Turkey Dinner with the Siblings

Russ and I are truly blessed to have not only our parents, but also all of our siblings in town. Selfishly we hope this never changes and everyone stays within a ten minute drive of us, but realistically we know this may not last forever. For now we enjoy seeing them any chance we get. Ever since we moved in our house we have wanted to have all of our siblings and their significant others over for dinner. After over a year and a half in the house a turkey of all things is what finally gave us the push we needed to get our act together and just do it. A turkey in February might sound out of the ordinary, but we have actually had it since the end of November. One of the local grocery stores holds an annual event each November where you can get a free turkey. Every time during a certain time period where you spend over $50 you get a turkey feather and once you have collected four you get a free turkey. Two years ago I came up one turkey feather short, so this past year I made an effort to only shop at this store in order to collect all my feathers. Ever since we got the turkey we have talked about having our siblings over, but with the holidays things got busy and then in January we were in the mood to relax after the holidays… so finally in February we did it!

Tonight we had Jess, Scott, Will, Mary Margaret, Jason, Jane, Daniel, and Beau over for dinner. Since our dining room is not very large and our table seats six at the most we decided to eat in our den. It is probably the largest room in our house and I have been entertaining the thought of moving some furniture out of it and putting tables in for a dinner party for a while now. Thanks to some loaner tables, table clothes, and extra chairs from my parents that is exactly what we did. I really enjoyed having everyone in the same room at the same table to eat!

Now for the food! Russ comes from a turkey frying family and he does an excellent job frying turkeys. This time he wanted to try something new and smoke the turkey. He did some research online and came up with a great recipe. The turkey had an amazing smoky, savory flavor to it that I loved! It wasn’t as moist as the fried turkeys he has done before, but we think that if he brines it and works on his smoking technique that it would be more moist. I do love fried turkey, but the smokiness was wonderful… I think next time Russ may need to do one of each for a side by side taste test!

I handled the sides and did mashed potatoes, green beans, and a salad. I also made a lime curd tart for dessert. For the mashed potatoes I tried a new recipe that I found on the Pioneer Woman Cooks blog. I chose it because it you can make it ahead of time and then reheat it in the oven just before serving. Also, it has cream cheese in it which I found very intriguing. I actually test ran the addition of cream cheese in some mashed red potatoes earlier this week and loved the creamy texture and flavor it added! To make the mashed potatoes you peel 5 lbs of Russet potatoes, cut them into large chunks and boil them. Once they are cooked you drain them, add them back to the pot, and mash them. Then you add the butter, cream cheese, half and half, salt and pepper. Once this is mixed well and seasoned then you add it to a buttered baking dish.

For the green beans I used a recipe of Jane’s (Russ’ sister) that she got from the Fresh Market cookbook. You cook the green beans in boiling water. When they are cooked you drain them and add them back to the pot. Then add small cherry or grape tomatoes to them. Lastly toss them with balsamic dressing (balsamic vinegar, olive oil, salt, pepper, and a little creole mustard).

The salad recipe came from a cookbook that Jess and Scott gave me a while ago that I have never used. Russ is scared of this cookbook and has even tried to hide it before… It is the Enchanted Broccoli Forest and Russ is scared because it is a vegetarian cookbook. To make the salad you peel and section 6 oranges and then combine them with the cinnamon and honey and set it aside. Then you slice the radishes and onions. Lastly you toast some chopped walnuts. When it is time to serve you toss the greens with olive oil, salt, and pepper. Then you add all the other ingredients including part of the juice that is with the oranges.

For dessert I decided that I wanted something that was not too sweet or heavy since we were having a large meal. After flipping through several cookbooks I decided to make Ina Garten's Lime Curd Tart. To make the tart you mix the butter and sugar together. Once mixed you add the vanilla and finally the sifted flour and salt. The batter looked to dry and crumbly to me, so I added one egg to hold it all together. You then fold it into a disk and press it into the tart pan. The dough chills in the refrigerator until it is firm. Once firm you bake it covered and filled with beans for 20 minutes. You then remove the foil and beans and prick it with a fork and let it bake again for about 20 minutes. Set it aside to cool. To make the lime curd. You mix the sugar, lime zest and butter until combined. You are supposed to mix the zest and sugar in a food processor prior to this step, but I left it out by accident. Once it is all combined you add the eggs. You then pour the mixture into a saucepan until it reaches about 175 F and thickens. Ina says this should take about 10 minutes, but mine took about 30. Once it thickens pour it into the tart shell and let it cool.

