Thanksgiving Dinner: Roasted Turkey Roulade

Last year I watched The Barefoot Contessa  put together a Thanksgiving dinner, the main course being a turkey roulade. There were only three of us that year so I thought I'd try something other than a whole turkey. I couldn't remember what she did about gravy, so I made the one I've been making for years. You can find the recipe HERE (It's worth taking a look as it's partially made the day before, an amazing time saver.). I also served two cranberry sauces; I posted them HERE. Along with the turkey, I made Ina's Rosemary Roasted Potatoes. They were fabulous. I'll post that recipe next week, along with Mashed Rutabega and Crispy Shallots.  And for the grand finale, I made my Pumpkin Flan. 
After this dinner, there were some happy campers and the leftovers were terrific!  I do love Ina, don't you?

Roasted Turkey Roulade
2008, Barefoot Contessa Back to Basics

Ingredients:

3/4 cup large-diced dried figs, stems removed

3/4 cup dried cranberries

1/2 cup Calvados or brandy

4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) unsalted butter

1 1/2 cups diced onions (2 onions)

1 cup (1/2-inch-diced) celery (3 stalks)

3/4 pound pork sausage, casings removed (sweet and hot mixed)

1 1/2 tablespoons chopped fresh rosemary leaves

3 tablespoons pine nuts, toasted

3 cups herb-seasoned stuffing mix (recommended: Pepperidge Farm)

1 1/2 cups chicken stock, preferably homemade

1 extra-large egg, beaten

Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

1 whole (2 halves) turkey breast, boned and butterflied (5 pounds)

3 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted

Directions:

Place the dried figs and cranberries in a small pan and pour in the Calvados and 1/2 cup water. Bring the mixture to a boil over medium heat, then lower the heat and simmer for 2 minutes. Remove from the heat and set aside.

Meanwhile, melt the butter in a large (12-inch) skillet over medium heat. Add the onions and celery and saute until softened, about 5 minutes. Add the sausage, crumbling it into small bits with a fork, and saute, stirring frequently, for 10 minutes, until cooked and browned. Add the figs and cranberries with the liquid, the chopped rosemary, and pine nuts, and cook for 2 more minutes. Scrape up the brown bits with a wooden spoon.

Place the stuffing mix in a large bowl. Add the sausage mixture, chicken stock, egg, 1 teaspoon salt, and 1/2 teaspoon pepper and stir well. (The stuffing may be prepared ahead and stored in the refrigerator overnight.)

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F. Place a baking rack on a sheet pan.

Lay the butterflied turkey breast skin side down on a cutting board. Sprinkle the meat with 2 teaspoons salt and 1 teaspoon pepper. Spread the stuffing in a 1/2-inch-thick layer over the meat, leaving a half-inch border on all sides. Don't mound the stuffing or the turkey will be difficult to roll. (Place the leftover stuffing in a buttered gratin dish and bake for the last 45 minutes of roasting alongside the turkey.) Starting at 1 end, roll the turkey like a jelly roll and tuck in any stuffing that tries to escape on the sides. Tie the roast firmly with kitchen twine every 2 inches to make a compact cylinder.

Place the stuffed turkey breast seam side down on the rack on the sheet pan. Brush with the melted butter, sprinkle generously with salt and pepper, and roast for 1 3/4 to 2 hours, until an instant-read thermometer registers 150 degrees F in the center. (Test in a few places.) Cover the turkey with aluminum foil and allow it to rest at room temperature for 15 minutes before carving.

50 Women Game Changers in Food: #22, Amanda Hesser

Amanda grew up in a family where everyone cooked so it was something that came naturally. While in college getting a degree in economics and finance, she realized she still needed food to be part of her life. She took a job at Michaela's Bakery in Cambridge (now called Rialto) and after graduating from college, ended up With a grant from Les Dames d'Escoffier, working in bakeries and restaurants in Germany, Switzerland, Italy and France.

While in France, Amanda worked for Anne Willan (#27 on our list of game changers and the founder of Ecole de Cuisine LaVar), living in her house and helping her write cookbooks. During this time, Hesser's writings began to appear in newspapers and magazines. There was a gardener at Anne's house she befriended which gave her the idea to write her first book, The Cook and The Gardener and she returned to the states and finished the book.

Following publication, Hesser was hired as a food reporter for The New York Times. Since, she has written the award-winning books Cooking for Mr. Latte (really a memoir about her courtship with her husband Tad Friend) and edited the essay collection, Eat, Memory. Then came a New York Times bestseller (which took 5 years to test and write) and the winner of a James Beard award: The Essential New York Times Cookbook, which Merrill Stubbs, chef and food writer, assisted in writing.

During the entire time Amanda and Merrill were cooking and writing the Essential New York Times Cookbook, they had conversations about what was happening on line and how wonderful it would be to crowd source recipes. They decided to do an experiment and create a contest for the best 52 recipes of the year by the week. (Hence the name Food52) Amanda and Merrill have created a real business with the best home chefs across America under the umbrella of Food52. They recently published The Food52 Cookbook.

Amanda and her husband live in Brooklyn with their twins, Walker and Addie.

