Just the Sides if You Please

Last year we celebrated an early Thanksgiving in our home. It was the first Thanksgiving since the breakup of my father’s second marriage. With our house divided and the farm on the market, we knew things were going to change.

I tried desperately to recreate Thanksgiving as I had known it growing up. Hubby did everything he could to help make it special, knowing that I was beginning to unravel just a bit. Faith and family are the center of my life. While my faith remained strong, I felt family ties were once again slipping away. Our big, extended Holiday celebrations ended with the passing of my mother. She truly was the glue that kept us all together. Still my brother, my sisters and I went home to the farm for the holidays. There just weren’t the extended uncles, aunts, cousins and adopted members of our tribe. When my sister Ann moved to Oregon, my sister Linda to Southern California and we to Nevada, Thanksgiving as a family ceased to exist. Even when Hubby and I returned to the central valley, it wasn’t the same. I knew when the farm was sold it was like driving the final nail shut on what was.

My youngest sister did not grow up with the rest of us. While I consider her as much of a sister as my other sisters, she came into our lives when our parents married. Dad introduced her and her mother to concept of extended family gathers. This was foreign to them, having always been just the two of them. In all fairness, when Hubby and I first married he found our need to be together as a family a bit odd, too. As each of his brothers turned 18, they headed off in different directions and started their own family traditions that did not include siblings. For my family, getting together wasn’t just for the holidays. We shared Sunday dinners and birthdays, too. Over the years, Hubby began to appreciate family traditions and gatherings. I wish I could say the same for my youngest sister. She appreciates them, but doesn’t place value on them the same way that I do. If something else comes up, oh well, it’s not big deal. For me it is earth shattering.

This year Hubby and I are spending Thanksgiving at home, just us and Kiddo. No extended family. It’s going to be different. We decided that since things are what they are, we’d make the best of it. For the turkey, we’re going to smoke one for the very first time. (As Hubby has teased the hardest part of smoking a turkey is getting the darn bird lit!). I’m going to serve up all our favorites to accompany the bird. Since we’ve never smoked a turkey before, I have no recipe to share or photos to post. Maybe next Thanksgiving. But I do have the sides from Thanksgivings past. Enjoy!

Sides for Your Thanksgiving Table
Mrs. Cubbison’s Sausage Stuffing
Sage Browned Butter Mashed Potatoes
Giblet Gravy
Baby Rainbow Carrots with Bourbon-Maple Glaze

Mrs. Cubbison’s Sausage Stuffing
5 cups Celery (1 bunch)
3 cups Yellow Onion (2 large)
8 White Mushrooms
6 Cloves Garlic
2 lbs Jimmy Dean Sausage
4 boxes Mrs. Cubbison’s Cube Stuffing
4 tablespoons Butter
1 teaspoon Thyme
1 teaspoon Sage
1 teaspoon Poultry Seasoning
1-1/2 cups Chicken Stock or more

Clean celery, trim ends and dice. Peel onions, dice into small pieces. Clean mushrooms, slice. Peel garlic, set aside until ready to press as needed.

Lightly oil a large frying pan and heat over medium-high heat. Crumble sausage into the pan, brown, breaking into smaller pieces as it cooks.

Remove sausage from the pan, set aside. In the now-empty skillet scatter celery, onions and mushrooms. Press garlic over the vegetable mixture. Sauté until the onions are tender and the celery is pale in color. Remove pan from the heat. Melt butter, drizzle over the vegetable mixture.

In a small bowl whisk together the thyme, sage and poultry seasoning. Scatter seasoning over the vegetables, toss to coat. Place half of the vegetables in a large mixing bowl.

Scatter the sausage over the vegetables in the bowl, then add remaining vegetable medley over the sausage. Stir to blend. Add 2 boxes of the cube stuffing mix. Moisten with chicken stock. Using hands, blend bread with the vegetables and sausage. Continue to add bread cubes and moisten with chicken stock until all the bread cubes have been added. Cover and set aside until ready to bake.

Heat oven to 325-degrees. Spray a casserole dish with cooking spray. Spread stuffing out in the dish. Cover with foil and bake in the oven for about 20 minutes, until headed through.

