A Healthy Thanksgiving to Remember

Hi friends! So this week I asked Celia to cook my family a Thanksgiving Turkey so we could share a unique recipe with our fans. Not realizing it was her first turkey ever, I didn’t know just how big of a request I was making. But I am not surprised that I get to report that she did an amazing job once again. It was seriously SUCH a good turkey. Turkey is probably my least favorite dish at a Thanksgiving feast, so I was delighted that she had come up with such a moist and flavorful recipe. You guys are going to LOVE it!

Since I knew my family of 6 couldn’t eat a 10 lb turkey by ourselves, we casually invited over some of our closest friends to enjoy it with us. And Celia stepped up to the challenge beyond what I could imagine and made us a full blown early Thanksgiving feast. In this post, I am going to go step-by-step to show how to cook a Thanksgiving turkey {Celia style}, and then share with you all of the links to the holiday makeover recipes we did this year, so you can have a full Dr. Brown approved holiday meal that makes NO sacrifices when it comes to taste!

Ingredients:

• 2 sprigs of rosemary
• 2 small sprigs of thyme
• ¾ c olive oil
• 1½ t whole peppercorn
• 1 t sea salt
• 5 cloves garlic
• 1 T chopped shallot
• 3 T pasture butter
• 2 T paprika
• 1 T cayenne
• 1 T sage
• I small onion, quartered
• 2 stalks of celery, cut into 3-4 in pieces
• 1 10-12 lb turkey
• Large cooking syringe

Step 1: Preheat oven to 325F.

Step 2: In a food processor, add rosemary, thyme, olive oil, peppercorn, salt, garlic, shallot, butter, and 1 teaspoon of paprika and cayenne. Reserve the rest of the paprika and cayenne. Blend until smooth.

Step 3: Remove turkey from package. Pull the neck skin tight and cut off excess skin, but leave enough to cover cavity. Note: We cut off TOO much!! Trim it, but don’t get over zealous like us otherwise you end up with a pretty unsightly whole in your bird! 😉

Step 4: Remove any loose parts from cavity. (Untie legs if needed.)

Step 5: Use a cooking syringe to inject turkey with the blended mixture in several places.

Step 6: Separate and lift the skin of the turkey from the breast meat, and massage blended mixture into meat.

Step 7: Take remaining blend and massage into turkey breast on top of the skin.

Step 8: Pour sage into palm and rub on the inside of the turkey.

Step 9: Use remaining paprika and cayenne pepper and pat on the outside of the turkey.

Step 10: Stuff the inside of the turkey with the onion and celery pieces.

Step 11: Roast in preheated oven for 10-15 minutes per pound. (About 2.5 hrs for a 10 lb turkey. Turkey should reach and internal temperature of 165F.)

Step 12: Remove turkey from oven and let rest about 25- 30 minutes. Carve and Serve!

Ok, so here are the links to ALL of the holiday dishes we made over these past few weeks plus a few from the past that fit right in. This list should provide a you with a complete Thanksgiving feast that is 100% Dr. Brown approved and just as tasty as you’ve always remembered!

Not Your Average Thanksgiving Turkey

Cranberry Orange Balsamic Reduction

Grainless Cornbread Dressing

Green Bean Casserole

Holiday Fruit Salad

Sweet Potato Mash

Simple Pumpkin Pie

I hope this list proves to be useful for you, and that you enjoy your Thanksgiving holiday with family and nutritious, fresh real food recipes!

Til next time,