pepper. Fill the breast and neck cavities with the dressing. Truss the turkey securely with a trussing needle and kitchen string.

3. Roast the turkey.  Preheat the oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit. Rub the turkey with the butter and season well with salt and pepper. In a large roasting pan, place the bird on its side. Cook for 15 minutes and then turn on the other side for fifteen minutes. Turn, breast side down, in the pan and cook until the back is golden brown, about 30 minutes.  Reduce the oven temperature to 325 degrees Fahrenheit, and turn breast side up. Continue to roast for 18 minutes per pound, basting every 20 minutes, until a meat thermometer inserted into the thickest part of the thigh registers 165 degrees Fahrenheit. Transfer the turkey to a warmed platter and let sit, loosely covered with foil for 10-15 minutes.  

4. Prepare the gravy.  Skim the fat from the surface of the roasting pan juices.  Pour off the clear juices and reserve.  Place the roasting pan on top of the stove and sprinkler over the flour. Cook over medium high heat, stirring constantly until the flour is lightly brown, about 2-3 minutes. Pour in the turkey stock and increase the heat to high. Stir or whisk constantly until the gravy comes to a boil.  Reduce the heat to low and simmer for 5 minutes. Add the clear pan juices and season with salt and pepper. Strain through a sieve and pour into a warmed gravy boat. Carve the turkey and pass the gravy on the side.

ENJOY!

Fennel, Apple and Celery Salad with Cilantro and Lemon

Generally, I have never been a big fan of salads.  I consider myself an alpha carnivore, preferring to eat meat over leafy greens.  If I have to have a side, it is usually a starch, such as potatoes or rice.  To be sure, I eat salads and cook vegetable side dishes, but  not as much as I should.

My beautiful Angel has made tremendous strides in opening me and my diet to salads.  This recipe is an example of that.  Before I met my Angel, I would not have thought of making a salad of fennel, apple and celery.   However, a few weeks back, we had dinner with Clare's parents and her father made a salad that included fennel.  The salad was very delicious.  It also got me to thinking about different salads that I could make for Clare which feature fennel.

Fennel is a very interesting ingredient.  The white bulbs with straight, green branches and feathery leaves sets this vegetable apart from others on a grocery shelf.   One would think it was related to any number of vegetables that sprout from bulbs.  However, fennel is from the Umbellifereae family, which means it is closely related to parsley, carrots, dill and coriander.  Yet, the taste of fennel -- with its strong notes of anise -- is completely different than parsley, coriander and the like.  

The anise flavor of fennel pairs well with a variety of ingredients, most notably apples.  This basic pairing is what makes the salad work.  The use of celery, cilantro and lemons add levels of flavor to the salad.  The result is a delicious salad that has helped to further focus my attention to vegetables.

FENNEL, APPLE, AND CELERY SALAD WITH CILANTRO AND LEMON

Recipe from Food Network

Serves 8

Ingredients:

1/4 cup, plus 2 tablespoons of lemon juice

1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil

2 large apples, julienned

1 medium head of fennel, cored and thinly sliced

3 large ribs of celery, sliced (about 1 cup)

1/2 cup cilantro leaves, roughly chopped

Directions:

In a large non-reactive bowl, combine the lemon juice, olive oil, salt and pepper.  Add the apples, fennel, celery and cilantro.  Toss until well combined.  Taste and adjust the seasonings. 

ENJOY!

Apple Crumble

I am not the only one who cooks in our family.  My beautiful wife, Clare, is also a great cook and a great baker.  Every once in a while, I ask my Angel to provide a guest blog post so that I can share some of the amazing and delicious things that she makes for family, friends and, of course, me.  She has already provided guest blog posts about Cuban Bread, Loyalist Bread, Salmon Burgers, Peach Cobbler, Parmesan Soufflé with White Wine Butter Sauce and Meatballs with Orechhiette, Kale and Pine Nuts.   So, without further ado,

A Guest Blog Post by Clare ...

When it comes to desserts, I am the one that makes them in our family.  Keith does not really make a lot of desserts; and, I think that is because he is not really into baking.  When it comes to cooking, he does not always measure things exactly.  He likes to "eyeball"the measurements.  This does not lend itself very well to baking, where exact measurements are much more important, particularly if you want to have a good dessert.

