Chef Bill Fuller's Thanksgiving Feast
November is here and it's time to start thinking about Thanksgiving! With that in mind, Chef Bill Fuller stopped by PTL to make a feast!
Rosemary-Roasted New Potatoes
- 2 # Small potatoes, larger ones halved if necessary
- ¼ C. Olive oil
- 2-3 Sprigs Fresh rosemary, picked
- Salt and pepper
1. Preheat grill to 500º . Place a heavy cast-iron Dutch oven with inside while pre-heating.
2. Toss potatoes with olive oil and rosemary. Season well with salt and pepper.
3. When Dutch oven is very hot, place potatos in Dutch oven.
4. Cook for 30 minutes Gently shake Dutch oven occasionally to move potatoes around.
Gravy
- ½ C. Fat (butter and skimmed turkey fat is a good combination)
- ½ C. AP Flour
- 2 qt. Stock (Pan liquid and accessory chicken stock)
- Salt and pepper (Very important to the success of the gravy. Season and taste, season and taste)
- 1 Tbs. Chopped fresh thyme
- 1 Tbs. Chopped fresh sage
1. Heat oil in a high sided sauce pan.
2. Whisk in flour. Stir continually with whisk until lightly browned. This is the roux. CAUTION!!!! Roux is hot and sticks like napalm. Whisk with meaning and purpose but with respect for the roux as well.
3. When roux is ready, set aside. It is better to make the roux well ahead and have it ready at the moment that it is time for gravy. Additionally, it is better to add cooled stock to very hot roux or hat stock to somewhat cooled roux.
4. Return roux to heat. Begin to add stock while whisking. Make sure you whisk thoroughly and get in the corners of the pot.
5. When all stock is added, bring to a simmer, adjust seasonings and consistence, and add thyme and sage. Do not boil as this will reduce the effectiveness of the roux.
Butternut Squash in Sage Brown Butter
- 1 ea. Large butternut squash
- 2 Tbs. Olive oil.
- ¼ # Butter
- 10-15 picked sage leaves
- Salt and pepper
- 1 ea. Lemon
- ¼ C. Pine nuts
1. Peel the butternut. Split in half and scoop out seeds with a spoon. Dice meat into 1-2" chunks.
2. Place squash in a mixing bowl. Drizzle with olive oil and season well with salt and pepper.
3. Grill Squash chunks on grill.
4. When squash is nearly done, heat a wide skillet over medium heat. Add butter, allow to brown. The butter will have a nutty scent and a lovely brown color. Do not burn the butter.
5. Quckly add the sage leaves. They will sputter briefly. Add the squash. Allow it to brown briefly tossing a few times. Season with salt and pepper and a squuze or two of lemon.
6. Sprinkle with pine nuts and serve.
Brussels Sprouts with Pancetta
- ½ # Piece of uncooked pancetta, diced small
- 1 ea. Medium onion
- 3 # Brussels sprouts
- ½ C. White wine
- Black pepper
- Salt to taste (be careful)
1. Dice pancetta into 1/8" dice. Be careful and use a sharp knife as the ham has a very heavy texture in this state. Dice onion small.
2. Trim hard root ends off Brussels sprouts. If they are not small, halve or quarter.
3. Place pancetta in a shallow pot. Render.
4. When rendered, scoop out pancetta and set aside. Add onions. Place on medium flame and bring up to a sizzle. Sauté/sweat onions until lightly browned.
5. Meanwhile, roast Brussels sprouts on the grill. When dark and mostly cooked, place in pan with onions and pancetta fat.
6. Add wine. Bring to a boil and reduce to a simmer. Lightly season with pepper.
7. Cook with occasional stirring until Brussels sprouts are tender and wine is evaporated, 10-20 minutes.
8. Season with salt only at the end and only if necessary.
Turkey with Stuffing
- 1 ea. Turkey
- Stuffing – Everyone has their favorite. I go traditional, bread, celery, egg, stock.
- 1 ea. Large carrot, chopped into large chunks
- 2 ea. Large onions, peeled and rough chopped
- 2 stalks Celery, rough chopped
- 1 head Garlic, split cross-ways
- Numerous sprigs of fresh Thyme and Sage
- Clean, white kitchen towel that you don't mind discarding.
- Duck fat (or olive oil if you don't have rendered duck fat lying around)
- Chicken stock, at least 3 quarts
- Some semi-sweet white wine
- Salt and pepper
1. Preheat grill to 425˚.
2. Rinse turkey inside and out. Pat dry.
3. Stuff both cavities as you see fit.
4. Place carrot, onion, celery, garlic, and herb sprigs in bottom of roasting pan. Place rack in roasting pan. (Not to endorse other products here but I really dig my large All-Clad roasting pan with heavy duty rack for this process.) Place Turkey in rack.
5. Season surface of turkey with salt and pepper.
6. Soak clean towel with fat/oil. You don't want it dripping, but you want it filled with fat. Drape towel over whole bird. Kiss towel goodbye.
7. Place Turkey in grill and close lid, reduce heat to 325˚. After 10 minutes, baste with stock. Baste all the time (every ten minutes or so) for the entire cooking process.
8. As you baste, baste over the towel. Baste with excess stock. Occasionally baste with the white wine. Use the juices in the pan alternating with the extra stock and the white wine. It should become creative and fun, basting the turkey with wine, basting your tongue with wine, assigning basting schedules, forgetting to baste then relaxing about it because you already basted so much and will baste some more and it will be okay.
9. Cook turkey for abut 20-25 minutes per pound for larger birds. "The Joy of Cooking" has excellent directions on roasting fowl stuffed and unstuffed, small and large and is an excellent reference for turkey cooking in general. Have a copy on hand for Thanksgiving because you can't call me. I'm off.
10. About 1 hour before turkey is scheduled to be done, remove towel. Try to wring the great basting liquids out. At this point, you can chew on it, throw it in the laundry, or simply discard.
11. Keep basting.
12. Cook until the thigh meat has an internal temperature of 160˚. Remove turkey and allow to rest while you make gravy and get everything else together. Strain all the drippings and save. Discard roasting vegetables.
