Every Tuesday throughout the holiday season, we will feature a “Hosting for the Holidays” blog that offers professional tips and recipes from an Executive Chef, our Beverage Manager and Certified Sommelier/Mixologist or one of our Sales and Marketing Managers. Check back weekly to learn how to make in-home entertaining more memorable for you and your guests!

Today we’re launching the series with a focus on Thanksgiving Dinner, including incredible turkey, gravy, cranberry sauce and stuffing recipes from our Executive Chef at Morton’s in Brooklyn, Mr. Joe Raiola.  Last year, he was crowned the champion of the Food Network’s Chopped competition!

The weather is changing, the leaves are falling and football is here! It’s also time for family with the holidays upon us. Thanksgiving is one of my favorites because it’s a holiday that all Americans can enjoy…no matter what your religious background is or where you’re from. I used to get together with my family every Thanksgiving at my Aunt’s house back in my “country,” Staten Island. We usually gather around 1pm, and the grazing starts around 2:30pm after a few glasses of wine and a few games of pool. We start with some appetizers, such as stuffed mushrooms, a salad and 17 loaves of bread.

My Aunt Fran cooks a wonderful Thanksgiving meal. The turkey is the main attraction, along with a plethora of side dishes such as stuffing, sweet potatoes, mashed potatoes, green bean casserole with the canned onions on the top, corn on the cob, just to name a few. After the first-round of feasting, my uncles usually fall asleep on the couch due to a tryptophan overdose. Three hours later, my aunt serves the stuffed artichokes…and we devour them. They’re a real treat, because this is the only time of year she makes them. Then we would end the day with a full buffet of homemade cakes and pies and coffee. One of my favorite parts of the meal is the fresh turkey and stuffing sandwich the next day.

Now that I’m older and have a beautiful family of my own, I do the cooking at my mother-in-law’s house. There aren’t as many of us, but the company is just as good.  And the food (sorry, Aunt Franny!) may be better, because I’m in charge. I wanted to share with you my version of turkey and stuffing recipes, and I’m sure that if you follow them, you’ll end up with the juiciest turkey and most delicious stuffing you have ever had.  Here we go…

Executive Chef Joe Raiola's Masterpiece!

Herb Roasted Turkey with Smoked Chicken
Yields 8 servings

Table salt for the brine
Water for the brine
6 ea. bay leaves
1 ea. 12-14 lb turkey fresh or defrosted
12 oz. unsalted butter, room temperature
1 Tbsp. fresh sage leaves chopped, save the stems
2 Tbsp. Italian parsley leaves, chopped, save the stems
2 Tbsp. fresh thyme, chopped, save the stems
2 Tbsp. fresh rosemary, save the stems
1 Tbsp. black pepper
2 tsp. salt
1 orange, quartered

The Tuesday morning before Thanksgiving…

• Take your turkey out and rinse it thoroughly.  Pull out any undesirable parts, such as the neck and anything else the butcher thought you may have wanted. I like to cut off the wing tips as well.
• Then pat the turkey dry and put it back in the fridge.
• In a large pot, put two gallons of water, 5 tablespoons of table salt and the bay leaves and bring it to a boil. Then put than it in the refrigerator until it’s cool.
• Now place the turkey in a large pot or bucket, and add the liquid to the turkey–just enough to cover it–and put it back in the refrigerator. And voila! You are brining!!! The salt in the mixture is going to break down the proteins in the turkey and make it very tender and season it at the same time.

The day before Thanksgiving, Wednesday…

• Take your turkey out of the brine and pat it dry.
• Meanwhile, in a small bowl, mix the butter, fresh herbs, salt and pepper.
• With a small knife, make a one-inch hole in the inside of both of the thighs, next to the breast. Then use your hands to separate the skin from the breast as far back as you can.
• Now take the butter mixture and work it in between the skin and the meat of the turkey, getting as much as you can under the skin. Use any leftover butter inside the cavity and over the top of the turkey.
• Use the stems from the fresh herbs, and stuff them inside the cavity of the turkey as well as the orange.
• Using butchers twine, tie the legs close to the body of the turkey, and put it in the refrigerator for tomorrow. It’s one less thing you have to do in the morning!

