Thanksgiving

I need to preface this post by saying, I did indeed go to my family's Thanksgiving and the food was outstanding as always.  However, one of my sources for recipes is a seasonal magazine which means in every November/December issue they include some sort of turkey or Thanksgiving meal.  So, of course when that recipe comes up I'm obligated to cook it.  Honestly, for as good as my family's Thanksgivings are, I kind of enjoy seeing if I can top my family's cooking.

 The first step was to make the cranberry, kumquat chutney.  We have, salt, cranberries, a granny smith apple, kumquats, ginger ale, and sugar.

 The first step was to combine, the cranberries, half of the kumquats that were pureed in the food processor, ginger ale and sugar.  The mixture simmered until the cranberries started to pop.  Apparently, I didn't get any other pictures, but after the mixture had simmered I let it cool and then right before I served the dish I added sliced the kumquats and diced the apple fine.

 The second step was to make the stuffing.  Here we have white bread that had been dehydrated in the oven, onions, an orange that had been pureed in the food processor, cayenne pepper, bacon, thyme and chicken broth.

 I fried off the bacon and once the bacon was completed I added the onions.

 Once I had cooked off the onions I added the rest of the ingredients except the bread and chicken broth.

 I finished the whole mixture with some butter.  Once all the butter had been incorporated I put this mixture in with the bread and chicken broth mixture that I neglected to get a picture of.

 On to the gravy.  Celery, carrot, tomato Paste, flour, bay leaf, chicken broth, onions, garlic, turkey bones and apple cider vinegar. 

The first step to the gravy was to brown the turkey bones.

 Once the bone were done searing I added the veggies and tomato past and let them sautee for a few minutes.

 Now that the veggies were done I added the seasonings and the chicken broth and let the whole mixture simmer for about 30 minutes.

 Here is the completed gravy, that had been finished with a bit of apple cider vinegar at the last minute.

 And now for the star of the show, the turkey.  I had deboned the turkey breast earlier in the day.  The seasoning for the turkey was a simple salt and pepper.

 Once the turkey was seasoned I draped it over the stuffing and put it into an over for about 90 minutes.

 The final side I put together while the turkey was in the oven.  This side is roasted brussels sprouts with a dijon cream sauce.

 I halved the brussels sprouts and combined them with sliced kielbasa.  These items were seasoned with a bit of olive oil, salt and pepper and then were roasted off in the oven.

While the veggies and meat were roasting I combined the cream, dijon mustard, and honey to make the sauce.

The final plate.  I don't want to brag too much but I would put this up against anything that my family makes for Thanksgiving.