I've already posted a fabulous Hesser recipe...Lemon Chicken....and had been tempted by a photo of her mac and cheese I'd seen around the same time. This post finally gave me an excuse to make it. Wow. The calories. But it was the best (and simplest) mac and cheese I've ever eaten, especially if you love it crunchy around the edges the way I do. :)

Amanda Hesser's Baking Sheet Mac and Cheese

Ingredients:
3 tablespoons butter 
12 ounces extra-sharp cheddar cheese, coarsely grated 
12 ounces sharp cheddar cheese, coarsely grated 
1 pound pasta spirals (or other small shape) 
1/8 teaspoon cayenne  
Salt  
2/3 cup whole milk

Method: 
Heat oven to 475 degrees. Use one tablespoon butter to thickly grease a 11-by-17-inch rimmed baking sheet. Combine the grated cheeses and set aside 2 heaping cups for topping.

Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Add the pasta and cook for 6 minutes. Drain.
In a large bowl, toss together the pasta, cheeses, cayenne and salt to taste. Spread the mixture in the baking sheet and evenly pour the milk over the surface. Sprinkle the reserved cheese on top, dot with the remaining butter ( I didn't use this extra butter on top...insult to injury) and bake, uncovered, until golden and crisp, about 15 minutes.

Join Mary from One Perfect Bite and all the other participants in this fun series.

Val - More Than Burnt Toast
Joanne - Eats Well With Others
Taryn - Have Kitchen Will Feed
Susan - The Spice Garden
Claudia - A Seasonal Cook in Turkey
Heather - girlichef
Miranda - Mangoes and Chutney
Jeanette - Healthy Living
April - Abby Sweets 
Katie - Making Michael Pollan Proud
Mary - One Perfect Bite
Viola - The Life is Good Kitchen
Sue - The View from Great Island
Kathleen Van Bruinisse - Bake Away with Me 
Kathleen - Gonna Want Seconds
Martha - Lines from Linderhof
Amy - Beloved Green
Linda - Ciao Chow Linda

Nancy - Picadillo
Mireya - My Healthy Eating Habits
Veronica - My Catholic Kitchen

Twice Baked Sweet Potatoes

Would you just look at that date? November 1st! Where did October go? And all of you in the northeast U.S. are probably wondering where fall went. Snow before Halloween. Amazing.

Thank heaven we don't have snow, but it hasn't stopped raining here in South Florida for days. And I mean a near-constant deluge. It's all remnants of Hurricane Rina. Well, weather like this has made me do some organizing around the house and some cookbook and magazine reading; and it's gotten me thinking about the (coming sooner than we think) holidays.

I was glancing through Fine Cooking Magazine and came across an intriguing sweet potato recipe. Every Thanksgiving, I invariably serve them in some form or another, sometimes savory, sometimes sweet, sometimes an old fashioned southern sweet potato pie. (I remember my mother used to make those mashed sweet potatoes with orange juice and topped with marshmallows back in the 50's. Anybody else remember that?)

So I decided on a test run, which I do when company's coming. Not so much when it's family. They're forgiving. :)  It was fabulous! Creamy sweet potatoes with sour cream, divine browned leeks and sweet sausage. And because I had some left over, I refrigerated them without the Gruyère and the next night, grated some on top and reheated them in a hot oven. Tasted great, so you could make these ahead....a real plus for a holiday dish. 

Twice Baked Sweet Potatoes with Leeks and Sausage
From Fine Cooking Magazine, December/January Issue

Ingredients:

4 small sweet potatoes (about 8 oz. each)
1 Tbs. olive oil  
1/2 lb. bulk sweet Italian sausage (or link sausage, casings removed) 
1 Tbs. unsalted butter
1 lb. leeks, white and light-green parts only, quartered lengthwise and thinly sliced (about 2 cups) 
1 tsp. chopped fresh sage
1/4 tsp. chopped fresh thyme   
Kosher salt 
1/2 cup sour cream
1/4 cup grated Gruyère

Method:

Position a rack in the center of the oven and heat the oven to 375°F. Line a heavy-duty rimmed baking sheet with parchment or foil.
Poke the sweet potatoes a few times with the tip of a knife and arrange them on the baking sheet. Bake until completely tender when pierced in the fattest part with a skewer, 35 to 60 minutes.
Meanwhile, heat the oil in a 10-inch skillet over medium-high heat. Add the sausage, reduce the heat to medium, and cook, breaking it into small bits with the edge of a slotted spoon, until no longer pink, 5 to 6 minutes. Transfer to a plate and set aside. 
Pour off all but 1 Tbs. of the fat and add the butter. When it melts, add the leeks, sage, thyme, and 1-1/2 tsp. salt. Cook, stirring stirring, until the mixture just starts to sizzle. Reduce the heat to low and cook, stirring frequently, until the leeks are very soft and starting to turn golden, 10 to 15 minutes. 
When the sweet potatoes are cool enough to handle, carefully cut them in half lengthwise and gently scoop the flesh into a medium bowl, leaving about 1/8 inch of flesh in the shells. Mash the scooped flesh with a fork or potato masher until smooth. Stir in the sour cream and 1 tsp. salt. Fold the sausage and leeks into the mashed sweet potato and season to taste with salt. 

Position a rack 6 inches from the broiler element and heat the broiler on high. Mound the filling into the potato skins and top with the cheese. Put the potatoes in a 9x13-inch baking dish and broil until the cheese is golden, about 4 minutes. Serve immediately.