Thanksgiving Day…

• In the morning, preheat your oven to 350F.
• Take the turkey out of the refrigerator about an hour before you put it in the oven.
• Roast the turkey on a wire rack in a large roasting pan for 3.5 hours, basting it every 20 minutes.
• Then turn the oven up to 500F and roast for another 30 minutes without basting.
• Place the turkey on the table to rest for about an hour before you carve.
• Take the juice from the pan and put it in a container, and cool it and save the pan as well. We will use that for the pan gravy.

The Finished Product!

Apple Cornbread Stuffing

1.5 cups celery, medium dice
1.5 cups white onion, medium dice
1.5 cups white mushrooms, quartered
1 cup carrots, small dice
1 lb. smoked chicken and apple sausage, medium dice
2 Tbsp. canola oil
1 Tbsp. fresh thyme, chopped
2 Tbsp. fresh sage, chopped
2 Tbsp. Italian parsley, chopped
3 lbs. cornbread, large dice (its better to make your own if you can)
3 cups quality chicken stock
6 oz. unsalted butter

Again this is something that you can do the day before as well…

• Sauté the first four ingredients over medium heat with about a tablespoon of oil until soft but not mushy.
• In a separate sauté pan, brown the diced chicken sausage over medium high heat.
• In a big bowl add the cornbread, fresh herbs, chicken stock, sausage and vegetables. Now very gently fold everything together (it’s ok if the cornbread falls apart.)
• Melt the butter and add it to the mixture. If it looks dry, you can add more stock.
• Put the mixture in a greased pan, cover and put it in the refrigerator until Thanksgiving Day. Take the stuffing out of the refrigerator an hour before you plan on baking it. 
• Bake it in the oven at 375F for 45 minutes then finish it uncovered for about another 15 minutes.

Autumn Cranberry Sauce
12 oz. fresh cranberries
2 ea. bay leaves
2 ea. whole star anise
3 oz. brown sugar
1 cup orange juice
½ tsp. ground cinnamon

On Thursday morning…

• In a medium sauce pot, add all the ingredients together.
• Simmer for about 15 minutes or until the cranberries start to breakdown and become soft. That’s it! Simple, right?

Aunt Pan’s Gravy

4 Tbsp. flour
2 Tbsp. turkey grease
1 cup turkey “jelly”
3 cups of water

This should be the last thing you do before serving your awesome Thanksgiving feast…

• Take the turkey dripping out of the cooler. By this time the fat should have solidified on the top of the container. Take about 2 tablespoons of it and add it to the roasting pan. Throw the rest out. What you should have left is this intensified, thick turkey “jelly”.
• Put the roasting pan directly over a burner on medium heat and add the flour to the pan with the grease. Let that cook about a minute then add the turkey jelly and about 2 cups of water. This should become nice and thick after it comes up to a simmer.
• Check the seasoning and add more water or salt if you thing it needs it.
• Strain the sauce through a fine mesh strainer and serve!

So this is a part of my new traditional Thanksgiving dinner. I usually only like to make 2 or three side dishes along with the stuffing. Everything else is just overkill. I hope you give some or all of these recipes a shot and Happy Holidays!!!!!

Joe Raiola
Executive Chef
Morton’s The Steakhouse in Brooklyn

Check back for next Tuesday’s “Hosting for the Holidays” when we feature in-home entertaining tips from Kim O’Donnell, the Sales and Marketing Manager for Morton’s in White Plains.  Until then, we’d love to hear about some of your traditional Thanksgiving recipes!  Do you plan on adding any of Chef Raiola’s recipes to your Thanksgiving line-up?