🌲Turquoise Trail Tales: On the Homefront: Fall Foxes Thanksgiving Table

Friday, November 23, 2018

On the Homefront: Fall Foxes Thanksgiving Table

Central image from The Siberian Times

Although foxes are not really dogs

I consider them close analogs.

If you asked them I think

They would say with a wink,

"We're like cats wearing canine-like togs!"

Foxes are not dogs, but they are closely related, so I decided to feature them on my Thanksgiving table as part of my Year of the Dog tablescape series. I used my Daisy the Fox Salad Plates (from Pier 1 last year, no longer available) and chose the pumpkin orange and brown with a touch of green color scheme from them. I was lucky to find a table runner and napkins at HomeGoods in a paisley pattern of coordinating colors, so of course I used them on my table as well.

Dark brown wooden bead place mat, Orange Distressed Pumpkin Charger Plate (from Pier 1 this year, no longer available), brown speckled dinner plate (purchased ages ago - made in Japan, no manufacturer), Daisy the Fox Salad Plate (from Pier 1 last year), faux wood-handled flatware, Raymond Waites autumn paisley cotton napkin (from HomeGoods recently), clear water glass, pale green wine glass.

A closer look at the salad plate.

A faux pumpkin with "Home Sweet Home" printed beneath the image of a
house sits on a pumpino-filled large plate at the head of the table, flanked
by leaf-shaped candle plates holding leaf-embossed candles and fronted by
fox salt and pepper shakers from Walmart a few years ago.

A closer look at the faux pumpkin and fox salt and pepper shakers.

You are probably tired of seeing my pinecone-filled candle plate by now!

I tried using this turkey-shaped creamer as a gravy boat, but the mouth
opening is too small and the gravy did not pour well!

A cute autumnal pitcher dotted with tiny white pumpkins for serving
the apple cider.

This recently purchased platter was the perfect size to hold turkey slices.

We celebrated a quiet Thanksgiving at home, and since it was just the two of us I decided to try some new recipes. I had never brined a turkey before, but a recipe I found for Cider-Brined Turkey Breast sounded intriguing and manageable so I decided to make the attempt. Green Bean Casserole returned to the menu this year, as it is my husband's favorite and I am afraid it has become our tradition now. To save time I served canned whole cranberry sauce, mostly because I hope to use the leftovers to try a new cornbread recipe at a later date.

I normally put stuffing inside my turkey as that is the way my mom always did it and traditions are everything at Thanksgiving (and despite what so-called "experts" say, no one I know has ever been sickened by stuffing - even my doctor brother has never seen a case of gastrointestinal upset from turkey stuffing). However, I was fascinated by an idea I found on the internet of employing my much underused bundt pan to bake a fancy ring of cornbread dressing, so another new recipe was added to our holiday meal. Unfortunately, my dressing did not come out in a perfect ring. I think it was not cool enough, there may have been a little too much liquid in the mixture, and perhaps I did not grease the bundt pan thoroughly enough. However, it was the best-tasting cornbread dressing we have ever had, so I will try this recipe again!

Fall Foxes Thanksgiving Menu:

Apple Cider/Wine
Cider-Brined Turkey Breast*

Pan Gravy

Whole Cranberry Sauce

Sausage Cornbread Bundt Dressing**

Green Bean Casserole

Pumpkin Pie

From Taste of the South

*Cider-Brined Turkey Breast

Try to find a turkey breast that has not been injected with a salt solution if possible, although the one I bought was processed and did not seem to be overly salty when brined. The original recipe calls for smoked ham hocks, which I omitted due to my allergies, but by all means use them if you like. A Cider Gravy recipe was also included with the original recipe, which I did not use since my turkey came with a gravy packet (something new to me!), but it does look good so give the Cider Gravy a try if your turkey comes sans gravy packet!

8 C. apple cider
1/2 C. kosher salt
1/3 C. sugar
1 tsp. black pepper (or more to taste if you like)
2 tsp. ground ginger
2 tsp. garlic powder
1 bone-in turkey breast (about 6 lbs.)
7 C. water
1 T. vegetable oil
1 C. chicken broth

Bring the cider, salt, sugar, pepper, ginger, and garlic to a boil in a large stock pot over medium-high heat. Reduce the heat to medium-low and simmer for 5 minutes. Remove from the heat and cool completely.

Combine 4 C. water with the cider mixture. Rinse the turkey and place in the stock pot. Carefully add an additional 2 C. water to completely submerge the turkey. Cover the pot and refrigerate 8-10 hours, turning at least once.

Spray a roasting rack with cooking spray and place in a roasting pan. Remove the turkey from the brine (discard the brine). Pat the turkey dry and place it on the prepared rack. Rub the outside with oil. Pour the remaining 1 C. water and the chicken broth into the bottom of the roasting pan.

Roast the turkey at 350 degrees until a meat thermometer stuck into the thickest part of the breast reads 165 degrees, about 1 hour and 45 minutes. Check the bird after one hour and cover with foil if necessary to prevent excess browning. Add an additional 1/2 C. water to the pan at this time if needed.

Remove the turkey from the oven. Place on a cutting board and cover loosely with foil. Let stand for at least 20 minutes before carving. Serves 6.

In an ideal world, my dressing would have looked like this!
(image from Facebook)

**Sausage Cornbread Bundt Dressing

I found this recipe in a 2017 Taste of the South magazine called "Southern Thanksgiving" but could not find the recipe online. My husband, who loves cornbread dressing, declared this one to be the best he has ever tasted!

1 lb. breakfast sausage*
1 T. oil (optional)
2 C. diced yellow onion
1 C. diced celery
1/4 C. minced parsley
6 C. crumbled cornbread**
4 C. chicken broth***
4 eggs, lightly beaten
salt and pepper to taste

In a large skillet, cook the sausage (in the oil if needed) over medium-high heat until browned, about 5 minutes. Remove the sausage with a slotted spoon onto paper towels to drain. Add the onion and celery to the drippings in the skillet and cook, stirring occasionally, until softened, about 10 minutes. Remove the skillet from the heat and stir in the parsley.

In a large bowl, gently stir together the onion mixture, sausage, cornbread, broth, eggs, and seasonings. Spoon the dressing into a well-greased 12-cup Bundt pan, pressing gently with the back of a spoon to submerge the cornbread as much as possible (the mixture will be rather soupy).

Bake at 350 degrees for 45-55 minutes, until the top is golden brown and the dressing is firm to the touch. Remove from the oven and let cool in the pan on a wire rack for at least 10 minutes (I would let it cool longer). Gently loosen the sides of the dressing from the pan if needed. Carefully invert the pan onto a flat serving platter and slice to serve. Serves 8.

*I had to use turkey sausage because of my allergies, but I highly recommend pork sausage if you can eat it because I think the flavor is much better (my choice before I became allergic to red meat was always Jimmy Dean Regular Premium Pork Sausage).

**A 15-oz. pan of cornbread from our local Publix bakery yielded exactly 6 C. I bought mine a week early and refrigerated it until the night before Thanksgiving, when I crumbled the cornbread onto a baking sheet and let it sit out overnight to dry slightly before use.

***I will probably reduce this amount of liquid by about 1/2 C. next time to see if that will help in preventing the dressing from sticking to the pan!

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