How To Make the Ultimate Turkey and Stuffing for Thanksgiving
Make a traditional American holiday feast, with a recipe for stuffing that brings Jewish flavors to the table
November 19, 2014
Micah Siva
Micah Siva
Thanksgiving’s festive meal, to me, is a symbol of how Americans can celebrate our unity while still honoring our amazing diversity: Everyone makes turkey, but the way you make it, what kind of stuffing you use, and which side dishes go with it say who you are. We all celebrate as Americans, but we can put our own ethnic, religious, and regional touches on the meal, whether we serve our turkey with Vietnamese spring rolls or Armenian stuffed grape leaves, chopped liver or tortillas.
I like brined turkey—kosher turkey is already brined, so it’s easy to prepare, once you pluck off any lingering feathers. After that, I follow my 101-year-old mother’s directions, with a few Julia Child touches learned through the years.
The stuffing draws on my Jewish background. I take leftover challah, stored in the freezer, cube it and toast it. Then I add chestnuts from my German and Polish traditions, prunes, a few vegetables, and chicken or vegetable stock (depending on how many vegetarians we have at our Thanksgiving dinner). After the bird is stuffed, with leftover stuffing in a bowl to bake later, I can breathe a sigh of relief. Rubbing olive oil on the skin of the turkey and sprinkling paprika on top, I pop it in the oven and hope that there will be enough left over to serve cold for lunch the next day. After all, isn’t that the best Thanksgiving tradition?
Roast Turkey with Chestnut Challah Stuffing
For the stuffing:
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 medium onions, roughly chopped
4 stalks celery, with leaves, chopped
2 large carrots, roughly chopped
1 sprig thyme, leaves removed
1 sprig rosemary, leaves removed
2 cups chestnuts, cooked, peeled and cut in half
1 cup prunes, apricots, or any dried fruit, soaked in red wine or rum for 30 minutes
Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
1/2 loaf challah or other brioche-like bread, cubed and toasted (about 4 cups)
1 to 1 1/2 cups chicken or vegetable broth
1. Warm the oil in a large sauté pan over medium-high heat. Add the onions, celery, carrots, thyme, and rosemary and sauté until onions are golden begin to soften and are translucent, about 5 to 10 minutes.
2. Add the chestnuts, fruit and its liquid, salt, and pepper to taste. Remove to a bowl and stir in the challah.
3. Stir in 1 cup of the broth into the mixture and set aside while you prepare the turkey.
For the turkey:
1 whole pre-brined 12 to 16 pound turkey, rinsed and patted dry (kosher turkeys come pre-brined)
Olive oil
Salt and freshly ground pepper to taste
1/2 teaspoon paprika
6 sprigs fresh rosemary
6 sprigs fresh thyme
2 medium onions, cut in eighths
4 stalks celery, with leaves, cut in fourths
2 carrots, cut in fourths
1 cup chicken broth
1 cup white wine
1. Preheat the oven to 450 degrees and grease a large roasting pan fitted with a rack. Remove any feathers from the turkey, then remove the giblets and neck and scatter around the bottom of the roasting pan. Position the turkey on the rack, breast side up.
2. Stuff the bird on both ends with the stuffing mixture and truss, if desired, or cover the open ends with foil to enclose the stuffing. Coat the turkey with oil, then sprinkle all over with salt, pepper, and paprika. Scatter the rosemary, thyme, onions, celery, and carrots in the bottom of the roasting pan, then pour the chicken broth and wine over the vegetables.
3. Bake the turkey for 15 minutes, then reduce the temperature to 325 degrees and continue cooking for 15 minutes per pound, or until an instant-read thermometer inserted in the thigh registers 160 degrees. As the turkey is cooking, baste every half hour. If necessary, tent the turkey with foil to prevent over browning.
4. Meanwhile, put any leftover stuffing in a greased casserole and cook in a 350-degree oven for 30 minutes, or until golden brown and heated through.
5. Once the turkey is done, remove the pan from the oven and allow the turkey to rest on a serving platter for at least 20 minutes. Arrange the vegetables on the platter to serve with the turkey.
Yield: 12 or more servings
The Recipe
Joan Nathan is Tablet Magazine’s food columnist and the author of 10 cookbooks including King Solomon’s Table: a Culinary Exploration of Jewish Cooking from Around the World.
