Cast Iron Chaos: Thanksgiving 2012

Schedule

Monday evening: Begin thawing turkey.

Wednesday evening: Thaw kielbasa in refrigerator. Brine turkey. Prepare turkey spice rub.

Thursday:

Bake Apple Pie
Bake Pumpkin Pie
Bake Cornbread
Cook (braise) rabbit, remove meat for use in stuffing
Prepare Cranberry Sauce

Friday:

6:30 AM: Peel and cut 1 onion into quarters. Scrub 2 carrots and 2 stalks of celery, remove ends, cut in half, pre-boil to soften for stuffing the turkey.

7:00 AM: Place pipe stands in oven. Place dutch oven into oven. Heat oven to 275 degrees. Remove turkey from brine and prepare for roasting: rinse and dry turkey, then coat with spice rub. Stuff turkey with vegetables, thyme, bay leaves. When the oven reaches 275 degrees, remove the dutch oven, place roasting rack in the pot, and rest turkey on rack.

8:00 AM: Turkey in the oven. Melt and strain clarified butter, mix with paprika and ground pepper for basting.

9:00 AM: Baste turkey.

10:00 AM: Baste turkey. Prepare fixings for green salad: chop celery, cucumber, red onion, mushrooms. Put in bowl, keep bowl in refrigerator.

10:30: Shuck the corn on the cob, keep in refrigerator.

11:00 AM: Baste turkey. Prepare stuffing mix. Mix in rabbit. Place the meat stuffing into an oven-safe dish, then keep in the refrigerator to heat later.

12:00 noon: Baste turkey. Turn on convection oven to 350 degrees. Place a stick of butter in covered butter tray, place on the dinner table to soften. Fill pot to boil water for pasta. Boil pasta, drain, mix with oil and seasoning (not the green salad fixings in the refrigerator) and toss in bowl with oil. Cool bowl in refrigerator for salad.

12:25 PM: Wash off butternut squash with potato brush (don't use soap).

12:30 PM: Place butternut squash into convection oven, roast 60 minutes at 350 degrees.

1:00 PM: Baste turkey. Add kielbasa to the dutch oven with the turkey, to cook in the pan juices. Wash off potatoes for boiling.

1:15 PM: Boil potatoes for 60 minutes.

1:20 PM: Take stuffing out of the refrigerator, place on countertop to warm (in preparation for heating in the oven).

1:30 PM: Move turkey basting mixture from the stove to the top of the convection oven. Place pots on stovetop to prepare for boiling the vegetables: 1 for peas and carrots, 1 for green beans, 1 for corn on the cob. Remove butternut squash from convection oven. Lower convection oven temperature to 200 degrees. Prepare squash: slice, remove innards, mash with butter. Put squash in microwaveable bowl, so it can be heated before serving.

1:45 PM: Place dish of stuffing into convection oven to heat up.

1:55 PM: Begin boiling corn on the cob with butter.

2:00 PM: Baste turkey. Fill pots for boiling peas and carrots, green beans.

2:10 PM: Boil peas and carrots with butter. Boil green beans with butter.

2:15 PM: Remove stuffing from convection oven, place on counter to cool (for stuffing into the turkey). Place cornbread into convection oven to warm it up. Drain and mash potatoes with cream, butter, pepper, and basil. Cover pot to keep warm.

2:30 PM: Turkey out of the oven. Place kielbasa on serving plate, cover with foil to keep warm. Stuff stuffing into turkey. Prepare gravy.

2:45 PM: Prepare green salad with baby spinach, and serve.

2:50 PM: Warm pasta salad in microwave (5 minutes on setting 7), and serve. Drain peas and carrots, corn on the cob, and green beans; add to serving bowls with butter, and serve. Remove cornbread from convection oven, top with butter, and serve. Place apple pie in convection oven, to heat it for dessert. Serve mashed potatoes.

2:55 PM: Warm garlic bread in microwave. After removing bread from microwave, warm squash in microwave and serve. Slice bread and serve. Serve cranberry sauce from refrigerator. Remove stuffing from oven, turn off oven, and serve. Serve kielbasa.

3:00 PM: Place turkey onto serving platter. Serve turkey and gravy.

Thanksgiving 2012

Menu

Schedule

Feast!