Entree / Poultry: Tangerine-Glazed Turkey with Sausage-Apricot Stuffing

From Dave and Kathy Winter
Note: We've been using this recipe since we've been married, 20 years.

Ingredients
Stuffing
5 slices whole wheat bread, cut into ½ inch cubes (2 cups, measured)
1 loaf Italian bread, cut into 2-inch cubes (about 5 cups)
1 ½ lbs bulk pork sausage
1 ½ cups onion, chopped
1 cup celery, chopped
2 small McIntosh apples, chopped
1 cup dried apricots, chopped
½ cup fresh parsley leaves, minced
1 cup chicken stock
¾ stick (6 Tablespoons) unsalted butter, melted
Turkey
14 lb turkey
2 sticks (1 cup) unsalted butter, softened
7 tangerines (enough to make 2 cups fresh tangerine juice)
3 cups chicken stock
¼ cup all-purpose flour
Fresh thyme
Fresh rosemary
Bay leaves

Directions
To make the stuffing: Bake whole-wheat and Italian bread cubes in one layer in a preheated 350° F. oven, tossing them occasionally, for 18 to 20 minutes, or until golden brown. Transfer to a large bowl, and let them cool. In a large skillet cook sausage and onion over moderate heat, stirring and breaking up the lumps of sausage, until the sausage is no longer pink. Add celery, and cook the mixture, stirring for 2 minutes. Add the sausage mixture to the bread with the apples, the apricots, and the parsley, and toss the mixture. Drizzle the stock and the melted butter over the mixture, toss the stuffing, and let it cool completely. The stuffing may be made 1 day in advance and kept covered and chilled. (Do not stuff the turkey in advance.)

To prepare and bake the turkey: Rinse the turkey, pat it dry, and season it inside and out with salt and pepper. Pack the neck cavity loosely with some of the stuffing, fold the neck skin under the body, and fasten it with a skewer. Pack the body cavity loosely with some of the remaining stuffing and tie the drumsticks together with kitchen string. Transfer the remaining stuffing to a baking dish and reserve it. Spread the turkey with 1 stick of the butter, season it with salt and pepper, and roast it on a rack in a roasting pan in a preheated 425° F. oven for 30 minutes. In a saucepan melt the remaining 1 stick butter with the oil and let the mixture cool. Reduce the oven temperature to 325° F., baste the turkey with the pan juices, and drape a piece of cheesecloth, soaked in the oil mixture, over it. Stir the tangerine juice into the remaining oil mixture and reserve the mixture. Roast the turkey, lifting the cheese-cloth and basting the turkey with the reserved tangerine mixture every 20 minutes after the first hour, for 3 hours to 3 hours and 30 minutes more, or until the juices run clear when the fleshy part of a thigh is pricked with a skewer and a meat thermometer inserted in the fleshy part of a thigh registers 180° F. Discard the cheesecloth and the trussing string, transfer the turkey to a heated platter, reserving the pan juices in the roasting pan, and let it stand for 25 minutes.

Bake the reserved stuffing in the 325° F. oven, basting it twice with some of the reserved pan juices, for 30 to 40 minutes, or until it is hot. Skim the fat from the remaining pan juices and reserve 1/3 cup of it. Add 1 cup of the stock to the pan juices and deglaze the pan over high heat, scraping up the brown bits clinging to the bottom and sides. In a saucepan whisk together the reserved fat and the flour and cook the roux over moderately low heat, whisking, for 3 minutes. Add the remaining 2 cups stock and the deglazing liquid, whisking, and simmer the gravy, stirring occasionally, for 10 minutes. Add the reserved neck and remaining giblets, chopped fine, season the gravy with salt and pepper, and transfer it to a heated sauceboat. Garnish the turkey platter with the fresh herbs.

Serves 8.

Entree / Beef: Beer-Braised Beef

From Dave and Kathy Winter

Ingredients
3 pounds beef chuck, in chunks
salt
pepper
3 Tablespoons Olive oil
2-3 cans/bottles Beer
3 large carrots, chopped
2 large white onions, chopped
3 parsley sprigs, chopped

Directions
Generously season the beef with salt and pepper.

Over medium flame, heat enough olive oil to evenly coat the base of a large heavy-bottom pot. When the oil is hot, add the beef and cook on all sides till it's evenly brown and crispy. Remove and place on a plate, uncovered.

Pour in a bit of beer, let simmer, and scrape up the tasty brown bits with a wooden spoon. Add the vegetables. Use enough to make a deep bed, maybe two large onions and three big carrots - it all depends how big the pot is. You can also add unpeeled garlic; fennel and ginger are a nice touch with pork. Cook on low flame, stirring occasionally, for about 45 minutes, till well caramelized.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

Place the beef back in the pot, nestled among the vegetables. Add the parsley. Pour in the rest of the beer so it comes about ¾ up the sides of the meat. Cover, place in the oven and cook for two to three hours, until the meat is meltingly tender.

Remove the meat-place on a plate, and cover with aluminum foil. Pour the cooking liquid through a mesh strainer and discard the vegetables. At this point, you can serve the liquid as is, or you can put it back on the stove in a smaller pot over medium heat to intensify its flavors.

To serve, keep the meat in chunks or shred it, and place it on a platter. Pour some of the cooking liquid over it (serve the rest on the side). Pair it with buttered egg noodles or mashed potatoes or pureed celery root.

Serves four.