No Place like Home for the Holidays: Cleveland edition! Part 1

Helloooo foodies!

Due to my hectic class/ internship schedule, I have been a little absent as of late on my blog, but thanksgiving break was a great time to relax and get ready to get back into things! I was able to go home for my break, and my first order of business was to make thanksgiving dinner (eek!)  Not all of it, but some of the heavy hitters of the night... Overall I think it turned out well! Here are some pics:

The Turkey! Not bad, right?!

Turkey with Sage Butter: I used a Tyler Florence recipe that my dad and I have used for the past couple of years and it has yet to fail us, using a combination of sage, butter (I like to use salted for this, which we did not do this year and it seemed to lack a bit of flavor), salt and pepper rubbed under the skin of the turkey. It keeps the bird super moist and flavorful while its cooking. We also chose to use an organic turkey this year-- I'm not sure if I knew the difference, but it still turned out well and tasted delicious! The recipe can be found here on foodnetwork.com!

Cornbread stuffing with sausage, cranberries, and apples

Cornbread Stuffing: For the stuffing, I knew that I wanted to use a combination of cornmeal and grits to get some extra crunch from it. I made the cornbread first, which had a great texture, but it seemed to lose a bit of its crunchy texture as the stuffing cooked on both in the turkey and out. One thing I would like to change in the future is finding a way to maintain the texture of the cornbread throughout the stuffing. I really had no rhyme or reason to my recipe, and pretty much just ended up throwing things into the pot at the last minute. I precooked the sausage with sauteed onions and celery, while deglazing the pan with the tiniest bit of white wine. I added a couple figs for their texture, along with some apples to give the stuffing a fall flavor. I used fresh herbs such as parsley, rosemary, sage, and thyme, while also adding a hint of cinnamon and nutmeg (again, keeping with the fall flavors). Finally, I tried my hand at using black truffle sea salt, which worked in other dishes but not in this. Well, not that it didn't work, it just didn't really shine through the other flavors. The stuffing came out quite well after all was said and done! For not having a recipe, I was pretty pleased with the outcome. 

Sweet Potato and Butternut Squash Gratin

Sweet Potato and Butternut Squash Gratin: I found this recipe on Pinch My Salt, and I would like to say that I really loved the flavors of this dish! It was simple, but delectable. Once again, I used black truffle sea salt, and it really brought out the flavors of the dish while giving it a unique, savory flavor. There was a LOT of cheese in it (which obviously I'm not complaining) but when asking to use fancy cheeses such as manchego and gruyere, the dish got pretty expensive. I chose to use a combo of young and aged cheeses, with a young gruyere, young manchego, and an aged gruyere. The young cheese brought out a sharpness, while the aged cheese gave a nutty undertone similar to parmesean reggiano. The dish looked lovely due to the uniform slices of squash and sweet potato. Overall, it was a different approach to the traditional sweet potato, and a recipe I would definitely recommend trying. You can check out that recipe here!

Meyer Lemon and Cranberry Bundt Cake

Meyer Lemon and Cranberry Bundt Cake: This was absolutely my favorite thing I made on Turkey Day-- I stumbled upon the recipe in the 2009 November issue of Food Network Magazine I salvaged from cleaning out the swag closet at work. It looks so beautiful and tastes just as good. It used about 5 meyer lemons, which are more expensive, but their sweeter flavor are worth the purchase. The cranberry reduction in the middle keeps the cake sweet with a slight tang, while the lemon bundt cake and frosting kept the flavor light and clean. Also, I knew it was a success when my father, the anti-carb king, had two slices for dessert :) 

I hope everyone had a Happy Thanksgiving, and be assured that more reviews are to come! :) I also have more to post about my time at home, including an awesome trip to Columbus for the OSU/Michigan game!