Week Planning

Weekend

• Ladies and gentlemen... sharpen your knives!
• Bake cornbread and biscuits and begin drying process
• Prep vegetables for brine
• Prepare and cool brine solution
• Pick up Turkey
• (Make cranberry sauce)

Monday

• Rinse turkey, take out neck and giblets, and remove all the goop inside
• Begin brining the turkey
• (Prep Kale salad, quinoa/butternut squash ingredients)

Tuesday

• Check on brining, making sure turkey is cold and covered, but not freezing
• Defrost turkey stock

Wednesday

• Chop veg, spices for turkey and dressing
• Chill wine
• (Make a pie or two)
• (Defrost par-baked rolls)

Thursday

• Put Turkey in oven; a 17.6 lb turkey took 5 hours to come to temperature.
• (Bring sides up to room temperature if needed)
• T-2h: Prepare dressing (boil stock for dressing, final crumble of breads, sautee veg, boil, peel and chop eggs
• T-2h: Set table, do other side activities: prep desserts, etc.
• T-1.5h: Add veg, stock, season, and then add chopped eggs to dressing
• T-1h: Take turkey out, drain drippings/veg, add dressing into roasting pan, place turkey carefully on top and return to oven
• T-45: More time for sides/desserts work
• T-30: Strain, make gravy
• T-10: Put out cranberry sauce, other cold/room temp sides
• T+0: Take turkey out, target temp is 155F° internal. Cover lightly with foil and towels to allow to come up top 165F°
• T+0: Warm sides
• T+10: Warm/bake rolls
• T+20: Steam veg sides, toss salad
• T+30: Carve turkey and serve!

Complete Ingredients List

• Turkey
• 1.5 cups kosher salt, plus more for seasoning
• 1.5 cups sugar
• 1 tablespoon black peppercorns, plus more for seasoning
• Few sprigs of rosemary
• 2 large sprigs of thyme
• Dried or fresh sage
• 3 bay leaves
• 4 quarts (boxes) of turkey or chicken broth.
• 5 onions (yellow)
• 1 bunch celery
• 2 carrots, optional
• 1 lemon, quartered
• 9 eggs (6 for dressing + 3 for cornbread)
• 1 small package whomp biscuits
• 3 c. yellow cornmeal (Not stone ground)
• 3 c. flour + more for gravy
• 3 c. milk
• 3 T sugar (optional if you are not feeding Yankees)
• 4 Tbsp baking powder
• 3/4 c. shortening
• 4 T butter, melted