Overall the sides were really good, however, I was a little disappointed that the mashed potatoes and green beans were not hotter when we served them. I failed to do a heat test before putting them out and regretted it later… The mashed potatoes were creamy, soft, and tasty. I think the cream cheese actually worked better with the red potatoes in my test run earlier this week though as they added a more distinctive flavor. I would definitely make these again when making a large dinner as the ability to make them ahead of time is very helpful and with the butter, half and half, and cream cheese you know they are good. They did reheat very well just not quite long enough. The green beans were very tasty. This is a simple, colorful, and flavorful dish. The contrasting color and texture of the green beans and tomatoes makes this a real winner. Their flavors work really well together and the dressing adds a great tangy zip to the dish. The salad was excellent! I happen to love salads that combine fruit, vegetables, and nuts. The combination of oranges, walnuts, red onions, and radishes did not disappoint and worked really well together not to mention being very colorful. I was a little concerned that there really isn’t a dressing to the salad, but when eating it you didn’t even notice or miss it. The olive oil, salt, and pepper along with a little of the juice added all the dressing the salad needed. What really made this fantastic to me though was the hint of cinnamon from the oranges – perfect! If this salad is any indication of what other tasty recipes are hidden in the Enchanted Broccoli Forest… then I have a feeling we will be seeing a lot more out of this cookbook in the near future. Russ is still scared of it, but the salad did help him to start conquering this fear. The tart turned out fairly well. I felt like the tart shell browned a little more than I would have liked. Next time I'll check it earlier and cover it with foil if the edges are browning up to much. The tart shell had a great buttery flavor with good texture. The lime curd had a wonderful light flavor that was both sweet and tart. The recipe has you serve it at room temperature, but I think it would have been better to chill it and serve it chilled. The texture was firm, but at the same time a little runny. I think if it had been chilled it would have had better texture and would have been more refreshing. Overall I really liked it and think it would be a great summertime dessert. Russ rates the turkey a 9, the potatoes a 9, the green beans a 9, the salad a 9, and the lime curd tart a 8.

It was a truly enjoyable night with wonderful company! My only regret (besides the vegetables not being hotter...) was that we waited so long to finally have everyone over. I certainly see a Sibling Summer Party in our backyard with maybe some croquet or bocce and Russ grilling something yummy!

I also want to mention that Scott and Jess brought an appetizer. First, a big thanks to them for bringing it! Second, it is a recipe that I have reviewed on the blog before here and it is so tasty and such a crowd pleaser that I want to bring your attention to it again. It is simple to make with only five ingredients and the bowl was all but licked clean tonight – it is that tasty!

Last, but not least a big thanks to Mom who provided and arranged all the beautiful flowers!

Moroccan Orange-Walnut Salad, The Enchanted Broccoli Forest
Yield: 4 – 6 servings

Ingredients:
6 large oranges
1 Tbs. honey
½ tsp. cinnamon
1 lb. mixed salad greens – cleaned, dried, and chilled
½ small red onion, thinly sliced
10 radishes, thinly sliced
6 Tbs. extra-virgin olive oil
Salt to taste
Freshly ground pepper to taste
1 cup chopped, toasted walnuts

1. Peel and section the oranges, using a sharp paring knife or a serrated knife. To do this, first cut off the polar ends of the peel off the sides. With a gentle sawing motion, cut in one side of the membrane and out the other, releasing each orange section into a bowl. Squeeze all excess juice from the remaining membrane in to the bowl as well, and pick out the seeds, if necessary. Discard the membrane.
2. Drizzle honey and sprinkle cinnamon into the orange slices. Stir gently to mix, cover, and set aside until serving time.
3. Shortly before serving, toss the greens in a large bowl with the onions, radishes and olive oil. Season to taste with salt and freshly ground black pepper.
4. To serve, bring the orange sections, the tossed greens, and the walnuts to the table in separate containers. Let each person assemble his or her own salad, by piling some greens on a plate, spooning over some oranges-au-jus, and sprinkling a few walnuts on top. (My Notes: I did not serve it this way due to limited table space, but I think if you have the space it is a nice way to do it.)