Turkey, Stuffing, and Green Bean Casserole

It’s a beautiful morning on the Farm, the sun’s just rising, the turkey’s stuffed and rubbed, ready to go on the smoker. Most of the sides are made and in the fridge—the green bean casserole, the stuffing. The Farmer’s Wife seems to feel each benefit from a night of getting-to-know-one-another. All that’s left today is the mashed potatoes and the gravy—both of which need to be made fresh and at the last minute. There will be another turkey, the roasted kind, to be put in the oven in a few hours. Yes, they are having two turkeys on the Farm this Thanksgiving. Some wanted smoked and some wanted roasted and one suggested both, so here we are—two turkeys for six people. In their defense, they are small turkeys—barely twelve pounds apiece.  

For the Smoked Turkey, a rub was made of brown sugar- a half cup, two tablespoons smoked paprika, a tablespoon garlic powder, a tablespoon seasoned salt, and a teaspoon black pepper. This was rubbed all over the bird, both inside and out. Speaking of inside, an apple or two and an onion was roughly chopped and set in there for good measure. The hardwood charcoal they’re using is hickory. For a twelve-pound bird, they plan to leave it in there for six to seven hours, and rest for thirty minutes after it’s off, whish means they’re eating at about three thirty-four.

The Green Bean Casserole was made yesterday, and to do that, a sweet onion was rough chopped, along with eight small portabella mushrooms. These were fried in a pan with a stick of butter until all was soft but not browned. A quarter cup flour was added and cooked in for a minute or three, stirring all the while. To that a glass of white wine was thrown in and a cup of half and half along with a half cup sour cream. This was tasted and salt and pepper was added. While Hannah was busy with that part, the Farmer’s Wife was cutting the Green Beans that her mother had put up from her Garden this last summer. She cut them in half—about two inches—and set them in a casserole dish to wait for Hannah’s part to be done. Once it was, it was poured on top and stirred and set in the fridge. When you go to cook it, coat it in parmesan cheese and bake it at three hundred and fifty for about forty minutes.

Now for the Stuffing: The Farmer’s Wife prides herself on having come up with a spice mix that recreates an oven-top boxed stuffing mix. And since that is the Farmer’s fa-vor-ite, it was a great moment of pride when the Farmer deemed her mix to be an acceptable replacement. (She’s still working on the jelled canned cranberries, though.) And her spice mix is this: Dried Sage, Dried Onion, Dried Shallots, Dried Celery, both stems and leaves—all in equal parts. She spends all summer harvesting and dehydrating from the Garden, so that by the time Autumn comes around, she’s got jars and jars of the stuff, which is a good thing because it flavors a lot more than just stuffing. She uses it in her chicken n’ biscuits, her stews, and in almost every soup that comes out of her kitchen. But that’s a different story for a different day. Today, we’re talking Stuffing. She takes a quarter cup of the Spice Mix and adds to it two cups of chicken stock and a stick of butter. She lets this come to a boil, and while it’s on the stove, she’s cutting up a half a loaf of bread. The Farmer likes plain white, so that’s what she uses. She sets this in a bowl and pours the boiling mixture over top, stirring well. This was all done yesterday and set in the fridge. Today, she’ll bake it in a three hundred and fifty degree oven, uncovered, for thirty minutes. It’s soooo good.

Happy Thanksgiving everyone! May God bless you and keep you, may His face shine upon you and be gracious to you. May He fill you with His peace.