Christmas Eve Feast

We missed enjoyed our favorite Thanksgiving dishes this year because my dear husband was on a business trip and I joined him for the holiday (thankfully we did get to enjoy a yummy dinner with his co-workers, but it wasn't the same.) So we decided to start a new tradition of making our favorites for Christmas Eve dinner.

We start off with the most delicious turkey known to mankind. One word BRINE. My mother learned about brining turkeys and chickens a few years ago and once we all tasted those first few delicious bites, we knew we'd never be turning back. We usually make our own brine, but this year we are using one we purchased at World Market that has juniper berries, dried apples, orange peels, among other tasty things.
The traditional brine recipe we use is this:

Chicken or Turkey Brine

3/4 cup kosher salt

3/4 cup sugar

1 cup boiling water

1 gallon cold water, or even iced water (or how ever much you need to cover the bird)

1 tablespoon black pepper

1-2 cloves minced garlic

Boil water, stir in salt and sugar, stir until dissolved (or as close as you can get), it's easiest to do this on the stove. Add pepper and garlic. Cool to room temperature, adding ice cubes helps or place in fridge for awhile.

Place chicken or turkey in large pot or bucket, basically whatever you have that is food safe, that you don't care about coating with birdie germs that may forever carry the smell of garlic. Pour brine mixture over bird. Add cold water to cover bird.

For small birds, like a 5 lb chicken just a few hours will do, we typically brine our Chickens in the morning, then start cooking them in the afternoon. For larger birds, like this year our 13 lbs young turkey, we did the brine overnight. Typically 8-16 hours is fine.

Now onto cooking the turkey. Take the bird out of its brine bath, rinse the outside and the inside so it is free of any debris. Pat dry and place breast down in your roasting pan, yes breast down, it helps maintain that delicious juiciness. Give it a nice rub down with some olive oil, sprinkle with a little salt and pepper if you wish (though we think this is more for making the skin tasty to much on as you are carving the turkey, and doesn't do much for the actual flavor of the bird).
This year we are going to try out the Alton Brown method of roasting a turkey. Here is a link you need to make sure you watch the videos as the written recipe leaves out a few important steps. Basically, he starts cooking the bird at 500 degrees F for 30 minutes, which helps move along the cooking of the dark meat, as well as giving the skin a beautiful brown glow. Then he covers the breast (which he does breast up) with foil, lowers the oven temp to 350 degrees F and cooks for another 2 hours or so. The important thing is to use a probe thermometer set to 161 degrees to tell you when the bird is done, do not trust that pop up thermometer or your turkey with be overcooked. When the temp reaches 161, take it out of the oven, leave in roasting pan, "tent" with foil, large bowl, lid to your BBQ grill, whatever, and the turkey will continue to cook as it rests. After about 15 minutes you are good to go with carving the bird. Enjoy! (Oh and you may be wondering why basting was not mentioned. It's not necessary! Esp when cooking the bird breast down. Trust me!)

Now onto side dishes. My dear husband has a love affair with his mother's dressing, which was her mother's dressing, and so on. Its very straightforward.

Dressing: this serves a lot of people. There is usually enough to put inside the turkey and still have a big dish just to bake in the oven. We are halving the recipe for the 3 of us and still planning on lots of leftovers.

2 pounds saltine crackers
2 small onions
3/4 small bottle of sage (to taste)
1 tablespoon salt
1 tablespoon pepper
3-4 eggs (depending on size)
1/3 cup oil
1-2 cans evaporated milk
Bacon

Mix all ingredients and spread evenly in a cake pan. Place strips of bacon across the top and bake at 350° for 1 hour until done.
Alternately you can stuff a turkey with the dressing and bake with the turkey. Make sure to bake until a thermometer in the center reads 160° to 180°. Also be mindful not to over-stuff the turkey as this will result in an uncooked center.

Creamy Cauliflower Goodness:

3 cups cauliflower florets (1 good sized head)
8 ounces cream cheese softened
8 ounces sour cream
2 tablespoons half & half
1/4 cup butter
1/4-1/2 teaspoon salt (I usually do closer to 1/2 teaspoon, depending on the amount of cauliflower)
1/8 teaspoon pepper
Optional: Sprinkle with shredded cheddar cheese and/or bacon bits

Steam cauliflower until tender, puree with butter and half and half in food processor.
If you have room, add sour cream & cream cheese. Mix well. (or if you are like me and have a TINY food processor you can just mix it by hand or use a hand mixer or stand mixer).
Bake at 350 degrees F only until brown on top (20-30 minutes).