Then there are desserts that are more "Keith-friendly," that is, ones in which being off on a measurement or two would not spell ruin for the dish.  One such dish is this apple crumble, which I made as part of our Wine Club dinner back last September.  (Keith has been really busy at work and at home, which has left some recipes, like this one, waiting to be posted.)  The theme of the Wine Club dinner was The F Word, which was a dinner based on recipes by Gordon Ramsay.  This is Gordon's take on an Apple Crumble.  

The key to this recipe is that the apple is presented in two forms ... puree and chunks.  This helps to provide some interesting texture to the fruit in the dessert.  Gordon adds dried cranberries, which add some interesting flavor to complement the apples.  The granola topping, which adds that crunch one would expect with a crumble rounds out the dish. 

Over all, this is a delicious dessert and a great way to end that particular wine club dinner. 

APPLE CRUMBLE

Recipe from Gordon Ramsay's Cookery Course

Serves 4

Ingredients (for the apples):

6 tablespoons of caster sugar

Pinch of ground cinnamon

1 vanilla pod, seeds only

6 apples, cored but not peeled, 3 of them grated

     3 of them cut into chunks

3 tablespoons of dried cranberries

Zest of one lemon, juice of 1/2 lemon

Ingredients (for the crumble topping):

6 2/3 tablespoons of plain flour

2 tablespoons of demerara sugar

3 1/3 tablespoons of butter, chilled and cubed

Pinch of ground cinnamon

4 tablespoons of nutty granola or muesli

Directions:

1.  Prepare the apples.  Heat the oven to 390 degrees Fahrenheit.  Heat a small hob-proof baking dish. Add the caster sugar and heat for about 5 minutes until it caramelizes.  Add the cinnamon, vanilla seeds and grated apples and cook for 1-2 minutes.  Stir in the apple chunks, then mix in the cranberries, lemon zest and juice.  Remove from heat and set aside.

2.  Make the topping. Place the flour, sugar, butter and cinnamon in a bowl and rub together with your fingertips until the mixture resembles breadcrumbs.  Add the granola and mix fully until incorporated. 

3.  Bake the crumble.  Scatter the crumble topping over the fruit and heat the dish on the hob.  Once the apple mixture is bubbling, transfer to the preheated oven and bake for 12-14 minutes until the topping is a deep golden brown.  Remove and serve warm.

ENJOY!

The Bolek Family Turkey with Apple Sausage Stuffing

Turkey and stuffing represents a combination of the New and Old Worlds.  The explanation begins with the following scene ... Sixteenth Century Spanish explorers or conquistadors traveling through the New World region that would become part of northern Mexico.  As they pass through town after town, the Spaniards notice that the indigenous people have domesticated an odd, aggressive bird that struts around, "gobbling" all the time. The indigenous peoples may have roasted or stewed the turkey meat, but they did not stuff the birds.  When the Spaniards found that turkeys were delicious and decided to bring the birds back to the Old World.

The popularity of turkey spread throughout Western Europe.  It was a change from the swans, herons and peacocks that graced the plates of the wealthy.  European cooks began to prepare turkey incorporating their own cooking styles, creating a myriad of different recipes.  One such cookbook, Martha's Bradley's British Housewife (1758), collected several of those recipes: Roasted Turkey with Onion Sauce, Roasted with Oysters, "Forced the Italian Way" (i.e., stuffed with a sausage-like mixture), the Dutch Way, with Cray-Fish, au Bourgeois, Boiled the Dutch Way, Stewed, in a Pudding in Guts (sausage links), Glazed, and in a Cullis (sauce). Thus, the Old World way of stuffing birds combined with a New World bird most likely gave rise to what is often the centerpiece of holiday meals here in the United States.

This recipe does not come from any old cookbook.  Instead, this Turkey with Apple Sausage Stuffing recipe is my mom's recipe.  She makes this recipe for Thanksgiving, and, every year, she expertly produces an amazing dinner.  The turkey is always juicy and the stuffing is perfectly made.  I wanted to make this dish for a group of our friends who were coming over to our house for the Easter holiday.  I followed the recipe (with a couple of changes, such as the substitution of turkey stock for chicken broth) and everything turned out well.  However, it was not as good as my mom's Turkey with Apple Sausage Stuffing.  I guess I will need some more practice.  It is a good thing that holidays come several times a year....

