Thanksgiving Recipes!

Every year, Derek and Romaine talk about their favorite recipes and tips for Thanksgiving. Here are a few of them:

1. Brine Your Turkey!
It is fairly easy to brine a turkey and it will make for a moist and delicious turkey. Martha Stewart has a terrific brine recipe that Derek and Romaine highly recommend. Check it out.

2. Perfect Roast Turkey Recipe
Again, Martha Stewart is the clear winner here. This recipe makes for a great tasting turkey and the drippings will add a delicious dimension to your gravy. Derek recommends lightly stuffing the turkey with sweet oranges, sliced in quarters. The steaming oranges will help keep the turkey moist and the flavor off the oranges adds nicely to the drippings. When done cooking, discard the oranges (do not eat!).

3. Romaine's Cranberry Sauce
Many of us opt for cranberry sauce in a can, but making cranberry sauce is surprisingly easy. 1 bag of cranberries, 1 cup sugar, 1/2 cup water, 1/2 cup orange juice, 1 tablespoon orange zest. Add cinnamon and ground clove to taste. Add ingredients to sauce pan, bring slowly to boiling, stirring regularly until cranberries burst and gel.


4. Spinach Artichoke Rolls
Wade Williams belittled this recipe for years until he tried it. This makes a good easy appetizer while people are waiting or an alternative to traditional rolls. Take a canister of crescent rolls and a package of spinach artichoke dip (fresh or frozen but thawed). Unroll the rolls and separate. Spread dip inside the rolls and roll them up as usual into crescent shapes. Bake as usual.

5. Additional Ideas
The NYTimes.com has some interesting ideas this year for Thanksgiving. Check out their Essential Thanksgiving recipes. Also have you thought about steaming your turkey? We haven't tried this recipe by Jacques Pepin yet but it sounds intriguing. If you are adventurous, apparently the results are amazing.

6. Helpful Tips
Prepare what you can in advance. You can slice and dice vegetables in the days leading up to the big day to save yourself time on Thanksgiving. Store your Thanksgiving supplies grouped together so you don't accidentally forget anything, like making the cranberry sauce, a side dish or preparing the pumpkin pies!

7. Need Help? Call!
Every year, Butterball runs the Butterball Turkey Talk Line. (800) BUT-TURBALL (800-288-8372). They have experts on the line who can talk you through any turkey issue, even if the turkey you purchased wasn't a Butterball turkey.