It’s What’s Around the Turkey that Matters.

Are you struggling on what to surround your turkey with this year? Well, let me help set your table. Multiple sources across the web such as the Food Network, Side Chef, Taste of Home, and more include mashed potatoes, cranberry sauce, cornbread, and stuffing. The Food Network has easy and quick recipes for all of these delicious dishes.

Mashed Potatoes:

  For these simple creamy mashed potatoes the ingredients needed are 5 pounds Yukon gold or russet potatoes, 1 1/2 sticks softened butter, plus more for baking, 1 1/2 (8-ounce) packages cream cheese, softened, 1/2 cup half-and-half, 1/2 cup cream, salt and freshly ground black pepper, milk, if needed, for thinning. After gathering the ingredients the oven needs to be preheated to 350 degrees F. After the oven is preheated, peel the potatoes and rinse them in cold water. Chop the potatoes in fourths. Place the potatoes into a large pot and cover with water. Bring to a boil and cook until fork tender, 20 to 25 minutes. Then simply drain the potatoes, and then return them to the pan. With the burner on low heat, mash the potatoes with a potato masher; the more steam that’s released while you mash, the better. Mash for about 5 minutes. Next, add the butter, cream cheese, half-and-half, and seasonings. Stir to combine, and if the mixture needs thinning, add milk. Finally, pour the mashed potatoes into a large casserole pan. Dot the surface with butter. Cover with foil and bake in the oven for 15 minutes. Remove the foil and continue baking for 10 more minutes. They are best if you serve them immediately. 

Cranberry Sauce:

The Food Network states, “Empty a 12-ounce bag of fresh or frozen cranberries into a saucepan and transfer 1/2 cup to a small bowl. Add 1 cup sugar, 1 strip orange or lemon zest, and 2 tablespoons water to the pan and cook over low heat, stirring occasionally, until the sugar dissolves and the cranberries are soft, about 10 minutes. Increase the heat to medium and cook until the cranberries burst about 12 minutes. Reduce the heat to low and stir in the reserved cranberries. Add sugar, salt, and pepper to taste and cool to room temperature before serving.” This is the perfect sweet but tangy recipe to be served with your turkey. 

Corn Bread:

The Food Network is known to have some of the best cornbread recipes, one of the more popular recipes is the easy classic cornbread. The recipe consists of 1/3 cup vegetable oil, plus more for the baking dish,  1 cup yellow cornmeal, 1 cup all-purpose flour, 2/3 cup sugar, 3 1/2 teaspoons baking powder, 1/2 teaspoon salt, 1 large egg, and 1 cup buttermilk. In order to make this dish you must follow these simple directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F and brush a 9-by-13-inch baking dish with vegetable oil.
2. Whisk the cornmeal, flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt in a large bowl. In another bowl, whisk the egg, vegetable oil, and buttermilk, then fold into the dry ingredients with a rubber spatula until just combined.
3. Transfer the batter to the prepared baking dish and bake until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean, 10 to 12 minutes. Transfer to a rack and let cool for 15 minutes before serving.

Stuffing: 

Stuffing is a Thanksgiving staple, The Food Network has all sorts of recipes for you to experiment with. My personal favorite is the Classic Sausage Stuffing the ingredients consist of 1 stick unsalted butter, plus more for the dish, 1 pound loose breakfast sausage (or use links and remove the casings), 2 onions, chopped, 4 stalks celery, chopped, 1 tablespoon chopped fresh sage, 1 tablespoon chopped fresh thyme, 2 1/2 cups low-sodium chicken broth, Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper, 2 large eggs, 1/2 cup chopped fresh parsley, 6 cups stale 1/2-inch country white bread cubes (about 2 pounds). After gathering all of the necessary ingredients you must follow these directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 350˚. Butter a 3-quart baking dish. Melt 6 tablespoons butter in a large wide pot over medium-high heat. Add the sausage and cook, breaking up the meat, until no longer pink, 3 to 5 minutes. Add the onions, celery, sage, and thyme and cook, stirring occasionally, until the vegetables are softened, about 5 minutes. Add the chicken broth, 1 teaspoon salt, and a few grinds of pepper. Bring to a boil, then remove from the heat.
2. Whisk the eggs and parsley in a large bowl. Add the bread cubes and sausage-broth mixture and toss until evenly combined. Transfer to the prepared baking dish, dot with the remaining 2 tablespoons of butter, and cover with foil.
3. Bake the stuffing until hot, about 30 minutes. Uncover and bake until golden brown, 20 to 30 minutes. Let cool for at least 15 minutes before serving.

There you have it, some of the staple Thanksgiving dishes waiting for you to cook them. If you were struggling to choose the surroundings of your turkey, hopefully you aren’t anymore.