THE BOLEK FAMILY TURKEY WITH

APPLE SAUSAGE STUFFING

Recipe provided by my Mom

Serves a lot

Ingredients (for the turkey):

1 whole turkey (about fifteen pounds)

1 cup of fresh thyme, chopped 

1/2 cup of unsalted butter

Salt, to taste

Ground pepper, to taste

Ingredients (for the stuffing):

1 loaf of bread (white or white)

16 ounces of turkey stock (you can substitute chicken stock

     or chicken broth)

3 tablespoons of unsalted butter

4 tablespoons of chopped onions 

1/2 to 3/4 cup of chopped celery

1 to 2 apples, peeled and diced

3/4 pound of mild Italian sausage, browned

1 cup of water

1 egg, beaten

Salt, to taste

Ground pepper, to taste

Ingredients (for the gravy):

5 tablespoons of all purpose flour

3/4 to 1 cup of water

Reserved turkey stock (or chicken stock or broth)
A few drops of Gravy Master

Instructions:

1.  Begin to make the stuffing.  If the bread is fresh, leave on the counter overnight to get stale.  Heat a the butter in a skillet over medium to medium high heat, add the butter, then the onions and celery.  Cook it slowly and stir often to make sure that it does not burn.  Once the onion and celery are soft, remove from the heat. 

2.  Continue to make the stuffing.  Pour the turkey stock into a medium bowl.  Take a couple slices of bread and dip them into the broth.  Squeeze out all of the broth and put the slices into another bowl.  Repeat this process until you have used the whole loaf.  Strain the breadcrumbs and the stock for use later in the gravy.   Pour 1 beaten egg, about a  teaspoon of salt, and a few grinds of freshly ground black pepper, and some poultry seasoning.  Add the apples and the sausage.  Mix everything well.  Set aside.

3.  Prepare the turkey.  The turkey should be defrosted.  (The best way to do this is buy the turkey a couple days in advance and let it sit in the refrigerator.  If it is still frozen on the morning you intend to serve it, place it in cold water for a couple of hours.)  Before taking off the wrapper, read the instructions regarding how long it will take to roast the turkey.  The instructions are usually fairly accurate.  Once you remove the wrapper, wash the turkey thoroughly, inside and out.  Remove the giblets, set aside. 

4.  Stuff the turkey.  Place the turkey in a roasting pan.  Stuff the turkey, starting in the back of the turkey.  Do not pack the stuffing, but make sure that the stuffing fills the cavity.  Also insert some stuffing at the head of the turkey.  (If you have leftover stuffing, place it in a glass baking dish and add it to the oven when there is about an hour left in the cooking time of the turkey.)  Lace the skin over the closures.  Place pats of butter in crevices or on top.  Add water to the bottom of the pan. 

5.  Roast the turkey: Cover the turkey with the roasting pan lid or foil and put the turkey in a 325 degree preheated oven.  About one hour or so before it is done or maybe sooner depending on size of turkey, baste turkey with drippings from bottom of pan, this will help brown up the turkey.  Also add more hot water if necessary so the turkey wont stick to the bottom of the pan.  Also baste any stuffing that is sticking out of turkey. When turkey is almost done, (1/2 hour or so before) uncover it and let finish roasting uncovered.  Also keep basting it if necessary.  When turkey is a nice golden brown, and the drumsticks are loose from turkey, it is probably done  You can use a thermometer to check.  Usually the pop up thermometers in the turkey are not too accurate.  Take from oven, let sit for a couple of minutes.  Pull turkey from roaster and carve.

6.  Make the gravy: Separate fat from juice in the drippings.  Put into medium size kettle.  Bring to a  boil.  Add saved chicken broth and maybe another can if necessary and bring to a boil again.   Use a mixture of several heaping tablespoons of flour to about 3/4 cup to 1 cup of water and shake together to get the lumps broken down.  Put into kettle and stir.  Add Kitchen Magic to make it a darker color.  Gravy should thicken.  Keep stirring and bring to a boil.  If it doesn't, repeat the flour/water mixture but not as much flour or water.