Sage Browned Butter Mashed Potatoes
12 tablespoons (1 1/2 sticks) Butter, divided
10 to 12 fresh Sage Leaves
Kosher Salt to taste
Freshly Black Pepper to taste
3 lb. small Yukon Gold Potatoes (see note)
3/4 cup Whole Milk

Note: To produce fluffier mashed potatoes, boil the potatoes whole in their skins so they will absorb less water. Then use a potato ricer to “mash” the potatoes. Place the cooked potatoes in the perforated chamber, set the tool over a bowl and squeeze the handles. The potatoes emerge as fluffy, rice-like grains that blend readily with other ingredients, such as the brown butter used here. If you do not have a ricer, peel the potatoes and cook as you normally would.

In a small saucepan over medium-high heat, melt 8 tablespoons (1 stick) of the butter. When the foam subsides, add the sage leaves and fry until crisp, about 3 minutes. Using a slotted spoon, transfer the sage leaves to paper towels to drain and season with salt. Reduce the heat to medium and continue cooking the butter until it is brown but not smoking, 2 to 3 minutes more. Pour into a heatproof bowl and set aside.

Place the potatoes and 1 tablespoon salt in a large saucepan.  Add enough cold water to cover the potatoes by 1 inch. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat, reduce the heat to medium and simmer until the potatoes are tender when pierced with a knife, about 15 minutes. Drain well in a colander.

Meanwhile, in a small saucepan over low heat, combine the remaining 4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) butter with the milk and heat until the butter melts and the mixture is hot, about 8 minutes.

If using a Potato Ricer: Set a potato ricer over a large bowl and pass the potatoes through in batches, removing the skins from the ricer as needed.

To Mash Cubed Potatoes: Place potatoes into the bowl of a standing mixer. Mash just until fluffy. Transfer to a large mixing bowl.

Using a soft spatula, fold in the milk mixture and 4 to 5 tablespoons of the brown butter until smooth. Season with salt and pepper. Transfer the mashed potatoes to a serving dish. Garnish with the sage leaves and drizzle with the remaining brown butter. Serve immediately or cover and hold in a warm oven.

Giblet Gravy
1 package Giblets
4 tablespoons Vegetable Oil
4 tablespoons Butter
1/2 cup Flour
3 cups Turkey or Chicken Stock
1 teaspoon Thyme
1 teaspoon Rubbed Sage
1 teaspoon Black Pepper

Remove giblets from the cavity of the turkey; remove from the bag and place in a saucepan. Add about 1/2 cup of water. Bring to a boil, then simmer for 20 minutes. Place giblets on a cutting board to cool, retain the cooking water. Once the giblets have cooled enough to handle, finely mince and set aside.

In a heavy bottom saucepan, melt butter with oil over medium heat. Sprinkle with flour. Lower heat to medium-low; cook until golden brown, about 20 minutes, stirring frequently.

Note: Watch closely. If the mixture burns, start over again.

Place cooking liquid from the giblets into a 4-cup measuring cup. Add enough turkey or chicken stock to measure 3-1/2 cups. Slowly add liquid to the roux, whisking constantly. Season with thyme, sage and black pepper. Add giblets, let gravy simmer until desired consistency is reached, abut 10 minutes. Iff too thick, add more stock. Transfer to a gravy boat when ready to serve.

Baby Rainbow Carrots with Bourbon-Maple Glaze
1 lb Rainbow Baby Carrots
Kosher Salt to taste
1 tablespoon Butter
3 tablespoons Bourbon Whiskey
1/4 cup Maple Syrup
Pinch Fresh Ground Pepper

Bring a medium-size pot of water to a boil over medium-heat. Add carrots and a pinch of salt. Cook until carrots are tender, about 5 minutes. Drain and set aside.

In a sauté pan over medium-heat, melt butter. Add Bourbon Whiskey and maple syrup. Lower heat to a strong simmer, and cook until mixture is reduced to a thick, syrupy consistency, about 8 minutes. Add carrots and toss to glaze, then cook until carrots begin to caramelize, about 5 minutes. Transfer to a serving dish, season with salt and a pinch of pepper. Serve immediately.

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And now, bless the God of all,
Who has done wondrous things on the earth;
Who fosters people’s growth from their mother’s womb,
And fashions them according to His will!
May He grant you joy of heart
And may peace abide among you.
Sirach 50:22-23