- Cranberry Brie Phyllo Triangles
- Make Ahead Mashed Potatoes
- Green Bean and Mushroom Medley
- Sweet Potato Casserole
- Apple Turnip Mash
- Top Secret Stuffing
- Apple Sausage Stuffing
- Hot Caramel Cake
Unstuffed Hours
8 to 12 pounds -- 2 3/4 to 3 hours
12 to 14 pounds -- 3 to 3 3/4 hours
14 to 18 pounds -- 3 3/4 to 4 1/4 hours
18 to 20 pounds -- 4 1/4 to 4 1/2 hours
20 to 24 pounds -- 4 1/2 to 5 hours
Stuffed Hours
8 to 12 pounds -- 3-3 1/2 hours
12 to 14 pounds -- 3 1/2 - 4 hours
14 to 18 pounds -- 4-4 1/2 hours
18 to 20 pounds --4 1/2 - 4 3/4 hours
20 to 24 pounds --4 3/4 - 5 1/4
If in doubt, use use a meat thermometer (available at most grocery stores and kitchen shops) to determine the correct degree of doneness. Turkey is done when meat in the thigh reaches 180°F or (meat in the breast in finished at 170°F).
Here is a step by step plan to get you through the day:
10:00 am - Begin the dinner rolls cover the dough, set aside in a warm place for the first rising. Your dough will sit on your warm stove top and simply do it's thing all day. You will let this dough rise three times - which just means it grows about twice it's normal size - kind of like me after eating this dinner. You will simply put your fist into the middle of the dough to take the air out and then let it rise again. (follow dinner rollshttp://mavensprintablerecipes.blogspot.com/2010/09/dinner-rolls.html link to the recipe. The instructions are all there)
11:00 am - Prep the turkey - Rinse the turkey and then dry it really good inside and out.
Salt the cavity liberally and then stuff with the dressing you made the day before. Rub outside skin with 1/2 cup softened butter and sprinkle with liberal amounts of salt, pepper, and garlic powder. Put breast side up onto a roasting rack in your roaster and cover with lid or tin foil.
12:00 pm - Turkey goes into oven at 325 (baste every hour) My times are based on a 15 to 17 pound turkey, adjust yours accordingly and start earlier for a bigger bird. The idea is to have things timed so your turkey comes out of the oven at 4:00 pm.
Baste your turkey every hour. If there are a lot of pan juices, remove them as you go and set aside for your gravy.
3:00 pm - Prep Brussel Sprouts (follow this link to the recipe) set aside until ready to roast.
3:30 pm - Remove Make Ahead Mashed Potatoes, Carrots, Turnip, and Sweet Potato Casserole from fridge and set on counter.
3:30 pm - Remove turkey from oven. Using your baster, remove all excess pan juices and set aside to use for gravy. Remove cover from turkey and return it to the oven to really brown up for the last half hour of roasting.
3:50 pm - form the dough you made for the rolls in the morning into buns. It will have risen three times by now. Cover and set aside to rise again.
4:00 pm - Turkey comes out of oven. Put on platter, cover with tin foil, leave to rest. (Don't worry, it won't get cold).
4:05 - Put pan drippings into a fat seperator. if you have one - it's an easy way to remove excess fat from your gravy.
Leave about 1/4 cup in the bottom of your roaster pan.
Preheat oven to 400.
4:10 - Add 4 tbsp flour to the pan drippings to make a roux. Add all the pan juices, one tbsp cranberry sauce, and three packages of Clubhouse roast turkey gravy mix that has been shaken up with three cups of water. Trust me on this, it makes a great gravy. While that heats up, scrape all the good brown stuff off the sides and bottom of the pan. Get every last bit of flavour off that sucker!
Whisk, whisk whisk! Bring to a boil and thicken with more flour if needed.
When it's a nice consistency, transfer to a sauce pan and keep on low until ready to eat.
Pop your cranberry brie phyllo triangles into the oven and bake for 10 minutes at 400.
4:20 - Reduce oven to 350, Wash your roasting pan and put it away. No more mess, no more mashing, no hot steamy kitchen, gravy's done - all hail the Fabulosity.
4:30 - Put potatoes into a 350 oven.
4:35 - Relax, put out some appetizers. We always have the cranberry brie triangles and a nice prawn ring with cocktail sauce.
4:50 - Put make ahead mashed potatoes, turnip puree and sweet potato casserole into the oven alongside the potatoes. Give potatoes a stir while adding a little warm whole milk or cream at their halfway point. This will give them a nice creamy consistency.
5:25 - Remove veggies from oven (making sure they're heated all the way through), cover with foil and a t-towel, leave to rest on the warm stove top (don't worry, these won't get cold either)
5:30 - Increase oven heat to 400. Put brussel sprouts in to roast.
5:35 -Carve the turkey
5:55 - Put your buns in the oven (I always wanted to say that) They just go in alongside the brussel sprouts. Both buns and brussels will take another 15 minutes.
6:05 - Sautee the bean and mushroom medley.
6:10 - Pull your buns and brussels out of the oven, uncover everything else, stick a ladle in the gravy, and serve. (We usually just do it buffet style as that seems easiest)
6:15 - Toast the cook and Merry Christmas!