PAIRING THIS DISH

As with chicken and pork, the conventional pairing for turkey -- a white meat -- would be a white wine. Most white wines would work well, with the sole exception of sweet wines.  Some possibilities include Riesling wines from Alsace or Germany, along with Chardonnay and Sauvignon Blanc wines from California, Washington, State or Oregon.  Lesser known varietals, such as Viognier, or lesser known wines, like Vouvray, could work well with turkey.  A couple of white wines that I have previously reviewed that would work with this dish include the following:

Dr. H. Thanisch's Bernkasteler Badstube -- Riesling Kabinett (2009)
100% Riesling grapes
Mosel Valley, Germany
Flavors of green apples and pears

Black Ankle Vineyards -- Viognier (2009)
100% Viognier grapes
Mt. Airy, Maryland, USA
Flavors of pears, along with a little vanilla and oak

Some red wines will also well with turkey and stuffing dishes.  The wine that jumps to mind is a Pinot Noir, but also a Syrah from France could pair well with this dish.  A couple of red wines that I have reviewed that I think would pair well with this recipe are the following:

Thomas Henry -- Pinot Noir (2009)
100% Pinot Noir grapes
Napa Valley, California, USA
Flavors of dark cherries and strawberries

Privé Vineyard -- Le Nord (2006) or Le Nord (2008)
100% Pinot Noir grapes
Willamette Valley, Oregon, USA
Flavors of cherries, pepper and spice

ENJOY!

For more on the history of turkey and stuffing, check out The American Turkey and Thanksgiving at The Journal of Antiques.

Roasted Apples and Fennel with Walnuts

Every dish deserves a good side.  When I made my Garlic-Fennel Rubbed Pork Loin Roast, I struggled mightily to come up with a good side dish.  At first, I thought about mashed potatoes, and then truffled mashed potatoes.  Potatoes did not seem to be the best side for the dish, at least for me. 

My thoughts then turned to what is traditionally linked to pork ... apples.  Maybe it was all of those images of a whole pig with an apple stuffed in its mouth.  Wherever that image came from, I had the start of my side dish. 

I then consulted The Flavor Bible for additional ingredients to use in this side dish.  The first ingredient that jumped out at me was fennel, which is a good ingredient to pair with apples.  I was a little cautious at first because the pork roast used both fennel seed and ground fennel in the rub. However, I came to remember something I learned a long time ago ... the taste of the seed and the taste of the fruit or vegetable are not always the same.  Fennel seed and ground fennel provide strong anice flavors, which include some flower, spice and peppery notes.  While fennel itself also provides these flavors, roasting the fennel helps to mellow them. When roasted apples are added, the fennel does not stand out as much. 

In the end, I scoured the Internet to see if there was a recipe that I could use as a guide.  I found one from Country Living and adapted it for my dish.  I also added walnuts to the side dish, which was a suggested pairing for both apples and fennel.  When I served this dish, I added some walnuts, but, in the rush of things, I forgot to toast them.  I would suggest toasting the walnuts and sprinkling them over the apples and fennel just before serving the dish.

ROASTED APPLES AND FENNEL WITH WALNUTS

Recipe adapted from Country Living

Serves 4-5

Ingredients:
1 fennel bulb, trimmed and cut into 1/4 inch wedges
1.5 pounds of apples, such as gala apples
1 tablespoon of honey
1/2 teaspoon of salt
1/4 teaspoon of ground black pepper
1 cup of walnuts

Directions:
1. Prepare the apples and fennel.  Preheat the oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit.  Combine all of the ingredients in a bowl and toss.  Lay the apples and fennel out on a baking sheet in a single layer.

2.  Roast the apples and fennel.  Roast the apples and fennel for twenty minutes.  Turn the apples and fennel.  Roast for twenty minutes more until they are golden and cooked through.

3.  Toast the walnuts.  Heat a pan on medium heat.  Add the walnuts.  Toast the walnuts for a minute or two, shaking the pan to prevent any burning. 

4.  Plate the dish.  Sprinkle the toasted walnuts over the apples and fennel just before serving the dish.

ENJOY!